Flannel Shirt

(off)

(night off)

Hurt some today and it kind of sucked the energy out of me. Not Izzy, though. She's finally asleep but for most of the afternoon and evening she was bouncing off the walls.

But that's it. I'm out of energy.

Pink toes

Someone's getting a pedicure.

Myself, I was getting attention a little further up my leg, to the knee. Went to an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. First I got some more x-rays, and then the guy came in and broke it all down for me. I've got an appointment to talk with the surgeon who's doing the work at the end of July, and then sometime after that I'll go under the knife. 

Otherwise, it was cloudy today, a big marine overcast. Then we watched the Warriors, who played a very poor game and lost. 

Boy, the  Kilauea volcano sure is something. Every night we get another video of the lava sliding into the ocean. And people are getting all excited about the Royal Wedding. 

Izzy and I took our last walk around the block around six. What with the overcast skies the flowers' colors were so rich. And their scents fill the air. Nice.

Mina, the dog across the street

This is Mina, the dog across the street. The dog residing with Ramona and her parents. This picture isn't across the street, though, it's at one of the many local parks in town. There are parks all over the place. Big parks to hike through, small parks scattered throughout. Parks for kids, city golf courses, places along the rivers. And a few dedicated dog parks. 

We need to get the dogs to the local dog park soon. We can't use the weather as an excuse. Of course, tomorrow is my appointment across the Columbia to the orthopedist to give me my options. And if they replace my knee, I imagine I won't be walking the dogs for a week or two. I'm getting the feeling that I may have to make a big choice soon.

Otherwise, the electrician got around to us today and fixed the outlet. The plumber who installed the new water heater and took out the old one apparently bumped the back of the outlet, which was loose anyway. In any case, everything seems to be working right now. 

 

 

 

Old mill waste burner

I tested my knee this morning. Walked four blocks to the Chevron station where I buy my lotto tickets to check for winners. No problems on the way there but half the way back it started hurting again. Well, I wanted to test it out, and like usual, when I get off of it the pain goes away. Still enough mileage to walk Izzy. 

It actually got to ninety today, a bit unusual for this time of year. It's supposed to cool off tomorrow. A day or two of 90 degrees is okay, but after that I wilt. Barb two doors down (she has Izzy's best friend, Mickey) has a few lawn chairs in her front yard. There's nice shade trees there, so it's the perfect to sit down and shoot the breeze when neighbors walk by. Our friend from the end of the block, Nancy, sat down and Iz and I joined her and exchanged what news  we had. Nancy is about my age but has been fighting multiple myeloma for a long time, since I've been here in Portland. But she's a tough old bird and is getting over her last round of chemo. A couple more neighbors came by, we chatted, and then we wandered off towards our homes.  

Joan's been nauseous and icky for a couple of weeks. Her doctor put her on two new medicines and she's been trying to figure out which drug is making her nauseous and icky. Luckily, she was feeling fine by the time the Warriors game came on. And the Warriors won, in Houston. Go Warriors!

 

Back home and happy

I called two moms in my family today. This is the younger one. She passed along a happy mother's day to my mom via me. And when I told Kins "hello" over the phone and Robin encouraged her to say hello to Pops, she waved to me. Isn't that great?

Happy Mothers Day

Kinsley on Earth Day

This was taken back on Earth Day, when they were here in April. 

I've got to take a photo of the house now that it's painted. 

The biggest news today was hot water. You don't know how much you miss hot water until you don't have it for a couple of days. That shower this morning was heavenly. Seemed to pick me up. We got Oliver this afternoon for the first time in a long time. I love how he explains things. Joan made hot wings in her Instant Pot. You know about them? It's like a cross between a slow cooker and a pressure cooker. The wings were great. The barbeque sauce was from a place in town we go to for wings, Fire On The Mountain, which, no surprise, is connected to a brewery. It was a Thai peanut barbeque sauce, and it was a little hot for my taste, but it was still good. We got a big package of frozen wings at Costco, so we're going to try the recipe again sometime over the weekend. But this time with a little less flamboyant sauce.

Tomorrow night we're going to the theater to see "Major Barbara". 

Dogs are doing fine. The sun came out this afternoon. Life is good.

Things fall apart

The water heater saga is too long and painful to repeat here. 

Suffice it to say that we have hot water tonight. 

 

Stylin'

Well, almost no painters. The guy who owns the painting company stopped by today to put some non-skid strips on the front steps. Our house numbers really jump out now. 

The big news around the hacienda today was the water heater. It died. So tomorrow we're getting a new one. Don't stand too close until I get a shower. 

Otherwise, just a few laps around the block with my dogs. Actually Gil manages one walk a day. After the first one he finds a cool place on the floor and sleeps. And snores. 

There's a little bit of rain in the forecast, but then things heat up for a toasty Mother's Day.

That's pretty much the news.