Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Checking In

Our world is pretty quiet so I have to let news build up if I'm to have anything worth blogging. I'll begin with the happiest news and work toward the serious.
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Patio Residents

A few days ago I saw a tiny Junco was very busy on our patio but could find no evidence of a nest. A few days later I discovered it in a pot of ivy.





I expect by the week-end these little ones will have flown the nest and we'll have our patio back. We've enjoyed watching them though their mother has not appreciated our attention in the least.
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Ninja Coffee Bar


Lord knows if there's anything we need it's another gadget to figure out. Daughter bought this coffee system and loves it so of course we had to have one too. It will make everything from one cup to a pot.

The pod coffee maker bothered me because it was expensive and very abusive to the environment. Personally, I never thought the taste was very good. Our new pot uses regular coffee, no more pods. Brewed coffee is much hotter and tastes much better. Should be much cheaper to operate.

Old Husband has done amazingly well with it. He really wanted it and has tried hard to learn to operate it.

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Zoo in the Rain

Out of 207 days we had 145 days of rain. I think people here are beginning to adjust to the possibility we may never see sunshine and summer so they've decided to go on living. Daughter and I dressed in our rain gear and off we went to visit the zoo. Turns out that's a wonderful way to do it. The animals loved it and were out having a good time, the crowd was light, and parking was easy.

I've developed a real love for our resident otters and Nora, the polar bear. Our resident river otter has two pups that I keep up with on the Oregon Zoo site. It was so fun to watch her teaching her little ones swim.

Tillie wasn't thrilled to be called out of her den to perform for visitors but eventually she drug the pups out and they put on quite a performance.

Then we were off to visit the sea otters and got to see a real show there as well, though I didn't get pictures. I was too busy watching all the activity.

Nora, our young polar bear was really enjoying the cool rainy day so she too was up for a lot of activity to keep her guests entertained.

I was a very happy camper when I left the zoo.
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An Evening With Son





I had an evening out with Son when we went to dinner and to see comedian Marc Maron. Not a person you would normally take your mother to see but we've always done weird things together. I had a good time and laughed a lot.

Colored Pencils

I'm still having a good time playing with colored pencils.

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Old Husband

Old Husband's health report card gets mixed grades. On the whole he's in a fairly stable situation, but always there's the slow decline.

Our newest situation is loss of words. It's almost like he has aphasia. He clearly knows what he wants to say but can't find the word. He now wants me to accompany him everywhere so I can talk if he gets in trouble.

We had a anxiety episode a week or so ago. It was time to get the car inspected. He was sure he knew where the place was and it would be no problem. I'm new to taking care of the car so I figured he knew what he was doing. Just to be on the safe side I ran a copy of the directions and it was no where near the location he had given me. He refused to change his mind when I showed him the directions and map. He just wasn't going to have it that way. Finally I put him in the car and drove him by the location so he could see the building. Only then was he willing to admit he was confused.

His decline was very noticeable to daughter when she was here this week-end. She took him to Costco and was amazed how long it took to get the shopping done. She's very aware of my kitchen situation now because every time she went to the kitchen he went to the kitchen. He's so slow he really tested her patience.

She's here for a few days when she comes and gets to see her dad as he really is. Son is clueless. He pops in and visits for a little while and goes on with his life. He looks good to him and figures if anything goes wrong I'll take care of it. 
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Political

I have no words to describe how I feel about our political situation. I'm very embarrassed by those representing our country to other countries. It's painful.

I tell people it's like reliving the Bush administration, only this administration is on steroids.

It takes a lot of time to sort the news for the facts these days. Even those whose job it is to do that are sometimes fooled by a piece of "fake" news. This tells me the majority of the country is believing an awful lot of stuff that's simply not true. It's very discouraging trying to stick to the facts when so much that's false surrounds you.

