I am going to have another spinal injection tomorrow morning.  My third epidural for sciatica, which started last year about this time.  It has taken a month to get an appointment and this time it is down in Irvine.  Not good that it is for 8:30am check in - right at the high point of traffic which is always stalled on the 55 Fwy.  But I took the first appointment I could get.   I had to go to my primary doctor for a Covid test (negative) and an EKG.  While waiting for the nurse to set up I noticed this fancy, sparkly thing on the counter with the Q-tips and cotton balls and tongue depressors.  What was that doing in an exam room?  Turns out it is a "room refresher".  I could not smell it, thank the Goddess, but it didn't appear to have an opening for an odor to escape.  Weird.  

There are two new nurses in the office.  I think they are both about 14 years old!  Things have greatly changed in the 30 years I have been going to this office.  The new doctor is Uzma Ahmed and I think she is about 25!  I'm feeling really old (and cranky) these days.

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Miscellaneous photos 07-16-21

Here are some photo "notations".  They have nothing to do with each other and aren't part of a story.  Just random things I come across. 

While KoKo was having his appointment with Peter, the groomer, I went to Supercuts and had my hair cut.  I was so surprised to look down at my lap and see this white "puff" - a hunk of hair.  But it is WHITE!  I have had some white hair mixed in for a few years, but didn't realize there would be patches of pure white like this.  I have my mother's genes and she had very little grey/white when she died at 65.  My paternal genes are from early white haired people, I never knew my father's mother as anything but white haired.  Her sister, my great aunt Effie, wore her hair hennaed from my earliest memory, so she was also white haired.  One thing I wonder about in my non-connected family is how these genes have been passed on.  Wonder if my sister, who is much like our father's family, has white hair at 85.

 

I went to the nicest local flower shop to chose flowers for the birthday of my friend Liz.  I looked at the flowers in the cold case and could see behind the counter.  Someone had been stripping rose thorns/leaves/outer petals and made this colorful carpet.  I as a little surprised at how the prices have risen, but they were delivered on time and were greatly admired. 

Quite a few of my neighbors have planted milkweed to attract Monarch butterflies and there have been a lot this year.  I have no luck photographing them with their wings wide open, but this is a nice image.  I put a Monarch in a quilt recently, I'll look up a photo and post it one of these days.  

I am trying to finish a small quilt for the Surfside Quilters Guild Challenge with a deadline of Monday!!  Hope to finish the quilting tomorrow.  It would be wise to then start the challenge for Canyon Quilters which is due in October.  I do tend to leave things for the last minute!  

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Looking back 06-18-20

In June 2009 I took a class in deconstructed screen printing with Rayna Gilman.  What an eye opener that was.  Some of my experiments were dreadful, but I had a couple that turned out very well and I was surprised!  I have only done the technique once since then; I had a specific look in mind and was successful with that.  

This is one of four that I did in class off of the same screen.  There is a lot of paint on the screen so one can just keep moving the screen to a fresh piece of fabric  and squeegy-ing until there isn't enough paint left to print.   This was about the middle run.  To make the impression I used net, plastic scraps, sequin waste, and shredded bark from a crepe myrtle tree.  I like it so much that I fear that if I do something with it I will ruin it!  Someday....

Rayna and I in the classroom.  One thing this brings home is how much I have aged in eleven years.  I was only 70 then, now I am 81.  Still wearing the same hat, scarf, and earrings.

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New microwave 02-06-20

Don't know why my microwave stopped working, it has been fine for 30+ years.  It just wouldn't turn on anymore.  

I bought this new one because it will fit in the space of the old one, but it is just a little deeper because, apparently, every microwave has a carousel requiring the space to be square. 

I now have the box cut open and the packing stuff in the recycle bin.  I hope that tomorrow morning I can lift it and move it into the kitchen.  But I'm not sure that is possible, I may need to beg the strong back of one of my neighbors to get it in place.  I guess everything gets more difficult as one ages, but this new microwave has just been a huge project for me.  And I will still need to get rid of the old one.  Sigh.

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Spending money 02-03-20

I hope that Panasonic microwaves are long lasting.  I bought one today to replace my 30+ year old O'keefe and Merritt that died last week.  I called a friend who likes to shop and keeps up with prices and reviews.  He said when he bought the last one he bought it because it fit the space!  Which is what I was thinking I should do, but hoped he had a better idea.  

Today at Best Buy I spend some time comparing the different manufacturers models.  They all have turn tables, which makes them deeper than my space, so I settled for the closest size that has 1200 watts, which is what a lot of recipes call for.  The clerk delivered it to my car and I think if I cut open the box I can get it in the house.  I can't lift anything very heavy anymore. 

The cost with tax was $161.61.  If it lasts for 30 years (I would be 111 years old) that would run about $5.50 a year.  Not a bad deal.  But does anything last like things used to?  

I guess I do.  I have achieved a greater age than either of my parents and am only a year short of my oldest grandmother when she died at 82.  Not something I think of a lot.  I just try to make it through each day, along with KoKo who will be 6 years old on May 20th.  

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Friday Feet 11-03-17

 

 

I imagine you may have seen this online.  What a concept - everyone going out naked.  How horrible most of us would look.  You may  disagree, but ageing bodies are not appealing and many ageing bodies all at once would be more than most of us could take.  So, I vote against "Naked Fridays" or any other day of the week. 

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New Year's Eve 2007

This may be the last time I write a 2007 date, I wonder how long it will take me to remember to write 2008! I'm sounding more and more like my little Grandmother who died at 92. She had some pithy observations about ageing and, by golly, she was right.

Doesn't seem that the sun actually "set" tonight, it just sort of faded away. The wind is howling, pity the poor people on the parade route in Pasadena, and Corky is unhappy because he didn't get his walk this evening. Tomorrow will be a better day and, it is to be hoped, a better year.

I wish you a joyous and prosperous 2008, Del

A thought about age

"In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in inellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." Edith Wharton