Mow mow mow the lawn

I woke up early, but pulled a towel over my eyes and fell asleep again after Chris went to work. I barely heard the alarm go off at 7:30. I wondered if I could get up after working so hard yesterday, so I got up and was a little surprised. I started the lemon protocol. I read outside for half an hour. I checked the gopher trap, which was empty, then moved it.

I got a text from Johnnie asking if we would like to borrow their mower to finish the lawn. So I went over and Brian showed me how to use it. We also investigated using 30% vinegar vs steel wool for cleaning calcium off of windows.

I pushed the mower home and did the rest of the side yard, stopping to pick up stones and flatten gopher mounds. I parked it in the driveway. I went inside and read e-mail. There was a water quality report showing arsenic in the water here on post. That was interesting because my blood test came back positive for arsenic. Chris came home for lunch. He used the rolls for bread, while I started another loaf in the bread machine. He put the self-help mower in my trunk and went back to work. I watched an interview on root canals. Karen e-mailed about William being in the hospital. I passed it on to Kurt. Karen called me and we had a nice chat. I called William through the hospital, but there was no answer. I called his cell phone and talked to him for a little bit.

I drove to Self-Help and returned the lawn mower. I talked to the lady at Housing about getting in the cleaners list and she said I had to call the director. She gave me his number. I went home and listened to another dental interview. Then I called the director. He told me to leave my name and number with Housing so he can call me when he finds out how. Sigh.

I pushed Brian's mower back to his house. I made a salad and ate supper. Chris came home. I told him about the Housing response. I went to the house on the hill at 6:15. I swept and mopped floors, stopping to scrub black marks here and there. Finally there was only a little mopping left, and I was feeling nauseous, so I left Kristen to finish up. I got home just before 9. I made my tea. I got a call from Andi, who raises chickens and sells eggs. We talked about meeting on Friday. Then Chris and I watched one episode of Quantum Leap. He went to bed and I stayed up to catch up on e-mail.

* This is my shoe after the sole fell off. I finally threw them away. *

More cleaning - ugh.

We got up late since it was a holiday. I watered the plants and made lemon water. But I did not get to drink it all. After calling Rusty, I went up to the house at 10:30.

He wasn't there yet so I swept the front porch and started cleaning the door. He and his wife arrived with their adopted son. He checked out the bathroom I had cleaned and decided to scrub a little more on the shower surround, getting the floor all dirty again. He said something about the blinds and left. I cleaned the shower unit again. Then he showed me how he cleans the blinds, and I did each bedroom before vaccuuming them. I climbed up on the counters and wiped the kitchen cabinets. I also did the blinds over the sink, which were grimy.

They left, taking a break for lunch. I finished the bedrooms and scrubbed the toilet in the half bath and eliminated some streaks on the mirror. When I was finished, I locked the door and went home. Chris was mowing the lawn. I had a bite to eat. I moved the gopher trap. William called. I talked to him and then to Faye. She is having her biopsy tomorrow and is supposed to bathe with special soap today and tomorrow. I tried soaking a paper towel in white vinegar, then plastering it to the back window for 10 minutes or so. When I removed it and scrubbed, it made no difference to the hard water spots. I rested and read e-mail. Chris did not finish the lawn because the mower ran out of gas. He told me that my electric mower had a bad battery cell and Brian was working on it.

I went back to cleaning the big house around 4:30. I finished sweeping the garage and came home around 7:30. I picked some lettuce and made a salad. I ate it while watching an interview on root canals and non-metal implants. I made my evening drink and we watched two episodes of Quantum Leap. I wrote my blog post for yesterday from the notes I left myself. Then I went to bed.

* This is the sandstorm from yesterday. *

Ain't got no sole

We got up late. I watered the plants. I read my book outside for 30 minutes, then inside because it was so good I could not put it down. But when I, heard Chris shaving, I closed it, washed up and got dressed for church. I waited for Chris then went to the chapel. We got there just in time to say a few words and sit. As usual, we sang three songs. I actually knew two of them. I listened to the sermon which had a lot of emotional triggers: honoring father and mother. We had communion at the end. Then after the service, there was fellowship among the 10 of us that were there.

Chris and I went home and changed clothes. I made breakfast, and listened to interviews. Chris made topping for brownies using coconut cream. It was white until he put in vanilla. After covering the brownie, he added raspberries and blueberries for a red, white and blue effect. I watered the outside plants again, and fixed up yesterday's blog post for tonight. I planted some peppers in the flowerbed and covered them with netting because something ate all the leaves of the beets seedlings from yesterday.

