HOUSE SITTING PLANTS

Christmas Cactus on the left.  The poinsettia belongs to Donna 

An Orchid Plant

 

I had to do another post to be sure the I could put pictures on both my laptop and my new Windows 8 computer.  I have been taking care of the Christmas Cactus and the Orchid plant since the early part of November.  The plants belong to Marge and George, our neighbors.  They have a really nice motorhome and they spend the winter in California and Arizona.  The plants were not blooming when they left but you can see they are blooming nicely. I hope I can continue to keep them alive until Marge and George get back the end of February.

END OF THE YEAR POST

 

Main Street in Buckley, Washington

 

 

This is a few lines to let you know I am still around.  I have been having a hard time putting pictures on my blog since I changed to Windows 8.  Diane came to Seattle so she could spend some time with her grandchildren.  Diane came over this afternoon to Sequim and will be spending the weekend with David and me.  She helped me get the pictures figured out. 

 

  

David had to go to Alaska for some meetings the first part of December.  The day before he left we drove to Buckley.  We went through Bonney Lake and Enumclaw too.  In Buckley we went to the Museum.  The building the Museum is in was the Church building that we used to go to when we lived in Buckley.  The Museum has so many interesting displays.  We had a nice visit with the volunteers and even the Mayor of Buckley stopped by.

 

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.  Steven and Janet and their children spent Thanksgiving week here, which was very nice.  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner.

 

Marge and Harry invited us to Christmas dinner at their retirement center.  It was so nice to visit with them.  The dinner was very nice.

LIVING THROUGH MODERN MEDICINE

A picture of the Sunset here in Sequim

I just put the picture on because I liked it.  The reason for my blog is to let everyone know what is going on with me.

I know that I had written earlier about my bout with Bronchitis back in the middle of August.  I have been to the doctor three times.  I had a breathing test which was abnormal.  I have been on two kinds of inhalers and have been using a Nebulizer.  When I went on Flovent I was doing much better but I still was short of breath just doing the simplest tasks. It has been nearly three months since I have not been winded to some degree.  Some days were worse than others depending on what I did.

Finally Wednesday I was able to see the Pulmonary Specialist.  He put me on Symbicort.  Symbicort is for Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis and COPD.  This is a miracle drug.  Yesterday I woke up and was not winded at all.  Going up the stairs and going for a short walk and doing a few other things and I was breathing just fine.  I was so used to being winded that all day I kept expecting to get short of breath, but I didn't.

Today I went to the store and carried a couple of heavy bags downstairs, did laundry, baked cookies.  I cleaned my Microwave.  A couple of weeks ago I would have been lucky to do just one of those things.

I have a follow-up appointment with the Specialist in May.  I am supposed to call if I have any problems before then.

The Specialist says I have Asthma and I could have a bad spell if something triggers it such as a bad cold or Bronchitis or something I might be allergic to. I am sure I have had Asthma for sometime without realizing it.

I just cannot say enough about Symbicort.  Symbicort has given me back my energy.  It is indeed a miracle drug.  The downside is that it is very expensive.  One inhaler lasts one month and costs $319.00.  Thanks to my dear Clayton who was a longshoreman for over 25 years, I have wonderful insurance.  I only pay $1.00.  I wonder how many people could benefit by it and not be able to get it because of the cost.

OLD PICTURE

Christopher, Katie and Anna

I put this sweet picture on because I was testing out my blog on my computer downstairs.  I have been having trouble getting pictures on my blog and have had to go upstairs to my laptop to put pictures on. Everything seems to be working now. This picture is from August 2012.  It reminds me of how much I love Summer. David is sitting in the chair. You can see his arm.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Donna and Leif in their Halloween Costumes.  In the Center is one of our Sister Missionaries.

