Adventure 455: The Story of George, 51

May 31, 2018

After a little scare last week due to a low heart rate (40) and a low blood pressure, Real Time found George back to normal today. In fact, his blood pressure was a little high (140/80), most likely due to the large steak and tall dark beer he enjoyed at the Wolf Lodge Steak House last night. He ate the whole thing, and I can't remember the last time he had a beer. He and Vina have been walking daily. They remain active, and everything seems in a good space. In fact, George was at his most astute during tonight's domino game. This is all good news for Judy and me since we're beginning our summer travels this coming Monday. 

Which brings the focus to us. We've been quite busy, both in preparation for our summer adventures and in home improvement tasks. We threw in a trip to Seattle so Elizabeth and Judy could learn to make macarons. Judy has been working with Justin to fine tune her sprinkler system in the back yard. I built a twenty-four foot planter box to replace the spindly roses that wouldn't grow in the front. I also made three cribbage boards, helped rebuild my cousin's two seat deck chair for the lake, remodeled my shop, attended one of my favorite grand daughter's school programs, and we even threw in a Memorial Day feast of baby back ribs, Mom's potato salad, baked beans, garden salad, cole slaw, smoked onions, watermelon and cold beer. This retired life is tiring! Monday we leave for Ashland, Oregon in the trailer for a week to see six plays. We'll come home June 11, re-tune for three days, and then head cross country toward Little Eden where we'll bask in the joy of our relatives for a week. From there we'll head home by the fourth, and to put the cherry on top, we'll spend a week at Priest Lake. Life will then settle into summer around July 15. I know that this social media blog is merely a report of our mundane lives, but we feel blessed, so blessed we chime from the roof tops: "Life is good, especially today.

 Redwood planter box twenty-four feet two inches long,  eighteen inches high with half lap construction for the top cap so my Bunny can sit on the edge while she tends her "shade" garden.

 Construction took four days.

This planter replaces a row of puny rose bushes that battled mightily for thirty years (Judy is patient). It now houses ferns, hosta, impatients, begonias, astilble, a little kale, and perilla, and broccolini. Who knows what will come later.

 Judy took charge of the baby back ribs for Memorial Day. She nailed them!

 The spread, truly thin gruel.

 Leticia and Justin took care of clean up with a "SCHPUT".

 I also suffered a severe cribbage board frenzy over take me.

I mostly watched, but helped some, too on the remake of the two seat deck chair for the lake.

 Here's my buddy, Dave, putting the finishing touches on the new chair.

 Libby learning the piping technique for the macarons.

Yummy.

 Selfie of the day with one of my favorite grand daughters.

 Me and George.

 Judy and George.

 Vina and George.

 Dominos, a game called Mexican Train.

Adventure 454: The Story of George, Emerald City Visit, 50

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Real time found George in good spirits, good health, and in the relaxed mind set of advanced dementia. We checked in last Friday for Tai Chi. George participated in the class. We checked back in today after our weekend in Seattle. George, Vina, and Ed all seemed well. George remembered the home health nurse visit yesterday. Kelly, the nurse, changed his catheter and otherwise gave him the all clear. For his part, George remembered that Kelly is nine months pregnant and that yesterday was her last visit. Maybe his dementia isn't so advanced after all.

As for us, we hit the road a 6 A.M. armed with full cups of coffee, a bag of semel, and great anticipation. We weren't disappointed. Our drive was uneventful. Seattle traffic North was tolerable, and Elizabeth was ready and waiting. We immediately walked over to the University District farmer's market, a four block bustle of booths that held everything from vegetables to tie dye shirts. We ate lunch at a famously busy local spot called Tai Tom's. it was excellent. We ordered Mexican food in for dinner, watched an NBA playoff game, and otherwise enjoyed each other. Around 9 P,M. Judy and I made our way over to our friend's, the Cobles, for the night. Sunday morning, our hosts, Ross and Dinah, treated us to a fabulous meal of breakfast pizza, fresh fruit, bottomless coffee, and pleasant conversation. That was just the beginning. Dinah and Judy walked over to Dinah's garden spot. Ross and I stayed behind. We battered the social issues senseless, solved nothing, and in the end, threw our hands upward in gratitude for our blessings. We enjoyed a n early dinner which was scrumptious  Judy and Elizabeth attended their baking class that evening. It was after all, the main motivation for the trip. The Cobles, their grandson Rex, and myself held down the fort for the evening. Judy and Elizabeth returned a little after nine loaded with examples of their learning. The meringue cookies tasted great. Monday morning, after another fabulous breakfast (This time sour dough waffles and bacon), Judy and I made out way home. It was, as we say, a touch of the good life.

