OCTOBER IS ALMOST GONE

I took this picture of a rainbow just after a shower. We have been having such nice fall days here. This is a picture of Daryl, Rachel and Avery in their Halloween costumes from Halloween of 2009 I took at Debbie's house. How fast a year goes by.

On the left under my desk is a small step-on garbage can that I bought at the Wal-Mart grand opening in Port Angeles. I just bought it because it was so cute. It is only 10 inches tall. You can see that it is smaller than my paper shredder on the other side.

The grand opening of the Wal-Mart in Port Angeles was October 27th. Apparently other Wal-Marts were opening that same day. We spent quite awhile there. Donna and I both got our hair cut. Haircuts were only $10 for the 27th and 28th. Besides the haircut, I managed to spend over $100. Some things I needed, some things I would not have bought if I hadn't gone there. We did all our shopping there and even ate our lunch at Subway in the Wal-Mart. It was neat to find everything in one place.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. I got up early and went to Seattle with Donna so she could get her knee checked. She is doing fine. She did have a topical infection and so she has antibiotic pills for that. We went over on the Kingston-Edmonds ferry and came back on that ferry too. Donna was going to drive around but the traffic did not sound good. It was dark when we left and it was dark by the time we actually got home. We went to Frys in Renton because Donna needed to buy a laptop. Her laptop (which she said had been the bottom of the line) was dying slowly. We didn't really have time to go visit anyone. We spent so much time looking at laptops that by the time we got through it was time to head for the ferry.

Even though it was late when we got back to Sequim, Donna wanted to check out to see if the Taco Bell had opened yet. It was open. There was a long line of cars in the drivethru and also inside was packed. We waited in line and got an order for us and for Laif. I guess grand openings are real excitement for small towns.

Tomorrow is Halloween so Happy Halloween to everyone.

JOHN WAYNE MARINA

Finally I am remembering to put on the pictures I took at John Wayne Marina Park. I took these last Tuesday. The weather was just great. This is a beautiful park to walk in. We walk a lot with our neighbors, George and Marge and, of course, the star of the family, Misty. Misty is such a nice friendly dog and well behaved.

JUST CATCHING UP, AGAIN

Donna didn't go to Church today because she had her knee surgery Friday so Laif, Eloise and I took care of the Library. Today was the Primary Program. How wonderful it is to watch the children.

I had sent for a new bedskirt for my bed. I had this cheap one from Wal-Mart that did not look good at all. The one I left at Debbie's would not have worked either because I decided that was not the color I wanted even though it was a nice one I got from Penney's. The color of the new one I got is called "Merlot" which is the popular color this year. I put the bedskirt on by myself. I had already planned out how to do it. The mattress that I have on my bed is much lighter than the one I had in Renton. I just moved the nightstand and leaned the mattress on the closet doors. It was more work making the bed than putting the skirt on. I didn't want to ask Laif. He has been working so hard downstairs putting LOTS of lights in for me and Donna was laid up with her knee.

I forgot to mention that I bought a new electric blanket (also in Merlot) because they had a huge sale on bedding and shipping was only $4.99. It is Penney's top of the line blanket. I saved $119.00. I bought the blanket for probably one of the silliest reasons you will ever hear. I bought it because it has stand-up controllers rather than the ones that lay down. Also you can see the numbers better. As it turns out, I am glad I did. The blanket is so nice and so soft. I have been wanting the new blanket ever since I saw it on line at Penney's. With my other electric blanket I had to turn it clear up to high to keep warm in the basement. With my new one I stay very warm on 5 or 6. It goes up to 9 and then high. The first night I set it for 8 and I woke up in a sweat and had to turn it down. I put the old one on the bed in the other bedroom downstairs.

BEAUTIFUL FALL DAYS

My plant that was supposed to attract Hummingbirds. I only saw one Hummingbird all Summer. The plant, however, is doing great. It is one that should be able to winter over. If it gets too cold, you are supposed to cover it with plastic wrap. We will see what happens. The beautiful plants that I put in the planters that Richard made me finally died. I put in these Asters. I have never grown Asters before. They are Perennials and are supposed to withstand temperatures down to -30 degrees. So if all that is true they should bloom again next year.

A closer up picture of the Asters. Purple was the only color they had at Home Depot. Wal-Mart had some plants but they already looked half dead.

Donna and I spent all day yesterday in the beautiful sunshine shopping for items to put in our jar for the Quilting retreat. It was in the low sixties both yesterday and the day before. Just gorgeous weather. Tuesday after Donna was through with her classes, we went walking with George, Marge and Misty at John Wayne Marina. I will put a picture of Misty on my next blog.
I went to the eye doctor for my check-up on Monday. I am doing real good. I have one more appointment on November 1st. The doctor thinks my eyes will be settled in by then and that I can finally get some glasses.

A BREEZY SUNDAY

It has been windy all day here. It rained most of the night. I am glad it had stopped raining before I went to Church.
I thought I better write something since I have not written in so long. Nothing real exciting to write about. My eyes are doing good but it looks like it will be a month before I get glasses. I got my flu shot Saturday at Walgreen's. A lady was waiting for a prescription and was telling me all about herself. She has Arthritis really bad. She had been on Naproxen for sometime and it finally caused internal bleeding so she was in the hospital. After she got out of the hospital she fell and broke her arm. She said she doesn't really know what the doctor is going to suggest for her Arthritis. She says she has so much pain that some days she can hardly walk. I didn't even mention my eye surgery. Sometimes I need to hear those stories so I know I am still doing good. I do fuss about being old but I have nothing to complain about really.
Wednesday Donna said she was taking me for an eye test. At first I didn't know what she was talking about because I didn't have one scheduled. Then I realized she meant the SARC pool because she wanted to see if I could read the numbers on the key and the locker. At first I did my usual fussing because we had not been there for awhile. The SARC center was closed awhile in September and also I was getting my cataract surgery done. We did go and I cannot believe that I could not read those big numbers before my surgery. The numbers are tone on tone and I just couldn't see them. They were so easy to read Wednesday. The Catract surgery is amazing.
The one fun thing we did this month was go to the Fall Stash Dash (Quilting shops). On Saturday, October 2nd, Donna, Marge (our neighbor) and I all went. We left at about 10am and did not get back until around 7pm. The weather was great and we just had a great time. We went to seven stores. We went to Port Townsend, Paulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Silverdale, Port Gamble and Sequim. We had lunch in Kingston. At each store you get your "passport book" stamped. You sign up for drawings and you get a free "fat quarter" which is a quilting square. Each store gives you part of the directions for making a quilt from the fat quarters. Donna got the directions but we are saving our fat quarters for our Quilting Retreat in November.
Most days I am still walking with George and Marge and Donna if she isn't teaching. We have to take Missy for a walk. Missy gets excited about seeing me now. I have been walking the parks without my walker. I am still a little leary about walking up and down the hills by the house without a walker. I will work on that.