Happy Birthday, Bob!

Niece Kathie thought of a way to include me in celebrating my brother’s 85^th birthday. She drove from her home to mine, spent the night, drove us to Bob’s for the small party, brought us back to my house, stayed another night, and went home. That driving took about 12 hours, three hours for each leg of the trip. If I had stopped to think of it, I would have said it was far too much for her to do. I’m convinced she is a super person, capable of doing the impossible cheerfully at any time. For the birthday lunch, she prepared a chicken-rice dish, colorful lettuce salad, and cupcakes. Amazing!

Before driving to Bob’s house, we took a walk to the stop sign. The photo was a joint effort. I held the phone, and Kathie tapped the screen.

Bob lit the 8½ candles on the cupcakes as Michael and Julie (number 2 daughter) looked on.

This photo shows Bob’s wife Beth with him and Kathie. We played a game of guessing what item was on a card with one team member using words for the first round and acting the word without speaking on the second. I found out that a deaf person is at a distinct disadvantage in that setting. I didn’t hear crucial things, although Bob did better than I did. It was fun, anyway.

Kathie helped Bob re-pair the fancy bird feeder after a recent problem with the internet provider. The feeder has a camera that takes short videos when birds land on it. I was thrilled to see a photo of a blue bird that Bob extracted and sent to us.

I enjoyed being with everyone and really appreciated Kathie’s driving so long to get us together.

Skunk in my Yard

I looked out the bedroom door and saw something white near the burn barrel. It moved! I realized it was the skunk that has bothered our neighborhood for weeks. She hasn’t been under my porch, but she has hung out around the houses of Joyce, Holly, Shawn & Bob, and Jeff.

Her coloring is not at all what I expect of a skunk. Usually, they are mostly black with a white stripe down the back. This one is all white except for her face, underside, and a small stripe on top of the tail. Joyce has seen her with two smaller babies which have more traditional coloring. I stepped softly on the deck to get a video and came right back inside when she headed toward me. So far, she has sprayed only dog Izzy and CAT. The smell from that spray is the worst natural odor any of us have experienced. When a car has hit a skunk on the highway, you will smell it for a few minutes inside your car. According to information on the internet, the smell of the carcass can last for two to three weeks.

From Summer Oats to Supper Oatmeal

When daughter Kate and grandson David were here, I stirred together Summer Oats – Greek yogurt and uncooked oats. There were too many other things to eat for breakfast, and most of it was still sitting in the refrigerator when they left. Tonight I stirred in milk, sprinkled some chocolate chips on top, and heated some in the microwave. It was not a hardship to eat it for supper.

Warning Signs

I have now put post-it notes on the kitchen counter to remind myself not to lean there. The blank piece of paper I put on my bed every day has almost cured me of leaning on it, so I’ve moved the focus to the kitchen.

There is no telling how long I’ve been leaning on things, but I realized I have callouses on my arms! That didn’t happen overnight. I remember seeing my dad leaning on his kitchen counter, and now I am doing the same thing. He had arthritis, and doctors have told me I have it in my back and hips. (The effects of arthritis were erased from my knees 15 years ago.) Surely I can fight back, using my mind, to stand on my own two feet without leaning on everything in sight.

Most Marvelous Visit

Time stopped when New Jersey daughter Kate and local grandson David took vacation days to be with me.. I thought of blogging often, but I didn’t take time to write for 22 days!!! I have lots of wonderful memories and a handful of photographs. They were here only a week, but I was busy getting ready and catching up afterward. I’ll share a few pictures to bring you up to date.

Going to our favorite waterfall was one of the first things we did. David (wearing blue) went out on the rocks, as he always does, and I took his photo from the bridge as I always do. He and Kate posed on the bridge where the road crosses the waterfall.

Kate helped burn garden trash and trimmed drooping tendrils from the Wicked Wisteria.

I can show a family portrait and happy faces about to eat pizza.

Kate took a selfie of us and a mountain-scape from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

And there you have it – my treasured week in a short post.

