We had a nice Thanksgiving celebration with the Jrs on Thursday. I was graced with the presence of both my Casey grandies, so they decorated the tree for us.
In the days since, we’ve brought it all the decorations down from the attic and schlepped it all around…
We’re determined to let go of anything we don’t use this year (unless it’s sentimental) and we’ve brought out lots of stuff we don’t usually use, just to see if we maybe should keep…
Today is another Holy Day here at the Acres: Casey’s birthday #71. He just will not catch up with me, though I try to dawdle… He was tickled to receive his annual infusion of flannel shirts and socks…
Raise your glass! Here’s to my husband, my companion, my partner-in-crime:
Watching an interview with a 90-something-old Walmart greeter, I snorted when he said, “you should never retire, or you’ll rust”… I’ve read some AARP articles that imply the same sentiment: Don’t relax or you’ll lose your edge.. I completely disagree with these opinions, possibly because I’m not metal and I never had an edge.
What I did lose when I retired 10 years ago was a whole lotta stress and worry. Even nurses who love their jobs feel the strain of their responsibilities, and I did not love my job.
What I did gain when I retired 10 years ago, has been nearly 20 lbs., but more importantly, I have peace of mind (which has obviously made me hungry). As for the rusty part, we take our role as stewards of these acres pretty seriously, and that keeps us well-oiled.
Looking back at these first 10 years of retirement, I’m pleased with how well we adjusted to living together, just the two of us. We had four years of trailer-trippin’ with our dream RV, and another four of gallivanting in Goldie. We’re active in the lives of our grandchildren and present for our children. We’re Disney World Annual Passholders. There’s plenty for Casey to fix around this house. I’ve always been a housecat, and I curl up and read a couple of books a month. I play the piano nearly every day and learn new pieces often. I write a blog weekly. I cook supper dang near every evening. Naptime is 2pm. Maybe I’m being a little defensive?
I have to admit that there are days when I feel absolutely worthless, days when I consider getting a job, but I’ve heard they put you on their schedule and I’d prefer to put them on mine. Then there’s the inevitability that I will have to quit and that is a whole Bad Mood waiting to happen. No, thanks, I’ll keep my Peace of Mind…and my appetite…
Anyway, I’ve been writing a flurry of words this week, and I’m nearly done with a story about my Grandmother’s Family, spanning 1818-1918. Blogging has trained me to keep it short, so it has been a blast to just keep writing for 100 years. The “end” of the tale is too hurried, though, and I need to fill that in. It is a long read, (and getting longer) and I’m thinking I should break it up into chapters. Would you prefer a 20-minute read or four 5-minute reads? For reference, today’s report is a 3-minute read. Let me know what you think.
These are the rather dull lull weeks just before we find ourselves in the Holiday Frenzy. I am starting to plan our Christmas activities, and it seems Samantha’s up for The Nutcracker and Peppermint Pops this year. Anybody out there want to meet me at Handel’s Messiah (Trinity UMC)? We’ll be in NYC for Christmas Day and that’s always a treat.
But right now, the Autumn leaves continue to paint an awesome mosaic of yellow, gold, red, ever changing with the wind. I’m going to corral some up to cover my perennials. I hope this involves the sound of scrunching..
Last week was good. Appropriate cards and greetings were sent to the lucky people who married my children. My long-time hairdresser coaxed my tresses into their usual bleached-blonde-blowout — yes, I actually pay to look this bad. A new longevity-of-phone-call record was set by me and my soul-sister – and I could have talked longer! BruBurger saw me twice, first for a lunch with my sister and then, a couple of days later, dinner with husband to celebrate our Anniversary.
My green beans and cucumbers are popping right up!
I’m still out early in the mornings to water and trim. Tomatoes and Peppers are finishing up their fruiting, but they look pretty spent. As soon as this heat passes, probably Wednesday or Thursday, I’m going to tear in and tear out in both the Edible and the Peace/Bird. I have the beginnings of an idea to transform the P/B garden this fall, complete with native shrubs and some sort of fencing to keep out the deer.
