Last Day Of May

Stayed in bed later this morning. Was watching “CBS Sunday Morning” as I usually do.
When I let Hiker outside at 6 am, it was already 60° outside, so I knew we were going to have another warm day.
As you all know, I started drinking a mixture of organic apple cider vinegar and water yesterday. People were telling me to drink it to help the pain in my heel go away plus my older brother swears by it. I sent the following to my brother in an email this morning:
“Am I crazy? Ok, I know you’ve already answered “YES!” Anyway, I noticed last night that my heel pain had subsided a lot and when I woke up this morning it was about 75% gone. Usually when I get up the first thing in the morning, my first step on it is excruciating. Also, I felt like I had more energy when I got out of bed this morning. Now I’ve only been taking the vinegar since yesterday morning, so it is either a miracle homeopathic medicine or a great placebo. I know one FB friend had told me that she started drinking organic apple cider vinegar when she had the Plantar Fasciitis and within 2 or 3 days, the pain was completely gone, but I didn’t really believe her”.
Maybe I am really crazy, but I know that I did feel a lot better today.
Hiker and I were able to go out and sit on the patio for a while today before it got into the 90s.

Hiker thought I had washed some of her toys today, but I didn't. I put some of the dried laundry on my bed and when I came back for the rest, this is what I found.

Sofa Saturday

Didn’t do much today. Hiker and I slept late, got up and had breakfast. I did a load of laundry, paid some bills. Sorted my meds/vitamins/supplements for next week.
I started drinking the Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. I’ve mentioned how I don’t like honey. Well, I decided to get some and put it in the vinegar and water mixture to try to “hide” the acidy taste of the vinegar, but the combination of the 3 tasted really nasty to me. The second time I drank it, I left the honey out. It still didn’t taste good, but was actually more tolerable without the honey. Hopefully, I will get used to the taste of the vinegar after a while.
Watched “Hallmark” movies almost all day. It was too hot to go outside to do anything. It was 97° on my patio, so it was even too hot to just go out there and sit.

Roof Quote

Hiker and I got up at 6 am this morning and we did NOT go back to bed. We had a dog walk with Jean and her dogs this morning, so we needed to get our butts out of bed.
When we all got down to the park, we saw our neighbor Shelly and her dog Toby. Toby is an Aussie Cattle Dog also, but he is a red heeler. He is just a puppy…only 10 months old. Hiker is scared to death of him! I think if she was with him more, she’d eventually be OK with him because she was afraid of Jean’s dogs before she got to know them.
Shelly and Toby joined us for our walk and then we all went back to my house for the dogs to play in the yard, but Hiker just hid behind me.
After the walk, Hiker and I had some breakfast and then I headed over to the Whole Foods Market to see if they had the Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar I’ve been looking for. They were very well stocked with it, so I picked up a 32 oz. bottle and I also picked up a small bottle of honey, even though I do not care for the taste of honey. My brother Ron and a few of my FB friends said the honey will neutralize the flavor of the vinegar. On the way home I stopped at Sam’s Club and filled the car with gasoline.
Yesterday 2 young men came to my door saying that a neighbor was getting a quote for a new roof and they wanted to know if I’d like a free quote, so since I am planning on getting a new roof in 3 to 5 years, I said “sure”. Well today another guy came from their company, went up on my roof and checked it out, measured everything and then gave me a one hour sales pitch even though I told him I was NOT getting a new roof for at least another 3 years. I think he was still very disappointed that I did not sign up today. He was a nice guy, but….
His quote was about $5,000.00 fore than what I’m hoping to pay. We have a crew here in our gated community who does roofing and I’m pretty sure they will be quite a bit cheaper than his quote.
Got into the mid 90’s here today.

