Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #30 – Spring Weather and Running Errands

 

Friday, March 29^th, 2019…...  Looks like we will have two days of sunshine. Today started out nice and got even better! I took Rylee out for our walk. Our neighbor, Cory, stopped her car and asked me to keep an eye out for a lost Jack Russell. The next neighborhood from ours is behind them and across Oak Creek. A lady came around to her house who was housesitting when the dog got out. She was frantic and thought the dog may have somehow gotten across the creek. I’m sure Jack (the dog’s name!) is still over there somewhere but we will keep a look out. Once Rylee and I finished our walk we checked the property just to make sure. I came in and read the paper and did the word jumble, and by the time I was done, Lydia was ready to go. She had recently lost one of the screws out of her glasses and wanted an adjustment so we needed to go to Albany, where she got them. I drove the Acadia and we were halfway there when it hit me – I needed to bring the Honda so we could go back to Costco (where we just got new tires) for the 25-mile lug-tightening check.  Duuuhh!  Oh well, next time!  We stopped first at Pop’s Branding Iron for breakfast, then Lowe’s to buy what I needed for my workshop bathroom sink. I want to replace the shutoff valves under the sink but I think I better remove one first to see what the threads are (male/female?). We made another stop, at Safeway, and got a few things for spaghetti for tonight and then headed home. Once we got there, I guess I got lazy. I hung around the house and went online and ordered a couple of new leashes for butthead and then paid some bills so I never made it out to the shop. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow!   Later, Lydia fixed dinner and we had a quiet rest of the night and went to bed early.

Saturday, March 30^th, 2019…… Another day of sunshine. But walking the grass tells me it’s not ready yet to be mowed. Still way too soggy! My neighbor told me that Walt used to complain about that every year. His was always the last lawn to dry out enough to mow. He told me that Walt even wanted to tear it all out and build up some more, harder packed dirt to replant on. I sure wish he would have done that! But eventually we will be able to mow. Kirk came by today and we got the Husqvarna mower started and he loaded it up to go and mow one of his client’s lawns. He also told me that he did get hired by Lou and they will figure out a schedule coinciding with our work here. I also spent some time on my tractor. It needed to have the battery charged up a bit but after a few hours, I was able to get it running. So, I’m ready – whenever the lawn is!    

             

Sunday, March 31^st, 2019…... Nothing planned today. My sister came by with Quincy and that meant that I had to rinse off and dry our wet and dirty puppy after their run!  Later, I went and got us breakfast and we just hung around the house and watched tv most of the day. We were going to go take a car ride (not sure where) but Lydia said that since I was watching my races and she was doing laundry, and folks would be out and about today, we would stay home and maybe go tomorrow. So, that’s what we did. I ate a late lunch and wasn’t hungry for dinner so she ate leftovers from Burger King. We had each ordered their chicken sandwich deal and they give you two six-inch sandwiches and we only ate one each. So, she heated up hers and I didn’t snack until later in the evening.  That was our Sunday.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #29 – Roof Work, Going to the Show, and Installing a Water Heater

Tuesday, March 26^th 2019…...  Today, the sun was out for part of the day. We are supposed to get some rain way later today. Kirk is due over to work on the roof again. We ran a few errands in the morning, and then I got back and got out all of the stuff for Kirk to use today. I had bought a new 100’ hose from Costco and this is one of the new modern expandable types and it turns out to be really worth it ($39.), especially for this job. It’s lightweight so Kirk was able to get it up on the roof easily. He got another section powerwashed while he was here. He had to go to another job. He is getting more customers lately, including Lou, who he meets with on Saturday to discuss scope of work. Speaking of Lou, he got back in the afternoon and dropped by later in the evening to give us a thank you card and a Safeway gift card.  Lydia made dinner and then we watched the latest Master Chef Jr. before going back to our own programs before bedtime. 

Wednesday, March 27^th, 2019…… This morning I got up early and got showered and dressed and got miss muttley out and walked. My sister had come by so when I got back, I let butthead off leash to go run with the Quinz.  My sister wanted to discuss her trip and Lydia’s scope in Portland. It is scheduled for April 26^th. It was decided that Penny would move her Utah trip to accommodate Lydia, who cannot get another day for her test. As it is, we have to go the day before and get a room so she can start the prep and have a place to stay before the sigmoidoscopy. Penny will move up her trip so we can watch Quincy and then she’ll be back to be able to watch the dogs while we’re gone. After our talk, Sis went home and I left and got coffee/tea while Lydia started breakfast. She made me another chorizo scramble with the meat that Penny had made and given us. After we ate, I cleaned up the kitchen and then took off to do my Habitat for Humanity trip. I stopped at a few thrift shops as well. I was looking for another digital clock for my room as the one I have been using (I’ve had it since digital clocks were first made) finally gave out. I found one for $1.00 and another for $2.00 so I bought both. I also found a water heater that I think I will go back tomorrow and buy. It was in pretty good shape. I didn’t locate the mfg. date today but it is a minimal risk at $25.00.  I also found a mini fridge that I want to go back and get. It looks brand new and will really work out for me to use in the workshop. I got back and relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day. It was just sprinkles and drizzles for most of the day so it was nice to be back inside. Lydia had ground turkey defrosting so she made hamburgers for dinner. Earlier in the day, we had decided to go to the show to see Captain Marvel, which was playing at our local theater. We left about 6:30 and got parked and seated. The show was pretty good. You kind of have to know The Avengers to be able to put everything together. We liked it.         

