Feel Like Complaining

Several weeks ago, my older brother sent younger brother and I a YouTube video featuring a pear orchard in the Cashmere, Wa area. The family that owns and runs it is our family.  Twenty-three acres of apples were bought in 1953 by my maternal grandmother's brother and his wife. Eventually apples gave way for pears and more land was purchased. Their grandson started farming there full time in 1980 and still works today. He's maybe 5 yeas older than I am. His daughter is now a 4th generation farmer. I reached out to her recently on FB and told her who I was. She said her dad talks about his family a lot and they go to the small cemetery every year to clean up and take flowers. I've only been there once, to take some of Mom's ashes to be by her parents.  She gave me her dad's phone number and I had to leave a message but he called me back the next day. He was so excited to hear from family. He just kept going on and on about his parents/grandparents, and my grandma. H...

I saw my Dr. recently regarding shoulder pain I've had for a couple of months. Of course by the time I saw her, it was getting a little better but she ordered x-rays anyway. She wanted to rule out calcific tendinitis, which it did. It appears to be just a rotator cuff injury, probably from wresting my 80 lb. bed downstairs. After I got home from getting an x-ray I decided to get on my hardly used walking pad; New Year-New Me as they say. I haven't used it much because there is nothing to hang on to like a traditional treadmill. I tried one walking stick to steady myself but that didn't work enough, so I grabbed the other one.  I had just turned it on and started getting my stride. I had music on and thought I'd close my eyes and enjoy the walk. Next thing I know, my feet had drifted back and I hit the base. My eyes popped open and I tried speeding up to gain my momentum but was then moving too fast. Afraid I was going to fall, I decided to just jump off. Do you know wh...

Sometimes Tony and I will reminisce about when I used to work at the Italian restaurant downtown and I wonder how my old boss is doing. With a quick google search I found that he had passed in August of last year at the age of 95. Dang, I wasn't ready for that. His wife died in February and it was too much for him.  I wrote a full post about him in 2014 and in re-reading it, a lot of fun memories came back. My favorite was on my last night when he was supposed to go home, (apartments above the restaurant). Tony and I were leaving after my last drink with him, when he snuck out the back door and was walking down the street. We stopped and he got in the car and we all went out drinking until the bar closed. We had a blast and his wife was pissed which made the night all the more sweeter. Just for context, she didn't like me. I will always have the fondest memories of Joe and I hope he  knows how much he meant to me. A few days after Christmas, Chico's dad emailed to tell me t...

Faith is moving out; only a temporary move, but how long it will be is uncertain. Last week Julie said her treatment had hit another roadblock and she wanted to know if Faith could move in to her house if needed. We discussed it and sorted out logistics and told her yes. She said her schedule was fluid and didn't have anything set up yet. Fast forward only a few days later, she texted Faith and said things were moving fast and she would need her to move in today! I was home that day so Faith and I were able to talk to her on the phone. She sounded great and she said she felt great. She will be traveling to Texas to hopefully finish treatment, that's why she wanted someone to actually stay at her house. It makes the house look more lived in and is so much better for the cats. Julie had to take on another cat; her mom's. Her mom had to move to another assisted living facility with more help available and couldn't take Chloe because she's a senior and doesn't alway...

Our Christmas was good. Even though I'm at Steve's till the 2nd of January, I went home for Christmas. We had a few prezzies to open and made dips to devour. We even got in a video call with my brothers and their wives; it made the day extra special. I spent a week with Julie's cats and this is what happens when I sit down. I think Tino's telling Faith a secret. We have had so much wind, but thankfully we have a sturdy old Oak and not pines which topple over. Our bins decided to topple though and I titled it, 'Sex in the city'. On my way home from Julie's one morning, I had to stop in the middle of the road for these shots. There is no place to pull over so I just took a chance. Down under the fog, are city lights looking toward the Valley. Fog is just as pretty though as is the post sunrise. I did one more cat as suggested by Grumpy, to paint Abe. Tabbies are hard to do because there are so many color variations. I just end of winging it. Speaking of Abe; t...

After I got back from Steve's over Thanksgiving, I promised Tony I would finish cleaning up the basement and get rid of my old twin bed. I posted it on Craigslist and after dealing with some flakes, I heard from a guy who was gathering things for a single mom with 2 kids who had been displaced and had nothing; absolutely NOTHING! What an awful thing to go through. He came by and picked up a twin bed set, topper, bunch of sheets, a few towels, and a book case my dad had made probably over 60 years ago. I hated to give that up, but it was taking up more room than being useful at this point.  I moved on to finish up our craft room. It's not fancy but I think I like it better with the natural light from the egress window, and a heater to keep it cozy.  That same week, Faith and I went to the Old World Christmas outlet. I had no idea there was one in town. Foolishly we though all the ornaments were made here, but no they're made in China. We still enjoyed looking around and boug...

On Friday, we drove to Rockford, Wa to visit our favorite little place. It's been 3 years since we were there last. It was so rainy and foggy but it still beats sitting home staring out the window. So just enjoy some festive pictures!