Pretty Good Day

Hiker woke me up at 6:30 am to go outside, which is 30 minutes later than normal. We went back to bed and didn’t get up until 8 am. I had some errands to run this morning and the stores don’t open until 10 am, so I didn’t need to get up early.
I had tried regular apple cider vinegar for the pain in my heel. I had several people tell me to drink it in a glass of water, and everyone said to get “organic” vinegar. Well the grocery stores here do not sell “organic” apple cider vinegar. My older brother suggested I get Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. He uses is all the time and he says it makes him feel so much better.
He found out that the GNC near me sells it, so I decided I’d go over there this morning, but like I said, they don’t open until 10 am. I think all stores should open by 8 am or earlier, and no later than 9 am.
So I go over to the GNC which is only about a mile and a half from my house. They sell it, but they were out of stock and the guy told me they won’t have more for 2 or 3 weeks.
I checked the Internet and found that it was only sold at 3 stores in the Santa Clarita Valley and one of those stores closed down after 30 years a few months ago.
Guess tomorrow I’ll go over to Whole Foods because the supposedly sell it. If they don’t have it there, I may have to get a different brand. The important ingredient is something they call “The Mother”, which means the vinegar is “raw”.
I saw that Amazon sells Bragg’s, but they want over $5 per bottle plus it’s not on Prime so there is another $5 for the shipping. If I can find it at a local store, I can get it for less than $5.
After watching Y&R and having lunch, took Hiker over to Central Park for a walk. My heel still hurts some, but walking stretches the tendon that is sore and it actually makes it feel better. Only did a little over a mile walk. Don’t want to overdo it. Hiker met a Corgi named Annie at the park. They seemed to like each other. My sister-in-law Donna used to have a Corgi named Annie.
Had to turn on my A/C today. Got up to 90°

Out And About With My Neighbor Jean

Got up early this morning. I wanted to get over to the Kaiser Pharmacy right after they opened to see if my prescriptions were ready for pick up. I always order my refills online and then pick them up at the pharmacy. So I went only over the weekend to order 4 prescriptions. It accepted my order, but then when I checked the status the next day, it told me that 3 of my prescriptions could not be filled due to lack of information. I emailed my doctor and he said he’d look at it and get it straightened out. This morning I checked the status again and it told me that 1 prescription was ready for pick up, but 3 of them had “previous refills in progress”, whatever that meant. I went over to the pharmacy and somehow, 3 of the prescriptions were duplicated. So it appears it did accept my online order, but then my doctor put in an order for them also. So the pharmacy kept the duplicated ones and gave me the others. Hopefully the next time I have to order some, it will go smoothly like it has in the past.
It was “May Gray” again outside this morning. When I got home from Kaiser, I filled 2 of my 3 hummingbird feeders. The sun came out a little while after I came back into the house.
I was watching my “soap” when I got an email from Jean wondering if I wanted to go over to The Dollar Tree with her. I told her if she’d wait until after Y&R was done, I’d drive and then we’d go over to Der Weinerschnitzel for lunch.
While having lunch, we decided to take the dogs for a walk when we got back home, so we did that and then let them play in my yard for a while.
Jean and her dogs just now went home, so I’m settling down to watch some TV. It got up to the mid 80’s today with sunny/hazy skies.

Lunch Out

Slept in this morning. The only plans I had was to meet my lady friends for lunch at the Chili’s near my house.
May Gray morning and it lasted most of the day. The sun did peek out, but not for long.
Had a nice time with the ladies from the grief group. A couple of them couldn’t make it, but there were still 6 of us there. We all noticed that the service at Chili’s is getting really slow, and it wasn’t even that crowded. But then I think a lot of the restaurants are getting that way.
Got back home a little after 2 pm.

Memorial Day 2015

At 6:15 am, Hiker woke me by crying and whimpering at the side of the bed. She needed to go potty! Only stayed in bed until 7 am because I wanted to do my grocery shopping this morning before the store got crowded.
It was a little overcast this morning, but the sun came out around 9 am. It was hazy though for the rest of the day.
Around 3 am this morning, I heard my iPhone tone telling me that I had gotten a text. Decided to check it out because never know if there is an emergency with my brothers. Anyway…it was a text from someone called “Teena” and it said “I’m feeling naughty right now, are you? Text me”. How do these people get our phone numbers? I very rarely give out my cell phone number. Only my family and close friends have it. I give my home phone number to everyone else.
Finally got around to vacuuming the carpet. I didn’t do it last week because of my heel and knee hurting me so much. Today my knee feels much better, barely bothering me. My heel is still sore but doesn’t seem as bad as it was before. Hopefully it is getting better.
Hiker and I spent some time out on the patio again. When the weather is nice, I like to sit out there with my iPad and watch Hiker run around in the yard. Saw this finch on my back fence.