Speaking of deer, we have three fawns that visit daily, hanging out in our backyard with their moms nearby. They are darling. This summer we’ve attracted a couple of skunks – Pepe’ and one of his girlfriends, no doubt – who keep digging along our foundation. Pepper Flakes to the rescue.
I am returning to my Ancestry research. I’ve had my subscriptions on hold for a while, but upgraded to an international version for six months, and will be trying to catch up with my Scots-Irish roots, going back to our 17th century years in the Highlands. My German greats arrived later, and will be easier verify, so I expect to find that I’m some sort of baroness. I publish our family stories over at my Ancestry Blog, and if you have never visited, you really should! It is chock-full of interesting characters, many of whom haunt my house and heart. I’ll be bugging you more about this, so why not bookmark it and give it a read? www.allmyancestry.wordpress.com
Despite the oppressive heat, we’re going to Try to go to Ellis Park tomorrow to watch the thoroughbreds. The last time I attempted this maneuver, the heat shut down the track, so that could happen again. The season is nearly over, so I’m getting a little desperate. I don’t remember the last time I didn’t go to the races at least once in the summer!
Hope there’s some shade in your neck of the woods!
I enjoyed the Genealogy Quest at Willard Library this week. The librarians always do such a great job of making us comfortable, and the speakers are inspiring. Thanks to a day of learning about FamilySearch, I’m going to start all over again with my Mom’s family using their website. FamilySearch is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and is closely linked to the church’s Family History Department. Many of their members work at the FamilySearch library and Family History Centers as missionaries when they’re young, or just volunteers later. They have been doing this- and doing it well – for decades, so the whole website is exponentially better than the last time I took a look and I’m excited to re-boot my genealogy experience.
I won’t be starting that this week, although I’m sticking with the Ancestors theme: we are leaving tomorrow to finish up the cemetery at Emery Chapel. My 4x greats and more are buried there and the church had let the gravesites get covered over with brush and dirt. Here’s what we’ve done so far…
We camped at a nearby State Park, and the morning we left we cruised by for one last look and some pictures. Casey nearly stumbled on a protruding rock and when he looked closer, he was able to pull out a piece of a stone with a clear A… Eureka! We marked the spot best we could, and now we’ll take a probe and our tools and pull his marker up! This is so exciting for me! I know, crazy, huh?
The picture on the left is my 3x great-grandmother’s grave before. As we dug, we also found the marker of the babies she lost before her death, just one marker, with three precious names on three sides.. On the right you can see after we set them up on level ground and reunited their stones…
Honestly, I feel their spirits when I remember them, and the veil thins when I touch their gravestones…
My 4x great-grandfather, Adam Mayne, founded the church and cemetery where he is buried. He settled in the area in 1820 and established a stagecoach stop, and owned many acres to farm. From the minute I arrived in the area, I felt like I had come home. That’s why I’ve taken it kind of hard this week to see the town of Springfield, Ohio, so maligned. This town of 60,000 is not dangerous (though it does harbor a lot of trumpers) and was peaceful enough until all these terrible lies were spread. These Haitian people are here LEGALLY, just like my Vietnamese nail girls, and my Ukrainian banker, and my my son-in-law’s Filipino parents. They were invited and welcomed by local churches and social organizations. They weren’t tricked into coming there, and they work for a living. And now they’re being threatened with deportation? Remember “Bring me your tired, your poor?” It’s an American Thing to help people who are “yearning to breathe free”, or it used to be. And if you really want to do something about the Southern Borders, pass that bill that’s sitting on the Speaker’s desk, or vote for someone who will…
Goldie is ready for a road trip and so am I. It’s about 4.5 hours, so our plan is to first shop at Heart of Antiques in Springfield, then head down Xenia Road to John Bryan State Park. The campground there is adjacent to Yellow Springs, a village we adore, and about 5 miles from the cemetery.
Hope you’ll be enjoying this last week of summer in your neck of the woods…
Two Sundays ago, we were arriving in Disney World, meeting up with the Jose Family for 5 days of Fun. Despite the hellish weather, we had a Great Time!
Last Sunday, we were arriving home from our Trip, overwhelmed with laundry and catching up with the gardens. Now This Sunday, we’re waiting as patiently as we can for Melissa, Emma, and Eliza to arrive to spend the next 5 days with us!