             

Thursday, March 28^th, 2019…... I got Rylee walked and breakfast finished and then took off to Habitat to get my water heater. I ended up with the cheaper one. With my 10% discount, it only cost me $22.50. I had pretty much everything except a few fittings and a gas line so I’m not in it much in case it doesn’t work. But it does! I got everything hooked up and it fired off and started up with no problem. BUT, when I went to hook up the line to the hot water side of the faucet in the bathroom and turn it on, still nothing! I couldn’t find any valves or anything else that wasn’t turned on.  The next step is to replace the valve under the sink and I’ll also replace the faucet but I’ll do that another day. Meanwhile, Lydia went to work out in the backyard, planting all of the flowers she recently bought from several nurseries and Walmart. She was pooped and so was I so we went out and got fast food out (Burger King). Since we went to the show last night, we were behind on Survivor so we watched that and the Blacklist, both that she has taped on her tv, while we ate. We got them both caught up and then went on to watch our own taped programs before calling it a night. Oh yeah, I stopped at Petco today so Rylee got some new toys and after running and playing outside with both of us in between jobs, she fell asleep on her dog bed instead of bugging us all evening to play with her. But I’m sure tomorrow morning she will still wake me up right on time!

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #28 – Running Errands, Kicking Back, and New Tires for the Honda

 

Saturday, March 23^rd 2019…...  Boy, Rylee is a handful! This morning I took her for her walk and after breakfast, I took her with me to my sister’s house to do some chores. We changed the fluorescent tubes in her garage, then put up a decorative planter on her backyard fence. Rylee tried to play with Quinz but she wasn’t in the mood. When I brought her home and let her out, she saw the neighbors pull up to their house and took off to go see them. She’s so young and just wants to be with people to play with her. I am so hoping that she will grow out of that as she gets older! This time I tracked her down and leashed her and kept admonishing her on the leash while walking her back home. I am letting her spend time on her own today. She so much wants to please me and sees me angry. But she needs to know I am not happy.   Of course, I relaxed later and everything was back to normal. I have learned that they have a short discipline timeframe and don’t understand why we’re mad at them for so long.

Later, Lydia cooked pork chops and we ate and then went off to each watch our tv shows until bedtime. 

Sunday, March 24^th, 2019…… Not much on the agenda today. After getting dressed and walking Rylee, I took off to go get coffee/tea/breakfast. This morning it was three stops. I use a phone app at Starbucks to pay for stuff there and I didn’t have any dollar bills for tips there, so I went to 7/11 and got coffee (and singles). Then I went to Jack in the Box and got myself a breakfast burrito and then next door to Starbucks for Lydia’s Chai Latte. Jade, who follows me on my blog, told me she was leaving the end of April. She is moving to Grants Pass (which is way south of us). She is really a nice person and I enjoy talking with her and will be sad to see her go. She’s transferring to a Starbucks down there so I will try to stop by when we go that way. Penny had brought Quincy over today for her Run-and-Play with Rylee. Today was nice and sunny, but we had a bit of rain yesterday. Butthead found the drag strip, which had enough water in it, and did a few laps and got covered in mud so she had to be hosed off. I was gone so I missed all of that! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching our programs. I always tape any races that are on so I had plenty to keep me occupied. Our neighbor, Lou, has again asked me to feed Bailey and Lucy while he is gone for a few days. This afternoon was the first day so, after I fed Rylee, Lydia and I headed down and spent a few minutes with the dogs and got them taken care of. He also puts out food for his cat and the neighbors so we checked that as well. Then Lydia started on dinner for us. It was back to tv until it was time to call it a night.     

             

Monday, March 25^th, 2019…... Rylee got me to take her out when I got up to use the bathroom and then again early this morning. I got showered and dressed and we went out on our walk. Even though we go right past Lou’s house on the walk, I wanted to bring my energetic mutt home first so she wouldn’t upset Lou’s dogs. I got my morning feeding done and then came back home and made my breakfast. Lydia and my sister were heading off to Albany to Home Depot, Kohl’s, and Costco this morning for some shopping. I thought about going with them but decided to just head off in the Honda to Costco on my own. I wanted to get tires for the car. I got there and they said it would be only 1½ hrs. total to do the job. So, I paid for the tires and went inside to shop. I found a few things I wanted and some to ask Lydia if she was interested in. They got there a bit later and we bought some towels and a mat for the back porch. I took all of the rest of the cold/frozen stuff that we both bought and got the Honda and headed home. The girls got there a bit later, after Kohl's and lunch. Penny took her cold stuff and headed home and we rested for the day. That was ok because it was rainy and cooler today. I couldn’t even think about mowing. The weather for the week shows one sunny day, then a rainy one, and so on. It may be a while before I get that mower out! Lydia and I went over to Lou’s and I got the little doggies fed while she changed out one of the piddle pads. I have one more visit there tomorrow morning before he gets home. One of the things we bought today at Costco was lobster ravioli. Lydia had the sauce so we made that for dinner. It was really good and something I will look for next time we are there. We watched Guys Grocery Games and then our own shows until bedtime.        

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #27 – Removing Moss and Another Trip to Portland

 

Wednesday, March 20^th, 2019…...  We actually got to sleep in a bit this morning. We got Rylee fed and then she came back to bed after gobbling up her breakfast. But, instead of playing, she was content to lay down at the foot of the bed, so we took advantage and got a few more minutes to rest and doze for a bit. My sister came over with Quincy and Lydia got up to let Rylee out to run while I took a shower and got dressed. She made a call to the surgeon’s office this morning. She wanted to let them know how she was doing. The report is that not much has improved since coming off of the antibiotics. She is still toying with the colon resection surgery but she wants to see if he recommends another round of antibiotics or maybe just scheduling it. The physician’s assistant called back later in the afternoon and took down some more info to pass on to the dr. who will call back tomorrow or Friday.

Today, Kirk was coming over for most of the day to work on powerwashing the moss off the house. After breakfast, I got my ladder out and positioned on the shop, where he will start first. I got out my power washer and got the water hose and electric hooked up. He got there and got started. I chose the shop because it is not as steep a pitch as the house. He spent quite a bit of time on the shop and the pressure worked well in removing all of the moss. But I saw it was going into the rain gutters. I have an issue with that because the downspouts go into a closed system that goes into underground pipes that channel everything out to the rain ditch way out (125’ or more) by the street. I don’t want to force anything down there that might get clogged up. So, I had him wash it down close and then straight off the side of the roof, avoiding the gutters. That worked well so all he had to do was use his blower and send it off to the grass, where I can get it when I mow. After a short break, he moved on to the house. He had another job to do today, so he only did about a third - the garage and my office on the west end of the house. We got everything cleaned up and Kirk left. Lydia had said she wanted to go to dinner.  I chose The Depot in Albany for scallops. It’s not fancy but it’s my favorite seafood place in the area. We got back and fed monster puppy and let her out to run for a bit before coming in for the night. We watched Master Chef Jr and got all caught up on that and then moved on to watch tonight’s Survivor we had taped, before calling it a night.              

