Hi Janis,

 JK> Hi Ruth,

 JK> > My parents always had the windows open in the summer (screened)
 JK> unless > it was raining or temps were in the upper 80s. It turns out
 JK> that I have > allergy problems too, but they weren't as obvious as my
 JK> brothers' hay > fever so not diagnosed when I was a kid, and no A/C to
 JK> help me.

 JK> My brother's allergies were so severe in the spring and fall.. he
 JK> couldn't even help out with mowing the lawn as a teenager. I remember

Be glad spring and fall mowing seasons were short up in NY. (G)


 JK> my dad minding that for a little bit, since we had large colonial on 4
 JK> acres in the village of Warwick, NY.. When we were all younger, my dad
 JK> bought a "big red tractor" to get it mowed in style (grin).. We have

Dad got a riding mower when I was 13. We owned about a quarter acre but
it was worth his money to save time. My older brother mowed some times
before that, but not often, and younger one was too young for a power
mower so Dad did most of it.

 JK> some great home movies of all of us getting rides on that tractor :)
 JK> Later he got a riding mower so that helped. But most of us kids
 JK> suffered "some" grass/tree/flower allergies from Mom (Dad didn't have
 JK> any except antibiots (g)).  Well, you can see who's I ended up with
 JK> (BG).

Neither of my parents had allergies (that I know of) but they were in
Mom's family. Mine weren't the obvious ones my brothers had so I got
ignored.


 JK> > I don't think my parents understood asthma or bronchitis.

 JK> That can be rough.  Mom had a firsthand understanding of it and was a
 JK> nurse so that helped I guess.  Since the two of them worked at
 JK> hospitals day and night they were very aware of such things.

I think most of my "bad colds" when I was young were either bronchitis
or low grade pnuemonia. By just calling them colds, Mom and Dad saved on
the cost of a doctor's appointment and antiboitics; I just had to tough
them out.

>> > As I was skimming for notes to me and this one popped up, I got a
>> call > from the office. The appointment had to be put off until next
>> week

>> Ah.. understand..

 JK> > It happens, just glad we were still at home. We ended up going to
 JK> > Raleigh for other stuff--I needed some Kona white fabric, Steve
 JK> wanted > to go to Harbor Freight, we stopped at Whole Foods, etc. Had
 JK> a bit of a > splurge lunch at Red Lobster, hadn't been to one in
 JK> years.

 JK> Like you, I haven't been to a Red Lobster in years... was it
 JK> disappointing? I hope not.. I'm not sure we have one in the area, but
 JK> I do remember enjoying their fare years ago :)

It was good (We both got the fisherman's platter--fried and scampi
shrimp & flounder.) but not as overall good as NC coast caught and
bought right off the boat seafood. We've been spoiled with that. (G) The
cheddar/garlic biscuits were as good as ever tho, and the fried shrimp
were actually quite tender, not hard as rocks.


>> Return your thumb to the starting position. Repeat this exercise
>> multiple times with each hand.

 JK> > OTOH, I could try fingerspelling my way thru the dictionary or
 JK> something > similar. And yes, I can fingerspell with either hand. (G)
 JK> Either way, it

 JK> Yes, I can understand that.

 JK> > might help; I use my hands for quite a bit besides cooking and
 JK> > keyboarding.

 JK> Same here.  I was playing piano the other day and boy some of that
 JK> action in my fingers needed loosening up.. I have to remember to do it
 JK> more often than I have been.  It really helps.

Piano might help if I knew how to play and we had the room for one. (G)


>> I also want to
>> transplant some of the indoor basil I started into the tomato patch to
>> keep other marauders away :)  three seedlings should do it..

 JK> > We have some basil in the herb garden; the tomatoes are all in a
 JK> planter > that has a good sized water reservoir underneath the dirt.
 JK> Steve fills > that thru a spout in the one corner, using water from
 JK> the rain barrel.

 JK> You can plant a slip or two in with the tomatoes, it will help them,
 JK> trust me :) They won't crowd the tomatoes and you'll see the nibblers
 JK> chomping on those basil plants instead of your tomato plants.  It's
 JK> just a natural way to control tomato plant pests.

We have the tomatoes in a planter that covers the soil & have to punch
holes in that for plants. This year we reused 3 holes from last year and
the plants are almost jungle sized already.

 JK> > Keep the options open; the boys may have a better time than you
 JK> think > they would. Are any of them into 'fancy" cooking/eating?

 JK> Yes one of them is, but they have pretty busy lives as is.. as I said,
 JK> we'll see where things go. :)

Seems that's the way it is now.

>> now > he's adding several inches to the bottom 2 drawers in the
>> kitchen area; > I'll have a bit more room to stow stuff then.

>> Very nice :)  I can see how that would be a great thing to work on, to
>> make it exactly how you'd like it.. :)

 JK> > What sold us on this one was the amount of kitchen space in it--it
 JK> goes > all across the front end with a pantry on the entry side,
 JK> fridge on the > opposite wall. A decent size kitchen to work in, it
 JK> does get a bit
 JK> > crowded with 2 people working but not as mush as some we looked at.

 JK> It sounds really nice :)

 JK> > Steve started customising it the day after we got it home. (G)

 JK> I can believe it :)

Keeping him busy. He even sewed a couple of things==an awning and a
slide out cover.


>> > Yes, my GP is good about getting back with me too. I've had a few
>> after > hours phone calls from him as well.

>> Yep, same here.  It's great to have a doctor who understands how
>> important that kind of thing is.

 JK> > Agreed, and one who talks with you, not at you is good. The first
 JK> doctor > we tried when we moved up here was not a good fit; neither of
 JK> us liked > him. OTOH, Steve does most of his work thru the VA but
 JK> changed his
 JK> > civilian primary care doctor to have the same one I do, once he met
 JK> my > doctor.

 JK> That's good, I'm glad you both are seeing a good doc..

Makes life a lot easier when you see a doctor you like.
---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Matthew 7:7 |... seek, and ye shall find;

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