I put on white shoes to go with my red shirt and blue shorts. We brought rolls and the dessert over to Johnnie's house. Brian had chicken and ribs on the grill and smoker. Johnnie nuked the corn, and heated the rolls in the oven. Then we sat outside and ate at their picnic table. It was lovely.

At least until we finished the meat and corn and beans and rolls and potato salad. Then a wind/sand storm blew in and we had to pack up all the food and bring it inside. As we talked, it also rained briefly. We had dessert, and Brain showed off their Roomba. The sole of my left shoe fell off. We said goodbye and took the dessert and rolls home. Along the way, I found my right sole which I hadn't known was missing. So I texted Johnnie to let her know.

We put the food away. I watered compost pile, and read e-mail. Then I heated water to make tea. We watched two episodes of Quantum Leap. Then we got ready for bed.

Baking rolls and brownies

I had a little trouble falling asleep last night, but no hot flashes, so maybe the acupuncture helped. We stayed in bed late. I got up to make lemon water after 8:30. Then I watered all the plants. I had no inclination to go cleaning again. I prepared yesterdays post and jotted notes for today. I called Jamie and told her I wasn't coming to clean. Johnnie invited us over for the 4th. We offered to bring rolls and dessert. I read a book outside, then Chris gave me a coconut oil massage. I showered and finished the lemon protocol while reading e-mail.

I made breakfast, I made a pattern for the project. I watched some cleaning videos and learned how to make vinegar gel. I watched an interview, then packed up. Chris put the machines in my trunk and rode with me to the chapel. Johnnie and Diane came. Eileen dropped by to say hello and bring me some doggie droppings. Diane made the project while we all chatted. Afterward, we packed up. Johnnie helped me put machines in the car. Then I drove home.

I ate half a banana and an orange. I repotted some seedlings to larger containers. I moved the gopher trap. We went to the commissary to get raspberries and blueberries for the brownies. I put ingredients in the bread machine to make dough. Chris whipped up brownie batter and put it in the oven. I went to the garden to plant peppers, but it took longer than I thought because I kept forgetting things. I went back to check on the brownies, then returned to the garden to finish planting peppers. It was depressing to see how big everyone elses plants are and how small mine are.

I divided the dough into rolls and left them to rise. I made and ate a salad, then put the rolls in the oven. We watched two episodes of Warehouse 13 and some bonus stuff on the DVD, stopping now and then to check on the rolls, then take them out and melt butter over them. Chris cut one in half to check doneness. After the shows, I wrote my blog. It was midnight by the time we got to bed.

Needled

I woke up tired so I stayed in bed until almost 9. I got a text that Rusty was cleaning at 9:30. So I watered the plants, got dressed and watched a few cleaning videos for shower surrounds. I made some Dawn/vinegar mix and put it in the bucket. Then I drove over to the house.

I worked on the shower in the master bathroom, again. Still didn't get the hard water spots off. Rusty and Jaime and I talked for some time. I worked until 11. the chemical smell was pretty strong. Then I told Rusty I had to leave. He talked to me for awhile, then I rushed out and went home. I made breakfast and ate it. I started packing the cooler. Chris forgot that I had an appointment at 1. So for a few minutes I thought I would have to drive myself. But he got dressed and we left. We talked most of the way instead of listening to the book on CD.

Chris dropped me off at Melanies. I looked around and made a mental shopping list until the previous person left. Then I went into Lori's office. I gave her my supplement sheet and we talked for awhile. Finally she stuck me full of needles and left the room for 20 minutes. I heard Chris come in the use the bathroom. He must have finished shopping. Afterward, she did not charge me, but said I could book another appointment if I slept better tonight. I bought some stuff I had seen earler, then went outside to meet Chris. He did not have the kombucha, not knowing which flavor I wanted. He said he had called me, but my phone had no record of missed calls. Anyway, we went to Luckey's for kombucha, then went home.

We stopped at the post office, and picked up a DVD from Netflix. We went home, and put food away. I had Chris take a splinter out of my big toe. I washed it and put colloidal silver on it. I called Jaime. She was at the house cleaning. I looked in the garage for a scraper, but didn't find one. I drove to the house to help her. Jaime had some paint scrapers. That seemed to work on the white fiberglass surround. I wanted to try vinegar, but realized at the last moment that I had grabbed the amonia instead. We talked for a long time, exchanging life histories. She left and I finished the bathroom, concluding that it was as good as it was going to get. I wiped some window sills in the bedroom, then went home.

