Raincharm’s Weblog

I put shoes on for the first time since last Friday when I got home from work. Technically, my isolation ends after tomorrow, but I have been temperature free since Wednesday and am feeling relatively normal, albeit tired.

My first trip was to weigh in, masked, and did not stay for the meeting.

Our second trip was a walk to the farmers market to get some tomato plants. We snagged two and a cucumber as well. I’ve never killed a cucumber plant, because I’ve never had one in the garden.

This meant that said plants needed to be planted. Retrieved the hose and tomato cage parts from under the house. I managed to get them all planted and watered.

There are a lot of layers here. 1) the pink traditional cages. 2) the Gardeners Blue Ribbon “cages” that are more free form, and can be modified to align with branches that need more support. 3) a 1-inch square fabric that gets wrapped around everything to keep the critters at bay. I’m looking at you, raccoons. I don’t usually put up all layers at once, but I may get distracted later.

As a bonus, I got to see a Dark Eyed Junco. I heard an unknown bird yesterday and used the Merlin app to identify the stranger. Today, I saw one, at least based on the picture supplied by Merlin.

While wandering the garden, I noticed that 3 of the 4 iris I planted a month or so ago were still alive. And one threw up a flower stalk, which I dutifully cut, per the first year instructions provided by Seattle Tilth. They can be allowed to bloom in year 1, but may not survive or be as strong in year 2 and beyond.

I checked the strawberries, and there are flowers and early fruit. We’ll see if there is any harvest this year.

Finally, the raspberries are blooming. The patch needs a lot of work to rein in both the weeds and rogue plants. To that end, I ordered several more of the flexible tomato cages to create a fence with big openings. My years of wrangling with bamboo lengths may be at an end. Every year, they have to be reworked, and it always feels like an “it’ll do for this year” solution.

This is more effort than I have put out since I last had shoes on. Ready for a break.

Our extended family has cabins on the shore of Lake Superior, technically the St. Mary’s River until you are a bit further up the lake. The lake freighters that ply the great lakes come upbound from the Soo Locks, pass behind Round Island, and turn to head up into the big lake. Downbouund boats do the reverse, heading straight at our shore before turning behind the island.

Many of us who grew up spending whole summers at the cabin have had dreams about boats missing the turn and running right up onto the beach.

Apparently, this actually happened in the early morning hours in Norway. The cabin owner slept through the approach until his neighbor woke him to the spectacle.

Admittedly, the depth of the water near the shore is dramatically different than our bay. But still.

Carl has been diligently working in the yard this week. The weather is cooperating, and the Mariners are out of town.

He is a busy guy, though. Yard work, walking, shopping, throwing buckets of balls to many folks who play in the local baseball leagues, and working on his baseball projects.

He has made a new baseball pal, Bill “Spaceman” Lee. He’s called a few times, and they have exchanged letters. If he ever gets to Seattle, he says he’ll look us up.

I have been privy to his schedule in depth this week because I have been home every day.

I felt poorly on Friday, spent Saturday sleeping, managed to get sitting and ate a bit on Sunday. I thought I had the flu and not likely to go to work on Monday. Since I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled on Wednesday, I wanted to verify I didn’t have Covid. Except that I did.

Canceled blood donation, doctor’s appointment, soccer game attendance. Working remotely has kept my hand in, although the early days were not as productive.

Every day since has been a bit better, and I no longer have a fever. But it doesn’t take much to wear me out.

I have been keeping my distance from Carl and sleeping in the guest room. He has been doing a great job of caregiving and so far has tested negative.

Well, that’s the exciting news from our corner.

On a more somber note, my brother-in-law’s father passed away earlier this week. He was a really fine person and lived a long and productive life. More on Mark’s blog.

Rhoddie in bloom, camellia out of control and blooms gone, strawberries starting to flower.

This time in a car place, waiting for them to figure out why I had no heat in the car this morning. They had just replaced the coolant something or other and think the coolant line just needs to be bled.