Was I Lazy Today Or What?

Slept in this morning. My older brother keeps picking on me for sleeping until 8 am some mornings. He likes to get up early every morning. I used to do that, but got to thinking…WHY? For years I had to get up at 4 am to go to work, so I deserve to sleep in on some days. That’s what being retired is all about.
Was sunny most of the morning. The mowers came and did my yard and then the sun went behind the clouds.
Watched TV most of the day. I saw a good movie on Netflix last night called “Still Mine” with James Cromwell and Geneviève Bujold. I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything since “Earthquake” back in 1974, so needless to say, she got old! But I would recommend the movie if you have not seen it.

Sore Legs

Woke up around 1:30 am and had trouble going back to sleep. Because I’ve been walking “funny” due to the pain in my left heel and the pain in my right knee that both of my legs were hurting me. I hate when one part of your body causes your entire body to be out of alignment. I think I finally fell back to sleep around 2:45 am or so.
The alarm went off at 6 am to get up for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. My legs were still hurting, but I thought maybe getting out and walking slowly would help them. I was wrong.
We let the dogs play in my yard, but it was cold sitting on my patio this morning so Jean didn’t stay long.
Was planning on doing a little housework today, but my legs were hurting me too much to do it. It’s a strange soreness. Not like a muscle pain or a joint pain. It’s more like a soreness or “burning feeling” right under the skin.

Sure Looks Like It Could Rain

Slept in today. For one reason, I didn’t have any plans for the day, and another reason, it was cloudy and gray when I let Hiker outside this morning, which makes me want to crawl back under the covers.
When we finally did drag our lazy butts out of bed, had some breakfast and then took Hiker with me to get my lottery tickets for Saturday.
Came home and cleaned the master bathroom, then settled down to watch “Y&R”. Made some lunch and then mixed up a meat loaf for tomorrow’s dinner. I had originally planned to make it for dinner tonight, but changed my mind for some reason. I’m allowed to do that (LOL).
Stayed cool and cloudy all day here, so Hiker and I just stayed inside all day. I’m still trying to rest my heel and knee, but they do seem to be feeling a little better since I got the shoe inserts, plus I tape my foot up to give it more support.

Busy Morning - Relaxing Afternoon

Got up early this morning because I had to take my car over to the Toyota dealer to have it serviced. My appointment was not until 8:30 am and I got there around 8:10 am, but I was glad I got there early because the service department was jammed with cars. Even with the appointment, it still took almost 2 hours to have the work done. I just sat in the lobby and did my crossword puzzles.
On the way home, I stopped by one of the CVS Pharmacies in our valley to see if they had those Dr. Scholl’s custom fit orthotics that I could get at Wal-Mart. The only had 2 of the ones I needed. Seems whoever stocks these things in our valley doesn’t do a very good job. I had gone on Dr. Scholl’s Facebook page and sent them a message about Wal-Mart being out of them for the past 2 weeks.
Hiker was happy to see me when I got home. I should have taken her to the dealer with me. They allow dogs there and I’ve taken her before, but I decided to leave her at home this time. There was a man there with 3 little poodles and another guy with a little pug. Julie, my service person, told me to bring her next time, so I probably will.
I keep forgetting that this weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. For some reason, I keep thinking it is another week or 2 away. I think it’s because it’s just me and Hiker. When Ben was alive, I always knew when the holidays were upon us. Especially when he and I both worked, because we could not wait to have the day off together. The first half of the year is just flying by.
Hiker and I just came in from sitting on the patio. Nice outside today. Hiker was getting some sun.

