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| View of Casa Tipton-Kelly from our mosquito infested back yard |
How are you all doing?
It's been awhile since I posted an update on our situation here are Casa Tipton-Kelly.
Well, I can tell you that the mosquitos are biting and the heat and humidity are oppressive. If I go outside at all I have to suit up in my white shirt, long denim pants, combat boots and Safari hat with mosquito net. Even then, after only moving around for about ten minutes my T-shirt is soaked with sweat. Ah summertime, we have arrived!
I wish I could work outside in our beautiful backyard more but I can't because of the heat and humidity and the mosquitos. I do like to refresh my pond with about twenty-five minutes of well water (all free and not contaminated with chlorine) at least once a day. The fish like it too. I also have to clean out the filter of the floating solar water fountains from algae buildup at least once a day. The fish like those bubbles which provide much need oxygen for them. I recently installed a large solar panel to provide even more air bubble in the pond.
Bill continues to need my care. His health is fine, as far as I can tell. No open leg wounds. He's swallowing better now that I'm pureeing all his food, mainly oatmeal and bananas. He's getting much better care at home here than he ever would at a $$$$$ assisted or total care facility. Bill is in his own home and we're together. I have accommodated myself to the fact that caring for Bill for the next few years is my reality. Could be a lot worse. Bill is not in pain and knows who I am. He can also get to the bathroom by himself and rarely has "accidents." Of course I would like to resume my quarterly travels with Pat but that is not to be in my foreseeable future. It's been two and a half years since Pat and I have embarked on one of our adventurous travels to our favorite destinations in Palm Springs, Philadelphia and Canada. Friends of mine just returned from France. I don't think we'll ever go to France but maybe Japan. But in the meantime, there are plenty of places to visit right here on the North American continent.
I'm not sure if I could ever return to work at the hotel again. I'm having more trouble just walking. I'm very unsteady. And walking up stairs is a real chore for me. I have to pull myself up by holding on the banister. Last night I was cleaning the kitchen and living room wood floors and on a couple occasions I had to go down on the floor on bended knee. I almost couldn't get up. It's amazing how weak my legs are.
My arthritis continues to worsen. Yesterday I broke the antlers off of one of my acrylic reindeer I had sitting on our kitchen counter. That makes two things my stiffened arthritic hands have knocked off our kitchen counter. Last week it was the glass mixer jar I use to puree Bill's oatmeal meals. That cost me $45 to replace that jar. I was lucky I could find a replacement on Amazon. I broke my heart to break the antlers off that reindeer. I had two of them on our kitchen counter. I bought then many years ago at Walmart in Exton, Pennsylvania in an after Christmas sale. Of course they are irreplaceable. I ordered some acrylic glue from Amazon. I will try and repair them.
Last night I had a bad attack of allergies. The runny nose. Runs like an open spigot. I had to go to bed early just to get away from it. If I lay on my side while sleeping all that mucus drains back into my body. I'm better now. If I take allergy pills I can usually head off the worst of the sneezing and runny nose. When I was deep into the sneezes last night I noticed the allergy tablet still on the counter. I had forgotten to take it!
Seems like this post is nothing but complaints. Not my intention folks, just telling it like it is around here at Casa Tipton-Kelly. We're entering into the depths of the summer season. A good two months of this heat and humidity. I am thankful though we're not getting the worst of the heat that much of the rest of the country is suffering through. And I am so thankful our air conditioning works great. Of course I pay a big bill for that air conditioning but that's a small price to pay for the comfort we enjoy and are able to survived in this heat and humidity.
2 comments:
Your yard is sure beautiful!
Jim
I second Jim comment, your yrd looks beautiful. You certainly selected a wonderful building site all those years ago. Seems the lawn has recovered fairly well from the invasion of insects that destroyed it last year. I do hope you have the mouse situation in the garden shed under control this year. Along with a garden pond and water feature comes a lot of maintenance. Got to keep those aquatic critters alive and comfortable. When I had a water lily pond back in the early 70's it soon became a chore to keep up with. The flowers that the water lily procuded were amazing and the goldfish were so healthy. Then there was the drowning of a 4 year old in a neighboring community in a garden pond. Terrible event that was. The community passed a law that was retroactive that all yards with ponds had to be fenced in and gated. Really it was no different than the laws requiring swimming pools to be fenced but for a garden feature it became a financial burden and often an eyesore. I had my pond emptied and the fish given away along with the water lilys. Instead of water I tried a Zen garden, You know with sand that you raked every day and sat on a bench and meditated. That didn't work so I turned it into a rock garden. It finally was all torn out and it became a quater acre of nice green grass that the new owner used as a "drying lawn" for the family laundry. I ran into an old neighbor a few years ago in a coffee shop and we sat down and talked the good old days. He let slip that the neighbors were so glad when I filled in the pond because it was the source of the mosquito problem in the community. I had never thought about that at the time I was enjoying it but it probably added to the insect problem. It has been hotter than the hinges of the gate to hell here lately. It has been in the 90's here during the day and high 70's at night. Well, as I type this, a heavy thunderstorm has just moved in and along with the window rattling thunder as come RAIN! No winds are predicted which would bring down more of the badly heat stressed old trees, Two days ago I was relaxing and reading when I heard a cracking noise and then felt the building shudder. An enormous well over 3 stories tall 100 plus year old maple tree had split in two and falling to the ground. No one hurt or property damaged. The owner of the apartment building now has an 8 thousand dollar tree removal bill to pay. I no longer have morning shade on my apartment unit in the building. Now I wonder how much the electric bill will increase. Ron, I hate to hear that your favorite reindeer has been broken. I too have been knocking over or bumping into things and it upsets me. I dare not dust shelves and my collections because some are very valuable. I should have sold those items in the auction three years ago when I had the downsizing auction after selling my home. I didn't want to sell them because they give me comfort as I am sure your beloved things you have about you give to you. I recently knocked off the kitchen cupboard shelf a row of glass drinking glasses creating a mess of broken glass shards everywhere. I purchased a set of new PLASTIC glasses as replacements. Not happy but safety first. I wonder what I'll break next. My Parkinson's is to blame as the diease ever so slowly progresses. I am noticing that I am eating softer food items as they are easier to swallow. My life is becoming complicated but I wouldn't give it up for nothing. Life is worth living at ll costs to me. So Ron, you and Bill keep on truckin'. Stay as cool as you can and take things day by day and keep safe and be careful to stay out of harms way. BE HAPPY! So says Woody in Ohio. And Jim, Vic, Jon, Spo, Pat and all the rest of the lurkers be safe, be careful and Be Happy as you possibly can be. Let Ron and me know how you do it. Tips on how to make living easy are always welcomed my me.
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