What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread) Showing 6,001-6,050 of 8,509

[Werner]

Yes, Joy, the memories are treasures; and the trip to Australia was one of the highlights of our lives!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Yes, Joy, the memories are treasures; and the trip to Australia was one of the highlights of our lives!"

Yes, Werner, I'm sure it was. As I look back, two unusual trips in my 20s stand out in my memory.

One was when I went bicycling with a Youth Hostel group through Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. One night we stayed in the barracks at an airport.

The other trip was when I took a summer course at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a Civil Air Patrol group. I even took a ride in a glider!

That's about as adventurous as I ever got! :) (Unless you count camping on Lake George's islands each summer for 20 years!)

[Werner]

Joy, a lot of people never get even that adventurous; so kudos to you, and glad you had those experiences!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Me too, Werner! :)

[Nina]

I am impressed that you went for a ride in a glider and I would never have thought of a course in Civil Air Patrol. What made you think of that? And you never mentioned sailing, Joy. Aside from my group of sailing friends none of my other acquaintances have ever gone near a sailboat. I wonder if that isn't the case with you? So you have had adventures I'd say.

[Nina]

We lived on a cul d' sac when my six children were growing up and there were lots of other children in that neighborhood. It turned out that the little girl next door grew up and married someone from Australia she met while attending college in Scotland and ended up spending the rest of her life living there. My daughter met her future husband while on a trip to Europe and eventually married him and they lived in France for eleven years before moving briefly to India and finally came back to the US. Her best neighbor girl friend ended up marrying a Frenchman and therefore had lived the rest of her life in Paris. My son has lived in Venezuela, Mexico and Baja Peninsula and his daughter now lives for the past fifteen years in Africa. I had grandchildren born in Germany, France, Venezuela, Mexico, Santa Domingo, Nicargua and even CA and KS and MO. It was hard to keep track at times at who was where.

[Nina]

Werner sometimes a camera gets in the way of the essence of the trip so much so that you can't enjoy what you are experiencing at the time. I found that to be true so in my later trips abroad I didn't even take a camera. But, I still have the pictures I didn't take in my head.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "I am impressed that you went for a ride in a glider and I would never have thought of a course in Civil Air Patrol. What made you think of that? And you never mentioned sailing, Joy. Aside from my ..."

Nina, about Civil Air Patrol (CAP), as a teacher, I was offered the Miami Univ. course by CAP if I would spend some time teaching the cadets how to teach their courses. So I did that.

During my time at Miami Univ., I not only went up in a glider but I then went on a date with the glider pilot! LOL

At the CAP course in Ohio, there were contigencies from all around the USA and many of them arrived in their own airplanes (small ones). CAP flew me to Ohio on a government airplane!

As for sailing, we had an 11' Alcort Mini-fish sailboat on which I and my family learned to sail. We also had several different motorboats over the years.

Below are some links to pics of our adventures on Lake George, including me on the minifish sailboat:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL25/9...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "We lived on a cul d' sac when my six children were growing up and there were lots of other children in that neighborhood. It turned out that the little girl next door grew up and married someone fr..."

Sounds like the United Nations! A really international family, Nina!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Werner sometimes a camera gets in the way of the essence of the trip so much so that you can't enjoy what you are experiencing at the time. I found that to be true so in my later trips abroad I did..."

Nina, this is true. However, sometimes I come across old photographs which remind me of something I did but had completely forgotten about until I saw the picture again. So there is the value of photographs.

A quote about photographs which I think is so true:
=============================================
"A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years, but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind." -Albert Einstein
=============================================

[Nina]

Oh, such fun pictures. You look like you were having fun. Nice memories and I suppose you still go out on the lake. Do you still sail?

[Nina]

Oh such a true quote. And I too look at old photos and then remember what I had forgotten so I am glad I have the ones I have. My husband says I have eight thousand on my computer.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Oh, such fun pictures. You look like you were having fun. Nice memories and I suppose you still go out on the lake. Do you still sail?"

I'm afraid not. We've given up all those things (for various reasons, health and age being among of them). Our kids have boats and offer us rides but we're usually content to babysit their dogs. :)

So we have to be content with our memories and with watching the kids enjoy their lives.