Thursday, March 21^st, 2019……  This morning we planned on heading back to Albany to go to Lowe’s. But first we stopped at Elmer’s for breakfast. Yummy!  Lydia wanted some more plants and I was looking for a dryer flexible vent exhaust line for my motorhome garage. We also looked at new vanity light fixtures for the master bath. She also found and bought some more colorful plants for the yard. Oh boy, more work for me!

The rain was back today. The weather report shows a few small cells offshore for the next couple of days. During the drive today, we saw only sprinkles that barely got the ground wet. We had seen a report on the news yesterday about the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. We went last year (Rylee’s first outing!) and it was gorgeous!  But the late winter has screwed up the expected peak bloom so the fields look barren. They will still have the festival but they won’t have the crowds this time. We’ll pass too. Lydia heard back from the gastrologist. They have an opening tomorrow so we’ll head up there.  

     

Friday, March 22^nd, 2019…... This morning we got up and went to get coffee and then to meet my sister at another one of Linda’s estate sales. They opened at 7:45am and the cars were lining the street and the house was full of folks looking for bargains when we got there. Lydia and I hardly ever buy from one of these sales. The little company Linda works for always prices everything on the higher end. They expect all of the good stuff to go on Friday at the higher prices (which is good for the sellers). On Saturday they mark everything down to half price IF you spend $25.00 or more. We met up with my sister and talked a bit before we left. I asked her to feed Rylee if we don’t get home from Portland in time. As I mentioned, we didn’t buy anything and left to go to breakfast. Penny joined us at Kevin’s and then afterward, we came back home and Lydia got ready and we headed up north. We had plenty of time so we took Hwy 99 instead of I5. The GPS routed us there with no issues. Not much on the physical exam side, the dr. visited with us for the most part. Lydia told him that on Monday she was ready for surgery but each day from that she has been feeling a little better. He is not in a hurry nor wants to push surgery any time soon. Even though he wrote her a prescription for more antibiotics, he would rather she go as long as she can without because the cycle starts over again. She needs to go without (if she can) so he can get read on if she’s healing or not. We both felt that it was a great meeting and worth the long drive. He did discuss her diet and made some recommendations about eating a higher fiber diet for a while which is easier on her system. He wants her back in a month for a flexible sigmoidoscopy. That’s the mini version of a full colonoscopy. She only needs that because her issues are in the lower section of her colon. After getting out of the underground parking structure and back on the street we headed back home the same way we came up, but decided to stop in Salem at Olive Garden for ‘linner’ and then headed home. Penny was still there after feeding Rylee. She brought Quincy and they played for a while and that gave monster puppy some exercise for the day. We ate a few cookies for dessert and we were good for the night, which we spent watching our programs.      

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #26 – Enjoying the Weather & Relaxing

Sunday, March 17^th, 2019…... I have some projects to do but don’t have anything planned today. Sundays we just relax and take it easy. My sister came by this morning and walked Quincy. She has her appointment today to have her speakers installed in her car, so we volunteered to watch Quincy. We let the girls out on ropes, in the yard. Quincy will stay put but Rylee will stray off, so to let them lounge in the sun, we need the ropes. Each of us is in our rooms watching tv so we have to check every few minutes. They did good and didn’t get tangled once! But they didn’t lay down in the sun at all, they just moved around on the grass and played. Later, Penny came back and got the Quince. We just hung around the house and watched our tv programs. I have races and auctions to get through so it was a lazy day!   

Monday, March 18^th, 2019……  This morning butthead got us up at her usual 7:00am but she had me up once last night, around 1:00am, to go out to pee. After we got up and going, I went out and got us breakfast and later in the morning, I went out to trim the small tree next to the driveway. It gets super thick so now was the time to do the cutting back. Below that tree, we are now in full bloom with daffodils.

We also have some color coming up in various places. We saw it last year – nothing and then bang, everything starts to bloom! We expect it if this Spring weather holds up for a while. Lydia was feeling good so she came out and trimmed up one of her plants (an amber joy - that’s the green plant to the left in the picture) and got all of the dead clippings cut off. Kirk will be here Wednesday and he will be planting a couple of things Lydia has picked up but he won’t be doing more than that. I have him tasked with going up on the roof and pressure washing it to get the moss off of it. Yeah, that’s something we have to watch up here. Some houses get it really bad and their whole roof will turn green. We don’t have much and it will burn off come summer but we want to get it while we can. Besides, Lydia won’t let me up on the roof!  

             

Tuesday, March 19^th, 2019…... We got up early again – that’s when Rylee wants us up! Although to be fair, she waits until I stir a bit then gets up close to nuzzle me up. That usually happens around 7:00am.  My back has been acting up again, for the past couple of days. Not sure what I did but I’m taking it easy right now. After breakfast (Lydia made egg sandwiches) I went out and spent some time in the motorhome, catching up on some tv shows.  I have several series taped out there that I am way behind on. I also ran the hot water heater (the Aqua Hot) on electric just to give it some exercise. Tomorrow I will run the diesel side and let that run awhile. I do want to add some exhaust lines for that pipe plus the engine tailpipe so that I can route the exhaust outside, instead of in the garage. We went up to Wilco today. It was their Rewards Sale for preferred customers and was today only. Rylee’s dog food was 20% off; clothing, pet supplies, and lawn and garden were 25% off and everything else was 10% off. We bought a couple of (30lb) bags of dog food, a couple of plants and a few other things before we got out of there. We had an early lunch and Lydia got a chicken and rice dish prepped for dinner later. We watched Guys Grocery Games and then Master Chef Jr. before watching our own shows.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #25 – Some Nice Weather & Shopping

  

Thursday, March 14^th, 2019…... I think Spring has sprung! At least I hope so! The weather is so nice right now, that we don’t want it to change! I’m sure we’ll have some more rain (hey – this is Oregon!) but I think the cold yucky days of winter are mostly behind us now. If you want to visit when it’s nice and things start to bloom, now would be a good time to start planning and get up here soon! For our rv friends, I need to remind you that we have plenty of parking. I have a 50-amp site, and two 30-amp sites so we’re covered. We also have a guest room plus our motorhome can sleep a couple.

