Crone Cronies - Wanna Meet Cute Firemen? Grill Out on the Porch! April 3

[sciencelady]

The Cronies is a place for women who are mature in age or attitude. The group is highly diverse in that we have ages ranging from 30s to 60s, some are moms, some are single, some are teachers/professors, and some have jobs and work outside the home and some don’t. We do our own thing and are happy when life doesn’t get in the way too often. Some are training for a marathon, some don’t even do vids, you get the picture.

Life and exercise are what we report. A thread is started every Sunday. Some report every day, others whenever they can.

Bottom line: we are a diverse group and very supportive of each other’s goals. Oh, and we’re funny as heck. If you’d like to join us, just come on down.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

I had two girls here last night and I'll be taking them to a Ukrainian egg coloring session at the Ukranian church in Minneapolis in several hours. Their chatter kept me up most of the night...

Gus had his radiograph read by a specialist vet - she didn't think the knee was so bad that surgery was a first step, so we'll continue the rest and pain meds for about two weeks and see how Gus does. Gus is doing OK on the pain meds - still limping, but not as much in pain.

I worked on the skylight yesterday and hope it is well sealed now - what a job! Lots of work for something so relatively simple - wind blew my bucket of tools and paper towels off the roof several times - argh! I just hope the seal works!

Laura, I used the last of your titles today - can you come up with more in the coming week? Adelija has plane tickets to go back early June 1 - a mere 58 days away She won't be finishing school year here and frankly has no intention of finishing remotely - school ends June 10th. At least she doesn't have the extended school year resulting from the teacher's strike in Minneapolis.

Paula, I hope your recovery goes better today! I assume your DH has this also? I don't think the ramps would work well in my house or outside - they would be at such an angle (almost 45 degrees) that it would still put lots of pressure on his knee ligaments - same as the regular stairs. Gus an I are doing the same stair climbing technique of one stair at a time - I had mine since my hip surgery. The outside stairs are also a bit circular in that they turn 90 degrees, so a ramp wouldn't fit well. I guess Adelija's Duluth trip is rescheduled for a few weeks from now, but she'll still be gone for about half the week with another family at their cabin.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

It's another really pretty day here. This morning, I sat out on the porch with Polly and gave her a good brushing. Then, we attended church virtually. In a bit, I'll be going to pick up Mom and Dad and we're going to get ice cream. We're also doing some laundry today.

DH has been lousy the last couple of days and we've been trying to figure out if he's actually sick or if it's a combination of conditions. Today, he concluded he must be at the intersection of bad allergies and fibromyalgia. We are in the insane range on the tree pollen scale and everything outside is coated in green yellow gunk. Since he is allergic to a couple of kinds of trees, we think his allergies are insane as well. I'm relieved because I can't catch that...

Anita - Yeah, I was just thinking about needing more themes this morning. Thanks for the reminder. It's good that Adelija's time is set and you can see the end of it. It's good that Gus doesn't need surgery as the first step and I hope that the pain management steps work.

Paula - Ah! I hope you are feeling better today and don't overdo it. That's so easy to do. Schar is a gluten-free brand that DH eats a lot of - bread, hotdog and hamburger buns, pizza crusts, etc. The pizza crusts are thicker than most of the other options. It's not that it's thick, but that it's not razor-thin like most other GF pizza crust options.

[Laura S.]

OK. Here are some themes:

Crone Cronies - Where flowers bloom, so does hope. April 10

Crone Cronies - Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is. April 17

Crone Cronies - A life without love is like a year without spring. April 24

Crone Cronies - Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party! May 1

Crone Cronies - A mother's love is unconditional. But don't push it! May 8

[Paula]

Good evening. Feeling better today. I did a stretch video with Pahla B.

Grocery day for us. DH filled the car while I started shopping. When he found me in TJ's the first thing he said was "$75.00 to fill the car and it wasn't even empty". Gas was $6.05 a gallon, yikes.

Anita, thanks for getting us started. Just to show my ignorance - what is different about Ukrainian egg coloring from egg coloring here? If Adelija doesn't finish the school year does that affect her credits for the year in any way? Thanks for asking about DH's cold - he got it first and got over it first. He's been fully recovered for days now which is nice because if I say I'm not feeling well he just takes care of things. I understand about the ramps, I've been up a few that are so steep they're worse than steps. You and Gus - one step at a time - that could be a title for something. I do hope the new vet is right and he can recover without surgery.

Laura, I read your paragraph about pollen to DH. As much as I'd love to live near my family, comments like that just makes it clear to me that can't happen. I might be able to do extended visits in the winter - no pollen. But if I were there right now, I'd be suffering. I hadn't heard of Schar before but we have some all GF brands around here too. Is it as good as what we are used to - full gluten? Since I've started making bread I've started buying bread flour which has a higher gluten level than all purpose flour. The bread really does come out better - better flavor and higher rise.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Adelija is away with another family to a cabin in northern Wisconsin for part of her spring break - yay! I'm enjoying the peace and quiet in my house and rearranged the basement to its original state as she's never used the desk or lamp I bought her. I'm planning on walking Gus, seeing if I can get an oil change today, and putzing around. I'll be playing Spades tonight.

Laura, thanks for the new titles list! This helps SOOOOOOOOOO much to get new threads started! We're not quite to the open ice cream places yet - another round of snow last night but expect it to melt away without shoveling today. Sorry about the pollen storm down there - did wearing your Covid mask help keep your DH breathing better? Those masks would filter pollen well also - he might be able to use the masks well right now.