I brought some work, but can’t quite focus enough to be sure I should manipulate data. Instead, I played most of the NYT puzzles.

This week has had a few moments of elation, but many more of frustration. To the point where I had to stop trying to complete some needed steps. Just to take a break and get my head level. Who knew it would take literally months to get an appointment with a new primary care provider. This hiccup will have far reaching consequences, for me.

In the end I am sure it will work itself out, and I have obviously been coddled by having stable healthcare through one organization for several decades. And there are still more medicare steps to complete to avoid all of the potential penalties. Weekend work.

I have become a champion at waiting on hold. And not just for the federal offices. Trying to get through to appointment schedulers has actually been more daunting.

On a brighter note, the Mariners are not in last place. The FC Ballard (soccer) season has begun. And it’s not raining all of the time.

As in, I think and see things to post about, but don’t find or make the time. And as in, sitting in a waiting room for a very indeterminate time. Which is now, at Urgent Care.

Nothing major, we assume, but they want to verify a bruise is just a bruise, and not compartmentalized. I once had a hematoma that was organized, but not into compartments.

Since this is spur of the moment, I am just going to work off of pictures.

After the win, our group of 7 (ages 10 to 80) walked over to the light rail. We skipped the train that was already packed to the gills so we could score a few seats. Got on the second and sat down. The train was literally moving forward at a snails pace compared to normal service. Two stations later, they announced that the train in front of us had broken down. So we disembarked at Pioneer Square to consider our options. Found a bus that went to our neighborhood, scheduled to arrive in 8 minutes. So we got on the bus. Headed for the same place as light rail, but it’s a milk run and not fast. It was after 11:30 pm when we got into the neighborhood, and we missed the connecting bus that would take us to a block from our house. We opted to all walk the remaining 1/4 mile rather than run home for a car.

Midnight was a bit late for the two older folks to drive back to Olympia, so we added them as houseguests. It worked out and meant we had an opportunity to chat over coffee, fruit, and bagels in the morning.

The Mariners are currently 1 game over .500, so doing OK.

Many years ago, a homeless man spent an evening next to the chimney. We found his blankets and a few other things the next day. He had stored some bits in the opening, which we put with the blankets on the parking strip lawn so he could pick them up. While we were cleaning out the chimney area, we found a spare key to our back door that the prior owner had secreted there. Luckily, that key only worked the lock in the door handle and not the deadbolt.

Obviously going backwards in time.

And, aside from a plumbing adventure with our upstairs bathroom sink, work, and things here and there, that’s a snapshot of the first quarter of 2025.

Carl’s off to x-ray to check for any fractures in his knee or femur. We really think they will be negative, although the knee has potential. Then, hopefully, home for dinner.

Of course the more troubling health issue has been a cough, lingering for 6 months. The next step for that isn’t until May 7.

Patient’s patience is not only a virtue, it’s required.

Very unexpectedly, we saw the first shoots of spring on our walk today. I looked at our  feeble excuse for a garden when we returned home, and, voila.

It was a reasonably productive weekend. We applied for renewal of our passports and took the steps to sign up for Medicare (part A only). The start to new adventures.

Our new year has gotten off to a rather inauspicious start. We have both had the flu, and it just doesn’t feel like the year has begun.  Carl was sick on New Years Day, and I waited for a day when I wasn’t scheduled to work. Such a good employee.

It was really the 24-36 hour variety, but still, we’re both just tired.

My big accomplishment today was de-decorating the Christmas tree. It is out at the curb awaiting a yard waste pickup tomorrow. The ornaments and lights are boxed but have not made the trip to the basement yet.

I will work tomorrow, the good employee and all, but if I am still tired I may work from home.

Exciting life!

On the other hand, it was just the flu.

Happy Holidays to all. We spent a quiet, rainy day at home.

It was a good day. I read a novella to start the day. We spoke on the phone with the kids, parent, and old friend. I mean old as in known since kindergarten or first grade. 