Lydia had an appointment this morning at the nail salon so she took off to do that. I hung around the house until the sun got over the blueberry netting project I needed to get back to. My recliner has now been dismantled and all of it except one foam pad was taken today via the trash container. So, now there is room for the netting. All I need to do is cut it up in small sizes and roll it up to stuff in the container. I also have a call in to a guy in Sheridan who has a water heater I am interested in. I saw it on Craig’s List. The water heater in the shop was taken out (before we bought the house), due to an inspector considering that room to be a residence, because it has a toilet and sink. He made Walt remove it but everything is there so I want to put another one back in its place. This one is only a 20-gallon model but that is plenty for the bathroom sink.  Because I could be made to remove it again, I am not going to spring for either a new conventional water heater or a tankless.  But I will take a chance on one that’s only $35.00. I am waiting for a call back from the guy.

Lydia got back and did some dusting and general cleanup. It’s amazing how quickly we can load up junk on the kitchen peninsula! I had attached Rylee on a longer rope so she had free run of the place and I didn’t have to keep an eye on her running off to the neighbors. We were both happy! I got all of my net cutting work done for today. I still have the old lumber to deal with. I am formulating a plan to use some of it as a sliding barn door for the alcove in the kitchen/dining room area. During the day, I got texts from our friend Mike Root in California. He and Cheri have the sweetest little dog, Susie. He said she had a rough night and was worried. She’s bumping into everything like she’s going blind. She’s 11. They will be taking her in to the vet today. Lydia had got some steak out yesterday but we had passed on dinner so she cooked it up tonight for steak sandwiches. Easy, quick, and good! No word from the water heater guy. But Mike texted back that the vet says Susie has gone completely blind. We texted for a while and then he called. We talked a bit. The vet says they can remove the cataracts. They want to get the blood tests back first. He also wanted to let me know he was sending me a form to sign for our camping club to join FMCA. We are already FMCA members and we will add our name and member number to the club roster. I will forward to Betz’s in Ohio so they can sign as well and send back to Roots.          

Friday, March 15^th, 2019……  This morning started out sunny and bright. Yaay!  I got Rylee fed and I got showered and dressed and went out and walked her and then came in and fried up a couple of eggs for turkey, swiss, and egg sandwiches for breakfast. I always give Rylee a bit of egg and she follows me all the way from start to finish. We have finally switched to feeding monkey butt only twice a day, giving her more at each of the two meals. It sure makes it easy cause we don’t have to return from doing something just to feed her. It’s been a week now and she’s getting better about bugging me for her noon meal. Cheri called and said the Susie was at the vet’s office but was doing better. She has diabetes and they are stabilizing her.

As I mentioned, it’s terrific outside now. The forecast is for a whole week of sun and, more importantly, NO rain! I keep watching neighbors getting their mowers out and cutting their lawns. Me, nope. Still too squishy. I know if I try too soon, I will tear up the lawn with tire tracks. I might try to fire up the tractor though, and make a few passes out in the back field. That is field grass and is not as dense as our lawn so I may be able to get a head start and do that part anyway. But not until next week…

My sister came over this morning to get Lydia. They were headed to Corvallis to a store Penny wanted to go to and use a discount coupon. Then they went to Albany and hit Big Lots where Lydia bought curtains for our bedroom and placemats to match the tablecloth that we got there last week. I went over to Sis’s house to check on Quincy while she was gone. Q loves to lay outside when the weather is nice but if the neighbor’s dogs are out it gets her riled up and it’s a barkfest. But everything was quiet and I practically woke the Quince up when I went to check on her so all was good. I was going to stop and pick up lunch while I was out but I found I was still full from breakfast.  The girls got back a few hours later and Lydia came in and rested for a while. She started dinner early for me since they stopped for lunch. She is saving some of the meat to cut up for her salad later. We watched Guys Grocery Games before she went in to her own room to watch her shows. That left me to start watching Mecum Auctions. They are in Phoenix this weekend.   

             

Saturday, March 16^th, 2019…... This morning we went out to Shirley Mays for another breakfast with Janice and Penny. It was really good. After that, they headed to a few yard sales and we went to Albany to Big Lots to pick up another set of curtains for our bedroom. We need to do something with the slider there, it’s kinda plain right now. Because we use the blinds every day, and won’t close the curtains too often, I think she is going to do long curtains on the sides and cut two more down to make a valance. That will dress up the opening and give some color to the room. Once we got those and a curtain rod, we headed home. Last month, one of the old-time businesses, Like Nu Appliances, closed their doors. They specialized in used appliances and wanted to sell and retire and move to California, close to their kids.  It was for sale for a few years but they couldn’t sell it, so they just shut it down.  This weekend, they had a tool sale, out of the garage at their home.  My sister and Janice went to see what they had and called me to let me know. We swung by and checked it out. Everything was reasonably priced. I bought some peg board hooks and some drill bits and Lydia found an old wooden ladder she wants to modify to use at Christmas to display our Christmas village homes. She had seen one on tv and liked it. We loaded those and came home. I took Rylee out for a good run and checked the lawn again. It’s better but still too wet to mow. We didn’t have anything else planned for today.  Lydia had me get out some ground turkey and later, we made tacos for dinner. We both spent the evening relaxing watching our own taped programs until bedtime.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #24 – Running Errands and Another Doctor’s Visit

 