Our Sister Missionary wanted to be Belle from "The Beauty and the Beast" so much for her costume.  She had the material and the pattern so Donna agreed to make it for her for the Ward Halloween party Tonight.  Monday Donna sewed on it until about 10 pm.  She couldn't stay up any later because she had to be at school Tuesday morning.  She got everything done but the hem so I did the hem on Tuesday.  Donna and Leif's costumes are the ones they bought when we went to Silverdale last weekend. Leif colored his hair and his mustache black. He looked so different, I was shocked when I first saw it. 
        Donna and Leif wore their costumes to their dancing class Halloween party last night and they will wear them to the Ward Halloween party tonight.

        I just love this picture.

Another Birthday

I blew out the six candles (for the last number of my age). I had a hard enough time doing that as I am still dealing with my Asthma.  I will be seeing the specialist on November 6th.

Birthday cake from Donna and Leif

Donna and Leif gave me this nice end table to go between my two recliners.

The Missionary Sisters from our Church gave me this "Heart Attack" for my 86th birthday.  Each heart had a loving message from them.

I felt like Friday and Saturday both were my birthday.  Donna and Leif took me to Tacoma on Friday.  We stopped at Fred Meyer and that is where Donna and Leif bought my end table. They bought costumes for the Halloween party their square dancing is having.  Then we went to the Tacoma Mall and looked at formals for Donna for her Cruise.  She finally found a nice one at the Bridal shop outside the mall.  We were gone all day and I was so glad I could go.  I have to use the Nebulizer three times a day so I took it with me.  It is the new compact type.  It has a car charger and it's own carrying case. It is very light weight.  It weighs a lot less than my purse. I did really well being gone all day.  I am so glad I can still get out.  I have always loved car rides. We had dinner at Olive Garden. It was really a nice day.

OCTOBER HAPPENINGS

This material is for the border of the Oriental Quilt Donna and I are going to make for my bed.  I bought enough of this material so that I can make a valance for the bedroom window.

Donna and I went to the Sunbonnet Sue Quilting Club this morning.  The have a meeting every week but we can't always go.  Today they were having a drawing.  I won two patterns, a fat quarter and some thread.

I bought material to make an Oriental quilt for my bed.  I do the buying and Donna gets to do most of the work.  This is going to be the center panel.  We took the material to the quilting club this morning and got lots of compliments and some good suggestions.

These are some of the materials that are going to go with the panel.

Donna and I went to the Stash Dash that 6 quilt shops were having.  We were gone all day last Saturday.  I am still dealing with this Asthma or whatever it is.  I am on Flovent right now and it is helping.  I have an appointment with the Pulmonary Lung specialist but can't get in until November 6th. I really held up very well on our quilting trip.  It was a beautiful day last Saturday.  It was so warm we did not need coats.

COUNTED CROSS STITCH

My Deer friends came for lunch  Aren't they cute?

Picture of how my Counted Cross will look like

Oriental Cross Stitch
I have been so happy to have this to work on for the last couple of weeks.  I some how managed to get Bronchitis and Pneumonia in my right lung.  I was pretty sick for a few days but I am doing better now.  The doctor gave me antibiotics and some pills to open up my Bronchial tubes.  The medicine is a Steroid and it made me very shakey. I only had to take that for a week.  I have an inhaler for when I need it.  Also I have to use a Nebulizer 4 times a day.  I am going to have to check with the doctor and see how much longer I need to use it.  I have quite a bit of the medicine for it.  I am breathing so much better now.  I had actually been sick for awhile before I went to the doctor.  I didn't realize I was sick.  Donna had noticed me wheezing but I just thought I was getting tired walking up the hill with Marge.  Then on the 24th of August, which was a Saturday, Donna and two ladies from the Church and I went to Silverdale for the day.  We had a great time.  We went clothes shopping and also went to a Quilt store and Joann Fabrics.  I got some really nice fabric to make a real oriental looking quilt. My picture will probably be finished before the quilt is.  Anyway, I had taken my walker and I spent so much time sitting on it that Donna suspected I wasn't feeling well.  Sunday I had to go to Church because I was going to be the only one in the Library.  I was light headed and wheezing but I went anyway.  I stayed for Sacrament and went back to the Library for a few minutes but had to go home.  Donna took me to the doctor the next day and that's when I found out I had Pneumonia.

