It's that time again!

I'm so happy! It's tomato time again. I am moving so well today that I decided to go to the farmer's market. Tomatoes are in. Tonight I made my mom's tomato/basil salad. Was it yummy? Yes, it sure was. With that we ribs. I may have overcooked them because the meat just fell off the bones. So yummy.

Alan will have pulled-pork sandwich tomorrow with the left overs.

Just one more thing: I bought ten pounds of tomatoes and hauled them into the house with no adverse affects on my walking. I was thrilled. Pray with me that the Lord allows this painlessness to continue. Even my knees don't hurt!

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Getting caught up

This is Ellie May and Toria. They visited us on Saturday for a couple of hours. It was such a nice visit. I don't remember what Toria and Cyndi were laughing at.

Here we have hidden by hair (Toria), Cyndi, and Jonah.

You know, when you are in bed for two straight weeks, things just sort of pile up. Laundry. Dishes. Unopened mail. Reading my favorite BLOGs?

Well, I finally got caught up on most everything. There are clean dishes in the dish washer and dirty dishes in the sink. The mail has been read. And I finished reading three weeks' worth of my favorite BLOGs. Yeah, that doesn't add up, but it does really because I was already a week behind in my BLOG reading when the pain came.

I'm still in pain, but it's manageable, mostly -- as long as I don't move.

Alan is in great shape, except for his kissing the floor a couple of days ago.

Now he's pushing me to find a place for us to visit in mid to late July. Not a problem, except right now, I'm not all for driving somewhere to pretend that I will sight see when I know that I won't be able to do that. Although with the new scooter....

Our new scooter is so cool. It comes apart into four pieces and even I can put it in and out of the trunk and put it together. So, we can take it with us wherever we go. It's much better than a wheel chair and any place that can accommodate a wheelchair can accommodate a scooter like ours because it is only 18 inches wide. HINT: I'm wider than the scooter!

I did mention today that I wanted to go back and visit our friends in Wyoming. Alan asked me if I thought I could drive that far. I told him, "Well, not today, but maybe next summer."

I am so thankful that Alan has pitched in these past few weeks and kept us fed (sort of) and the laundry washed and dried. My faithful assistant, Tamara folds and puts the laundry away for me. I am also thankful for that dear lady who comes without fail to help me do the things I wish I could do but can't.

So now I'm going to go out on the sun porch and listen to the children at play in the pool wishing I myself was down there with them. Maybe tomorrow?

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New post on RR

I posted a new BLOG rendering on Runnemede Remembered. Be sure to read it.

I haven't been posting for a couple of weeks. I pulled my sciatic nerve and have been bed bound for almost two weeks now.

I'm up to about 1/2 hour at a time of being out of bed at this point -- six times a day. It still hurts pretty bad, but not at the 1000 (on a scale of 1-10) it was when I first realized I had a problem.

So, while I've been flat on my back, the weather has been perfect for summer. Warm days, warm nights, warm pool water. None of which I have been able to enjoy. Well, I don't enjoy warm/hot days, but I do enjoy warm pool water.

Today was the first day in 12 that I finally went down to the pool. I didn't go in. I just couldn't. I got to the pool and sat until I couldn't sit any more and then came back home. Alan did his aerobics while I watched.

Tonight when Alan was helping me by putting away the dishes that were clean (in the dishwasher) he broke glass and it shattered. There is glass (still) all over the kitchen floor and counter. I'll have to clean it tomorrow when the sun hits the kitchen so I can see all the tiny pieces of glass that I'm just not picking up with the kitchen lighting.

I am now on my way back to bed for the evening. I'll be back soon, I hope.

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Round and round it goes

It seems that both Alan and I are in a "sleep" mode. He's sleeping a lot more, and I've just come out of an "I can't sleep for trying" time. His affinity for snoozing comes from a new medicine he's taking for shingles pain. I know the med, it did the same thing to me when I started taking it, then when I got used to it, I was back in my normal 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. sleep, and then 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. sleep.

Of late, however, I've spent three days with no sleep, none, nada, nothing. And today I can't seem to open my eyes. Well, my eyes are open now, but it's been a fight to keep them open.

I have to admit it is a normal bedtime (11:00 p.m.) and as soon as I finish here, I'll get to bed.

Today the man came to see about fixing our A/C. No such luck. A new A/C (outdoor unit) plus a new heating unit (indoor unit) is going to cost us $4,500. There goes the rest of the college fund. Just kidding. We did have an account into which we've been slowly dipping for such things as kitchen redo, new furniture, etc., but with the new A/C-furnace, we've finally hit bottom in that account. Time to start rebuilding???

We're not broke, don't misunderstand, it just hurts me to see a small savings account get wiped out because our equipment was brand new 10 years ago, and that's the lifetime for a heat pump/furnace these days.

The house we lived in had a furnace in it when we arrived and it was still going strong when we left. We replace the outdoor A/C unit once about 15 years after we moved in.

Why don't they make things the way they used to? And they wonder why the land fills are getting so high!

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Two new posts at Runnemede Remembered

Two new posts can be viewed at Runnemede Remembered.