Monday, March 11^th, 2019…... Nice weather again today. Storms are expected tomorrow. We’ll see. I got Rylee out and walked and then made myself some breakfast. Lydia was having some discomfort this morning so we’re staying close to home today. My sister was coming over for a few minutes. She was headed to Albany to go to Costco for new fluorescent light fixtures for her garage and then to a car stereo store to check on speakers for her car. But she wanted me to listen to it first. I found that the left door speaker is blown. I expect that they will sell and install a pair, which makes sense. Her gps speaker out of the dash is also pretty squirrely so she needs a new one there too. She called later and said that the fixtures at Costco were the same as she already has, so she just bought new led tubes. Also, she said that the stereo folks have set an appointment for the speaker install. Later in the morning, Lydia felt better so we took off to go to Walmart for a few things for dinner. We wanted something easy and decided on sloppy joes and tator tots so we got all of that stuff. They have a bakery chain up here called Franz, that most of the stores, including Walmart, carry. They have a really good potato hamburger bun that we like so we found those and we were done. Besides a few more walks for muttley, that was pretty much it for the day.   

Tuesday, March 12^th, 2019……  Rain last night and in the forecast. But it barely sprinkled on us when I had Rylee out this morning.  And then the sun came out for a while! But later in the morning, it hailed on us for about 3 minutes. Then it cleared up again and the sun came out again! Weird weather. It is supposed to rain more this evening. Don’t blink! Kirk worked at my sister’s this morning and then came over, even though it was hailing! We called him in the house to talk about future projects. Lydia wants him to order her a couple of fishing rod plants. We saw these at the Oregon Gardens last season. 

They are technically called Dierama Pulcherrimum. A few months later, she inquired at the nursery and they weren’t in stock and it was coming to the end of the season. So, we waited and will now have Kirk use his discount and get us a couple. He can also talk to them about the best place to put these in the yard. The weather broke and the sun came out again so he made quick work and got all of my downed blueberry netting cut away and all of the broken boards piled up for me to dispose of. 

Lydia was feeling really good today. We hope that continues….. She received a call today from the Infectious Disease Dr’s office, asking if she wanted to come in tomorrow instead of a few weeks from now. They wanted to discuss the blood work that has been done and to retest her blood. We’ll do that tomorrow morning. She got out some halibut for dinner. I peeled and sliced some potatoes and we cooked some green beans. She asked me if I wanted to watch the series premier of Master Chef Jr. tonight on tape delay or wait. We watched Guys Grocery Games which I had taped and then MCJr on her tv. 

             

Wednesday, March 13^th, 2019…... I got up and got showered and going early so Lydia could go shower after me and get ready. After my walk, my sister came over and she had Rylee out with her while I went out and got breakfast/coffee/tea. When I got back, Lydia was dressed and we left around 9:00am for her 9:45am appointment in Corvallis. Sis was leaving Quincy so she could go run some errands and then go home and bake. The oven drives Quincy nuts so it was good for her to be here.

Once we got to the Dr’s office there, she was in for over an hour. Like I said, they wanted to do more blood work. Dr. Leonard’s office had seen that she had tested for the CMV virus, which is cytomegalovirus (pronounced sy-toe-MEG-a-low-vy-rus). This is a common virus that infects over half of adults by age 40. Once it’s in your body, it stays there for life and can reactivate. Most people’s healthy immune system usually keeps the virus from causing illness. However, people – Like Lydia – with weakened immune systems can get it. The Dr. today said one of the symptoms is an intestinal issue. Bingo!  Dr. Leonard (her nephrologist) had seen this in her labs and had given her a 24-day medication, but that was back before she was on the lessor dose of anti-rejection meds. Subsequent bloodwork showed no signs, but she wanted a consult with an infectious disease doctor, and today was the first day we could get in. Today’s blood was drawn so that will check it again. They want her to do these labs weekly for one month. Not having it show up in the latest bloodwork means that the 24-day meds probably got it. Plus, the antibiotics may have helped in clearing up her symptoms. But to ask her, she still has discharge and pretty severe pain still. The colon wall usually doesn’t heal that quickly so this may take more time to sort out.  

After the Dr’s. we stopped at Roz and Ali and also at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, and TJ Max where we bought a few things before heading home. We found our friend, Brian’s, food cart now in operation at the old Mega Foods parking lot in town, so we stopped and got lunch from him. His truck is called Chau's Little Vietnam. His wife owns the nail salon where we go and we've tried his food at the BeerFest. It is the best!  We took it home and my sister was back to pick up Quincy and we spent some time with her before she left to go home. We rested and then later, I took Rylee out and put her on her rope, while I sorted out the wood from the netting from the blueberry bushes that Kirk had taken down yesterday and piled up for me. The weather was just too nice to stay in. We had blue skies and nice sun beating down. We are supposed to have 2-3 days of sun before the next rain. Yaay! My neighbor even was out yesterday with his tractor, mowing his lawn. He is on higher ground so he doesn’t have my soggy grass issues. I still have to wait but we’ll see what these next days bring…

Neither of us was hungry after lunch so we left dinner open. I had the rest of the sloppy joe mix and Lydia ate some of the leftover casserole.  We watched Survivor and then a few other shows before calling it a night.       

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #23 – Drying Out From the Snow and Rain & Hanging Around the House

 

Friday, March 8^th, 2019…...  Today the weather started out nice. They said we have rain coming and snow at the higher elevations. But it was still pretty cold. Everything was wet from drizzle last night. Even though our concrete parking pad and our asphalt driveway and the street were iced over and slippery, I still managed to get Rylee out and we did our walk with no problems. We had nothing on the agenda so we ate in and stayed in all day. I let Rylee out to pee and she saw Rick’s car coming home across the street so she took off. I had to chase her down. I am not happy!

The predicted rains came later in the afternoon and went well into the night. Not much came down but I’m sure the roads will be slippery again tomorrow. TV until bedtime. 

