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.
Thought I’d fill you in on my “cemetery rescue plan”…which is more like a “gravestone rescue plan”. I spoke with the Pastor of the church my 4x great-grandfather founded and he is fine with us going in and cleaning up the area where my Greats are buried. He was unsure about cemetery regulations, but I pointed out that I’m not going to actually Move anything, just uncover them and try to piece them back together. He offered the help of the church, talked about a re-dedication service when we have finished, and asked me to give a little talk about Adam and my other grandfathers who were central to the history of their church.
This is what Emery Chapel looked like in 1854
We will drive Goldie back up to Yellow Springs next Sunday with shovels and trimmers and such, stay a couple of nights, and get as much done as we can.
Casey’s been splitting wood and I’ve been planting mums — very autumnal, doncha think?
I’ve been Trying not to gripe, but this weather has sucked. Eight straight days of lows in the 40s when I’ve already planted my peppers dictated that we cover them every night.
The tomatoes didn’t like it either, but I did talk to them every day and all seems well. They were not small or tender, so there was no chance of them dying, but I know from experience that they will be slower to fruit.
It’s the continuing saga of learning to not get in a hurry; everything in its own season…
The birds have kept me company as I wait to get outside and really dig in. I heard a goose honking and carrying on and looked outside to see this…
Sort of a Goose on the roof… He was talking to his companion, perched just out of the sight of my camera and they seemed be planning something, then flew off.
The feeder was visited by a Scarlet Tanager — surely a sign of Goodness…
This week I’m Really going to get the garden in: plant the cucumbers, squash, watermelon, sunflowers, marigolds. I’ve got some parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme for a Simon and Garfunkle garden bed and they’ll be happy to be in the ground, too.
Happy 13th Birthday to my #2 grandie, Olivia Mayne Casey! She is a writer, author of a series of books she’s been working on for a couple of years now. She is a singer and a dancer, a scholar and a good friend. She is a Joy to be around and I love our Saturdays together. We went out to the mall yesterday and did some low-key celebrating; she picked out a pair of new shoes. She’s wasn’t keen on letting me take some pictures, but I did manage to snap this…
Happy Mothers Day! Though she’s been gone nearly 19 years, I still miss my Mama every day. I recently framed a picture of her when she was young. I find myself going over to it and feeling her spirit; unfortunately, she keeps telling me she hates her hair in that picture!! She was always picky about her hair…sorry, Mom, I like it…
I’m researching our Irish ancestors and coming up with some new info. It’s keeping my mind off the weather that is not warm enough for the peppers I’ve planted. I’m obsessed with trying to keep them happy as the temps stubbornly refuse to rise up to our averages… Spring is so whimsical…
The News from Sonnystone Acres 