I've been so remiss

I've been so remiss, but I have an excuse (reason?). My computer is really bumming me out. The keys are sticking so bad, or else they're running. If I hit them all hard, like an old typewriter, they go crazzzzzzzzy. If I hit them lightly, they sip leters. See what I mean?

Alan says can have his laptop, but I'm thinking I need my own, so I'm scoping it out to see if I want to get a notebook, or a full-blown laptop. Since I only BLOG, e-mail, and surf the Net, I don't need all the photo/graphic features that Alan has on his laptop.

If you're interested, Alan and I are doing okay. We had a rough time getting our land-legs back, but we're back in full-swing again.

I'm motivated after 45 years of grocery shopping and avoiding coupons like the plague, after watching those ladies who do couponing for their job week after week, do at least do a little bit of couponing.

Several weeks ago, Alan and I decided to stock up on grocery store specials because food was getting so expensive. So, 10 for $10 became my mantra. Now, I'm looking for even more reductions in the products I use and there is a website called ShopAtHome.com that groups coupons according to groceries, pharmaceuticals, electronics, etc., and Kroger.com permits me to enter the coupons they're offering for extra $$$$ off and they go directly to my Kroger card and when I buy the product, it deducts the amount on the coupon automatically on the computer. A neat idea. Now, if I could just get them to deliver my food to me, but then my friend who shops for me would have time to spare and she might not like that.

I want to make some lemon curd this week so I can make a couple of lemon meringue pies. I need to get some coupons for pie fillings or remember to include that on my list next week. I do have a couple of coupons for Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts. $1.00 off. Hopefully, Kroger will have a double coupon day soon. Do they do that any more? I know Thriftway used to do that every Tuesday, I think it was.

Well, I've checked in. I'm chilly. It's cold out and our heater/AC is busted. They're coming on Wednesday to fix t. So, I'm bundled up, and hoping tomorrow is a little warmer than it was today. I'm not optimistic, though. I swear (not really) it's either too hot or too cold. Doesn't the weather know it should have the temperatures in the 70s, no matter what the other features are (rain, sleet, snow, hail, etc.).

Hope you all have a good week. Just 10 more days until our pool opens!!!! Can't wait.

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Did Y'all miss me?

This is the hotel where we honeymooned. Not the same exterior from when we were there, but the drive from the main road up to the hotel, the entryway into the hotel, and the view from the road were all the same. You can see the similarity to the old Castle. Ask any old-timer and they know about the Castle Harbour hotel. Lots of traffic on the roads now. I don't think I would be willing to scooter (a small motorcycle) around the island these days as I did 45 years ago.




This is the view from our deck. Yes, we were land side, and I'm glad we were. We got the morning sun, which was definitely cooler than the late afternoon sun and the view was certainly more interesting that the sea side. I know this because I was able to view that other side by going down two decks and going out on the port side of the ship. We were roomed on the starboard side.

A round-about near Georgetown, Bermuda. They drive on the wrong side of the road. That's the left side, by the way. I got use to scooting on that side with no problem, I have to admit.

I'm back from BERMUDA and the cruise that got Alan and me there. It was so much fun. I only took a few pictures since this was a return trip. Bermuda isn't much like it was 45 years ago when Alan and I went there for our honeymoon. Almost all the green space on this small island (21 miles long by 1-1/2 miles wide (mostly) is used up with housing and condos and hotels. There are a few golf courses (mostly on hotel properties).

Alan and I did return to the hotel where we spent our honeymoon. That was exciting, I guess. I was unable to walk that day unfortunately, but it didn't deter me from enjoy the view from the outside which included the pool area, the pink sand beach, and most of the grounds. Alan went inside and was impressed by what he remembered and what had changed drastically. You see, the hotel in which we stayed was demolished, but the folks that rebuilt on that land kept the same footprint and remade the common areas to be almost the same.

Alan purchased a scooter (for old people, not one of the ones they ride around on the Island). It's amazing. It comes apart and fits into our car's trunk nicely leaving enough room for two large suitcases and three bags of dirty laundry!

One of the most exciting things I did, besides winning a $200 gift certificate to Crisson Jeweler's, the best jewelry store on the Island, was a dining with the ship's head chef. Man, was that a great experience.

It started with a trip through the galley (that's kitchen to you land lubbers), where they prepared five wonderful appetizer bites for us to eat. There were only 14 of us permitted to dine with him. Believe me, I got my request in early for that opportunity. Back to the seven-course dinner. Then we gather around the table and ate and ate and ate. I took pictures of most of the dishes which were so beautiful, you really didn't want to destroy them by eating them. Each course was only two or three bites of the dish, but that was enough to fill us all to overflowing with food. Some of the folks eyes seemed to glaze over after the fish course. That was the only course I did not like because my fish wasn't cooked through, and I'm not really a lover of raw Chilean Sea Bass. I have to say, it was the best food I have ever eaten. And none of it was prepared with any butter. The Chef did use olive oil in most of the dishes.

The Lord gave us wonderful weather, temps in the 60s at night and mid-70s during the day. The seas were calm the entire week. No storms or rain. And no mishaps. Alan and I both suffered near the end of the weak with muscle cramps and pains, but other than that little crimp in the week, all else was great -- even our travel from Cincinnati to and from Baltimore, from where we sailed.

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