Rachel Botsman, author of one of the books I'm currently reading (Who Can You Trust?) suggests that our social media "face" is somewhat artificial. It caused met wonder what impression people reading this blog have of our adventures. I can say this about our adventures. While they're mostly mundane, they most often involve family, friends, exploration, and gratitude. We're not trying to pretend. We're actually quite happy to live this life: rain or shine, and regardless of what the day brings, we believe that life is good. We're not fooling.

 Elizabeth showing the new tray I built for her. It covers the stove and should provide some more counter space in her tiny kitchen.

 Ross, putting the final touches on the breakfast pizza. Pretty tin gruel.

 The tin gruel continued at dinner. Garden grown artichokes steamed to perfection.

 Along with asparagus, grilled pork, steamed sweet potatoes, and salad.

 Not to mention the raspberry short cake. Seriously, the Coble AirBnB is five star.

 Sour dough waffles fueled our drive home.

 Good bye Emerald City. Back to the provinces for us.

A nice trip, and their was take home rewards, too!

Adventure 453: The Story of George/Mother's Day/Birthday Month, 49

Mother's Day, 2018

Real time found George snuggling up to a pretty girl. What else? Ronda, his long time neighbor and surrogate caregiver, came up from Madras to attend the Baptism of her grand child. She stayed with us, which is always fun, although her schedule had her out and about for most of the weekend. She paid a visit to George on Sunday before she left. At first he didn't recognize her, but as soon as she started talking he did. I wasn't there, but Ronda reported that while frail, she thought George looked good, much better than she expected. She hadn't seen him in nearly seven months. She's an angel disguised as a blond. She watched over George and Margaret, and then George after Margaret passed. She drove them to appointments, mowed the lawn, and generally kept an eye on them. And if you knew George, you'd know he lights up like a light bulb around the pretty girls, so I'm not at all surprised that he knew Ronda once she started talking, and I'm sure that his memory is filled with her love for him. Maybe his smile gives it away.

As for us, we had a Mother's Day extravaganza coupled with an early birthday celebration (I turn 67 on May 15). Leticia came over, which always warms her mother's heart. They baked rhubarb pie, German chocolate cupcakes, and TC made a Spanish tortilla for the pre-dinner feast. I then prepped the ingredients for the Paella, and Leticia, Judy, and I made two big pans full. Steve, Bonnie, Emily, and Sarah showed up just before 6. We enjoyed dinner and dessert. Emily played happy birthday to me on her violin. It was fun. We're heading up to my cousin's place at Priest Lake Monday with our friends the Ulmen's. Our work reason is to get the classic two seat wooden deck chair so we can rebuild it. Dave also wants to remeasure the stairway because he's determined to put a cherry railing on the rod iron staircase which is a fifteen foot tall spiral. He wants to steam bend one piece of cherry, which sounds impossible to me, but is exactly the thing Dave likes to challenge himself with. I have no reason to doubt him. Our other reason for going to the lake (as if I ever need one.) is to help distract Dave and Liz from his lung cancer battle. What better way than to put him to work? We'll also look for morels, enjoy nature, enjoy each other, and generally have a good time. So, seriously, life IS good, especially today.

 Spanish torta. YUMMMMMMMM!

 Mom and daughter cooking. Libby was on face time for most of the afternoon as well.

 Rhubarb pies.

 Paella.

 Half of the crew.

The other half; Steve caught unaware.

 Birthday month. That's a six with seven cupcakes totaling a sweet sixty-seven.

