A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

It's summer in the Midwest, and we do heat with humidity here.

At 7,000 feet, it should be cool enough to be tolerable, I would hope, but I would also make sure your AC is working,

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

On Sunday afternoon, Blackie and I head for the Texas Hill Country to join an unofficial group of vintage Airstreamers at Inks Lake. If it's not too hot, I'll sit by the lake. If it is too hot, I'll sit IN the lake. That's the way Texans handle summer.

[Lily&Me]

Have a great time!

Maggie

[Gearheart]

Maggie, It was 55 this AM. 75 was the best it got around 4 PM. Back to mid 60's now. AC off and windows open. I love Canada.

[Lily&Me]

Yep, you go north, and it gets cooler...that's what I'm looking for, and it is about 20 degrees cooler right now on the shores of Lake Superior.

On another topic...one of the Moraine View group had bought a 12 volt cell signal booster, that has an antennae that attaches magnetically to a vehicle roof.

Altho theirs was prohibitively expensive for me, she reported a significant increase in signal and connectivity, while I struggled with a couple of bars of 3G, 99% of the time...so I looked into these, and called Verizon tech support for info and recommendations.

Verizon doesn't sell them, so didn't have specific recommendations, but told me any booster would work, so I found this single-user booster at a very reasonable price....it is on its way to me, and will arrive early next week.

I believe I also have somewhere an adaptor which allows a 12 volt item to plug into electricity, too, which should make this usable most anywhere...such as at my Adirondacks cabin rental in a couple of months, if needed, tho there is wifi there.

It is a sad fact for me that connectivity is a wanted and needed part of everyday life...I would like to be that person who embraces a non-technological lifestyle, but I just can't.

When traveling, specially, the internet is my link to so much in my life...I do and communicate so much online and thru email, and when I don't have it, I don't like it.

So, we'll see how it works.

We apparently got some rain overnight, but I suspect no "storms" as I was not awakened to a cold, wet nose touching my cheek to alert me to a need for comforting.

Maggie

[DIR1]

Good morning Maggie... we're having rain again for a few days.. probably be in the 60's, then Saturday starts another week of sun and warmth... like 70's... that's warm enough for me... I saw one of those 12v to 110 in the auto section of a local store here... Black and Decker, $12... I have an older one that was in the Bvan.. I keep it in the car now.. pretty handy device.... keep having fun!!! Hugs and love from here...

[Lily&Me]

Hi Miss Gail!

I would be perfectly happy if temps never got out of the 70's, but, alas, that is not where I happen to live, and I would at this point live nowhere else.

Warm again today, but we got enough rain overnight to freshen things up a bit and rinse the dust off my car.

This is farm country, after all, and the farmers need sun to make the corn and soybeans grow, so best not to complain too much.

Gerard and Laura couldn't believe how flat it is in central Illinois, never having been here before....kind of like the Delta in Mississippi, tho green and no cotton.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I missed a piece of landscape timber by my rock and shell bed in the front of the house...mostly covered by English ivy, it had escaped notice...so I dug it out this morning and replaced it with more of the same cobbles that surround the house.

To purchase these in this manner, at the place here that supplies rock and stone of all sorts, you drive your vehicle onto a scale, it is weighed, you get your rock, and get weighed again.

I took a 5 gallon bucket, filled it with carefully selected stone, and had 60 lbs. I could barely lift it into the back of my car, then haul it from there to its intended spot.

But, now all bits of landscape timber...which eventually rot, and under which ants like to live, you know...are gone, and replaced with lovely rock.

I couldn't be happier, unless they were continuously wet so I could best see their individual colors.


I was out of town a good part of yesterday, so my son came by on his lunch hour and put Lily out...and snapped this picture. Sweet Lily.

She enjoys the heat for about 5 minutes, then wants back into the AC, but loves to roll round on that hot grass...for a minute.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

This came up on my news page this morning....it is excellent, real and so very true.

"Having no father created a hole in my universe...yet other men in my life became fatherlike figures."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.6a019eef1201

Doug suddenly lost his father the day before his 4th birthday, and it was a devastatingly formative experience....one that shaped his life in many ways.

He spoke often, and fondly, of the night cop in Washington, Iowa, "who helped raise me".

Fathers die, they abandon, or can be physically present but emotionally absent, for whatever reason.

Their absence and lack of meaningful involvement in their children's lives profoundly affects the children they leave behind, both boys and girls.

If you have in your circle, or come across in your life, a fatherless child... be aware that your presence may make a difference to them.

Be conscious of it, and craft your interactions accordingly.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I helped with cleaning out the elderly gentleman's home today....he for whom confusion has become the norm, and he hasn't a clue what is happening.

The family has been working on the house for the past couple of weeks, but it is a huge job...upstairs, main floor and basement full of the leavings of 40 years of life there, every closet and cabinet full.

There was less sorting and hauling today, more cleaning....that I can do.

This gentleman's house full of possessions has been divided into sell, donate, dispose of, and keep...a large dumpster in the driveway the repository for the unusable, of which there is great deal.

The house must be emptied and reasonably clean to be sold, necessary of course for Medicaid eligibility for nursing home care for someone without resources to pay.

Not only his things, but items collected by his late wife, most of which the family doesn't want...and the same may someday be said about my cast iron collection and coffee mugs.

It's sad, it's life.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Have reserved an overnight at a motel with indoor pool...and water slide...in Coralville, Iowa, for a quickie trip with these grands to see that grand next week.