Hiker getting some sun

Running A Little Late

Running late on my daily email blog today.
Slept in this morning as I had nothing to do until around 11:30 am when I went to meet the grief group gals for lunch at Round Table Pizza over in Newhall. As usual we had fun.
We were having so much fun that we stayed longer than normal and that is why I ended up getting home later.
After I got home, I had to go online and register for my jury summons I received yesterday. I was surprised to get a summons because I had been on call for Federal Jury Duty last July, but I guess they consider Federal and Superior courts different. Of course, I ended up being excused from the Federal Jury due to my eye problems and I thought maybe I could use that again, but I’m not longer getting the injections.
So I just hope I don’t get called in when I check my status in June. I have to see if Jean will be able to take care of Hiker if and when I have to report.
My older brother is contemplating coming down for a visit the week after I’m on call for the duty. He’s still not dedicated to coming down. It depends on his finances at the time. Hopefully I won’t get called in, put on a jury and end up messing up his coming for the visit.

May Gray Day

Another cloudy and gloomy day here in Southern California. They are saying we may get another rain storm coming in by Friday. This is crazy. We usually never have rain this late into the year. But we do need it so it is a good thing.
Got up early for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. My heel is still hurting some, but I have it all taped up according to how they show you to do it on the YouTube videos, plus I have the inserts I bought in my shoes, so that does help quite a bit.
We didn’t walk as far as we usually do and we walked slower than normal. We then let the dogs play some in my yard.
After Jean went home, I had some breakfast and then headed over to Wal-Mart. I had mentioned that the last time I was there I used that Dr. Scholl’s machine to see what orthotics they recommended and that the ones it said I needed were out of stock. Well they were still out of stock today. Guess the Dr. Scholl’s people never come to refill their rack. I did buy a pair of Dr. Scholl’s walking shoes that have more support. I’ve been told by Facebook friends to check out the New Balance and the Sketchers walking shoes.
I noticed when I was driving over to Wal-Mart that a “Maintenance Required” light was showing up on the dashboard of my car. So when I got home, I had to make an appointment for service on my Rav4 this Wednesday morning.

Aggregated My Sore Foot Again

So I guess I should not have done the mile and half walk around Central Park with Hiker yesterday. My heel was killing me this morning. I guess I need to not walk much until it gets better so tried to keep off my feet most of the day. I’ve done a lot of research online about Plantar Fasciitis so I’m starting to really get into the stretching exercises they recommended. I watched a segment of “The Doctors” where they told about it, plus other videos on YouTube that told what kind of stretching to do and how to tape it up to give it support. Must about every video I watched said that even if you go to a podiatrist, you should treat it yourself with the stretching, etc. I also should get some walking shoes with good foot support. I always buy the cheapest ones I can find and they are not really good for walking.
Stayed in bed late this morning as we usually do on Sundays. I always like to watch “CBS Sunday Morning”. The bed felt so comfortable this morning that I suggested to Hiker that we stay in bed all day, but as soon as the show went off, she was up and pawing at me, kissing me and making noises because she wanted me to get up. And as per usual, as soon as I’m up and dressed, she is in the front bedroom, curled up on the futon, sound asleep.
Stayed on the sofa watching TV most of the day. Was mostly cloudy outside and in the low 70’s today.

Typical Saturday

I drank a cappuccino last night to help me stay awake so I could watch all of the AMC Duet show. Because of the cappuccino I had, I did not fall asleep until after midnight again. Hiker woke me up around 5:45 am so I went ahead and let her outside and when she came back in, we went back to bed and I slept for another 2 hours.
Got up and made some pancakes for breakfast then did my laundry.
After the mowers came, I had lunch and then Hiker and I went over to Central Park in Saugus for a walk. I didn’t know they were having the Cancer Relay For Life there today or I would have picked somewhere else to go for our walk. Almost didn’t find a place to park, but finally did, so Hiker and I walked around the perimeter of the park.
The sun had been shining all morning, but when we started over the hill towards the park, it started to get very cloudy and very breezy.
My heel and knee are still bothering me, but I know that I need to stretch the Plantar Fascia Ligament so that the heel pain will eventually go away and walk does stretch it. Plus I need the exercise.
I ordered a “selfie stick” on Amazon the other day and it arrived in the mail today. I wanted it so when Hiker and I are out hiking and I want to take a photo of a flower or other thinks that I cannot get really close to. Plus they are good for taking photos if you are in a crowd or if you want to get a photo of something in a tight space. I will use it for “Hiker & Mom” selfies too (LOL).

