Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[Judique]

@flyingdumbo127, I hope you get the consistency in PT and OT schedules again, soon!

Am still taking it easy and watching the Britbox shows that I enjoy. Tom got me some strawberry plants, and I hope to plant them by the weekend.

We need rain in Cape May!

It's raining here according to the weather and has been since the last hour. I went out early to do some yard stuff before it was supposed to start. I came in when I thought I felt some drops. But, nothing is wet! It must be a dry rain!

I've failed at strawberries a couple of times. Maybe I'll try them in containers.

About Britbox, I've been looking also and will eventually sign up, but right this minute I have a lot of stuff to watch and I'm busy doing outside work so I think I'll put it off until I start feeling bored. What programs interest you? I mean collectively you and all the friends who watch and post on here.

I picked up a smaller (43 inch) Samsung TV from Costco but it's still in the box. I also ordered a Hisense TV from Costco online after the Costco employee selling me on that idea. We plugged it in and have been watching it. Just with Amazon Prime there is a lot to watch. Haven't even looked at Peacock or Disney+ or Hulu yet.

The Hisense has Alexa which makes it really easy to find stuff. (I don't have Alexa in the rest of my house so I was a little reluctant to get into it.) Kids do in their homes, but I feel watched just like having Hey Disney in my villa. Anyway, I told DD to go ahead with it and now I can say Hey Alexa, turn on the TV or off or find Judge Judy.

Supposedly Costco is getting this model in store and it was supposed to be this week. I may replace the 50-55 in tv with one of these. It's very fast. The older smart tv is nice also but not quite as smart as these newer ones. And in my little rooms, it's too big.

 

[Judique]

Started a little dog report and it's gone. Anyway, he's doing a bit better.
He apparently likes my cooking better than prepared food.

I simmered some chicken breast, steamed rice (I have 2 sizes of rice cooker - a 2 cup and a huge one) and popped a bag of Birdseye mixed veggies in the microwave.

Chopped it all up tiny and served him a portion. The aim was sort of a BRAT diet to curb the fecal disturbance. Hopefully it will work over the next few days. I'll cook more tomorrow if he continues to eat it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

On Britbox I especially enjoy
Father Brown
Shakespeare and Hathaway
Murder in Paradise
Beyond Paradise
Is Sister Boniface one?
Anyway, the Murder in Paradise was the one that I really wanted to continue with…nearly finished with what’s available.

I’m not particularly successful with the strawberry plants here, I was much more successful in Lower Makefield when we lived there. Now, I plant them “just because” occasionally I get to pick one before the birds get to it, and I share with my current dog. Gus loved them, Bonnie hasn’t had any yet.

Now, my iPad says that we will get rain in 22 minutes, lasting for 26 minutes, REALLY.?

Enjoy your day!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We do our strawberries in a whiskey barrel out back. One year we couldn’t figure out why we had no strawberries and it turned out our female German Shepherd had been eating them! I always think of her, now long gone, when I look at that barrel. Last year the kids had fun picking them. And they were good, too!

Snowysmom, your posts about NYC brought back lots of memories. I remember waking up in the back of the station wagon in NYC at McDonald’s when I was a kid, and being at Coney Island - my father loved NYC. DH and I used to go yearly before we had kids and stay for four nights. We figured out how to get into the Late Show with David Letterman the “day of” the show, so we stayed nearby and one of us stayed in line while the other went back to shower. Had a lot of fun around the city in those days. We’d go to a midnight movie and grab some pizza on the walk back to the hotel. I would not do that today but we loved it when we could. We even went for one night back via Amtrak on our anniversary when our twins were about a year old. It involved five babysitters, though, so after that we just took them with us if we went. My sister went to Columbia so she lived there, as did her daughter, too. I was thinking recently that maybe a day trip to Coney Island would be fun if I can manage it. Glad the family’s having a good time.