Saturday, March 9^th, 2019……  Sis and Q are coming over this morning. It’s still cold outside and we have more slippery conditions. There is black ice on the roads and the local radio station is saying that there are reports of cars sliding into each other in town. The sun came out early though so much of it was gone by the time we got up and going. I let Rylee out to run with Quincy and by the time we got them back in and dried off, and Q fed, Lydia was up and dressed and we were ready to go to breakfast. Sis drove us to Kevin’s, where we met Janice. We ordered and while we were waiting, I skimmed thru the little weekly publication, similar to our old Pennysaver, that was on a rack on their counter.  I noted that there was a yard sale going on today in Sweet Home. They advertised it as an everything- goes-old-farm sale. I wasn’t interested, but Janice was. So, after breakfast, I took my sister’s car home and she went with Janice to go check it out. Once we got home, we decided to head to Albany and do some shopping. We hit Big Lots, where she bought a couple of knick knacks for the bathroom, and Target, where she bought some more bath towels. We headed back home and rested for the day. I had a few races taped so I watched them and she did some laundry. She asked me what I wanted for dinner and I told her I was hungry for either pizza or panini sandwiches. I ended up choosing pizza. We had coupons so I went to Domino’s for their carryout special. It was our first time going to this location. But it’s close and we wanted to try it out. Turns out it was pretty good pizza but their counter service leaves a lot to be desired. I will give them another try. There is also a Pizza Hut here that we still have to try as well.

Early in the evening I went on the task to set all of our clocks so we were ready for the time change. That was our Saturday.    

             

Sunday, March 10^th, 2019…... Another nice day. The sun is out and temps are supposed to get up into the mid 50s, which is really good for March. I walked Rylee and found that all of the snow, even up in the foothills above us, is now gone. There was frost on the roofs of all of the homes when I was out with the monkey butt, but that will be gone as soon as the sun gets higher in the sky. I did a few maintenance items today - I went out to the shop and added salt to the water softener and then went to the rv garage and started up the motorhome and checked things out in the coach (and set the clocks in there too). More races today and a few more loads of laundry. We are still hanging around the house a lot. Lydia has finished her antibiotics a few days ago and now needs to see if her symptoms get worse or better. She still has plenty of cramping pain, especially in the mornings, so we only want to make short trips for now. Time is going to tell if she either improves or needs more antibiotics.

She decided to fix a casserole and got that going in the afternoon.       

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #22 – A Trip to Portland and a Date Night

 

Tuesday, March 5^th, 2019…...  I woke up about 5:30am this morning and got up and ready. While I walked Rylee, Lydia got up and got dressed and ready for our day. We left the house and drove the 100 miles up to Portland for her meeting with the digestive health team. The drive was uneventful and we got through the usual bogged-down areas with little problems. We only missed the turn to the medical center once so we thought that wasn’t too bad! We found the underground parking and made our way to the sixth-floor offices and checked in. We met with a nurse, then a physician’s assistant, and then with Dr. Herzig. He had already consulted with the transplant center in the area (not sure exactly where they are located) and was ready for Lydia. He did a great job, first listening to her complete synopsis of her history and past and her present condition and then, after an examination, explaining about next steps. He recommends that we wait until the antibiotics have worked their magic and then, once off those, see if she can sustain with no symptoms. If she can, he wants to see her (or do a telecon) and close the case. If not, we will look into scheduling surgery. He explained the complications of colon re-section surgery and the lengthy recovery time. He said he’s pretty sure it’s diverticulosis and wants to see how she does after the antibiotics are done (which is sometime this week). He’s glad to hear that the pain has lessened since her anti-rejection drugs have been adjusted and agrees that the antibiotics are likely now starting to work. He’s almost ruled out Crohn’s Disease and any forms of cancer because all of her lab reports show no changes in her numbers. She still needs to do regular blood and urine lab testing to make sure the kidney functions maintain the same numbers. All in all, it was pretty good news. Time will now tell what the next steps are…

After we left there, we drove back toward home and stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Tualatin for lunch. We haven’t been for a long time so it was a nice treat, especially after such good news. We also stopped by the nice sized Cabela’s right next door. I didn’t buy anything (this time!). We got back home a few minutes after Penny got there from her appointments in Salem. She’s doing well and everything is on schedule. She had fed Rylee. Kirk was just leaving so I caught up to him to give him his check for last month. He also has borrowed my trailer for a while as the one he was using is needed by the owner. I have plans on rebuilding my trailer but not until later this year, so I am glad to see it being used. We settled in and relaxed from our morning adventure.

Later, we had leftovers for dinner then settled in and watched tv until we were too tired to stay awake after our early morning outing.        

Wednesday, March 6^th, 2019……   I didn’t sleep well last night. Guess going to bed early wasn’t the right choice. Anyway, I was up at 3:30am and got settled into my chair in my room and turned on the tv. We keep the heater set at night to come on only if it gets below 65º, so I needed to turn it up a bit and then I was ok with a light blanket in my chair. Of course, Rylee left our warm bed and came in with me and slept on her blanket in my room. But, she was ready when I got up at 7:00am to feed her. Then I was up for the day. Nothing planned today. After I got showered and dressed, I walked Rylee. It was barely sprinkling when we left and I got back without getting too wet. Rylee doesn’t care!  We have some weather predicted but they don’t know if the light rain in the forecast will turn to freezing rain or what they call a “mix”. It is supposed to snow at the higher elevations. Our neighbors say that, in our area, the snow we got in February in itself, was unusual, but in March it would be extremely unlikely. We’ll see. Either way, we didn’t do too much. I went to Starbucks and got us coffee/tea while Lydia made bacon and eggs. After that, we stayed in and relaxed and did nothing.

Later in the day, it did snow. But the temperature was 36º, and even though it came down pretty heavy at times, nothing stuck to the ground. We’re watching to see if it snows later this evening and then it might stick. As we’re told, this is strange for March…

Tomorrow is trash day so we cleaned out the leftovers and stuff from the fridge and I took out the container amid the snow flurries. It wasn’t too bad. I learned my lesson last week, having to lug the containers over the snow. While I did that, Lydia started dinner. Tonight was Survivor, then we watched our own taped shows until bedtime.  

