Clean house

Well, that happened today but at twice the price quoted to me. I couldn't be home and I think they pushed something on to Doug. But...it's finished and I'm not fussing about it one bit. Carpets are drying once again and tomorrow we should be good to get the house back together.

Today was Regina Owino's heart surgery and it went well with no unexpected surprises. That makes the carpet issue a non issue. We taking little steps and soon we will be running.

Flowerbeds are looking wonderful but I just moved the sprinkler. It's getting necessary to water just a bit.

Temperatures remain very reasonable and makes for good summer sleeping. Just saw a hot air balloon fly over the house. Having great fun watching the birds in the backyard. We really have quite a variety with a cardinal next 2 ft. from our upstairs window. It's a birdseye view. Wren's are nesting and just saw a Downy woodpecker as well as a nuthatch. And...ofcourse millions of sparrows. Oops...left out many bright yellow finches. They are beautiful.

Wrong again

Must be doing something wrong. Carpet people were scheduled this afternoon and...you guessed it. Didn't show up...I called and they said it wasn't scheduled although they had my name address, cost of the procedure etc. I almost said screw you but I didn't. They gave me 10% off the cost...big deal. I should have demanded at least 20%. So...perhaps...maybe...could happen...don't count on it...perhaps...tomorrow at 10. I certainly am not holding my breath. The house has been torn up for over a week now and that could or couldn't not be corrected tomorrow, depending on the screw you crew. Life has it's challenges, that's a sure thing at this point.

More important...Regina's heart surgery is tomorrow. It's a huge surgery and it must go well. The heart muscle must be reduced in size so that the valve can do it's work. So...the carpet is a minor infraction just a little aggravation if I've got my head on correctly. But...I want my carpet cleaned so that Regina will have a decent place to sleep in the coming weeks. Go figure.

Changes

This is a week of changes. Changes in the date the carpet gets cleaned...That's another story I won't bother with but the fact that I was so upset with the first crew made me finish the garden digging,,,that was a lot of digging and clean out the garage. That was a lot of dirt. So something to show for my experience with Stanley Steamer. Sears will be out on Wed. afternoon. Yahoo. I hope!

Another change. This past Friday Regina came to the states from Eldoret for heart surgery. I met her Sunday evening and what a gem has come our way. Monday we saw lots of things. She asks a million questions and is interested in EVERYTHING. What fun. So it was a visit to the Tractor Service store because she wanted to know what was in that store, Goodwill and then to Pet Smart to see lizards that people buy here where as in Kenya they are thicker than flies. Then a stop at the church and at 2:00 PM there was a Cath. of the heart and an Echo gram in preparation for surgery on Thursday. The heart muscle has thickened and is affecting how the valve works. Serious stuff which involves cutting away part of the heart muscle. Scary stuff. Hard to comprehend that is possible. So...pray, pray, pray. Regina is a widow, 41 years old the mother of three children, the youngest just 8. Just a young lady. She will be staying with us after surgery and a short stay with Linda Wilson. Yesterday was a long day and Doug and I had dinner at S and S at 9:00. Today I would love to take her to the Children's Museum. That's quite different than the tractor store for sure. Tonight is another meeting at Sec. Presb. about the recent trip made by a group of ladies in May to Kisuma Kenya. Tomorrow is work at the church desk, carpet cleaners and then getting the house back in order, I hope! Wooo...always something going on. Life is to live and love. Sun. evening at Sec. Presb. we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness. Remember the part...strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. How vivid that has become to me.

Goodness...6idays later

Where does the time go. Help. Well, the only thing I can say is that it's great not to know what is ahead of one. Might refuse to get out of bed if I knew. We had one gangbuster of a rain storm yesterday and even though we are on a hill...you guessed it...water in the lower level. 2 inches at least. It was one continuous cloud burst of about 4 inches at least in perhaps less than 3 hrs. I think we need new BIGGER spouting. So...yesterday was one heck of a day. Fans are still running and the floor is still wet. Crazy, crazy. Not much fun if any. We had the same thing happen about 8 years ago. This is the summer of rain for sure. Garden was completely flooded and there was rain pooling in places I've never seen the likes of. Keystone Ave. culvert collapsed. That's a major thing for sure.

