Flat Tire

I had a flat tire today. I called the cooperative and they sent a truck out to put air in. Then I drove it to the co-op where they fixed it. Larry has a bunch of stuff for home dialysis. He did it at home for the first time this afternoon. We are trying to arrange stuff so it doesn’t look like a warehouse but we aren’t there yet.

First Hornworm

I found the first tomato hornworm of the season. I went to the store to get a new coffee maker and after it stopped rainy, I planted the last tomatoes and peppers to get them off the porch. They had gotten so big they kept tipping their pots over. It’s hard to water plants that are sideways.

Changed Her Mind

Yesterday the nurse said today would be Larry’s last day of pd training. It kind of spooked me because there are things not ready. But we don’t exactly know what they will furnish and what we need to buy. Any way today she said he has to finish out the week of training. So it’s a little jumbled feeling to both of us.

Good News

Larry’s nurse said tomorrow will probably be the last day of training. She said he is doing really well. This is good news. I’m not sure if we have the house organized yet for the incoming supplies but we won’t get a month’s supply tomorrow. But it is encouraging that he is doing so well.

Ideas

Ideas happen for me in several ways. Brainstorming is good but I don’t have anybody to brainstorm with. Larry doesn’t want to brainstorm as he immediately puts on the black hat and argues. I’ve tried to explain I don’t want him to shoot down my plan; I want him to look at the end result and find a path to it. Another way I get ideas is by reading. But I also need time to mull over a problem. The most recent problem I’ve tried to figure out is the tables to hold his peritoneal stuff. The nurse said it can’t be wood. It has to be something that can be sprayed with Clorox. The trays attached to the recliner at the dialysis clinic are plastic. What I want to use is a couple of TV trays. They easily fold away. But the surface isn’t great for sanitizing. So this morning I decided glass cut to size would be perfect and not ugly. Then Larry called and said they are short handed at the dialysis clinic today so he hooked himself up. When the nurse came in she said he could go away for two hours. Then come back and do stage two. So I told him my glass idea. He liked it and improved on it by saying tempered glass would be even better. That was maybe his first real participation in brainstorming.

Pruning

I trimmed back the gardenias today. I hate to do it because I’m sure it limits next year’s blooms. But I want to be able to move them this fall.

Baking Show

The British Baking Show is back on. It’s a reality show with amateur bakers. I have no idea why I like it but it’s the only television show I’m willing to watch.

Scam

Today a guy called claiming to work for a law office. He said I had stopped using my hotspot before my contract was up and I owe fifty dollars to pay the secondary contract off so my credit rating won’t suffer. He said a letter had been sent May 9 and I did not respond so it was turned over to them for collection. I said I didn’t get it so mail me another one. He said they couldn’t but he could email me a copy. I said no. He gave me the name and address of the law office and said I could request it by mail. Then I called Verizon to see if a secondary contract was associated with the contract I’d signed. I haven’t heard back from them yet. I googled it next and found there is a scam associated with the phone number. The law office is real and the address is real but the phone number wasn’t listed.

Ring of Fire

The Ring of Fire series is mostly arranged by dates so they are all together on my iPod. But within a year there can be several titles which are arranged alphabetically. So listening to them can be odd. A guy who is dead in one book is alive in the next.

Shower Rod

The shower curtain was dragging along the rod so Larry rubbed it with waxed paper. Now it slides easily. It worked on sliding boards when I was a kid.

Stuff Organized

Water

This is water with lime and mint. Lemons are expensive right now but limes aren't.

Turtle

This turtle is about the size of the palm of my hand. We've found hubcap-sized snapping turtles in our yard.

Daylilies

Picture

Today I got a picture of the Grand Canyon from Leigh. I’m glad it wasn’t a picture of a helicopter airlifting her out.

Planted

This afternoon we planted six tomatoes and two more peppers. The ones we planted in the garden before either died or are on the verge of dying. Maybe these won’t drown. The only tomatoes and peppers that look good are planted in flower boxes on the porch.

Home Health

I keep having to patch Larry up. I’ve mostly gotten used to it and don’t feel the need to gag anymore. I think it helps that I see gross stuff but mostly there is no accompanying odor. Tonight Larry started making pained sounds and looking at his hemodialysis port and making a face. I told him he’d better not want me to do anything to that. Evidently chest hair had gotten caught in the tape. That was a relief to me.

Hello!

I’m on the porch a lot and usually wave when people go by. It’s a back road so the people are sometimes neighbors or visiting neighbors. I hardly ever know who they are but don’t care because they are more likely to know me. Last night a passing car yelled Hello at me so I yelled back. I wonder who it was.