             

Thursday, March 7^th, 2019…... No snow (or rain) at all during the night. I slept way better than the night before. But turns out, Lydia didn’t. She said she got up to pee about 1:30am and was restless and awake so she went in to her room and watched tv. I guess Rylee took her place on the bed. I didn’t wake up until about 3:00am and saw the light coming down the hall and I could see she was up. I got up and checked on her, then went back to bed. She woke me briefly when she came back to bed about 4:00am. Later, neither of us wanted to get up but butthead made sure one of us did! I let her out and waited and then wiped her paws at the door and then went back to bed. She stayed off our bed and slept on her blanket in the corner until 6:59am when she jumped up on the bed to get me up to feed her. Now I was up for good. I got showered and dressed and let Lydia sleep. But Rylee bugged her to play so now she was up too. She went in and made herself an egg sandwich and I went out for my morning breakfast run. I stopped and got my Jack in the Box breakfast burrito and coffee/tea from Starbucks. After breakfast, I was planning on heading over to Albany to Petco to buy a new dog leash, but I wanted to check online first. I found a couple of sellers on eBay and Amazon that had what I wanted and they were cheaper than Petco or PetSmart. So, I didn’t go anywhere. Later, I took Rylee and went out to the shop and finished dismantling the recliner. I got everything sorted and scraps in the trash and/or recycling, and got the work table cleaned and the floor vacuumed and then we came in for the day. I was relaxing and ate a light lunch and Lydia came in and asked about dinner. Did I have any preference? If not, she said she could cook spaghetti or we could go out. We opted for The Spaghetti Factory in Corvallis and fed muttley and headed out around 3:45pm. We like to go early. We got seated by the window overlooking the river (Willamette River). The Oregon State rowing teams were out practicing going up and down the river. That was cool!  We had a nice meal and then headed back home. The weather today had been off and on drizzles but hardly enough to wet the ground. It started to clear up in the afternoon, and when we left the house, it was nice and sunny. So, our dinner date out was very pleasant. We got back home and got the dog walked again and then we settled in and watched tv until calling it a night.        

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #21 – Dealing With the Snow, and Dealing With Taxes

 

Saturday, March 2^nd, 2019…...  Rylee got me up super early this morning (2:30am) to go outside. She investigated the grass and remaining snow piles a bit before doing her business and coming back in. But I was able to go right back to sleep. Guess I was tired! She woke me up about 6:30am and wanted out again. This time for number two! We played a bit and around 7:00am I fed her her breakfast. We didn’t have much on the agenda today so I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep. No way! She eats and then wants to play! So, I was toast!  I got up and showered and dressed and then took her out. We still have a lot of snow up and down our street. But it was all on the side so walking was easy. We have winds coming in from the west with really cold air so it was more than just chilly this morning. Rylee doesn't care but I bundle up with earmuffs and a scarf and gloves to stay warm. Lydia had gotten bacon out and once we got back, I finished cooking it.  After eating I cleaned up the kitchen, and we rested for a while, then started in on cleaning up the house. I got the vacuum out and did the floors and the carpets, while Lydia changed the bedding.       

Sunday, March 3^rd, 2019……  I got to sleep in this morning! Lydia got up and let Rylee out then fed her. I stayed in bed and got a few minutes more sleep. After walking her, I left and got us breakfast. This was going to be a typical Sunday for us – a lazy day. We spent most of it watching tv. I did go out to the shop for a while to work some more on dismantling my recliner. Since it is broken beyond repair, my plan is to recycle the wood and metal and dump the material in the trash and not have a bulky carcass to dispose of. Problem was that the shop has been too cold to be out there for any length of time, unless I start the Buddy heater. Today I was only going to work on it for a short time so I didn’t bother to warm the shop. I also got Rylee out for a run. Even though most of snow is gone (it’s only still around in the areas that don’t get much sun) the ground is still real soggy so I don’t want to tear it up too much. So, we found the driest area and only played for a short time. She was ok with that and spent the time exploring and smelling everything that has melted after the snowfall. We went back in and I relaxed and watched my Nascar Cup race. Later, Lydia fixed steak with pasta and veggies and we watched Guys Grocery Games and got caught up again.        

                 

Monday, March 4^th, 2019…... Still waiting to receive the year-end summation records from our mail-order pharmacy so we can complete our taxes. Lydia called OptumRx last week and they were going to re-mail them but the nice lady there was able to give us the totals over the phone so we could use that for our input. I made a quick spreadsheet with that and the rest of our medical totals for last year to take in to Claudine. She has everything else done so I expect she will call us later today to pick up the returns. Of course, I had to walk butthead before I did anything! She enjoys her walk but would rather have Quincy come over so they could play. They came over this morning and she was happy!  Since we stayed at home most of yesterday, I took Lydia (and my sister) out this morning for breakfast. We drove to Sweet Home and ate at Skyline, which we always enjoy and haven’t been to in a while. While we were sitting there, we made plans for tomorrow. Penny has a Dr’s appointment tomorrow in Salem. We drive to Portland early for a 9:00am appointment with the surgical team. They want to do a consult and an exam prior to any surgery. They have scheduled March 21^st as the tentative surgery date. We have to go to Portland because they have a kidney transplant center there and they will be brought in for the consult. Lydia has been doing better each day so we think the antibiotics are finally starting to clear up the infection. She still has discomfort prior to and during bowel movements but she says its way better than it was. After the tests tomorrow, they should be able to determine next steps. So tomorrow, Sis will bring Quincy here so she can come back here after her appointment and take care of both dogs at one time.

Once we got back from breakfast, I waited til the mail was delivered (yep, got both sets in one day!) and then took the documents we have, plus my spreadsheet, back to Claudine for her to factor into our return. She said no problem, and took my spreadsheet only. The documents go back to me and are support docs only and I will keep with my paperwork.