I will be so happy when I get back to doing things.  I have just been to weak to do much.  I have very little patience for being sick.  I am glad I got back to doing my Counted Cross Stitch.  It puts me in my own world and makes the time pass more quickly.

QUILTING PROJECTS

Even though Donna was busy doing quilts, she took the time to make this cloth cover to go over my tablet.  I still have the hard cover over the tablet.  On the front is a holder for the Stylus and on the back is a large pocket for notes and a pencil or pen or whatever small things you might want to put in it.

Donna's newest Quilt.  It was on my bed for a few days while she was working on my quilt.  It is so beautiful.  Donna put it on the Murphy bed upstairs.

Donna gave my quilt a new look by putting on the Yellow Lotus flowers in the center of each of the squares.  It took her a lot of hours and was difficult to do on a quilt that was already finished.  I am trying to go for the Oriental look in my bedroom.  I am working on the Oriental counted cross stitch picture I bought a while back. 

GATES OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

This is going to be my last post about my trip. This was probably the most exciting part.  We took an excursion on a tour boat named Sacajawea.
  The trip was about 2 hours along the Missouri River and through the Gates of the Rocky Mountains.

"Gates of the Rocky Mountains" was named by Lewis and Clark.

Captain Lewis Clark wrote in his journal on July 19, 1805----"this evening we entered much the most remarkable clifts that we have yet seen.  These clifts rise from the water's edge on either side perpendicularly to the height of 1200 ft.----the river appears to have forced its way through this immense body of solid rock for the distance of 5 3/4 miles----I called it the "Gates of the Rocky Mountains"

Here are some pictures of this amazing site. 

The Sacajawea is on the left



The cliffs are Shale and almost impossible to climb.



Gates closed

Gates beginning to open

Gates opening

Years ago I read some of the journals by Lewis and Clark.  Taking this trip peaked my interest again.  I put some books on my Kindle about the Lewis and Clark expedition and also about Sacajawea.  Three of the books were free because they are classics.  I have so much reading to do, I don't know if I will ever catch up.  I also put on a true story called "The Boys in the Boat" sometime back. The story is of the University of Washington 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic Gold medal.  The story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager from Sequim, WA who was abandoned by his parents when he was 15.  I had to finish the Book Club book of the month and now I am going to read "The Boys in the Boat" before I start the Lewis and Clark journals.





MADISON VALLEY, MONTANA

Main street of Virginia City, Montana

Beautiful country!

I cannot describe how beautiful the Madison Valley is.  These pictures just don't describe how it is.  You have to be standing there and seeing it for yourself. After seeing this valley, I can understand why my father loved Montana.  If it had not been for his Asthma he would have stayed there.

We enjoyed seeing Virginia City so much.  This city has been kept as close to how it originally was.  It is on the National Historical register also.  We were there on the 4th of July.  There were so many people visiting that day.

Virginia City, Montana

Overlooking the Madison Valley

HELENA, MONTANA--CITY OF MY BIRTH

Old Governor's Mansion

Downtown Helena

Capitol Building in Helena

Standing in front of the shop where my Father's shoe shop was

Finally getting around to a few more pictures.  It was so great to finally visit Helena.  Off and on through the years I always thought it would be nice to see it.  Thanks to Debbie I got the opportunity. I did not realize until we got to Helena that Helena is on the National register for Historic places.
     It was so wonderful that I could walk on the street by the house where I lived and see the place where my father had his shoe shop.  He was a shoemaker and made shoes and boots for the governor and many people in the government offices.  He also made boots for the Gary Cooper family.  The shoe shop is within walking distance of the Capitol building.  Also the shop was within walking distance from where our house was.  I can imagine that my mother took my sister and I there sometimes, maybe bringing him a lunch or something.
 