This is most likely our last Camp Sonnystone, but it’s going to be Super. I will share with you next week. Thanks for following me, dear Friends.
I do my best to keep track of what day it is, I really do, and have a calendar right in front of me, as well as a dated planner open to my right. Still, I am shocked to realize that the Kentucky Derby is now less than two weeks away.
I haven’t been paying attention to the horse races like I used to — too much bad news and suspicious behavior. But just like tuning into March Madness even though I don’t follow college basketball, it’s part of the wheel of year in my traditions, the day to dress up, wear a fancy hat, and drink expensive bourbon. The local newspaper, which we have delivered on Sundays, has a nice insert to get my research started, as it is also my tradition to completely overthink the entire Triple Crown, unless there’s another American Pharoah this year. Check back next week for my tortured take on this year’s Run for the Roses. Sounds like a good way to spend my time waiting for planting weather.
Speaking of planting, if you missed the debut of my new garden blog, there’s a link in the right sidebar. ‘Tis the season…
Here’s another link to Growing Every Season 2. Click on over and subscribe!
Come to think of it, you should subscribe to This Blog, the one you are reading and I just noticed that the Follow Button is missing… I will fix that soon, because I don’t want you to miss a single word of this fascinating stuff. Check the right sidebar to see if I’ve succeeded in fixing it.
Cousin Lana and I are headed over to UE Theatre today to see Waiting for Lefty, and I still need to shower and shave. The weather is cool, so I have to drag a sweater back from upstairs and bundle up. There’s plenty of sunshine, though; sending some rays your way.
We had a great time at WDW with the Jrs. We rode TRON for the first time and it was good. If I were ranking it, I’d put it right behind Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar Rite of Passage, Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog, and possibly 7 Dwarfs. When Tiana opens again, it may fall even lower, but hey, it was good.
I’ll make a movie eventually, but we came home to the most beautiful weather and I got sidetracked by gardening, some BIG Wind, and doctor appointments.
Then, there was the Total Eclipse…I didn’t expect to be so moved by it. There are no words to describe it, but both Casey and I were awestruck, only able to utter “Wow!”. It was just Wow.
Wondering just what Wow means, I checked out an article, “Why do we say Wow? , a very interesting read, that explained:
“Wow” doesn’t act like a lot of the words that make up the English language. It can’t be traced back to some ancient wowus spoken by Romans. That’s because “wow” is not a noun, verb, adjective or any other of those kinds of parts of speech; it’s a natural exclamation, like oof, ouch and ew.
Wow has evolved, especially since the 1920s, into all those parts of speech, but it was a natural exclamation while watching a natural phenomenon we call a Total Solar Eclipse. There was an emotional reaction for me, as well; one of peace and a feeling of belonging. If you ever get the chance to witness the Totality, go for it. It’s a real Wow…
If you’re a long-time follower, you may remember my garden blog, Growing Every Season. I started writing there in 2010 and in 2020 had used up all the free media space. Since then I’ve shared garden updates here at B&B, but I miss Growing and its lush photos taken weekly throughout the season. I am happy to announce that I’ll be starting up GrowingEverySeason2 this week, and I’ll share the link with you this Thursday, and weekly thereafter.
I recently finished editing, and re-published, the bio of my great-grandad, Ben L. Mayne, on my ancestry blog, All My Ancestors There’s a lot of words over there if you’re looking to do some reading.
I confess, I was very stressed about my echocardiogram stress test. Scheduled for 2/21, I spent 2/20 engulfed with anxiety, a chronic condition of mine, but the morning of the test my blood pressure was a pristine 120/71–perfect! As the sweet young tech hooked me up with electrodes, she convinced me that the test would be more accurate with contrast, so I agreed that an IV should be started. As the gal was starting the IV, my blood pressure shot up to 171/90, not good, but she almost blew the vein and it hurt.