It was too late to eat. I made my evening drink and checked e-mail until Chris was ready to watch. We saw two episodes of Warehouse 13. Then I wrote my blog post, tried to catch up on e-mail, and went to bed, hoping to sleep.

* This was part of the fire brigade parade on Thursday. *

Fireworks!

I watered the plants, and read a book outside. I fixed up the supplement spreadsheet, filling in empty spaces. I had trouble getting the old desktop to boot, so I sent the file to Chris. I read e-mail, then posted an announcement for class. I made green mix, and took roots from the freezer. I made tea and breakfast.

Chris came home with copies of the file and the new gopher trap. I watched the Highwire. They talked about Fukushima. Then I picked up tumbleweeds and put them in a garbage bag. I looked at gopher trap videos, and cleaned up a mound, then set the trap. I cleaned up another mound and heard the trap snap shut. I looked over to see it moving back and forth. I pulled the trap out and a live, pissed off gopher was attached by one leg. I wasn't sure what to do. Jesus said let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Well, that person never showed up, so I rocked the critter to sleep so it wouldn't suffer any more. I sat on the back porch and crushed the tumbleweeds. A brigade of firetrucks paraded around base, with the commander waving from the front vehicle.

Chris came home from work. We changed clothes and walked to the gym. Outside there were activities. I talked to the fire chief. Then we went around back and sat at a table. We talked to a few other people. Johnnie and Brian came for awhile. Mostly I sat while Chris talked to the Germans or stood in line to get a burger. A band called Article 15 played. Then they took a break. Some kids danced. There was a hotdog eating contest, and a halopeno eating contest. And a pinata for the younger kids. Chris brought me to see Mindy who is in charge of the community garden this year. She is using rubber snakes to keep gophers out. Petra told me that misfits.com sends out produce every week. I met Mike A and he challenged me to a game of chess. We had to wait for the other players to finish. Then we had a nice game, but he was a more experienced player so he won. A group of soldiers from Germany were here to practice preventing chemical and biological warfare. I am not certain what that entails, but if they told me, they'd probably have to kill me. Anyway, Chris introduced me to two of them and I did my best to make conversation.

I was hungry and it was after nine, so we walked home and I got something to eat. I was exhausted. Then we drove to the parade field just in time for the fireworks. They were excellent! And just overhead, so that I wanted to lie in the grass and watch. But I didn't. After they were over, the garrison manager came over to say hi. We talked a bit, then he and Chris went to the firetruck with the bucket in the air to scan for sparks. But none were found and the bucket came down. When Chris came back to the car, we went home. I stayed up long enough to write down what happened today and post for yesterday.

Where's the beef? Here

I woke up with my headphones still on. I stayed in bed until almost 8. I expected to be sore, but was not. I brushed my teeth and watered plants. I washed dishes and got the coffee started. I sat outside with my feet in the grass and read for half an hour. It was nice to get lost in a book. I prepared for meditation morning. I saw gopher mounds and could not resist flattening them. I read the instruction on the gopher bait I scored last night (left behind by the person who moved out). It sounded so toxic I was afraid to use it. I moved the trap.

I started the CD lineup and drybrushed and exercised. The tears began to flow when I saw a pic of Dad playing his accordion. I continued on with meditation and tapping. There were more tears to come.

Finally it was time to clean and my mind stayed on that. Chris came home for lunch. No mail for me. He made a gallon of tea. I finished cleaning the bathrooms. I vaccuumed the air purifier filters, and started on the kitchen. Chris went back to work. I finished the kitchen and looked at the current e-mail, still up from last night. I used my lemon spray on the back windows and let it sit for awhile. Of course it dried too quickly. When I wiped it off, it left spots on the lower sill.

I showered and the doorbell rang. The lady selling ground beef delivered a bag of 25 one pound packages. She owns a farm and is selling off the beef because the price of hay is skyrocketing. We talked for a bit and she mentioned that she sells eggs too. And some of them are duck eggs. Yea!

I looked on my computer and online for sewing projects for this Saturday. Nothing seemed quite right. I took a pic of the dog bandana, and a potholder. I couldn't decide if the dog bandana should have the tick formula on it. I fed my home plants from the five gallon bucket. I listened to This week with Polly and Mary. William called. Chris came home from work.

I went to the garden and fed the plants from the five gallon bucket. I also pulled some weeds. When I got back, I made my evening drink and we watched two episodes of Quantum Leap. Then I posed to my blog and read more e-mail before going to bed.