This is the clearest thing I've found on the new budget deal.
__No border wall $
__No $ cuts for 'sanctuary cities'
__Keeps funding for Planned Parenthood
__More defense $
__No $ for Jeff Sessions and his war on medical marijuana

I think this is correct but everything I've read from the White House paints it as a big victory for Trump. How?  I don't get it.

The country remains highly agitated and I see no end to that as long as the President and Congress remain out of control. I took up colored pencils to try to keep from checking my digital devices so often but I can't seem to stay away from it. You never know what ridiculous idea will pop up next and you have to follow it until hopefully someone denies it or it's defeated. I'm afraid to turn my back.
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The Ridiculous

In local news this morning we had the story of a man accused of sexually abusing a chicken.

25 comments:

  1. Wonderful to hear from you! Maine's weather is no better than yours, believe me. So glad you got to see the juncos hatch. We've had Robin eggs in nests on our porch twice, but something got them (raccoon?) before they hatched. Actually, that's incorrect. First batch hatched, then someone robbed the nest and killed the little fledglings. Broke my heart. Isn't it amazing that "W" now looks fairly good to us!?!?

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    1. This little nest was a first for us. Juncos are tiny little nests, not a lot bigger than a hummingbird nest. It was fine for those four little eggs but it's extremely crowded now that they're birds. I think they're in there in layers, two on top and two on the bottom.

      Yes, ole W is looking better every day. He's looking downright cuddly. I even forked over the money and bought his book for my sister-in-law who paints.

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  2. Happy to see your post today. I just got used to reading you regularly and you quit posting.

    I gave up my coffee pot with the individual pods, too. It was costly and the coffee wasn't that great. I hauled my old four cupper out of the cupboard and am taking my time deciding if I want to get something fancier.

    I have never disliked another person as much as I do our president. I worry daily that his bullying is going to start another war in North Korea.

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    1. Donald Trump is not even close to the amount I dislike Dick Cheney. Trump is a bully that's full of bluster, and he may indeed do some harm to the country as he blunders and blusters his way through the next four years. Cheney has spent his professional life in oil and in the government. He is one of only a few people I've known of that I feel is evil to his core, that would not hesitate a second to bring harm to this country. It was him that taught me all people in government are not there with the intention of serving and helping the people of this country. He clearly was not. His daughter is now serving in the House and appears to be a clone of her father.

      I continue to keep n eye on all issues related to human rights. Those rights take a real hit when Republicans are in power.

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  3. It's good to see you post again. You're still with us on politics and more.

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  4. Thanks for the pics of the baby birds. That was a wonderful opportunity for you to watch nature. up close.
    I was glad you find your post. I have missed you.
    I think I am getting numbed to the crazy presidential antics. I see that HRC is now declaring her "resistance", too. We'll keep watch and be ready to make a fuss if things get too haywire. The health care bill showed us that acting out works.

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    1. I think I'm like David Books. He says the country cannot sustain indefinitely this high level of agitation and anxiety, that in time it will result in a cataclysmic event, though he doesn't say what that event will be. I'm very sure we don't want it to be impeachment. The country has never fully recovered from Nixon.

      I'm going to scream if the Democrats don't get off the subject of abortion. If they turn that into a litmus test like the Republicans have done I'm going to be furious.

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  5. It's always good to see a post from you! We are in the camper with no Internet other than my iPad and phone so no blogging for me!
    I love seeing the bird nest! I saw two bluebirds today! We don't have those at home!
    So glad to hear Bob is doing okay. Getting old is not easy! While we are not in denial, we are trying to do our best to do it as gracefully as possible.....not easy.
    Good to see you and your son having fun together!

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    1. I'm keeping up with your building project on Facebook. He's going to have to work faster or you're not going to be finished by the time you have to come home. It will very soon be too hot to work in the middle of the day. We had our first 80 degree day today. We have one more in the forecast before it returns to upper 50s and low 60s. We're still having rain almost daily.