[Nina]

I probably shouldn't have planted pansies this afternoon as my neck and back are not so good and I must go to the hospital for a Cat Scan early in the morning and some kind of injection. Wish me luck and maybe say a prayer. They will be looking for the place in my back that has a fracture. nina

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Good luck with the Cat Scan, Nina. Please let us know how you do.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of those pansies.

[Werner]

Nina wrote: "Wish me luck and maybe say a prayer." Will do, Nina!

[Jim]

I sent Arbor Day another $25 the other day & check 'no' to getting the hazelnut bushes since they died the last time I tried them. I included a note asking if they were planning on offering the new American Chestnuts at a reasonable rate. I saw the AC Society has them, but almost $20 each is too rich for my blood. Well, no answer on the ACs, but I got 3 hazelnut bushes. I planted them in the backyard in a triangle about 6' on a side. They're supposed to get 6'-8' tall, so might be kind of crowded if they grow to maturity, but should be OK. They need to cross pollinate, anyway.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I've never heard of hazelnut bushes.
Here's a link to pics of them: https://www.google.com/search?q=hazel...

Let us know when you get some real hazelnuts which you can eat. I never even thought about where hazelnuts came from!

What made you want the bushes? Have you ever tried growing them before?

[Jim]

I think they're supposed to start bearing at 4 - 5 years old. No, I didn't want them since I tried them a few years ago & they died.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I see, Jim. You didn't want them but they sent them anyway! :)

[Nina]

Hazelnut photos were quite interesting to me. I love my hazelnut tea.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, how was your Cat Scan? Are you feeling better? I've been thinking about you. Hope your pain is lessening.

BTW, I keep getting Brazil nuts mixed up with hazelnuts. Not that they look alike at all. I guess it's the z in both words that alerts my brain. :)

[Nina]

I will never forget the wonderful hazelnut soup I had in Stuttgart Germany one fall afternoon. I think it was the best soup I have had in my life. And I love soup.

[Nina]

Joy, I hope to find out the results of my test tomorrow. Unfortunately, it was probably the cause of my severe pain yesterday as I had to lay on a hard table for forty five minutes and the part of my back that hurts hurt even more so I was pretty miserable most of yesterday but he dr prescribed some pain medicine for me and other medications and I slept only arising once for twelve hours last night. Today I am much better/almost no nausea and less pain. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, I'm glad to hear that you're feeling much better today.

I love soup too. Lobster bisque is my favorite!

[Nina]

My Cat Scan showed the place where my back was fractured was too far down for them to do anything further so I must live with it and hope in time it heals itself. In the meantime I am to take 100 Cortisone pills during the next few days and weeks. Hopefully that will ease so me of the pain. In the meantime I am off to get a pillow that is designed for travel and perhaps that too will help. My advice/don't fall. And If I had turned on the light when I got up to get to the bathroom in the dark I wouldn't have fallen. Oh well, glad I am not facing surgery. And the pills should help ease the pain in my neck too. "Nuff said about health problems. I am so lucky it wasn't worse. Now I can relax and read and plant and hopefully get better.

[Werner]

You've got a great attitude towards all of this, Nina! Hang in there, and here's hoping that the pills really help (and sooner rather than later!) and that the bone heals itself quickly. Thoughts and prayers are with you!

[Jim]

Bummer, Nina. Get well soon!!!

[Nina]

I am hanging in there. Planted more pansies.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "My Cat Scan showed the place where my back was fractured was too far down for them to do anything further so I must live with it and hope in time it heals itself. In the meantime I am to take 100 C..."

Nina, I hope you will heal quickly. Sorry to hear about your pain. Hope the pills will help. Meanwhile, I am promising myself to be very careful not to fall. Your experience is a lesson to us all. Take care. (Two very important words!)

[Nina]

Thanks, Joy. I am going on with my daily life as best I can/took the pills this morning and we'll see. Not all one hundred at once however. I got some more plantings but the manager said not to put them out yet. We have crazy weather/good in afternoon but colder at night so I will wait if not patiently. Might ever watch "Wizard of Oz," for the umpteenth time and think of how much I enjoyed that movie when I was young and I loved the books. I still have four of them from the 1930's.