And as the picture above attests, we have many new books to enjoy into the new year.

I will leave now as we are into our 3rd Christmas Carol (Dickens adaptations) over the past day and today. Yesterday was the George C. Scott version. This morning was Alistair Sim, and this evening, it is the Reginald Owen version. We have not managed to find Carl’s favorite version with Mr. Magoo.

We had a group over for Chinese on Christmas Adam. It was a good time, with talk and good food. And there are enough leftovers to last us to the new year I think.

We had prepared a few appetizers and a dessert. The appetizer was based on a suggestion of an acquaintance. A wreath made of hummus, decorated with parsley, cherry tomatoes, red and green peppers, and some crackers.

Dessert was another thing altogether. I had a recipe and all of the ingredients. However, there were issues in the building.  First of all, I was picturing puff pastry, but what I had was phyllo dough. I had not worked with these separating sheets. The recipe called for two sheets, to be cut and placed atop one another. The sheets were so thin, especially compared to the puff pastry in my head, I decided to use more than two sheets. I proceeded down this path, although they did not seem to fully cook through with the 8 or so layers that I had settled on. So I was splitting the piles and continuing to cook some. In the meantime, I was attempting the custard. Parts were coming along fine, but I think the recipe called for  too much cornstarch. I ended up with a lumpy, sort of concrete like mixture. I tried to rescue it by hand mixing, using an electric beater, but finally decided it was a lost cause. I used the interwebs to find a different recipe for custard.  Same ingredients, but different proportions.

So unsure on the phyllo dough, two tries to get custard. The raspberries were from our summer garden, so I was a bit reticent to use them with the failings.

In the end, the “Napoleons” of a sort were well received. Topping them with chocolate covered a lot of faulty construction.

The dinner and dessert used most of our silverware, dinner and dessert plate settings, soup bowls, serving pieces, etc. So we used the dishwasher! This was the 20th use since the 2016 remodel. I know that because we used the last of 20 pacs in the bag. Unfortunately, for the first time, some water leaked out onto the kitchen floor. No damage, but an area of the floor that is much cleaner than the surrounding area. We will have to run it again to try to deduce the problem.

Christmas Eve included  a walk to and through Candy Cane Lane. Today, it didn’t rain! (It is supposed to be a gully washer tomorrow) So off we went. It was lovely and fun.

Now to spend a quiet evening at home.

There have been many family traditions over the years. With just two of us at home most years now, we tend to repeat things some years, but also allow in new ideas.

The Winter Solstice is not really our tradition, but we do observe the darkness. Today’s sunrise was at 7:55, and sunset will be at 4:20. And given the rain, it has been a fairly dark day. Except for the moment when the sun was shining, while it was raining. There was a rainbow somewhere.

One of my traditions is to eat a grapefruit. There is a consultant at work who has been sending a box of grapefruit to our office for years. And I always make sure to get one. Carl can’t eat them due to drug interactions, so it’s never on our grocery list. Yes, we could buy one every now and then, but we don’t. And it’s fun to have something to look forward to. Today was the grapefruit morning.

Another tradition stems from Carl’s crusade to clean the streets of lost money. Throughout the year, pennies, dimes, nickles, guarters, and the occasional bill are found. And stored with their brethren. At the end of the year, a picture of the jar with all of the foundlings is circulated around our block. Everyone can guess the total. The guess that is closest to the actual amount wins the cash.

There are a few more traditions on the horizon. Chinese dinner for friends. This year on the 23rd. One of our friends was booked on the 24th, and the restaurant we order from is normally closed on Tuesdays, so unless they make an exception, Monday is a better choice. They usually sell out on Christmas Eve, so perhaps they will make an exception this year.

Walking through Candy Cane Lane on Christmas Eve is a frequent event for us. We will have to see if this holds true for this year or if we turn into weather wimps. There is a chance of rain, of course.