Trunk or Treat was a success. (This was going to a location and everyone opening their car trunks and giving out treats, the location was the local church.).........we didn't go because of the cool temperature of the evening.  We had a few  here at the house and that was plenty for this first year!

Winter is upon us it looks like, since the temperatures have dropped dramatically.   The kitties have heavy coats so it looks like a cold winter if that is an indication.  I wore what I called my  'Oklahoma Coat'  last year.  This year it probably won't be warm  enough, but for California it was considered heavy.

Until the goblins return.....Peace!

 

Monday.........busy as usual.

We all went for our flu shots and Jack has a visit with the doctor.  Doctor was reluctant to think the chest pains were heart.......more likely indigestion.  He was very thorough and I am feeling much less worried.

Mother thought flu shot was another social event, lots of people came over to visit with her at the doctor's waiting room, and the shot was so quick, she had a nice morning! LOL

Did more legal clean up today, we had some minor errors on last week's work.

The afternoon as been lazy.  Since we got up again at 4!  Mother's inside clock isn't changed yet to the time change!  We enjoyed some afternooon rest.  Early hours are nice if you get to sleep through the night.  No plans for tomorrow, maybe another pleasant day.  (smiles)

HALLOWEEN!  Looking forward to giving out treats!

PEACE!

Sunday, a bright and beautiful day.

Mared by the excessive pain that Jack is having.

Have been working in the barn, trying to put empty boxes away and find out what I might do with others.  Also, cleaning up some cat trash! lol

Have the CD's on that Mother loves so she is happy.  We didn't go to Church this morning.  Jack really not able to be left alone.  Chest pains always alarm me.  He refuses the any emergency help or hospital so we wait the day out.

Have a beautiful day ..........................Peace!

Between the two of us (mother and I) I have completely lost track of the week! LOL

Funeral on Monday, Legal paper work out of town on Tuesday, More legal stuff yesterday, and today planned spontaneity.  That means that Jack and I decided to go out for lunch today.  About a 20 mile drive.  We can't say anything to Mother about this till about an hour before, because she really gets in high gear and is READY to go!

 This is a "culture shock" country restaurant. complete with flies but very clean otherwise.  Flies are a commodity that the federal government has yet to tax!   In the country with all the animals, etc., nature produced an abundance of flying things.

It is also Schwan's Day!  Yea for good stuff.  We can't find good steak at the markets here.  The public demand a much lesser quality of meat cuts.  I ask for some good cuts the other day and they told me no way.  They didn't get them so offered something else.  I bought it, and had to make stew out of that steak.   We eat beef seldom, but we want something of quality when we have steak.

Mother also likes Schwan's fish, biscuits, fresh frozen veggies (instead of the canned stuff), and most anything we buy! lOl This food service is so helpful here in the middle of "nowhere"!

I finding more and more places that are not wheelchair accessible.  When reminded that it is a federal regulation.  They respond   "So What!"  Guess they figure the responding agencies could not find them anyway.

I have been observing a farm implement store for a while, someone told me they had school flags.  Well, I stopped and was absolutely amazed!  It was the most gorgeous gift shop with upscale items that I have seen in the whole area!  The farmer items like gloves, tools, boots,etc., were all shoved over to one wall, and the rest of the store ( which was once a farm implement store) is beautiful gift items.  The Christmas Open House is Friday.  Right on schedule before Halloween.  FARMER'S WIFE POWER!

Well, Mother got up at 4 and went after the paper.  She said it was time.....I asked why?  "Because it was there!"  She has a cup of coffee with me and went back to bed and obviously went to sleep because it is almost 8 and she is not up!  

The cats are fed!...........The trash is out!......... A beautiful way to start the day!

 

tuesday's times.............

The week is passing so quickly...........today we notarized some more papers and made copies of everything.  This is wise advice from my daughter.

We have a full week coming up but tonight and tomorrow is forcast for rain.  In this country it is an 'event'.  We plan a sleep in and a lazy day.  My mother woke us up at 4 this morning looking for her clock, she had forgotten it when she went to bed. 

The reason the clock was forgotten was the unscheduled visit from her nephew. He comes about every week or week and a half for a meal.  He just comes in and waits till the next meal.  ( smile) I have learned that this is an 'opportunity' to share what we have and he is always so hungry.  He will eat anything and praise even the simpliest food.  Last night it was a thick soup and cornbread with big hunk of cake and peaches for dessert.    He kept saying it was so good, and he accepted seconds, actually he is just hungry for home cooked  food.  He lives mostly on microwaved frozen stuff.  As I said it is an oppportunity to share.