[Nina]

Thanks Werner, I am convinced prayers do help. I won't go into this on Goodreads but in our family a granddaughter's severe problem was solved by a miracle. No other explanation even from the .doctors in the hospital. More later. nina

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Thanks, Joy. I am going on with my daily life as best I can/took the pills this morning and we'll see. Not all one hundred at once however. I got some more plantings but the manager said not to put..."

Nina, good to hear you're doing OK. I hope you saw my post about The Danish Girl (movie and book).

[Nina]

I did see your post and answered it, I thought as I said after reading your glowing report I must rent it. Thanks for posting it.

[Jim]

This article is kind of long, but really worth reading. I'm a fan of Mike Rowe & this is about the teacher that put him on the road to success through a Barbershop Quartet of all things. It's great!
http://mikerowe.com/2009/02/mike-rowe...

[Nina]

It was a dear story, Jim. We need more of them.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "This article is kind of long, but really worth reading. I'm a fan of Mike Rowe & this is about the teacher that put him on the road to success through a Barbershop Quartet of all things. It's great..."

Jim, I know I replied to this post but I don't see my reply. That's strange! In my reply I said that I had never heard about Mike Rowe but it was interesting the way he got his start. I was once in a female barbershop chorus (Sweet Adelines), so barbershop singing is close to my heart.

As a chorus member I participated in a number of national competitions and heard lots of barbershop!

Now I know what happened to my post. I stopped in the middle of posting to search for a photo of me in the chorus. I didn't find a photo and never went back to finish my post.

I realize now that none of my wonderful Sweet Adeline photos have ever been scanned into digital form. I'll have to do something about that! :) I was in the front row of our chorus when we sang in the competition which took place in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. A good memory.

[Jim]

What a great day! I got the vege garden dug up & turned over & covered it with hay from the manure pile. I cleaned the goat's house, the fish pond filter, & worked some on the birch bowls from a coworker's tree. Plus a few other odd chores. It felt good to get the muscles working in the sunshine.

Also took a ride on Chip. He was less stumbly today. He's figuring out his Frankenstein's monster shoes. Still, I stayed out of the woods. My knee is still sore from yesterday when he stumbled & whacked it against a tree.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim, I hope your muscles won't ache tomorrow! :)

[Nina]

Mind your knee, Jim. And as for my outdoor activity with the fractured back I still managed to get flowers in my garden planted with the great help of my husband bending over and lifting and that is a good feeling to even have it all mulched which I did by handfuls.

[Jim]

No muscle aches, just some sunburn from harrowing today. No spraying now. The shoulder straps would be painful.
;)

The knee is fine unless Lily whips it with her tail, Nina. Thanks.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Sunburn already, Jim? And it's only April. :)
Today was like a summer day here. Didn't need a coat!

Glad your knee is alright, Jim.

Nina, more power to you! Gardening with a bad back!

Today I looked for Holly-tone at Walmart. Couldn't find it.
http://gardening.yardener.com/Holly-F...
"Holly-tone® is a fertilzer designed to feed plants that prefer to live in acidic soils."

[Jim]

Josh just emailed me that the hummingbirds finally made it to our house. They'd been sighted as far north as southern Ohio a couple of weeks ago, but they seem to show up along the river & lower down first.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "Josh just emailed me that the hummingbirds finally made it to our house. They'd been sighted as far north as southern Ohio a couple of weeks ago, but they seem to show up along the river & lower do..."

That's interesting, Jim. And amazing!

[Nina]

I haven't put up the hummingbird feeder yet. Maybe too early here.

[Jim]

Here's a map of the hummingbird sightings so far this year:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

Feeders should be put up a week or two ahead of time. I generally put them up with just a little in them & change it weekly. They should be left up until freezing becomes a danger. I get late ones into October, but they've been reported even later here.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Impressive map, Jim. I can imagine millions of hummingbirds winging their way northward. I wonder if they get tired.

[Jim]

I would imagine. I can't understand how they make it all the way across the gulf. I wouldn't think they had enough energy.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I wonder what their secret is.

[Nina]

Looks like they are already sighted in MO so maybe I'll try. Jim should I use one fourth cup of sugar to one cup of water?