She did the pre-test echocardiogram, and then we moved to the treadmill, where she instructed me that the incline and speeds would be increased every three minutes until we achieved a target heart rate of 127. The doctor arrived, and off we went. I do not do well uphill and though the pace wasn’t excessive, that incline was more than I expected. My heart rate went up to 136 after about two minutes, and just before the three-minute mark, my blood pressure blew up to 250/150… I said, Oh, my god! and the tech said, wow, that can’t be right, and came over and started fiddling with my blood pressure cuff, just as the treadmill was changing to an increased speed and incline. I felt no chest pain, but my legs were tired. The doctor told me we’d achieved our target rate and stopped the test. I then hustled over to the bed for a post-stress echo.
Well. In a couple of hours, the doctor had interpreted the results. My heart is fine, no blockages, good ejection fraction, no enlargement, rhythms had remained normal. The blood pressure thing, though, needs to be followed up.
Over 70% of Americans over 65 have hypertension, though many of them don’t know it. I had suspected that my blood pressure was increasing, but I started taking meds for cholesterol and had hoped its effect would also lower my b/p numbers. I’ve been checking my b/p at home and it appears I do have hypertension. I don’t know how they got that 120/70 number, but I’d like to see it again. I have an appointment with my NP March 4, so I suppose we’ll start some meds then.
I’m just lucky I’ve gone this long without significant health problems. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, as I have certainly abused my body and seem to have “gotten away with it”. Age always catches up with you, but genes are co-piloting. Celebrating my 71st birthday with Captain Morgan could be considered risky behavior, but I like that kind of excitement — it’s in my genes.
I’m just trying to Age Like Wine…
Old timer, old timer Too late to die young now Old timer, five-and-dimer Tryin’ to find a way to age like wine somehow
Todd Snider –
I thought that I’d be dead by now…but I’m not…
I’m meeting up with Lana at the Yellow Tavern in New Harmony tomorrow for the last of this year’s galas. It’s been a good week – I think I’ll do it again next year. Be there.
I like to make a big deal of my birthday celebrations now that I’m an oldster. February is often cold and gloomy, considered a long month despite its brevity of days. For several years I had parties here at the house, sometimes at restaurants, inviting as many younger people as possible to give me a shot of energy. I’ve had birthday galas in NYC, Nashville, California, and, of course, Disney World. When my #4 grandie was born February 22, 2015, just one day before my own natal day, I saw a grand opportunity to have joint celebrations, so since then she and I have a party for “our” birthday, usually just cupcakes and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, but great fun.
This year we’re taking Samantha, two of her buddies, along with Nova and her boyfriend, Aiden, to Gattitown for pizza and games. It’s Presidents Day tomorrow, no school, kids eat free, and I really enjoy the games myself, so it seems like a sign that good times are in store.
No Disney this year for my birthday because we are going for a week in March with Boychild and his family. We enjoy Disney by ourselves, but going with the kids is fantastic. I can hardly wait.
Appropriately marking my advancing age, I have an echocardiogram stress test scheduled for February 21. The radiologist who read my annual lung CT saw nothing on the lungs, but the atherosclerosis in my coronary arteries is still there, so I’ve got a new diagnosis and my primary doctor wants to look further. I’m not worried about it, in fact welcome it. Having worked in cardiac care many years ago, I know there’s lots we can do about coronary artery disease, so I’m happy to see if I need treatment.
So my birthday-date plans are up in the air. I may be celebrating a great test result, I may be starting new meds. I’ll let you know. Wild Rumpus-ing is not likely…
The sun has been bright in the mornings, belying 20degree temperatures. In its usual bipolar way, Eville will swing back to mild 60+ degree days this week, so maybe I can work on my tan….
Today is my Mom’s birthday, in heaven as they say. She would be 93 if she were still kickin’, but it was her fate to die at age 71, back in 2003. Her birthday was always the Prologue to my own, just five days later. I guess we never stop missing our parents.
Every week Dan Rather writes a nice blog post over at Substack. Today’s post included this video of Peggy Lee, a great singer/songwriter, singing her song “It’s a Good Day”. Music is a fine way to start any day, and this song got my toes tappin’. Hope it inspires you, too.
Peggy Lee wrote this song and many others, including “Fever”… Such a wonderfully talented lady.
The News from Sonnystone Acres 