So...today was a bit slower. Tomorrow morning a few of us will change the liturgical colors from red to green. That's such fun when one is prepared. I spent a bit of time today getting things ready for the work crew. Seems to make things go a bit smoother. Today was another cataract day for neighbor Judy. I'm so happy for her that her surgeries are over. Yearly fish fry is coming up Friday. Eric/family and friend Salome are going with us. Should be fun. Thursday evening I have an Umoja meeting with folks from other churches. Love to meet new folks with Kenya interests.

Cool is a good thing

Still cool and add the rain to that. It's COLD. Yesterday I liberated two huge pine trees of ivy and more. At least 6 feet of ivy growing on the trunk and now all the ivy higher than six feet will need to die on it's own. Will probably take two years for all the junk to fall off the tree. I really did a number on my hands...it 's arthur at his best that shows up around 3 am. Uck. Happens more and more. Hands just are meant to be used but I guess not abused. Never think of that until 3 am in the morning and I guess I don't know what abuse is without use. Life certainly could be worse. Bought a few more plants to fill in empty spaces. The gardens look just terrific. Well, at least good compared to my neighbor. She keeps me going. We ate lettuse yesterday, beans are waiting for blumes, peas need to get going, herbs are doing nicely, pumpkin hasn't died and the melons are progressing across the garden.

Cooler in Indiana

The last two days have been the best temps ever. Sort of like camping along the lake. The outdoors are most enjoyable. This morning I dug around all the flowers...found some deer nibbles and got everything spruces up again. Did a doc checkup and then got a tree uncovered from lots of stuff growing around it. Need JB to finish the job. It takes a tree climber. And then to the drugstore for a Shingles shot.

Yesterday was church, Salome for lunch, heard a wonderful brass concert and then off to Winnie's birthday party with lots of food a Kenyan might eat. Delicious to say the least.

Tomorrow it's taking Judy to the eye surgeon, then a yoga thing and who knows what else. That's it...the living is easy. Must be summer.

Hot In Indiana

It's hot again and high today of 94 or so. Plants are loving the fact that their feet are not sitting in the water. It's time to take it easy. I love getting in the garden when the dew is still on the grass. Then it's break time till evening but the bugs are out big time. Still fighting the deer but have a new solution to spray that I hope works. Time will tell. Sarah Ellen is back in Nirobi by now and off to Eldoret when it is Wed. morning for her. There is a 7 hr. time difference. I miss her. We had such a good time working together. She is so far away. Doug and I delivered 2 more trunks to folks leaving for Kenya this morning. Just 5 more to find transportation for. Salome and I attended a Kenya Carnival meeting Monday evening. We worked all morning at church getting Pentecost banners up and then Salome came home with me. We went to the grocery store and Target at her request mainly just to look around. She made a wonderful tomato, red onion, lemon and cilantro salad. Then to the meeting and then I took her home.
This afternoon is the dentist...Uck. Thurs B and B and Choir. Same old same old.

A busy week

Well, it really was a week that had lots in it. A really big project was packing trunks for Kenya. There are a total of 13 this time around for Sarah Ellen. Lots of work to get the job done correctly and believe me we were correct. We worked like crazy and got 7 totally completed and the rest were about 95% finished. I was one tired lady but it's got to be done. I spent most of Wed. afternoon at an Umoja meeting at Sec. Presb. with Salome. I gave her a trip around Carmel, stop at our house and then to S and S and then took her home. Thursday was soup kitchen day with more stops at IU and other necessary places, farmers mkt. at church and then choir. Today I was home! But...that really meant that I made a stop at Rosie's for more plants and then worked in the yard all day. The flowerbeds are gorgous. All is freshened up with some replanting where plants died. It's the best garden I have had in years. Now...it's keeping it going. We had supper on the patio and just sat and watched the hummingbird, butterflies and bees and wonderful gold finches. Low humidity and great temp. made it just the best place to eat. Tomorrow is Eric's 41st birthday. Where have the years gone. Saw him on TV at the Indian's game. Wish we could have celebrated with him. Tomorrow morning we'll see the grandsons with parents at soccer practice. It's a great way to spend Sat. mornings.