      Growing old is not fun some of the time but I love this time of my life. Bob will be 85 in June. He has health problems but he's still vertical and able to walk unassisted. He does his own laundry, takes care of the trash, does a lot of the cooking, and makes sure that anytime the car moves he's in it.

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  6. Good to see you here, and it's good that Bob is mostly stable, though the speech thing must be frustrating. It's tough to watch the "slow decline."

    That first photo of the eggs in the nest is beautiful. They gave you a lot of entertainment. Nice.

    I think many people think about Trump every day in a way that we haven't done with previous presidents. He should be happy. He's finally the center of attention for the entire world.

    Yes, I had to click on that link to the sexually abused chicken.

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    1. I think sometimes if I didn't see Trump's picture every where I look it would be better. Then I think of Nixon and the things he did in secret. Perhaps it's better to have a loud blabbermouth.

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  7. Love the little bird nest.
    Sons and daughters!
    I never had any desire for one of those K-cup machines, but I do need a new coffee maker. Yours looks bigger than my microwave oven.
    I have been much saner since I gave up on Facebook. It wasn't actually politics that drove me to it. It was being hacked over and over again. I started to get paranoid.

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    1. The new coffeemaker is actually smaller than the K-Cup. There's very little I would miss if I quit Facebook, certainly nothing political. I would miss Twitter.

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  8. Good to see you're back and hope it is permanent. How neat to have a front row seat to the hatchlings. Good to hear that Bob is pretty much holding his own. I have that word thing on occasion--frustrating for the speaker. Good you are there to supply the missing piece.
    Your report card shows just how well our system can handle a scary president. Hope it keeps working so well.

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    1. All that keeps me sane is keeping up with how little Trump has actually accomplished. He's so far been more mouth than action.

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  9. So good to hear from you again Linda! I think of you often, and am glad to know that you are hanging in there. The problems with speech can be so frustrating for the person, and for the caregiver. I'm so glad that he recognizes the issue and is receptive to you helping him.

    So many challenges as we age. We learn as we go, and do the best we can.

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    1. It's helpful our daughter understands the situation. He's trying hard not to be a problem but that most of the time results in a more time consuming situation than if he'd left us alone to deal with the matter to begin with. I suppose you're back from Florida. Hope things are going well for you.

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  10. I saw the heading of that yahoo who had sex with a chicken, if it wasn't so disturbing I might have read it but really who does that crap? It is nearly 80 now and lovely, but storms coming we get two days of lovely weather and then rain again, we came in april 1978 and built our home by oct 1 1978 worst winter for rain ever, we have been forced to drive to eastern Washington for any sunshine, now a few days here in Vancouver here and there we will not have any summer I figure..read your blog, keep up your spirits and you sound wonderful....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. The way things are going this may be our two days of summer!! Being a native Texan the summers here are like heaven to me. My perfect temp is about 65.

      Hope you'll stop in to read again. I do love Oregon.

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  11. Enjoyed your catch-up posting, Linda, even though I am not a "regular" blog reader. I always enjoy reading what others are doing and what they have to say. Hope the baby birds make it safely to flight.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I believe our little birds are going to make it. They grow at amazing speed. I expect them to leave the nest anytime now. We will miss them.

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  12. Glad to see you back with a post. The whole world seems a mess and to prove it--the man with a chicken? Egads and Little Fish Hooks!!!!!!!!!! Sounds to me like you have good days and bad days--much like a lot of us "olders". Glad that your kids are making sure you have a bit of fun. I do love going to the zoo and otters are one of my favorites--as are prairie dogs. Cute little things they are. I also remember how difficult it can be, caring for a declining spouse. Chin up. What can we do except move forward, one step, one day at a time.

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    1. Judy, I hope things are well with you. I just need a break sometimes. Political arguments have gone on as long as I can remember, just not as visual and verbal. These days there seems to be no way to avoid it. Animals generally make me happy so I try to think of them as often as possible.

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  13. It's good to see you post again. You're still with us on politics and more.


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