Paula, glad you're feeling better! I see the CA gas prices on the news - we're down a bit from last week - was $3.99 now about $3.85 a gallon. I'm walking Gus in our neighborhood instead of driving to a park every day, so hope to save some money on gas also. The Ukrainian eggs are the beautifully patterned eggs https://www.pinterest.com/pin/my-cre...5564148579316/. I haven't seen what Adelija did there yesterday as she's got them with her at the cabin, but they are very intricately created. Adelija is also remotely doing her senior year in high school in Latvia and she will use that status to graduate and start university next year. Here, Adelija is doing 11th grade and supposedly it doesn't do much for her future education other than cultural diversity spending her year here.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

It was a busy day. This morning, I sat on the porch and gave Polly a good brushing while I wait for Mom and Dad to pick me up. We went to the YMCA and I got in some good exercise. After coming home and having lunch, I took DH to the GP's office for an appointment to have blood taken for a blood test. It took FOREVER. He sat there for 30 minutes and refused to sit and wait for them any more and they found someone to take the blood. On the way home, we ran a couple of errands. After we got home, we sat out on the porch so Polly could come see us and be petted and then leave and sit in the driveway and ignore us. This evening will hopefully be a little less busy.

It was another beautiful day. Tomorrow, we're supposed to get rain. Maybe it will knock some of the pollen out of the air.

Anita - You're welcome on the themes. Thanks for starting the threads every Sunday! Yeah, DH wears masks when we go for walks and when we sit out on the porch with Polly. It does help his allergies. Enjoy the calm and quiet while Adelija is gone. Those eggs are beautiful.

Paula - It's good you are feeling better. Yeah, you would be miserable here in the spring, especially once the tree pollen comes out. It's good you have somewhere to live where you can do well. Schar is pretty good for GF bread, but nowhere near as good as "real" bread.

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Pahla B Body Shaping Day 6 Walking with Weights followed by some stretching. Got a lot done - first day I've felt totally back to normal, fingers crossed it lasts.

Anita, glad you're enjoying the empty nest, even if it's short term. I'd love your gas prices, we haven't seen under $4.00 in a long time. If Gus is happy with a shorter walk it will help you save on gas. Those eggs are stunning, simply stunning. I can't imagine the time and attention it must take to paint those. One egg must take days to paint. Someone must have serious artistic ability to even attempt that - I can barely draw stick figures. Not sure why but I'd never thought about wearing a KN95 in a high pollen area, but what a great idea. We keep KN95 masks in our car for really crowded stores. We always wear them in Costco.

Laura, that Polly is such a cat - loving you one minute and snubbing you the next. I read the themes, all good ones. I've read some people who can't digest regular bread can eat sourdough. I may be prejudice but there's no better tasting bread than homemade sourdough. Hopefully the rain will clear the air and your DH can breathe better.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Yesterday I got the car serviced in the afternoon - took most of my wallet! Got new brakes plus all the service work. Today, I'll walk Gus in the morning before rain storms start, then take my car for tire rotation at Midas. I'll get some groceries and then this evening I'll pick up my bike. I really am enjoying this time away from Adelija, but she is missed around the house - Gus keeps waiting for her. I did clean up the basement a bit and put away stuff Adelija hasn't used like the desk I bought and a light I bought for the desk. Adelija has bought so much stuff that won't fit into her luggage - I think we'll have to ship several boxes back to Latvia.

Laura, sorry DH had so much waiting at the doctor's office - same thing happens to me at the eye doctor. They'll punish me if I'm not there 20 minutes early, but then take 45 minutes to get my eyes tested then another half hour to get to the doctor - sigh... I no longer try to schedule anything after that appointment as the time I get out isn't predictable. Polly is really working her way into your household - she's got you wrapped around her paw .

Paula, I've not done the Ukrainian method for eggs, maybe Adelija will be able to teach me a bit, but I think it's waxing patterns on eggs, starting with light colors, adding wax over those areas you want light, then dipping into darker colors, changing the wax pattern to fit the various colors. I don't know if we'll do any Easter eggs here at my house as Adelija doesn't eat eggs, just uses them in baking stuff. I still wear masks for the Wildlife Rehab Center, but pretty much not anywhere else unless asked - the bike shop asks that I wear it.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

It was actually a nice day, warm and sunshiney, for most of the day. In the mid-afternoon, the clouds started moving in and we're supposed to experience storms this evening. I sat on the back steps and petted Polly for little bit. Other than that, we haven't seen much of her.

It turned into a busy day around the house. I cooked lunch for DH while emptying the dishwasher. Afterwards, I cleaned up most of the mess in the kitchen. I still need to wash the stuff that needs to be washed by hand. I also did a load of laundry and DH and I worked on gathering trash - some of the harder stuff to handle.

Anita - I can picture Gus wondering where Adelija is. He'll be happy to see her. Unless I'm seeing a specialist who is hard to get an appointment with, I give medical people 30 minutes and then tell them I'll call and schedule at a time when they might be able to see me in a reasonable amount of time and leave. I told DH they were lucky it wasn't me. If they regularly keep me waiting, I find another doctor. I just don't have the patience for people wasting my time.

Paula - I'm glad you felt so much better yesterday - back to normal. Hopefully, that trend continued today. Yup Polly has us pretty well trained. Except we won't let her sleep on our bed willingly. She has to wait until we forget to close the door.