    The old Governor's mansion is so impressive.  I just love looking at old buildings.  We took the trolley and saw more of Helena and some other very nice mansions.  We also went to the Museum where you catch the trolley.  It is a small museum but has so much history. Tomorrow I will put on some pictures of the Madison Valley and Virginia City, Montana.  That should do it for my trip. Debbie says I need to think of where I want to go on my next trip.  I actually haven't a clue to what I want to see.  Any ideas?

Trolley leaves several times a day
We had gone to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.  It is a large museum and has a large display of Dinosaur fossils and other interesting things about Montana.  Actually I was much more impressed with the small museum in Helena.

MORE ABOUT MY TRIP

Wild Horse Museum

The first thing I want to say is that the very best part of the trip was being with Debbie.  I talk to her all the time but it was just wonderful to spend time with her.

The picture above is the Wild Horse Museum.  Debbie and I did not know about this.  We had spent the night in Moses Lake and were continuing on our trip. It was 108 degrees in Moses Lake the day were there. Anyway, we pulled into a viewing area outside of Vantage and saw all these sculptures of horses.

I read about this monument when I got back home.  The monument is actually a series of wild horses cut from 1" thick steel that is entitled "Grandfather cuts loose the ponies" and was created by David Govedare.  The sculptures symbolically re-creates the Great Spirit turning loose a herd of wild horses above the Columbia River's Wanapum Lake.  The whole monument actually stretches for 200 ft. across the top of the hill overlooking the river and the town of Vantage.  The tempered steel ponies were put on the bluff in 1989 for Washington State's Centennial Celebration.

Debbie and I were so impressed with this site.

TO HELENA AND BACK (in five days)

House that my family lived in when my sister and I were small.

House is on a nice tree-lined street

I found the address of our house from the Census on Ancestry.com. On that Census, I was three and my sister was one. I have other pictures I want to put on but need to decide which ones.  In the meantime this is the one I wanted to post.  I had no idea that the same house would be there.  It is so exciting to realize that my sister and I walked down that street. This street has many old houses and all seem to be well kept up.  It is a street of old houses and large trees.  The house has been made into a duplex .  The left side is the newer side.  It is a large house and has a basement.  One memory I have is the coal furnace in the basement.  A couple of girls were coming out and we talked to them briefly.  They said that old coal furnace is still there. 

CAR SHOW

Leif by his 1992 Mustang

                                            



Another view of the Mustang

Me in a Mustang cap by Leif's beautiful Mustang



There were so many beautiful cars at the show.



Saturday Donna and Leif took me to the Car Show in Port Townsend.  We all rode in the Mustang.  The Mustang has a very small back seat area.  Donna drove and I sat up front with her.  It is too difficult for Donna to get out of the back seat so Leif sat in back.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We had the top down and the weather was so warm we did not need to wear coats.  I walked around and took pictures. There were so many beautiful Classic cars.  The car show was at the Stadium across from the downtown stores.  We walked over and had lunch at the Nifty Fifty diner.  I had a great time.
 

 

BUS/ TRAIN TRIP

 