Hiker's Grooming Day

Got up early to check on the weather. We usually do a dog walk with Jean on Fridays, but it looked very threatening outside this morning so I called Jean. We decided it was probably too muddy to take the dogs out since it poured down rain all night long. We got 3/4" of rain here in Santa Clarita last night.
Today was Hiker’s appointment with Jean for a bath and a haircut, so we headed over there around 8:30 am. It takes a while for Jean to groom Hiker because when she cuts her hair, there are so many undercoats and layers that she has to keep going back over what she just cut.
While there, 2 of Jean’s friends (whom I have met before) came by with their dogs. On was leaving her dog with Jean because she is going to Vegas this weekend. The other was having her dog groomed.
Did my weekly vacuuming after lunch.
The sun popped in and out all afternoon. Heard it was raining down in the Inland Empire, but didn’t see a drop here today.

Hiker after her grooming.

There Is A Strange Liquid Falling From The Sky

Had A Little Rain Today

We slept in this morning. When I let Hiker out at 6 am, it was cool and cloudy, so it was a perfect morning to crawl back under the covers. I know for sure I fell back to sleep this morning. I had a dream that Ben sat on the bed and I reached out and touched his arm. I could actually feel his skin and it was warm.
We got up around 8 am and had some breakfast. After my trip to Palmdale yesterday, I needed to get some gas in the car, so Hiker and I went out and picked up my lottery tickets and then headed up to Sam’s Club to get the gas. I didn’t wear a jacket and it was cool and windy at the gas station.
When we got back home, I decided to try to take Hiker out for a short walk. The shoe inserts are helping some with my sore heel, but it still hurts some and it causes me to walk out of alignment. That causes my entire body to hurt. My shoulders started to ache where they come together just below the neck. We did at least get a mile walk.
It started to rain a little here around noon. Stopped raining and then started again around 2 pm. Didn’t rain hard, but at least it got the grass wet.
After lunch and Y&R, I cleaned my guest bathroom. Wasn’t really in the mood to do it, but I forced myself. Someday I’ll break down and hire myself a cleaning person (LOL).

Lunch With The Retired Girls

I was tired this morning. Didn’t fall asleep until around midnight last night. But I got up at 7 am and stayed up because I was driving up to Palmdale today to meet up with several of the ladies I used to work with for lunch. There were 10 of us there. Only one person didn’t show. All of us are retired except for one of the ladies, but she is thinking about retiring the end of this year.
We always have so much fun when we get together. We’ve all known each other for so many years. Some of them I’ve known for at least 40 years. We spent so much of our lives together when we were working. I watched their children grow up and now they have kids of their own. We all try to get together at least 3 or 4 times a year.
It was very cloudy here in Santa Clarita all day. When I got up to Palmdale, it wasn’t as cloudy but it was cool and windy.

Had Lunch With Two Good Friends

I was going to get up at 7 am this morning, but ended up lying in bed until 8 am. I was awake part of the time, but dozed some too.
When Hiker and I got out of bed, I noticed that my heel and knee were feeling much better this morning. Still a slight bit of pain, but it appears that the shoe inserts I bought at Wal-Mart yesterday are helping.
Met two of the ladies from the old grief group for lunch today. Everyone else was busy with other appointments, etc. so it was just me, Jane and Carol. We met at Red Robin Burgers in the mall. Had a nice time as usually even if there were only three of us there.
It was in the mid-70s here today with sunshine, but a little hazy. We are supposed to get rain again on Friday and have cooler weather. Sort of a copy of last week.
Hope the weather is good tomorrow because I have to drive up to Palmdale to meet my Lockheed retired girl friends for lunch.