Daughter and Grandson

Vero’s Biscuits

Vero, a blogging friend, wrote about her biscuits. The huge difference between hers and standard biscuits is that she used vegetable oil instead of solid shortening. I had to try it. I knew I had self-rising flour in the cabinet, only I didn’t. As Vero suggested, regular flour could be used if you added baking powder. Handling the dough was easy for me, because I’ve made biscuits regularly for 60 years. Normally I have spaces between my biscuits, but Vero said to use a round pan. I was shocked at how high the biscuits rose. These broke the record for me. The taste? As good as my Dad’s recipe. I’m sure many people I know would prefer Vero’s, because they were light and fluffy without much crust. I like crusty things. I plan to use her recipe again, using a cookie sheet but putting the biscuits close together. It’s fun to experiment, because even mistakes can be eaten and enjoyed.

The link to Vero’s biscuits is VERO’S BISCUITS | ~ VERO’S KITCHEN ~

Things have changed since I last linked a post, and I’m not sure this will work. Good luck.

A Special Labor Day

I thought there would be eleven of us to share a cookout at noon, but Joyce let us know that the new neighbors were not coming. The man told Joyce that his fiancee was out of town and wouldn’t be back until afternoon. He intended to come down to meet the rest of us, but we heard his Jeep leave while we were eating.

When Shawn thought I’d be awake, she texted that she and Bob had not slept during the night, and she had taken him to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning.

At 10:00 I contacted Holly to see if she, Bob’s brother Tom, and Denise were coming. Holly wondered if we could postpone the gathering to the weekend. I replied that I was prepared for today. In the back of my mind was three pounds of potato salad in the refrigerator, among other reasons. She decided she could come, but within an hour said she was still in her pajamas and was very tired. She had been through a lot this week and probably needed a 5-day weekend.

I knew Joyce was planning to come, and D said they would be here no matter what. They brought their grill to my porch yesterday. Our crowd had shrunk to four, but it was a close-knit four. During the meal Shawn let us know that Bob had a heart attack and will be in the hospital several days. D said we should pray, so we joined hands, and Joyce prayed for Bob’s healing. Even though all the neighbors were not physically there, we had never been closer.

Invisible Ink

I am still going to physical therapy three times a week, hoping to strengthen my back and quit hunching over. A few days ago I was horrified to realize I put my hand on my bed to steady myself EVERY time I walked around it. Each time I caught myself doing that, I jerked my hand away as if it had touched a hot skillet. Unfortunately, it was such a habit that just telling myself to keep hands off did not work at all. A visible reminder was obligatory, and the sign is now on the bed.

Can you read it? Well, of course you can’t. It says in big bold letters on both sides DO NOT TOUCH! I used invisible ink – more than that – imaginary invisible ink. I don’t need to read it, but simply to be reminded to keep my hands off.

Funny Foods

The dental hygienist rinsed my mouth out thoroughly, saying the chemical she had used did not taste good. She did such a good job that I didn’t taste anything at all. I began to think of things that I found repulsive and couldn’t think of one for several minutes. Radishes popped into my mind, and that is a taste I can live without. John liked them and was always glad to find them in a restaurant salad.

Then there was the time I ordered meatloaf in a good restaurant in Asheville and could hardly swallow it. I asked the server if there was lamb in it. He checked with the chef, and yes, there was ground lamb and ground beef in it. I knew what to do then – take it home and let John have it. He loved lamb, but he didn’t like that meatloaf. Would you agree that an unusual ingredient should be mentioned on the menu? I would have avoided that dish if I had known it was contaminated with lamb.

Messy foods can be amusing, too. I reheated one of the four hamburgers I had cooked on the grill. When I opened the package of buns, I found I had taken hot dog buns out of the freezer instead of hamburger buns. Easy fix, or so I thought. I cut one in half and assembled the burger on it. The first bite pushed the meat out the other side, so I took the second bite from the back. The mustard went this way and that, mostly falling on the plate. What a mess! It wouldn’t have been bad if I’d brought utensils out to the porch, but I used my fingers followed by two napkins. What is the messiest food you’ve ever eaten? Did anybody laugh?