Not every accommodation has rooms for 5, much less an indoor pool, so I was delighted.

A little time off for parents, some concentrated time for Grandma with her babies, and they together.

Have started packing up the Interstate, clothing and shelf stable food items. A huge advantage to this time of year, vs January, is that it can be done gradually, without the worry that things will freeze and explode. It happens.

Did brunch for my son and his today...two loaves of wheat French bread, 12 eggs, 3 cups of milk, vanilla, cinnamon sugar and two pounds of turkey breakfast sausage turned into a French toast bake...consumed with fresh berries, and almost all gone by the time they were done.

Yikes, those kids can eat.

Enjoyable for me, having them here and cooking for them, and the kids hadn't seen grandmas new sitting room nor the rock border. They liked it.

A red cardinal has been around the house since this morning....first in the back yard, as I was drinking coffee and enjoying the view this morning, then in the yew by the front door as we were sitting in the living room after eating.

Doug's favorite bird...Happy Father's Day, honey.

Maggie

[Gearheart]

I want dibs on your cast iron if nobody else wants it.

[Lily&Me]

Yeah, most of it will probably be sold, as it's not my kids' thing.

Tho darling daughter sent me a picture today of bedding hanging on a clothesline, so who knows what might develop over time.

Maggie

[DIR1]

I love the way at he sends you messages... so sweet.... be happy!!! Hugs and love from here... we have sunshine!!!

[Lily&Me]

Hi Miss Gail!

We've been having badly needed rain here off and on the past couple of days, including apparently a thunderstorm Saturday night which I think both Lily and I slept thru.

Tired from work on that house, I only knew of it because my son told me.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We're having a spell of milder temps, so I got another chore crossed off the to-do list this morning...cleaning the Interstate's awning.

Completely unfurled, hot water with Dawn and OxyClean, and a long handled brush we got a couple of years before Doug died.

He would have gotten on the roof, and scrubbed the top foot or two that can't be reached from the ground, but I skipped that part.

It's not perfect, but it's much better.

Also backed up the hard drive on my laptop, which is going to travel with me this trip...I have some writing and organizing on my mental to-do list, and look to have the time to do that these next few months.

I called Comcast about putting my home Xfinity on vacation hold, which was very easily done...has to be for at least 3 months, but less than 7 months, and results in only a $7 per month fee to maintain the service to then restart when you're ready. What a deal.

I didn't think to do that last year, for the trip west, and paid the full rate the entire time I was gone.

And, my Weboost 12 volt signal booster came today...seems simple enough, and everything works, so we'll see how it does on the road.

The one I got is a cradle for your phone, and the phone has to be in the cradle to get the signal boost, but that is fine and sufficient for me in poor signal areas.

There is plenty of cord, and I also have a 10', 12 volt extension cord should I want it.

Nothing too exciting going on here...to-do list is dwindling.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The blankie I am making for my sweet niece, which I hope to finish before I leave...

[Lily&Me]

My California granddaughter on Doug's side leaves on her band trip to France and Italy soon, and I have found getting her a pre-paid debit card to take a bit of cash with her much more difficult than I expected.

I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to look into this.

Thru my bank, these can only be gotten by mail, have to be in my name as she is a minor, tho I could add her as a secondary user....but only after I receive in the mail and activate my own card, her card also then having to come in the mail.

I talked with three different people at PNC over 2 work days, and got different information from each of them....enter a request to speak with a supervisor, who visually reviewed rules before informing me accurately, and provided version four of the requested information.

Still far too cumbersome and time consuming for something that needs to be sent to California next week, so did a bit of research online and discovered I can get one of these at a local AAA branch.

Not as simple as it sounds, as midway thru the application process this woman informed me that gd not physically present could not have a chip card, only a swipe card, and swipe cards cannot be used anywhere in Europe.

I got the card anyway, because this didn't make sense, so called Customer Service when I got home to activate and set a PIN#.

Swipe cards can in fact be used in Europe, though there may be occasions where going inside a bank is required rather than using an ATM. Sigh.

An exercise in patience, this was, and I got it done...patiently.

Picked up a new latch for one of the fence gates while I was out, and am going to install it all by myself later this afternoon.

Latch that son helped me install when this stretch of fence went up the year that Doug died....it never latched very well, and has been overdue for replacement.

Off to Iowa in the morning...

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The grandbabies traveled well, wore themselves out in the pool...complete with a great water slide...and are enjoying hanging out together. Sweet babies.

Another douse in the pool in the morning, Alice will be returned and we will make a drop-in at the cemetery before heading home.

I have a 6 second video of the four of them coming off the slide together and into the water, but it doesn't want to load...

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

It's been a busy two days, but we are home and Grandma intends to chill out a bit before doing anything really productive....like, not until tomorrow morning.

Good kids, who mind their Grandma, and we had a wonderful time together.

Stopped at the cemetery to visit Doug's grave, where there is another new grave for an old family...a 2 year old.

Emma, especially, loves to ask endless Grandpa questions...about his life, what he did, what he liked...trying to learn more, and create a stronger image in her mind, of he who is gone.

They learned today about his detassling corn, walking beans, and putting up hay when he was in high school...before he got a job as an usher at the local movie theatre.

Working on farms is what kids did...it was good for them, and for Doug allowed him to select and purchase his own school clothes.

A good trip, but I am tired and it is time for one of my own.


Maggie