 I had already taken food this week to a family who had lost their mother.   I always take the simple things  like this week it was bread, tuna salad for sandwiches, cantaloupe, a big cocoanut cake, bacon, baked beans and potato chips.  I know that was an interesting combination.  But the lady came to me at the funeral dinner and told me, what a gift of love and how much it meant to all of them.  I had been taking food for quite a while.  It seemed to me  to be a thing to do when you know people are hurting too much to take care of themselves.

This is something that my mother would say.... if someone would just bring her a sandwich or something already cooked, and no one did.  I do it because I know it helps to ease the loneliness and hurt.  I am learning  how important it is to share the simpliest things in this little town.  It is something that I would have been very reluctant  to do in the area where we lived in California. Another reason we are here.

I understand we will be doing "Trunk and Treat" on Halloween.  Drive to the church, open your car trunk, and give out  treats in a safe environment.  New concept for me.

I am saving marigold seeds to share.  This place will be known as Marigold Country Home.....we are planning banks and banks of marigold around the house and  in the landscaping.  Hope our plans work out.

Happy autumn from Marigold Country House and peace and contentment from all of us.

 

SHOULD BE A WEEK IN OUR LIFE! LOL

This has been a busy week.  Jack's new chair was delivered.  It is a wine or claret color and fits well in the no match room we occupy! lol  I laughed when the gentlemen delivered the chair and asked how many people did they know that had three "lift" chairs in their living area.  The said they thought we held the record.  But Jack needs a chair and a spare when one fails to operate (and that does happen). 

 These chairs are for sleeping as well as sitting.  We don't have beds.  Mother likes the third chair quite well and sits in it when she is with us.

Mother mentioned a month ago she wanted her will cleaned up and rewritten.  I called her lawyer and did not receive a return call for a month. So I made an appointment with another lawyer. 

 The night before the appointment, her attorney called and say he had been away from home and was sorry to be so late returning her call.  Over night he rewrote her will, durable power of attorney and deeds to take care of her property. 

Thursday the papers arrived.  I called three of her friends, and we met 30 minutes later and signed, witnessed and notorized the papers.   She was very willing to do anything the attorney said she needed to do, as he is an old family friend and she has great confidence in him. 

This was quite a big step and I was greatly surprised that she was in such a good mood to get it done.  In fact she enjoyed seeing her friends so much that I think she thought more of it as a social hour.  lol  It needed to be done and I was proud of her for taking care of business.

The FFA students from the highschools around have been selling sasuage and bacon, well I bought from several.  You have to in a small town, or buy from no one. 

 The sasuage is ok, but we are not really fond of pork, the bacon was too salty for us, and we will be sharing it also with others who care for breakfast meats.  Mother loves the sasuage so will keep some for her! lol

 

Mother's 89birthday was this past Tuesday. We had so much company in and out for the week, she even had a neighbor bring a cake with candle at 7 in the morning and sang Happy Birthday to her. 

We took her to the National Cemetery where my stepfather is buried.   She wanted to  take flowers and spend a few minutes there.  We had intended to go out for lunch but took a scenic drive instead and had lunch at home.

It has been an eventful week for Marigold Country Home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thunder started about midnight and it has rained and rained.  Such lovely weather!

We just watched the rain and did only the necessary today. 

Lunch was a big pot of homemade soup we made this past week in anticipation of these rainy days.  Homemade cornbread, biscuits, and birthday cake finished out the meal.

Mother really didn't want to go to church today so we just curled up in comfortable chairs and napped. LOL

What a lovely peaceful day.  Jack has on a TV ministry and the sermon was about our jobs.  Some things were said that really pulled my strings and I think I will feel better and not so depressed this week...lets hope!

Peace.................

 

 

Desperate X

In a act of desperation, and I do mean desperation I loaded everyone up and took off!

One afternoon this week, Jack and I went driving, found the airport, and Sonic for soft icecream.  It was so much fun that I mentioned to Mother that we found a place for icecream and that we thought we would take a drive to find a town that Jack had been reading about in the newspaper.

This morning she was all dressed and made up,etc. ready for an outing.  I asked where she was going....she said to Chattanooga! 

