Weekend

Saturday was a lovely sunny day, in the 70s with a warm breeze and I wished all the summer days could be like that, instead of being as hot as they are, in triple digits.    Philomena, a movie I had been looking forward to, just opened and it was every bit as good, better even, than I expected.  As it has just opened there were four performances and Pattisue and I went in the early afternoon.   It certainly made a change to come out of a movie and drive home in daylight.  I think what made it exceptional was Dame Judi Dench's acting, and the many twists and turns in the plot.

It was based on a true story and I did come out  angrily feeling that the Catholic church in Ireland has an awful lot to answer for.   In Philomena's youth, nuns took in expectant mothers who had been thrown out on the street and used them as slave labour, they were only allowed to see their children for one hour a day, and worked seven days a week.  When the children were five or six they were sold to adoptive parents in America.

The temperatures dropped overnight and Sunday felt very cold when I woke up, and I just didn't have any energy.  I don't think I can take these changes in temperature.  I filled a hot water bottle and went back to bed with a book.   I didn't even make it to church.

This morning I was a bit busy.   Pattisue - after the movie - was coming back from Tecumseh with her daughter,  and a drunk driver - going very fast in a restricted area - rammed into her from behind.   He was taken into custody at the scene, and an ambulance took her to the Emergency Room, where she had a CT scan on her head.  She said her back hurts a bit but mostly she suffered head injuries, and her face is almost completely covered in bruises.  It looks horrendous, but she says it looks a lot worse than it feels.   

She rang me this morning to ask for a lift  because she had to go to what they call a Walk-in Clinic at the hospital for, I think, a prescription.  I am a bit hazy about American medicine and insurance, so I don't understand why she wasn't given a prescription in the ER, but I can't get my head round American healthcare, or its lack thereof.

Thankfully the drunk driver who ran into her was insured, so I picked her up at the hospital and took her back to my house to make phone calls, so that if she was told she could have a rental car I would be able to drive her there.    As the drunk driver is still in prison he hadn't contacted his insurance company, but there isn't much doubt about his liability, and I took her home while the insurances companies concerned sorted it out.   

And the weather....

Friday 21 February

I haven't been able to watch television for the last two or three days, the signal has gone again and the picture is very bad.  The staff in the cable company office are all extremely hacked off at me stomping in there, demanding to know if I am PAYING for all the television I can't get.  And they are not sending someone out until the 28th.  I think they are giving up on me.

Went on to the hospital for my chaplaincy round.   I'm the only volunteer there on Fridays so go round both floors, and they were both full this morning.   There's a high incidence of pneumonia.  I'd never heard of patients going into hospital with pneumonia, I thought they just got better at home.   I don't go in the rooms with precaution notices, not even with gown and gloves and mask.  I told Bill that being uninsured I can't take chances, and he said that is fine, he totally understands.    

This evening I unplugged the television for a while, and that seems to improve the signal, but it doesn't last, it will be bad again tomorrow.

I love the way Bubbles sits and watches television.  Here she is looking at all the abused animals on an advert for the ASPCA, no doubt thinking how lucky she is.

This advert is followed by one for vision testing and spectacles.  Someone is at her patio door in her nightdress, calling her cat indoors, and because she can't see properly a racoon trots in and settles down on the bottom of the bed (I hope my eyes never get that bad).   That's where Bubbles gets her ideas from.

Looks like quite a nice day tomorrow.

Thursday - posted Friday

Cecil was back at the Kiwanis' meeting this morning, Thursday.  He was in a wheelchair prior to his severe stroke, so physically he appears normal.  He is able to recognise and greet people too, but sadly that is where normality ends because he is so intellectually impaired he doesn't understand what people are saying, and he is not coherent enough for them to understand him.  It is very sad but one has to admire his determination to carry on as normal.  Louise is now taking him to all the meetings he used to go to.

The Kiwanis speaker who was booked cancelled at the last minute, but Louise managed to find a speaker at the last minute.   She had taken Cecil to his Masonic Lodge meeting, and while there asked someone to talk to Kiwanis about their vision testing programme; the Masons have bought special cameras which test the vision of all the elementary school children in Shawnee.

Are Freemasons less secretive than they were, or are they just more open in America?  I know in Britain their activities are all very shrouded in secrecy, but here they are out and about in the community doing good works.

After Kiwanis I put the finishing touches to some of my cakes, frosting and decorating, then was off to the bake sale at the posh retirement home.  I think I heard someone say it cost $4000 a month to live there.  I knew I couldn't afford it.   I haven't heard yet how we did but I'm sure we didn't make as much as we do on the first Tuesday at the Senior Centre where there are more people.