Later in the afternoon, while we were on the phone with our friends Janie and Rick, I missed a call that the returns were ready. I jetted back to pay and pick them up. I forgot that Lydia needed to sign the return so I called her and she had to come down as well. But it was worth the time and effort because we got a refund (from Federal) this year! Yaaay!  But it turned out all of the medical didn’t total enough for the state after all. But that was ok - we only ended up paying them a whopping $5.00!  So, now we are done with that task for a year!  We went back home and fed Rylee then decided we would go get dinner so we went right back out and went to Oregon BBQ. Note – if/when you come up to visit, please remind us to have Oregon BBQ while you’re here. It’s not fancy but it’s the best! It’s all take-out there so we ordered and brought it home and ate and then finished the evening watching our programs until bedtime.        

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #20 – A Return Visitor and Running Errands

Wednesday, February 27^th, 2019…...  Cherrelyn comes into town later today. She is coming up to spend a few days with my sister before heading up to see her son who lives in Beaverton. We are going to pick her up from the shuttle station in Albany. The weather here has been interesting and snow on the ground for days is a first for us up here. Last year we only got two snowfalls – one was only a dusting of 1 inch and the other was 4 inches which melted away in less than a day. This year we’ve had at least three snowfalls already. The first was about 4 inches and was gone in a day. This last week it has snowed several times and we still have probably 5 inches on the ground. This afternoon it stopped and the sun actually came out so are hoping we are done for a while. We went and picked up my sister and then drove to the shuttle place. We only waited a few minutes before the bus showed up. We headed back to Lebanon and stopped at Pizza Schmizza for dinner. Nobody had pizza – we ordered salads and wings – all really tasty. We dropped off the girls back home and headed back to rest and watch tv. We watched the 2-hour finale of The Masked Singer. I found I was really anxious when they revealed the final three. We have been doing really well in figuring out who was under the masks. Out of the 12 contestants, we only missed on 2 - the Hippo (Antonio Brown) and the Monster (T-Pain). The others we guessed - some from the clues and others from their voices. We both enjoyed the series very much and will watch next season.  

Thursday, February 28^th, 2019……  No snow last night. But this morning when we went out on our walk, we found the cold weather overnight had changed things. The slushy parts froze over so it was pretty slippery. The top layer of snow had a crunchy crust on it. I had forgotten to take the trash out last night so I found it was hard to roll the containers over thick crusty snow! Have to watch that! After we got back, we visited with Cherrelyn and my sister, who had brought Quincy over for her run. Turns out it was not a run - trudge was a better term. But Rylee hardly noticed and she played and ran through it like the puppy she is! 
Later, we headed off to the hospital lab, or as we are now calling it, the vampire lab, so they could draw more blood from Lydia. We decided to stop on the way home at Kevin’s and have breakfast. After that I was good to go for most of the day. We are headed over to my sister’s house for dinner. Janice will be joining us. Once we got back home, I let monster mutt out again for a while then read the newspaper. Lydia asked if I wanted to watch last night’s Survivor so we did that. She also had taped the Elvis special with celebrity singers doing a tribute and singing all Elvis songs. We both enjoyed watching that! I went in and worked on my bills for a few minutes and got next month’s payments in my register. I went out to check on the trash containers and found they were still full. My neighbor says it happens and to leave them for tomorrow. He said snowfall this late in February only rarely happens. He reminded me that since we are outside the city limits proper, we are considered country, so we do not get Oak Creek Way plowed in the event of bad weather. He said one time, several years ago, that they had 18 inches on the street. He made it to his driveway and another neighbor only made it part way down our street before bogging down. But that was rare indeed. We only get an average yearly snowfall of around 5 inches. We just got it all really close together this year. He doesn’t expect we’ll see any more snow this winter. We’ll see….

Later, we fed butthead and then loaded her up in the car and headed over to Penny’s for dinner. It was nice. She fixed chicken with pesto and zucchini and a cheese sauce and a nice salad. Janice brought over healthy donut holes for dessert. Everything was very good. Rylee always likes going over to visit with Quincy. She knows where her toys are kept and spent part of the time dragging them out one by one. After a nice visit, we came back home and settled in for the night. We did bring Quincy home with us for a sleepover. Cherrelyn and Penny are heading to an estate sale and will leave early tomorrow morning, so I get dog walking duties.

                 

Friday, March 1^st, 2019…... This morning the sun came out and everything was really pretty! I showered and got going early. I took both dogs out on the property and let them run. I found the snow deeper in the west forty, which has higher, thicker field grass. Rylee had no issues (must be her webbed feet!) but the Quince was sinking down with every step and almost tripped a few times. The snow in the back field was no problem and they soon got their footing and had a good run. Of course, butthead found her drag strip to run through again and again!  But I was able to bribe her with treats and made her lay down enough times in the snow to help rinse the dirt off of her belly. We plan on letting her run wild tomorrow and then put her in the tub for her bath. Later, once we got them dried off and back in the house, Lydia fed Quincy and I took off and got breakfast/coffee/tea and brought it home. The dogs crashed

and after that, I took off again. This time I drove to Corvallis to the neighborhood Walmart Market. We bought Sam’s bottled water from Walmart a few weeks ago but our local store was out of it the other day and I remembered the Walmart market in Corvallis and went there to check. Turns out they did have some so I bought four cases. I also stopped at the Kmart in town. They are down to their last three days and the store is almost empty. I went there to buy a queen heated mattress pad if they still had any left. They did. It was 50% off so not a bad deal. I headed home and the girls were back from the estate sale and came over to visit and to pick up Quincy. We all sat around for a bit. Later this afternoon, Cherrelyn is shuttling back up to PDX and her son, who works close by, will pick her up when he gets off of work. We took some pictures 

and then said our goodbyes and then spent the day just lounging around the house. As I said, the sun is out and the snow is slowly melting away. By tomorrow it probably will be all gone, except the spots that don’t get any sun. We both ate late lunches so we just snacked instead of having dinner. Of course, super pooper got her dinner right on time! Then it was watching tv (Nascar truck race for me and taped shows for Lydia) until bedtime.