We hadn't planned on going this morning...........oh well in an act of desperation to ease the DEPRESSION I have been having I loaded everyone up and we went on a drive.  First to the lake that is about 6 miles east of us.  There were lots of picnic tables, shelters, and really a nice place.  Then we  traveled on East for a while till the road turned really bad and narrow.  We then went South for quite a ways.  I knew where we were going, but this road was just a country road and somewhat rough, dusty, but interesting things to see.  Mother began to complain it was taking too long,etc.  We finally got to Chattanooga and it was an interesting little town.

We then went North to a little town of Cache where Quannh Parker has the Indian White House.  We didn't find the  place nor did we find a place to eat that was wheelchair assessible.  This is more common here that I like to think.  Then we went on to Indiahoma and found a place called "Whistle Stop Cafe".

This place was truly unique.  It was like a small mall inside an old grocery store.  The city hall, comunity center, tanning salon, beauty shop, the works but down the middle was the restaurant.  Much like our malls in California in many ways. LOL  The special of the day was mexican food.  It sounded good, the price $5.00 and included the drink and homemade pie for dessert.  Well we were wonderfully surprised by the huge platter of delicious food.  Of course we could not do justice to it, and took the homemade cocoanut pie and apple pie home, LOL

On the way home Mother complained about the length of time we were out, and how long it took to get to Chattanooga, etc. And she didn't want to go down one particular road again!    I told her that her lists of dislikes was getting so long that soon she would not be invited to go with us, because we would be probably going someplace she didn't like or on a road she didn't like! Oh well that didn't go over very well.  THE FUNNY PART WAS SHE WASN'T INVITED YET TO GO WITH US, WE WOULD HAVE ASKED HER WHEN WE DECIDED WHEN WE WERE GOING.  I guess it is getting to me when she decides where we are going and when we are going.  

Do you ever wonder what you will be like at 89?  I hope my daughter is patient with me! lol

Let there be Peace in this country home.

 

Four tomato plants and four pepper plants that we loved all through the hot dry summer bore no fruit...... no blooms, nothing!  NOW WE HAVE TOMATOES AND PEPPER!  go figure!

That is sort of how things are going......so I will be not making journal entries for a while unless something wonderful happens.  I am exhausted!

Another day in my life........................

Some bad news, the primary physician has decided that Jack should not have a driver's license.  He doesn't drive---but giving it up was giving up another part of one's independence.  This was a real blow and is taking its toll.

We all went to see about our eyes and glasses.  The doctor said that Mother's should not be changed.  He coud do nothing to improve what she had and she was legally blind.  He said he would help in securing the information for insurance that provides for someone to come in to help....wow we are getting closer to that so Jack and I can do somethings by ourselves.

Jack's glasses were too strong and will have his changed and the cataracs are getting a little worse.  Mine were fine but I wanted new ones so the prescription was sharpened up a bit.  All in all it was a good day.  The doctor was so patient and talked just loud enough and distinctly enough for mother to respond to his tests.

We are off to get van serviced....Mother woke the house up at 4  and has been dressed with coat on and purse at ready for two hours.....guess it is time to go...peace for all of us!

 

...Patrick in Caregivingly, Yours jiggled my thoughts about dreams and what to do about dreams we have created over the years.

First, dreams are the material of  great deeds, great art, great accomplishments, and most of all great lives. 

Sometimes we actually feel like we have played out some of our dreams and do we feel a void where those dreams were located?   I am not sure.

My dream of being a teacher that would touch lives was in many ways accomplished.  After more than 40 years of teaching, related activities, and receiving awards and recognitions from students, parents, and administration, I feel like that dream has been really played out.  I don't even desire to tutor now, even thought I have volunteered to do so in an emergency.

The dream I had of travel and exploring the United States and Europe has also been accomplished to a certain degree.

The dream to accomplish a great deal of family research for myself and others has been part of my life and I am tired of that activity at this time.

I guess right now my dreams are things I might like to accomplish in the future, but they are just that dreams.  I would like to make my home comfortable and very organized.   But right now I really don't have a home and doing things to it is out of the question.  Even organizing the closets is not a opportunity that is available to me.

The dream I can hang on to is making our one room comfortable and organized. 

The dream I can hang on to is making those entrusted to my care comfortable, happy, and secure.  That would be a great accomplishment.  It isn't a grandiose dream but an important one and one I hope someone someday will dream that dream with me in mind. 