My contributions are in the foreground.  Triple chocolate chip muffins (with white, dark and milk chocolate chips) apple pie cakes, lemon crunch, chocolate orange, and ginger cakes.

The firemen are having lunch in the background.  Unfortunately they were called away before they could buy any cakes.    I love the way the residents can display a photograph on a table to share with others.  It is these little touches that set this place apart from other assisted living places in Shawnee.

Pauline and Mary, two Kiwani members who were helping.  Mary also volunteers in the hospital gift shop, Pauline is treasurer of the local AARP.  In this small town one has a sense that everyone is swimming around in a very small pool.   They are outside the newly dedicated Veterans' Lounge.  I had a look round all the memorabilia on the walls, it was very interesting.

In the news......the Ukraine of course.

 

My understanding is that Ukraine want to join the EU, while the former KGB thug, President Putin, is trying to drag them back into the former Soviet Union.  Would someone politically savvy explain to me why we in the west seem to be backing Russia, why the Olympic Games are being held there?



 

A minor news item.............Because of the bad weather on the east coast the state of New Jersey has run out of salt to put on the roads (they've resorted to pickle juice) whereas up in Maine, a port on the Canadian border, they have plenty but they can't send it down the coast to NJ because the crazy laws here won't allow a US ship to travel from one port to another.

 

Another bit of trivia.  Emmanuel hands out about 50 packed lunches a day to the homeless and each month Fr Bill requests certain items for them.  This month it is bottled water and apple sauce.  Apple sauce!!   You can imagine how that mystifies me.  Are the homeless really lacking apple sauce on their pork chops???

 

 



Wednesday - final day of baking

I hesitate to give credence to anything published in this rubbish supermarket tabloid, but is the Duchess of Cambridge actually pregnant?

In spite of the bake sale tomorrow in the posh retirement community, life goes on, there's a meal at Emmanuel this evening.  I hauled out a Betty Crocker cake mix and threw some milk, dark and white chocolate chips into the mixture.   They look almost good enough for tomorrow's bake sale, but would never pass the taste test, although they will be alright for the youth of Emmanuel who want something sweet after their lasagna this evening.  The Food Police would give them fruit, and someone might bring some.   But with me they get unhealthy cakes full of fat and sugar and chocolate, preservatives and chemicals.   yum, yum.

Americans have very discerning palates, I think they cook better than we do, certainly better than I do, and I attribute it to a lifetime of the Food Network Channel.  I have learned more about cooking in the last five years than I ever learned in the previous 70.   

These are said Betty Crocker cakes.

I will eat the funny little one in the top row which didn't even make the grade to Emmanuel this evening.

As you see, I have set myself up with a temporary work station for all this baking I've been doing.

I delivered the cakes to Emmanuel but didn't stay for the meal, I had too much to do at home returning the house to half way normal.

I rang Rachel today and everything is good to go for tomorrow. They took my little notices and flyers round, delivered them to all the residents.   And it will be day 3, the final day, of a police/fire service appreciation, so while these police officers and firemen are being appreciated they might also buy our cakes.  

 

Back on Line

After a weekend of no tv or internet connection I am back!!   I wanted to be ressasured someone was coming today so went off to the cable company at 8.30.    I was told someone is booked to come on the 25th, but she would try to make it sooner.  So I was OVERJOYED when a technician turned up just after 11.    I am now wondering if there is an organisation for addicts, like 'Users Anonymous'.   "My name's Valerie and I'm an internet addict".

After the visit comes the clean-up.  This is what I have to drag out of my closet for the technician to get into the roof.   I was thinking of my Dad, who always made loft access very convenient, and installed  pull down ladders, making it so easy to get into our lofts, and use them for storage.

Trying to remember what I have been doing the last few days, but with my failing memory I am hard pressed to remember the last meal I had.  One highlight was seeing the play "Steel Magnolias" to which Bruce and Rosalyn invited me on Saturday evening, which was very enjoyable.

I went this evening to see the movie 'Monuments Men' with Pattisue and her grandson, and that was very good indeed, it was a good story and a lot happening.   I left home in plenty of time to be able to park easily, and avoid getting stressed out, like I did the other day, I took something to read and waited for them in the Food Court outside the box office.

The weather has been very good today, we are having a little summery spell.  I can't believe it was snow and ice last week.

Happy Valentine's Day (belatedly)

All day yesterday, Friday, everyone was wishing everyone else a happy Valentine's Day, like it was Christmas.

I need to organise myself to find a better time to post the blog, I leave until I am almost ready for bed then I am too tired, like I was last night.   But Friday morning I was out as usual at the hospital doing my chaplaincy round, then had my weekly hamburger at the cafeteria.  The food there is actually very good, but I like a hot, freshly cooked hamburger.