What programs interest you? I mean collectively you and all the friends who watch and post on here.

I don’t watch a lot of TV, with some exceptions, but I’ve been trying to get into more shows lately. In summer I often have a ballgame on, and I am a newsie, so I watch news nightly.

For shows I’ve gotten into my #1 was Outlander (which is finishing up now, three more episodes to go, sadly) and I love the spinoff, Blood Of My Blood. It’s long between seasons, though. I enjoyed Bridgerton. Been watching The Pitt. (Never one for medical dramas since I don’t like the way nurses are portrayed. This show is ok that way but still not always realistic, there was an online controversy with real nurses about last week’s episode that I was glad to see since I’d noticed the issue myself during the episode. I think it’s unfortunate because many people will go into medicine and nursing because of this show, they should be shown realism as much as possible, imo, or they will be surprised and maybe even disappointed when they jump through all the hoops to take on a career like that and their expectations fall short.) We finally watched The Crown. And we follow All Creatures Great and Small on PBS. That’s all I can think of right now, otherwise I often have Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman or Highway to Heaven on Pluto; or The Ghost Whisperer if I can find it. The other night we watched Weekend At Bernie’s with DD. She’d heard references to it but never actually seen it. It’s like a cult classic. And she liked it, lol. She follows a lot of the newer shows that I don’t have an interest in. Was just talking to a friend of mine this morning who said her husband keeps some channel on all day that only shows old shows.

Well I was very sick yesterday. I’d eaten out for lunch and had to run home for GI issues because of it when I’d wanted to stay out. Ugh. Afterward I had to lay down, and even with my down vest on and three blankets, I couldn’t stop shivering. It was awful, and felt like it was coming from my bones outward. (“Chilled to the bone” would be accurate.) This went on for hours, and I was back and forth to the . Well DD looked it up and turned out that was a side effect from an infusion I got last week and I didn’t realize it. (It’d happened last weekend too but not to the degree it happened yesterday.) They say “flu like symptoms” can occur but I was more expecting muscle aches than this type of chills. So now I know. Was so glad she found that because I really wasn’t sure what was going on. But I was just unwell all day. Thankfully feel better today but still just wiped out. The three medications I have to take to prevent a cancer recurrence are tough. I’ve been reading some online stuff from others about them which makes me feel better and that it’s not just me. Doctors and pharmacists who’ve never actually taken them tend to want to find other reasons for certain things, so it gets frustrating. Hearing from others who’ve been on them is more helpful than talking to the professionals sometimes. There are a few cancer professionals w cancer themselves and it’s really interesting to hear how their perspective changes once they’re having all these side effects and exhaustion themselves.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I haven't had any therapy now in a week and a half---not good at all. I willbe calling my PT later to God-willing re-establish a regular schedule. I haven't had any OT for I believe a month and a half due to insurance. I finally got approved for more sessions last Friday. The issue is I have not heard anything from my former OT. I did like her. I will have to also call the home health agency about that.

Insurance didn't even know approval specifics. I need consistent therapy minimally 4 times a week. I miss the twice a day I once had. I need to find about that option at home. I am so desperately ready to be back to normal. I know that is absolutely God's will and miracle for me. Getting there requires consistency! I definitely will do more on my own but also need therapist support. Prayers appreciated always.

Happy Wednesday to all

I say this with as much love that I can muster, Mona, but I think the time has come for you to just take matters into your own hands. You clearly can’t rely on these others to help you consistently, and you risk losing what you’ve gained if you sit around and wait for them to show up. You were in therapy long enough to understand what it is you have to do. Take your walker and get up and get going! Even if it’s a little at a time. Consistently. Every day. Several times a day. You are a young lady with a lot of life in front of you that you should be living and enjoying, outside as well as at home. Make it happen. We’re here to support you as best we can. Many of us fear that, if things don’t improve (and God forbid, get worse), you’ll wind up back in that awful place again. But also, so much time is going by that could be better quality for you. God would want you to get going again, however you can. We all have free will so it’s ok to say I can’t rely on others I thought I could, time is going by and I need this to happen NOW! You can do it.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thread break for me. Wish all of you the best always.