Train Depot in Whitefish,Montana

Besides moving from Helena, Montana to Everett, Washington when I was a little girl, I have been in Montana one other time.  Clayton and I had not been married too long.  Clayton wanted to go to New York and see the Hill Comorah and the pagent they do there. Clayton wanted to go on the train.  He loved trains. Donna went with us, which was certainly a blessing.  Clayton could sometimes be a handful to manage.
           We got on the train in Seattle and got all settled in.  The next thing that happened was there was an announcement that there was a rock slide right before Spokane.  We had to gather all our things and get on a bus.  We were bussed all the way from Spokane to the train station in Whitefish, Montana.  I looked it up on mapquest and it says 255 miles, 4hours, 26 minutes.  I am sure it was all of that and maybe more.  We saw miles and miles of nothing but land and dead cattle in ditches.
           Finally after the grueling bus trip, we got on a train in Whitefish.  Everyone was tired and the people at Whitefish were not happy because their train was delayed because the train had to wait for our bus.
           At last we were on our way.  We got as far as Havre, Montana and the engine on our train broke down.  It was hot and people were complaining.  We had to wait until another engine could get to Havre. We did get to get off and go into the station. That helped a little.  Anyway, since the engine was'nt working we couldn't have any meals on the train.  They sent out for Kentucky Fried Chicken for all the passengers.  I will never forget that.  They brought these meals in huge garbage bags and we had warm pop to drink. One lady was very upset because she was a vegetarian.  There was Cold Slaw with the meals and Donna and I did not eat ours and I grabbed Clayton's because he ate anything.  The Cold Slaw was warm and I am sure we would have gotten food poisoning. It is a miracle we didn't get sick on the Chicken.
           Finally, we did arrive at our destination. We rented a car and we were able to see so many great things.  We stayed near Niagara Falls.The Falls are so fascinating. We even took the walking tour. We even went to the Canadian side.  We saw the Sacred Grove and many of the Mormon sites. The Pagent was so wonderful. We really did have a fun vacation.
           
         This was not quite the end of our problems. This happened on our way home.  There was a problem that only affected Donna and Clayton and the others that were in their car . I had paid for a sleeping car for Clayton and me and Donna paid for Coach.  When I saw how high you had to climb up into the upper bunk, I asked Donna if she would trade with me. Clayton had to have the lower berth because of his knees. She was happy about that, at first, because she wouldn't be sleeping sitting up.
          So bedtime came and I happily went back to the Coach and I slept really well.  In the morning I went to our sleeping car and Clayton was in a horrible mood because he was so cold and Donna had not had any sleep because of Clayton. The reason Clayton was so cold was because the air conditioning was stuck on. It was the only car on the whole train that it was stuck on. It would have to be the one we had. Clayton never could stand to be cold.  The porter had gotten every blanket he could find to put over Clayton including his own.  There was one handicapped room left on the train so I was able to pay extra and get that.  The rest of the trip went fine.

        All in all, it was a good trip.  Clayton loved to go places so I was glad we could do that.

        

         

PLANNING TRIP TO MONTANA

MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES IN BOZEMAN, MT

I am working on what I want to see when Debbie and I take our road trip to Montana in July. This is a historical museum. It is just a little under two hours from Helena to Bozeman.
          This Museum has the largest collection of Dinosaur fossils in the United States.

Montana is a special place when it comes to Dinosaurs. The fossilized remains can be found all over the state, including badlands of the East near the Dakotas, in the plains South to Wyoming and the mountainous areas North to the Canadian border.

The World's first T-Rex was found in Montana.  Some of the World's best preserved Dinosaur specimens, and the largest collection of Dinosaur fossils are found in the United States.

This Museum is a history museum so besides having the Dinosaur display it has history displays and other displays.  It is supposed to take a long time to go through the displays.

Also, in Helena, there is" Montana's Historical Society Museum" which I want to see.  I want to go on the Last Chance Tour train too.. 
       I want to visit the Parrot Confectionery which has been owned by the same family since 1922.  There is a good possibility that my parents went there and maybe even my sister and me.  They have homemade icecream.  My mother loved icecream.

       For those who have not heard our train trip/ bus trip half way through Montana when Clayton, Donna and I took a train to New York to see some of the historical sites by Palmyra and the pagent, shortly after Clayton and I were married, I will mention that little episode next time.

AUTUMN SCENE--FINALLY FINISHED

After many countless hours, my counted cross stitch picture is done.  Today I washed it, pressed it and put it in a frame.  It looks better on the wall than it does on my blog.  Leif and Donna thought it looked real nice.

