More from California

Kyla was REALLY into making "slime".  The recipe uses white glue and Borax.  She could even blow it up like a balloon.  She added food coloring for variety.

Bryce enjoyed himself playing drums at his father's work place. This small room had this drum set and a couple comfortable bean bag type chairs. Fortunately most of the sound could only be heard through the headset .  Work places in CA are quite different than in Ohio and probably most of the country.

I would like to add comments to the last post where the children were selling drinks.  This was very much a spur of the moment event.  Kyla invented a drink with fresh fruit and ice water.  The neighbor boy brought over cookies to sell.  I think they made $6 which they split three ways.

We attend the children's swim meet.  It was "organized chaos"with a couple hundred children ages 6 to 18 competing. It is a co-op so all the parents are required to volunteer.  This year Shawn agreed to do the computer part.  I think it was more than he bargained for. He put his dad to work.

One more note on the visit.  At the de Young museum we saw this sign on the restroom door.
We wouldn't see that in Ohio!

Test

. Making money.

Doing it again.

Saturday is our ninth annual Pig Roast/Pot Luck.  So far I haven't freaked out.  Ninety two people have said they are coming.  Luckily we have a tent for shade as it will be a high of 91 degrees.Tables are set up in the garage and almost everything is purchased.  I forgot to get the plastic aprons for those cutting/shredding the cooked meat.  This year RM and her physics friends will not be here.
I hope I take more pictures this year to share.  Usually I running around so much that I forget to do that.

On another topic, when I walk in our woods I love it when I witness something new in nature.  Of course in Spring there are many wild flowers.  I try to identify the birds by their song.  I carry my phone and try to get information on various songs.

Today I saw from my deck a coyote loping across our field into the woods. I would never see it in the woods, but I was thrilled to see it in our yard and field.  A couple of time we have heard them yipping and howling close the the house at night.


 

Camping recap and home projects

Since we returned home from the camping trip, I caught the cold Gerry had.  So it has been a slower week.  My diet seems to be entirely cough drops.  But both of us are on the mend.  I really don't want to complain, because it could be so much worse.

Gerry has this blessing or curse:  He loves the challenge of fixing things.  At our Monday night dinner a friend brought a Lincoln welder that was broken.  He said it would cost more to have it repaired than it was worth.  Gerry was the recipient.  He was thrilled because it uses 110 and he does not have one like that.  The other three he has are different.  You will have to ask him the details. Anyway, here is how he spent the next few days. My kitchen is a work shop too.

There was a small lake at the campground. This is the scenery as I walked there. Nothing spectacular but just peaceful feeling. 

G is always looking for ideas for "yard art" that we could have when we start camping.  He thought these were possibilities.  I think there may need to be some discussion on this yet. :)

The wheels on the bike on the bottom one turned in the wind.

First Voyage with camper

Last week we took the camper on its first trial run.  We went to Maumee Bay State Park about 100 miles from our house. It was not an ideal vacation, but we accomplished what we set out to do- test the camper.  First of all, G was suffering from a terrible cold.  But he insisted on going.  On the way we had a flat tire on the van.  No problem - put the spare on and take the tire in for repairs the next day.

We had put water in the tanks at home.  When we turned on the water pump, water sprayed from the back of the toilet.  Fortunately there were facilities right across the street from our site and we were able to carry in water for drinking and washing dishes. Once we returned home G took to apart and found the broken part.

I learned that I need to make a spreadsheet or put sticky notes on all the cupboard doors because I could not remember where I stored everything.

G was very pleased that the van could pull it well and the brakes worked well!

We are looking forward to many more adventures.  But our schedule is so filled that we may not use it until October.

Plow Days

Today we attended the Spring Plow Days of the Engine Club Gerry belongs to.  Usually they have plowing demonstrations by very large tractors, small old  tractors, garden tractors and even horses. Yesterday it rained a lot so they could not do any plowing today.  We were able to enjoy  a large pot luck lunch and tour the property where the event was held.

This is an example of the "yard art."  

The members of the club love to make unique vehicles.  Several children enjoyed this one.

The families who host the event collect old farm equipment.  It was like visiting a museum.  Our son was visiting from San Francisco and had brought a friend.  Gerry had a great time explaining what the various pieces of equipment were.

Update on test results, Spring work

In my last blog, I made reference to some testing that I was undergoing and tried to be funny about my comments when wakening.

I found it difficult to describe my symptoms to my doctor so it might not make sense here either.  For about six months I would occasionally  have this episode where I would be looking at normal things like the hall way in my house, my bed, or what ever.  It would look different, extremely clear and immediately I would feel very nauseous.  Never vomited. I would also feel fear for no reason. This would happen twice a day then not for three weeks.  I felt silly even going to my Nurse Practitioner about it.  After having my esophagus and stomach checked she referred me to a Neurologist, who ordered an MRI and EEG.  The MRI came back negative and the EEG showed what she described as sharp waves.  She said it probable is a mini seizure.  This can manifest  itself as a sharp smell, movement of your figures and many other things, like me seeing something extremely clear. Really weird, I know.

I have been prescribed a very low dosage of anti seizure medication.  So it is not anything serious, just annoying.  I am happy to have it checked out and know it is not serious, but should just be addressed because it could cause some problems after years if let alone.

Thank you to those who voiced concern.

My daughter and son gave me money for my Christmas gift to buy some trees.  The nursery sends them when it is time to plant them.  They arrived last week and we had a couple of days of snow after they arrived so I stored them in the wood room in the basement.  But the weather improved and hubby helped plant them.  Each is one branch with a stake to keep it upright.  They are flowering Bradford Pear (non edible) but are beautiful in three seasons.