 

[Snowysmom]

Judique My little dog Jasper loved when I cooked chicken and rice for him. I am glad your little doggie is feeling a bit better. I am looking into Britbox too. I have low confidence about setting up apps so need to get my wits about me and try it.

Cold rainy dreary day here. I walked at the Lake. The blue heron was there so I talked to him. I have to talk to some creature. He listened politely.

 

[Judique]

Judique My little dog Jasper loved when I cooked chicken and rice for him. I am glad your little doggie is feeling a bit better. I am looking into Britbox too. I have low confidence about setting up apps so need to get my wits about me and try it.

Cold rainy dreary day here. I walked at the Lake. The blue heron was there so I talked to him. I have to talk to some creature. He listened politely.

Here's one from Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort a few years ago. No fear. It just stood on the railing while people came and went. He stayed silent and kept his thoughts to himself.

As far as the apps, DD does it all for me although I'm pretty sure I could learn as I do know some stuff. I'm loving Alexa though - she gives me whatever she's plugged into. I asked her to play some soft rock and she's giving me Mellow '70ties Gold, with a lot of songs I like and the sound isn't bad either although I'm not a discerning listener.

 

[Snowysmom]

Judique Great picture. My heron looks like that and just stands steady but watchful.

Good morning. It is 37 now with temps heading to around 60. Sun is supposed to be out. Warmer day. Yesterday was chilly. I hope to go walk at the lake and talk with my friend the heron if he is still there.

Have a good day.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning 53 now going to 82. Cooler temps and rain heading this way on Saturday.

I had an upsetting experience with my bank yesterday. I've been a customer for 26 years and Don was a customer before that. I have 3 accounts, and went to transfer some money from one account to another. Transfer failed. I call to find out why and they tell me there's a freeze on 2 of the accounts, but no one seems to know why. I drove down to the local branch with my hands shaking and demanded to see the branch manager. I wasn't dealing with anyone else. She could see the freeze, but couldn't see any reason for it. She immediately removed the freezes, and apologized profusely but it didn't make me feel any better. I've never had any issues with this bank in the past, but now it's making me wonder what's going on. There would have been no legitimate reason to freeze any of my accounts. I'm just glad that it was the 2 I rarely use and not my main one, where my SS check gets auto deposited. But it could have been 6 months before I went into either of those accounts to do anything, and would never have noticed it until then. It threw my whole day off, so I'm glad it's taken care of. She is going to further investigate to find out just what happened.

My 6 year old Cub Cadet self propelled is having issues, and I went to buy a new one, only to find out they sold the last one Monday. They tried to sell me a Stihl, but those things look like aliens. A one sided handle, bright orange, no thank you, not for the price they wanted. I then went to Lowes, but I hate Troy Built anything, and the only other things they had were Toro and cordless mowers. I came home and did a lot of research and decided to go with their EGO cordless one. I got a heck of a deal on it, from $750 down to $438 and a free spare battery to boot. It's out for delivery right now. I'm hoping that I like it. I don't have to use it for a whole lot of lawn anyhow. I'll drop my Cub Cadet off in fall to have them look at it and see if it's the carburetor, which is what they seem to think it is. At least I'll have something to use in the meantime. They texted me at 6 am, again at 7, telling me I was stop #5 for between 9-1 and now dispatch just called to tell me the same thing. A little overkill in my book. She said they will call 30 min before they get here. Last time they just showed up, left my deck chairs on the back dec and I didn't even know they were here. They had better not try it with the mower.

I watched Survivor last night, I loved that Jeff finally did a challenge along with them, it made me laugh. I was happy with the troublemaker that went home.