Wildflowers

The roadsides are covered with black eyed Susans, Queen Anne’s Lace, and day lilies. The county cots the roadsides, but not where they are thick with wildflowers. There are a couple of other kids, but I don’t know their names.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tonight I sliced small green tomatoes, soaked them in egg, coated them in cornmeal, and fried them. I fried two for each of us as a side. None are ripe yet although a couple are starting to turn red.

Journal

The reason I started to blog is I wanted to keep a journal with pictures. I decided that unlike other journals I’ve kept, I would always know where I left it and would be able to compare spaces, flowers, etc. from one year to the next. It isn’t working great for me since I’m using my phone. If I take a picture with my kindle, I can insert the picture into my blog. If I take a picture with my phone, I should be able to insert it into a blog created on the phone. I just haven’t figured it out yet.

Cucumbers

I planted a couple of cucumber plants and marigolds. I thought they could run along the rail and it would be easy to water then and I wouldn't have to bend over to find them.

Back Porch Garden

These are cocktail tomatoes and are loaded with tomatoes. They are larger than grape or cherry tomatoes but not full sized.

Problem

I've been posting from my phone, but I don't know how to put a picture in. I'm at the hospital using the Wi-Fi here so I'm posting from my kindle.

This is my first gardenia bloom of the year.

Religious Visitors

We have a carful of religious people come by every so often. They came today but instead of giving us a pamphlet and reading a couple of verses from the Bible, they wanted to know about my flowers and went away with cuttings. They said next time we would all have Jesus.

Dry Wine

Larry and I like dry wine. We grow a lot of scuppernongs and people come to pick them. Sometimes we help them. A neighbor makes wine, using different types of fruit including our scuppernongs. They would sometimes treat us to some in thanks for the fruit. I finally returned several unopened bottles and told them we don’t drink sweet wine. Today they shared a bottle they drew off before adding more sugar to make it sweet enough to suit themselves. I thought it was thoughtful of them to bottle a dry one for us!

First Gardenia Bloom

I was watering my containers of gardenias and smelled one. I’ve been watching a bloom get fatter and fatter, but it wasn’t that one. I eventually found the blossom down inside the plant. The gardenias I had in the yard were great for a few years, but they don’t do well long term.

Digging Fork

I tried to loosen the soil around the plants we put in the garden. The clay was hard as a rock. I decided I wanted a particular tool but didn’t know the name of it never having had the need or desire to know. So I described it to Larry and told him what I wanted to do. He said he knew what I wanted and it is a good idea but he couldn’t think of the name, either. This morning he said it’s a digging fork. So I spent about forty five minutes sweating and poking holes in hard clay. When I drove the gator back up here, Larry said I didn’t put the digging fork away. I said I wasn’t finished with the stuff up here. I don’t really like sweaty work but at least it’s good for me.

Hairy Guy

Larry has skin issues and the dermatologist takes care of them initially, but I have to bandage him until he heals. So the dermatologist tapes him up in his hair. I get to shave and trim around the wounds so the tape will stick to him and come off without hurting him. So then he cleans up and next I have to bandage him up.

DIY Laundry Detergent

I’ve been using a diy laundry detergent for several years. I’ve had to buy additional fels naphtha but I’m just finishing the washing soda. I still have borax. But I always fix the next batch when I start the last gallon. So I looked up the dry recipe and made a little bag using one cup of washing soda, one cup of borax, and half cup of grated fels naphtha. I put it in a ziplock and wrote 2 tablespoons mixture and 1/4 cup water.

Friends

Larry had made friends since he started going to dialysis. I’m glad he’s seeing people undergoing dialysis but getting on with their lives. They aren’t all old and they aren’t all diabetic. Some people have kidney failure for other reasons. I know more than I did a year ago.

Sick

When I’m sick, I tend to think I’m going to die. Today I had diarrhea and nausea. I’m better now so I guess it wasn’t Ebola.

Hospital Gown

Mostly hospital gowns are pretty awful but Larry had one today with ties that he could reach and an inflatable lining with a thermostat he could control to make sure he was warm enough. He also had compression things that had Velcro fasteners that could be inflated.

Hamburger

Larry bought preformed hamburger patties that were twenty seven percent fat. I didn’t know they existed. They were moist and tasty. I only want those from now on.

Day Lilies

The irises are finished and the day lilies have started. The orange ones that are used for erosion control are blooming in masses. Our yellow ones are in full bloom and others are starting to open up.

Centipedes

The house is covered with centipedes and has been for about four days. They are easy to sweep off but they have to be cleaned off several times after the morning sweep. They don’t seem to do any damage and aren’t inside but they look awful to me.