My Oriental picture of the Cranes was supposed to come tomorrow but it came today.  It will take me a little time to get ready to sew.  I have to finish letting the skeins of thread dry. Today I had to soak the skeins in water and vinegar to set the colors so they will not bleed.  The thread has a silky feel.  The thread is not the kind you buy here at Walmart or Joann's Fabric. 

I sat outside on the front porch several hours with my Kindle while my thread was drying and my counted cross stitch picture was drying a little more after pressing it.

I was reading a little more about Counted Cross stitch.  It is a popular hobby because it is so relaxing.  You need to take a lot of breaks, which I do.  The article said that the "disease" of Counted Cross stitchers are Arthritis and Carpal tunnel.  I disagree about the arthritis because I am sure motion helps Arthritis. I don't seem to have Arthritis yet or if I do it is not preventing any motion that I do with my hands.

Donna loves to quilt.  I love to do Counted Cross stitch.  I do like to help with quilts and I love to look at all the beautiful quilts but to me it is not as relaxing as my Counted Cross stitch.

UPDATE

I am sure everyone is tired of hearing about my counted cross stitch but I wanted to tell you that I decided to send for the Wolf kit too.  After talking to Debbie this afternoon she said she could see why I liked that one.  I guess that was one of the signs that I should send for it because today only Herschenners were having free shipping and the kit was already on sale. They do that free shipping every couple of months or so.  I ordered it and now I have two kits coming.  I still have to do the outlining on half of the picture.  I should have that done in a few days.

       I brought my Ottlite upstairs because the Ottlite Donna has is not as large so does not cover as big an area.  The light she has has a switch that is getting harder and harder for me to turn on and off.  My light just has a push button.  Since I am now going to be spending months up  here on my project I want good lighting.

My Ottlite from Joann's Fabric

COUNTED CROSS STITCH

 

 

I am almost finished with my Autumn Counted Cross Stitch project.  I am doing the outlining now and then it will be finished.  I was going to wait awhile before I started another project but then I couldn't think of any other thing I really wanted to do.  I thought about knitting or crocheting something but I just love the Counted Cross Stitch so much.  At first I was thinking about doing this Wolf picture because it would be so simple.  My bedroom has that black and red quilt and every time some one sees it they think it is Oriental.  I had orginally meant to put the Oriental wall hanging in my bedroom and then decided it was too large.  The Oriental Crane picture is the one I picked out awhile back to put in the bedroom.  It is a little larger than Autumn one I did and I really didn't want to get started on another large one but as you can see it is a lot easier to do than my Autumn Scene, so with Donna's encouragement, I sent for the Oriental Crane picture.
Maybe with any luck, it won't take me as long as my Autumn picture did.  I may do the Wolf picture later. I kept going back to this one.  For some reason it appeals to me.



 

BEAUTIFUL FUSCHIA PLANT

Lovely Fuschia Plant

Donna got this plant for Teacher's Appreciation Day.  It was so beautiful I had to take a picture of it and put it on my blog.  Donna got a Fuschia last year too, but it was not nearly as pretty as this one.  Now the big job is to keep it watered.  Fuschias take lots of water. 

AMAZON

I just thought I would let you know my experience with Amazon.  This is the book cover I bought for my Samsung Galaxy tablet.  I mentioned earlier that one corner does not hold tight and I have to be very careful my tablet does not fall out.  I decided to e-mail Amazon about the problem.  I got a response in just a couple of hours. I didn't really expect them to do anything about it.  I just wanted them to know that for $40.00 I did not think this was a very good product.  Anyway, they gave me two choices.  I could mail it back and get a full refund or I could keep it and they would refund half the price of the product and refund the shipping. I chose to keep the product.  I filled out the box and told them it was still usable and that I just have to be very careful.  I said I would keep checking covers and maybe find one more suitable in the future.  This morning I got an e-mail that said my refund would show up on my credit card in three to five days.

I am very impressed with Amazon.  I shop a lot there, mainly digital books for my Kindle.