Our First Date - 41 Years Ago

We were up and out of bed early this morning to go on our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. They dogs had not been together for a week and they were so excited to see each other.
We did a shorter walk than normal because my heel and knee were sore. But I did pretty good. We walked about a mile and a half.
After breakfast, I decided to go by Wal-Mart and check out their Dr. Scholl’s Insert Machine to see if I could get some orthotics to help my heel pain, plus I’m thinking they would also help out the pain in my knee. I did some research about the knee pain and from what I found, it sounds like it is tendonitis which could be caused from my feet being out of alignment when I walk. I thought that the Dr. Scholl’s inserts would help with that problem. But naturally, the orthotics I needed per the machine were the ones that were not in stock. I went over and checked the isle with all of the foot care products and found a different brand of heel orthotics that are specifically for Plantar Fasciitis, so I thought I’d get them until I can find another location that has the Dr. Scholl’s ones.
On this date 41 years ago, Ben and I went on our first date. It wasn’t really supposed to be a date. My friend Paula, who introduced me to Ben in December 1973 was married to Ben’s friend at that time. She and her “then husband” were going to Catalina Island for the day and she asked if I would go along because she figured she and I could go shopping while her husband and Ben did whatever they wanted to do. Well Ben had different ideas and made it clear that he was interested in me. After that day, I never dated anyone else.
Received my Fit Bit Zip today. I ordered it Friday on Amazon. Hope I will be able to get out soon and start using it for walks, etc.
Got up to 88° here today. Wish I could send some of this nice weather to the middle of the USA so they would not be having those terrible tornadoes.

Here is Ben and me on our first date:

Spent Mother's Day With My Fur Baby

Slept in this morning. Actually I was watching (or more like listening to) “CBS Sunday Morning”.
Put some laundry in the washer, had breakfast and then took Hiker for a very short walk down to Discovery Park. I wanted to see how far I could get before everything started to hurt. I got about three-quarters of a mile before my knee was hurting. My heel felt better because the walking was stretching the muscle, but my knee hurt with every step. It’s not really my knee. It is a pain in my leg, about 2” below and to the left of my knee cap. I’ve had the pain off and on for several years. It even bothered me back when Ben was alive, but it seems to be getting worse. I think it’s the tendon just below the knee cap.
Hiker and I filled the 3 hummingbird feeders after lunch and then spent some time sitting on the patio. Hiker still runs over to where the gap used to be in the fence if she thinks Cayenne (the neighbor’s dog) is out in the yard. If Cayenne is there, they bark at each other for a little while, then go back to whatever they were doing.
So the other day, our highest temperature was 55° and today it was 85°. Crazy weather.

Fun Morning

Got up early this morning because I wanted to have some breakfast before my neighbor Jean and I went over to Central Park for the Castaic Lake Water Agency’s annual open house. Talked to all of the water people again and got a free water saving shower head, a free shut-off nozzle for the hose, more free reusable shopping bags and a few other goodies. We rode the HomeTown Trolley up the hill to the agency building and walked around their gardens. My left heel and my right knee started bothering me after about an hour and a half so we headed for home.
Got home just in time to let the mowers into the back yard. They only mowed the older lawn out there. They used a grass whipper to cut the new sod that we put down last weekend when the tree was taken down.
Hiker and I were able to sit out on the patio for a while after lunch. I would have like to gone for a walk, but with my heel and knee still bothering me, I don’t want to overdo it. Makes me mad because I really do want to get out when the weather is nice like it was today.

Dreary, Stay On The Sofa Day

It was raining a little before Hiker and I went to bed last night and I remember waking up sometime in the night and hearing rain on the roof.
Since it is Friday, Hiker and I were supposed to do our normal dog walk with Jean and her dogs, but when I got out of bed at 6 am and looked outside, the sky looked very threatening. So I called Jean and we decided we didn’t want to be out at the park and have it start raining all over us and the dogs, plus my yard was too wet for them to have a play date.
So Hiker and I went back to bed for a while. I had the local morning news on the TV, but I think I dozed a couple of times.
Decided to do a load of laundry. I would normally do it on Saturday, but Jean and I are supposed to go to the Castaic Lake Water Agency’s open house tomorrow at Central Park. They have displays of draught tolerant plants plus they have little classes and seminars on how to save water.
I cannot believe this weather we’ve been having. Normally we do not have a cold front come through in May, but it was in the mid-50s today and I had to run the heater. Last week, I was in shorts and had the A/C running.
When Hiker and I walked up to the mail box to get the mail today, there was one item in the box. It was a “Proud Dog Mom” Mother’s Day card from Ben’s sister Donna. That was so sweet of her and her family to send it.