The rest of the day I was trying to sort out some 'publicity' for the bake sale on Thursday, not a subject I have much experience of, but came up with this flyer.

 

We are also hoping to try and recruit more members so I went on to put together a letter of invitation, and something on what we are about.



 

Louise is the one with all the contacts so I took my efforts to the Senior Centre, where she volunteers at the front desk on Friday afternoons, and she will distribute them.

Last night I set off to see 'Monuments Men' with Pattisue and her grandson, and it was a total debacle, not the film but the getting in.   We would have preferred, ourselves, to go to the afternoon performance but her grandson works so we decided on the 7.20 performance.   I don't think I have ever been out in the Mall and Movie Theatre Complex on a Friday evening, I think everybody in Shawnee was out there, I've never seen the like, it was busier than Christmas.

I  knew I wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the movie theatre, so pulled into a restaurant parking lot at the front of the Mall area, and hiked across the vast parking area and through the Mall, I caught up with them outside the box office where there was a very long queue.   By this time I have totally gone off the idea of seeing the film.  As her grandson was with her I started to bail out, suggesting they go in and I'll see it another time, but Pattisue seized on the chance to bail out too, she'd gone off the idea as well, so we are going to see it another day. She drove me back to my car - she has a permit to park in the handicapped area nearby - and we all went home thankful to get away from the crowds.

The previous day - Thursday - our Kiwanis speaker was one of our members, originally Iranian and Ba'hai, who gave a talk - as this is International Year of Women of the World - on significant women.   He spoke on Queen Esther of Persia, and a prominent American who became one of the first American women to become Ba'hai.   The talk wasn't about the Ba'hai, but just to let you know who they are I copied this from a Canadian website.

"The Bahá'í teachings promote the elimination of all forms of prejudice and uphold equal dignity and respect for all peoples, regardless of their racial, ethnic, religious or national background. Equality of men and women, the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth and economic justice for all peoples, universal education, and the dignity of the individual are central Bahá'í principles."

It was an interesting talk, I think he plans more.  He distributed notelets and asked us to write down names of two prominent women.   Just off the top of my head I came up with Golda Meyer and Boadicea.  Afterwards I thought that although we all know who Boadicea was,  an Iranian American  probably hasn't heard of her.   And goodness knows how Golda Meyer popped into my head, but I think he approved of that, and she will probably be a future topic because the Ba'hai have strong links with Israel.

At the end of the meeting someone from the Red Cross came in and asked for volunteers to help pack disaster kits.   There seemed to be quite a few volunteers there as Fr Clark and I waltzed out through the front door to the rest of our Thursday morning activities, however looking at Friday's paper there seems to be only two, of which Louise - bless her heart - was one.

Louise is on the right of the picture.  

Wednesday 12th February

Today I have been mostly engaged in ancestry.com.   I signed up for a 14 day free trial, so it is a bit of a race against time to see how many ancestors I can find in a fortnight.   Just when I thought my Dad's ancestors - prior to migrating to the ship yards in the north east - had been in Norfolk since Adam was a lad, one James Bell turns up in Southampton in 1804.  So I am not just going back to the century before last, but practically the one before that.

 

Pat has been helping and turned up some very interesting research.   She found that our father's cousin was the principal soprano for the Intimate Opera company, and also sang leading roles at Sadler’s Wells Opera.  Also that another ancestor, also on our father's side of the family, took over the ownership of a Music Hall in Middlesbrough in 1866.

 

When you go back 210 years to 1804, that's an awful lot of ancestors, so we are focusing in on two of particular interest.  Pat is interested in a great grandmother, whose Bible she has, and my particular interest is the great great grandad, who legend has it was from Ulster, and an Orangeman.   He left Ulster and went to Scotland, then to the ship yards in England, but I don't know what part of Ulster, or exactly when.    A lot of Irish records were lost in a big fire in Dublin, but with all the advances in genealogy I think a lot of research has been done.

 

So what else have I been up to today.  Well, another big thing on my mind and agenda is the Bake Sale on the 20th, so I've been baking in between sessions on the computer.   And this evening there was desserts for the Wednesday meal.  I took the brownies I bought at yesterday's Senior Centre bake sale, which I buy to support Kiwanis and the sale.   I also pulled out a bowl of frosting from the back of my fridge and conceived the idea of spreading it on the bases of some cookies from the dollar store (I am catering for young people here, cakes for the residents at the retirement home will be a bit more sophisticated)   They were actually smaller than I thought, so I tipped them out on a plate and put the frosting beside them, like a dip.

 

Today was the last day of the Westminster Dog Show in New York, the greatest, most prestigious dog show in the world (I actually thought that was Crufts), and the winner - a wire haired terrier - was adorable.

 

 

 

It has done the rounds of all the news shows today.