Have a good Thursday

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Lynn, sorry that happened to you with the bank. I looked up why they would freeze an account and looks like there can be a few different reasons. Hopefully it was just done to protect you and it did just that. Who knows. I hope you get answers. I hated having to get a new debit card recently it’s such a pain, but it was the only way, they said, to get rid of this one company that kept fraudulently charging me monthly for something I’d placed a one time order for. They finally just completed their “investigation” on that, it took about six weeks, and I got most of what I should’ve gotten back except for one month, I think. That, rightfully, should’ve been included, too, but I don’t have the energy to argue with them about it any further. We’d thought about changing banks completely recently but DH said it would be a major pain to redo all our accounts that have auto pay, which is probably true, and we don’t want to miss anything (like I’ve done before and it was a nightmare). Have a good evening.

 

[Snowysmom]

Dealing with bank issues can be a big pain. Sorry you had the issue with your bank Lynn. I didn't know they could freeze your accounts and not notify you. And to not know why is crazy. Changing banks is a big pain due to the issues Pea-n-me mentioned.

Good morning. It is 36 here now with temps heading to the mid 50s. The heron was not at the lake yesterday. But he may have been scared off by so many dogs on the trails barking. It was such a nice day that everyone had their dogs out. One guy must be a dog walker as each day he is there with 7 dogs that he manages to handle well. Kenny and family are heading home today. Yesterday they went to the Intrepid Museum and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We chatted last night. Soccer game at 8 am tomorrow in the next town. If I go I will ride with Kenny.

Have a good Friday.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning. Going to be very warm again today, with a chance of a stray storm this afternoon. Summer and her hubby are going to come over so he can get the mower out of the box and set it up. I've never had a mower I had to read an instruction book for before, lol. The charger for the battery is so big, and the battery itself weighs 7 lbs, lol. I have both the batteries charged and ready to go. I'm excited to try it, but also nervous.

I got a call from the bank manager apologizing once again, and that they are still trying to figure out what happened. They think it was a 'glitch', but a bank shouldn't be having glitches like that. As long as I have access to my money, I'll be patient and wait for an explanation when they figure it out. I won't let it go until I get a satisfactory answer.

I was going to mow yesterday while it was cool, but when I went out and really looked at the grass, it wasn't tall enough to really need it yet. I may turn the ac on for the first time if it gets as warm as they say it will, but I'll wait and see.

I sat on the back deck cross stitching for awhile yesterday afternoon, enjoying the breeze. Maybe I'll do that again this morning.

Have a good last Friday of April.

 

[tazdev3225]

Good morning.

It's been a really hard week getting ready for my dad's memorial service tomorrow. In the sorrow I need to remember the joys. Yesterday was my Mikey's 20th birthday so while getting cookies for the luncheon he got a birthday cannoli. It was also 9 years since my husband had his first stroke. He has issues from it but he's still here.

I managed a couple ball games for Anthony even though I usually leave angry that he is being treated so unfairly. Yesterday he finally got to play in the field and was yanked because he couldn't catch a home run. I also picked my aunt up from the airport. She couldn't get up here in time to say good-bye to dad but she is all that is left of his childhood family. We did stop to visit my grandparents grave so that made her very happy as she knows she most likely won't make this trip up to Philly ever again. She will be 89 this year and her health isn't the greatest having had two major falls over the last few years.

I have 5 picture boards of dad's life assembled. If mom likes them they are going to the funeral director today. I have the cookies for a cookie tray that I'll assemble today. A pineapple upside down cake in the oven and a carrot cake ready to go in next. Making kielbasa and sauerkraut overnight in the crockpot as well as sausage and peppers. The pasta salad will be done tonight - 2 versions regular and vegetarian (no cheese or pepperoni). I'll throw the chicken nuggets in the oven when I wake up in the morning, probably a good thing I get up by 6 every day. Need to pick up the cake we ordered today as we are heading to the church hall for set up this afternoon. We need to be at the church by 9:30 tomorrow but I need to pick up the hoagie trays and roast beef as well as ice before I head to the church. I think I also need to get a case of water when I get the cake as we forgot that the other day. Mom made meatballs and has 2 trays of mac and cheese, my cousin is bringing a tomato pie, a woman from church is making her fried chicken and potato salad, someone else is bringing fruit salad, my daughter bought desserts. Mom thinks we don't need all this food but I will be shocked if we don't have close to 100 people there.