Cloudy But No Rain

Went to bed last night around 9 pm and I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Since I didn’t get much sleep the night before, I was really tired.
When I got up this morning around 7 am, my heel was still sore, but didn’t seem to hurt as much as it had been hurting. I started drinking the apple cider vinegar and water yesterday, so maybe it is already starting to work. My knee still hurts though. It’s not actually the knee joint. It is sore below and to the left of my knee cap.
After having breakfast, I went over to Wal-Mart to get some Fresh Pet dog food for Hiker, plus some breath mint chews for her. Picked up a few other things I needed too.
Cloudy again today, but the sun peeked out every once in a while for a few minutes.
After lunch, Hiker and I went up to Todd Longshore Park just to get outside. I didn’t want to walk and aggravate my left heel more, plus my right knee is also hurting me, even though I’m wearing a knee brace.
I’m just falling apart! LOL

No Sleep Last Night

Not a good night for me. For some reason, I could not fall asleep. I’m guessing it was because my heel was hurting me. I tossed and turned until around 2:30 am before I finally dozed off. Then Hiker woke me up at 6 am to go outside. We went right back to bed and I fell asleep and slept until Hiker woke me up again just before 8 am.
I had planned to get up around 7 am this morning and go do my grocery shopping, but I was so tired when I did get out of bed, that I decided to wait and go shopping after lunch. I want to get it done today because we may get rain tomorrow.
Was another dark and glooming “May-Gray” day here in SoCal. We are supposed to have a “cold” storm coming in tomorrow. The say chance of rain here and even snow above 5000 ft. I’ll believe it when I see it.
So after watching Y&R, I headed over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. It was a little more crowded at that time then when I go in the morning
On the way of home, I stopped by Tiny’s Sub Sandwiches and picked up a roast beef sub for my lunch. I avoid Subway because they are way too skimpy on the meat they give you.
It was suggested to me to get some Apple Cider Vinegar to drink for my sore heel. I also researched online about the vinegar as a “cure” and everything I saw did say that drinking a mixture of the vinegar and water a couple times a day will take the pain away after a few days. So I’m hoping it works.
The sun never did come out today. Was around 60° most of the day.

Lunch With The Girls Today

Stayed in bed until 8 am this morning. Had thought about getting up earlier and taking a walk, but my left heel is very sore. I either bruised it or I have a heel spur. I remember years ago when I went to Ben’s foot doctor for a problem I was having, he said I had the beginning of heel spurs. I went online to see how to treat the pain on my own. Said I should use ice packs, roll my foot over a dowel and stretch the foot with certain exercises. Also said to use heel cups in my shoes. The ice pack helped this morning, but still did not go on that walk because it also said to keep weight off the foot as much as possible.
We had a thick layer of “May Gray” here this morning. Very dark and cloudy.
I met the grief group ladies at Cathy’s Deli for lunch today. We had not been there for quite a while. It was still very gloomy when we went in to eat, but the sun was trying to break through around 1:30 when we came out to head home.

Got A Little Exercise Today

Since Hiker and I didn’t have any plans for today, we stayed in bed until 8 am. I wasn’t totally asleep, but I did doze off and on.
Had some breakfast and then went to get my lottery tickets. Hiker went with me since she loves car rides. When we got back, we went out for a morning walk. It was much cooler this morning than it has been and I could see fog on the mountain tops.
After watching Y&R and having lunch, I vacuumed the carpet, then went out and trimmed back my roses because due to not being able to water them as much as I used to, there were several dead branches on them.
Came back in and sliced up a watermelon for later and also made up some tuna cakes for dinner. I use tuna instead of salmon to make the cakes since it is cheaper.
Heard there was a brush fire over in the Newhall Pass. I kept hearing sirens and then saw the fire on the news, but they got it out really fast.
Only got up about 75° here today and was breezy most of the day.