 Emily getting ready for her serenade. Sarah photo bombiing.

 Emily, pleased with herself.

 Mom and daughter.

And finally,  just a couple of fish faces.

Adventure 452: The Story of George, 48

May 11, 2018

Real time finds George in good health and in good spirits. He's much more content now that we're not browbeating him about his pills, and he was a perfect seven for seven last week. I guess he showed us that he didn't "need that kind of help". This is all good in this world of unintended consequences. We took him to the doctor for his post emergency check up. I know his last ambulance ride was a while ago, but the medical system works on its own time line. George passed his check up with flying colors. His blood sugars are under control, his urine culture is normal, and he's complaining less about his hip joint. He's feeling good. We hope things stay this way.

As for us, we spent a couple of days up at Priest Lake working to build a path for the trailers to enter the property on a circular path, which means no backing up. That's a nice feature. We also hunted for morels, but it was just a bit too soon for them to pop their noses out of the ground. We found just five. We plan to go up next Monday. This time, besides hunting for mushrooms, we'll work on rebuilding the classic two seated chair. It's a venerable piece that has suffered the ravages of time (Haven't we all?). I plan to rebuild it out of redwood with the help of my buddy, Dave Ulmen (I love watching him work!) Other than that, things are going well. We're keeping our fingers crossed that George continues a good run so we can make our way to Little Eden in mid June. 

 We cut two small trees to make room for the circular driveway.

 Life is good at the lake, even if we didn't find that many morels.

 Timber!

Thirty-two wheel barrows full of rocks, sand, and dirt (The white patch in the rear) helped even out the pathway of the circular driveway.

 We also put a second coat of stain on the newly replaced rail.

 Kaz, the physician's assistant, checking George's blood pressure.

Dr. Mueller, checking George's hip. George said he didn't realize that his hip was connected to everything down his leg. He must not have sung the hip bone, thigh bone song as a child.

Adventure 451: The Story of George, 47

May 1, 2018

Real time found George working a little magic. Regular readers may remember the fiasco a couple weeks back with the care giver we tried to hire to help George with his pills. I described the conniption fit he threw in some detail. Well, magically, the pills he "hid" in his desk drawer showed evidence of disappearing during the week. He had all seven morning slots empty and two afternoon slots, which made him 9/14 (64%) for the week. I guess he showed us! Our current approach stands: George is in charge of his own life. He does have a doctor's appointment next week as a follow up for his last emergency visit to the hospital. We got his blood work back. Things are generally high, but no higher than his previous measure. It will be interesting to hear what Dr. Mueller has to say. The real news in magic land is that George is once again thinking of wedding bells. His passion is blooming like daffodils or perhaps tulips. His face is flushed fire engine red, and when Judy and I stopped by the other day, George and Vina were snuggled together like soft little birds on the sofa. And George was chatty on the way to his blood draw. The discussion went like this. George says,  "When do I get this catheter out?" I reply, "Never." He then asks Judy, "Do you think I should get married?" (This made me realize the purpose of the catheter question. In George's romantic mind, an active sex life is just a gold ring away.) Judy replied, "Remember what Vina said the last time. It won't work because it won't work financially. I think you should just stay with how things are now." Time will tell whether George will inhale the magic love dust of spring, or if he will take Judy's sage advice. We'll see.

As for us, we're heading up to Priest Lake tomorrow. We need no excuse, but we do have reasons. First, we hope to provide a nice relaxing space for Dave and Liz to rest their bones. Second, we have another coat to put on the recently replaced deck rail, and third, there's some manual labor that needs to be done, and what virile George spawn wouldn't want to wield a pick ax and an adz. How better to learn the lesson of age related soreness, but truly it's the good life to feel like a virile man. Just ask George.

 Noraville awaits.

 George motoring out the door for his blood draw.

 he climbs up into the cab all by himself.

Here, he's discussing his "floppy foot" with Judy. The foot condition occurred as a result of a surgery mistake, which severed something that controls the reflex action. He has a brace, but he doesn't wear it. So it will stay as is.