I wrote a eulogy for dad, as I told my mom others can say things about him, but he was my dad and I knew him in a way they couldn't. I keep thinking I am cried out and then a memory pops up and I start again. I was blessed to have my dad for almost 70 years and I will miss him terribly. He was my Superhero, the one I went to for advice, my Pops. I just need to get through the next couple days and then I really think this is going to hit me like a ton of bricks. The hardest 1st is dad would have been 90 tomorrow, I really thought that stubborn old coot would make it, but instead of his birthday we are memorializing his life. As we said celebrating his life, the old one here on earth and the new one in Heaven where we know he was handed his wings on arrival.

Hope you all have a good weekend

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Will be thinking of you tomorrow, taz. It sounds like it will be a beautiful tribute to your dad.

 

[Snowysmom]

Taz Thinking of you today.

 

[PollyannaMom]

@tazdev3225

 

[lynxstch]

@tazdev3225

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning. It was sunny earlier, but the clouds have moved in. Calling for rain and a high of 62. It will feel good after the heat we've had this week.

I gave the lawn a quick mow yesterday. Summer and hubby ended up being busy and will come today or tomorrow to get the new mower set up. I just can't lift it out of the box. I need to keep the box intact in case it has to be returned. My neighbor is away or he would do it for me.

I'm watching Season 3 of Sullivan's Crossing on Netflix before I start Season 4 on the CW.

Bed is stripped and remade, sheets in the wash. I'm going to wash the kitchen floor and call it chores done.

Have a good day.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Good morning! Sending special thoughts and prayers to taz today. And hoping Mona is doing ok.

I’ve been struggling the past couple of weeks with several issues. The lymphedema in my arm was up so I am in PT and have to get compression bandages put on weekly that have to stay on for 24 hrs. It’s hard because I can’t move my arm, it’s super hot, getting clothes on and off is tough, and sleeping with it elevated on pillows is uncomfortable. The new medication is causing edema so I had to start taking a diuretic. I hate taking so many medications and I worry about electrolyte disturbances. The fatigue and bathroom issues, too, have been limiting. I basically need to be near a toilet at all times if I go out. It’s embarrassing if I have to go into a multi stall, unfamiliar bathroom because it’s not a quick in and out. So oftentimes I’ll rush home earlier than intended just to be in my own bathroom. I have a couple of weddings and events this summer so worried about those.

Over the past week I had a bad reaction to an infusion I’d gotten for one of the medications I have to take. I didn’t recognize that they were related to the infusion at first, I thought I was just cold due to the dank, wet weather we were having. But turned out the extreme chills I had for about a week were a side effect. Once I understood that I felt better about it. I don’t like to harp on these issues but wanted to update.

Thursday it was 64 out and sunny and I was able to get out w the dogs and get the sun on my face and it was heavenly. Got out yesterday too and am headed out to rake in the yard in a few minutes, so that’s good for me. (Hopefully it will help push some of the fluid out of my arm as I’ll have my sleeve on, exercise is good says my PT). And of course I’m still grieving the loss of my friend, which will never go away. Been corresponding with her daughter and our group of friends so that’s been helpful. I wound up taking Toto to the holistic vet but she said that accupuncture wouldn’t help his lumps. She made some dietary suggestions so we’re trying to work with that. She said she would hold off on surgery. He’s 12, will be 13 this year. He’s my little buddy. I pray every day for everyone’s health.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.