Busy Day

Got up a little before 7 am. Jean was coming to get me at 9 am and we were going to our local swap meet and then to the antique mall. Jean was hoping to find some rose trees at the swap meet. She got a couple of them there last year at this time, but we didn’t find any. We did buy a few yard decorations there. On the way home, we stopped at our local antique mall. They were having a big weekend sale with items 15% to 50% off. Jean bought a whole bunch of items, but she was also lucky enough to win their hourly drawing for a $10 gift certificate. I purchased a dog figurine to use as a door stop.
Hiker was happy when I got home. Had some lunch and then I took the bed clothes out of the dryer. I had washed the sheets right after I got up this morning and put them in the dryer just before Jean picked me up.
Jean had wanted me to go to a Pampered Chef party at one of our neighbor’s houses this afternoon, cut I’m not into those kinds of things. Besides, I wanted to relax with Hiker.
Got into the mid 80’s here today. I don’t mind those temperatures, but hate it when we get into the 90’s.

No More Tree - No More Shade

Hiker and I were up at 6 am. The workers to cut down the tree were supposed to be here at 8 am, but they showed up 30 minutes early and got right to work.
Around 8 am, my neighbors Andi and Valerie were at my door. I had left them a note yesterday about the tree removal and that I was paying to have the fence fixed. They wanted to thank me for taking care of it and they insisted on giving me a check to help out with the expenses. I kept telling them they didn’t have to do that because it was my tree roots that caused the problem with the fence, but they would not take no for an answer.
Within 45 minutes, the tree was now a stump. Hiker was afraid of the stump remover they had and she hid under the futon while they were running it.
The workers left around 11:30 am for a break.
I let Hiker out into the yard around 12:30 pm and she just wandered all around sniffing everything. Don’t know if she can comprehend that the tree is gone or not.
The workers came back around 1 pm with the sod. They only sodded the section where they took the tree and roots out. Hopefully now that the sun can get through to the grass, it will all group back and fill in.
My brother Ron called this afternoon.
Around 3 pm, my friend Karren Meggitt called me. She and her husband Wally now live in northern Idaho. They are going to be down here for a couple of days to pick up the rest of their belongings and they wanted me to drive up to Quartz Hill to see them, but I had already promised Jean that I’d go to the swap meet and antique mall with her tomorrow. Karren and Wally didn’t have any other free days to visit, so I’ll have to wait for the next time they come down.

Good-bye Tallulah

Did our Friday dog walk with Jean this morning?
After Breakfast, told Hiker we needed to go down to the community office to pay the land lease. She started barking from excitement because she knows that Marcie, who works at the office, has dog treats. We walked down there and Hiker was in the lead. She knows where we are going so she turns at all of the right places, etc. When we get there, she goes right into the office and right to Marcie’s desk.
I had the community foreman come by my house today. The fence between my yard and the neighbor’s yard is starting to “separate” and I was afraid it would eventually fall and maybe hurt Hiker or my neighbor’s dog. Since I lease the land my house sits on, I’m responsible for the maintenance of the fence. My neighbor’s had said we both needed to see what was causing the problem and we’d both get it fixed, but the foreman said that the cause of the fence separating is the roots from my big shade tree. So the repair is all on me, which I accept. He said he knew I wouldn’t like it but he suggested I have the tree removed because if he fixes the fence the roots will mess it up again, plus the roots might go under my patio and destroy it and also they might go under my house foundation and cause damage to it. He said he had fixed a fence at another house for the same reason and he had cut its roots back, but the shock to the tree killed it within a few months and the owner had to have the dead tree removed anyway. So I decided it would be best to go ahead and have the tree removed. He said he would include lawn replacement in the price.
I hate to lose the tree, but I’d hate it more to have foundation problems or have the tree roots completely knock the fence down and have someone get hurt and I end up with a lawsuit. He told me they might start work on it tomorrow.
The tree is very sentimental to me because Ben and I went to the nursery together one Saturday many years ago and picked the little tree out, brought it home and planted it and watched it turn into the big shade tree it is now. Ben even named the tree. Her name was Tallulah. But I know Ben would go along with my decision to remove it so it won’t cause me any more problems. I shed a few tears after making the decision to remove it.

Good-bye Tallulah