In all of this I discovered that dreams don't have to be big just very important to the person dreaming and they can be accomplished.

Thanks, Patrick, I needed to realize again what I am doing is extremely important to me and those I love.

Peace! <happy smile>

 

Drop in traffic.....

Drop in traffic is wonderful for Jack!

When we first came just over 9 months ago, Jack sat here for days before he saw anyone except my mother and I.  He would comment that he didn't know anyone here but us.  Now we have quite a bit of drop in traffic.  This is good!

A new neighbor who was managing the country store, dropped in one day last week to announce we were the first to know that he was no longer associated with the country store.  He made the comment that one should never work for friends.  This little store has changed owners about three times since we moved here.   But........

He made a comment that he had only found one other small town like this, in that no one liked each other????  Well, we knew that this town had a personality of its own! lol  But where he was in the store, people would come in for coffee or something to eat and sit and TALK!  He said he often felt like a priest taking confessions because people poured out their hearts to him.    He said he knew when families were having domestic problems, which had outstanding warrents, and lots of simular problems.  He also said we must be"FLYING UNDER THE RADAR", because we were the only people that someone had talked about not liking!  Well, we are new in town!

Small towns means you don't lose yourself in the masses.  Everyone sees you and what you do.  People often comment on me mowing the yard, that it looks good,etc. 

 They ask about Mother because she  would walk to the postoffice.  This stopped in the winter and then it was too hot in the summer and the mosquitoes were very bad.  So that bit of exercise is gone, but she has fallen some and she doesn't walk far anymore and when she does she does hold on to me for support.  Heaven forbid that she would use a cane.  She uses the broom when she goes after the newspaper. LOL  Of course she does this about 2 or 3 in the morning and I am usually asleep.  I have tried to talk her out of this but she is determined.  The newspaper is in a container at the road and is a bit of a walk.

Well, today is going to be warm, and we have a funeral to go to.  We have done lots of funerals since we have been here.  Peace...............

In country town USA.

 

 

Sometimes I wonder where the days go

Did a little extra cooking today and took dinner to a family across town who have a very ill family member.  This is the nice thing about small towns.  You know your neighbors and sometimes you can made a little difference.

Didn't accomplish much today but am learning it isn't necessary to  build Rome in a day!

We ordered Jack a new dual motor electric lift chair last Thursday.  His has been fritzy a couple of times in the last 10 days.  It is time for a new one, and then he can have a chair and a spare!  This will make three but that doesn't seem to be a problem.  I can have one to sleep in! lol

It is warm again and we would like the return of the cool days and nights.  But will have to wait I guess till Mother Nature gets in the mood!

The tech to install my new  computer will be here tonight or  one night this week.  I am anxious for a computer that is reliable.  Like the chair we know that it is time to replace the communication tools.   I thought that the computer would be a great thing for Jack to enjoy also but it bothers his eyes and especially the games quickly makes him uncomfortable.

Entertainment here is limited: highschool ballgames seem to be the number one event here but you have to drive a hour and a half usually to see a game away from home.  The parents  seem to be very supportive and go to most of the games.

I am looking forward to Trick or Treat----hope we have some wee visitors.

Peace in the country and especially small towns.

 

 

 

Sometimes I wonder where the days go

Did a little extra cooking today and took dinner to a family across town who have a very ill family member.  This is the nice thing about small towns.  You know your neighbors and sometimes you can made a little difference.

Didn't accomplish much today but am learning it isn't necessary to  build Rome in a day!

We ordered Jack a new dual motor electric lift chair last Thursday.  His has been fritzy a couple of times in the last 10 days.  It is time for a new one, and then he can have a chair and a spare!  This will make three but that doesn't seem to be a problem.  I can have one to sleep in! lol

It is warm again and we would like the return of the cool days and nights.  But will have to wait I guess till Mother Nature gets in the mood!

The tech to install my new  computer will be here tonight or  one night this week.  I am anxious for a computer that is reliable.  Like the chair we know that it is time to replace the communication tools.   I thought that the computer would be a great thing for Jack to enjoy also but it bothers his eyes and especially the games quickly makes him uncomfortable.

Entertainment here is limited: highschool ballgames seem to be the number one event here but you have to drive a hour and a half usually to see a game away from home.  The parents  seem to be very supportive and go to most of the games.

I am looking forward to Trick or Treat----hope we have some wee visitors.

Peace in the country and especially small towns.