Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Dh and I both love chili, but it's a winter time dish for us. We never cook it in the summer. Nor do I use my oven during the summer. Too much heat.
Isabella, tell us about your conservatory.
On the food subject, the shrimp man was down on the main street selling fresh shrimp yesterday. They were really nice and fresh, 10 to 16 count per lb. I bought 10 lbs, headed (beheaded?) them and put them in ziplocs with water and into the freezer. If you freeze shrimp and fish filets in water, they taste as good as fresh when you thaw and cook them.
Will try to make myself do some chores today.
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Isabella - yes, tell us about your conservatory - it sounds absolutely charming - better yet, post pics! There is an old remedy for cleaning windows without chemicals - something to do with white vinegar and water - drying with newspaper; if you are determined to clean them!
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Oh Jo-5! A bladder infection is the worst. Can't imagine how you got to be an "older people" and never had one before. The juice and water may help but if it is still with you on Monday, hie thee to a doctor... or at least to a telephone. They are usually easy to turn around with prescription drugs and the pain relief is almost immediate. No need to suffer with this too.
Glad for your good x-ray report, such as it is.
CaroleH,
Were you living in La when Katrina went through? Is your community back to normal? We drove along the Mississippi Gulf Coast last year... they still have a long way to go in recovering. So sad. We are in a vulnerable area in Fl but lucky so far. Just the price of living in Paradise.
Pam
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Jo - so glad you didn't break a knee. BTW I am 62 (almost 63) and have never had a bladder infection either (knock on wood). I also have never had a yeast infection. I don't go in for the small stuff - I get cancer, coronary artery disease, diabetes, ad nauseum. I am thinking of getting some hockey protection equipment to wear though. Thank God I fell on my right side (the left side has the shoulder replacement); however, I have a big skinned elbow (so now it is uncomfortable to lie on either side and I can't sleep lying on my back), a skinned knee and a painful hip. Or, I may wrap myself in bubble wrap. Hope you feel better soon.
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Hi ladies.....I am just hopeless at posting pics, well, not hopeless, I can't do it. I am making it a bit of a priority this winter, WHEN I can find someone patient enough to sit with me and go over it again, and again, and again, when it finally sinks in I will post pics of my conservatory.
I never had any trouble when I sold stuff on ebay, and I belong to a car forum/ discussion group, and used to be able to post pics of my cars on there, but its just gone from my head. The one person who would show me is my son, and he's moved away. He helped me with loads of things...I miss his computer help....I miss him
To illustrate how stupid I am getting, here are 2 things I did today, with no known reason.1st. I scooped up a little dog, opened my back door, and put her outside. I don't know why I did it I never allow any dogs outta that door, I live on a farm and very busy things, much too busy for dogs, go on out there, like tractors and cars flying around, just yards from the door.
2nd I walked thru 3 doors, switched on a light in a room I never use, and walked back into the kitchen again.......................... I am thinking Alzheimers here !!!!!
My conservatory, (actually I have 2 he,he), well, my 'best' one is a dog free zone, quite big, about 24'x15', stone flagged floors, Chinese rug, cane furniture, cane swinging chair, and stand, from the sixties, a tv, and some of my birds, and lots of heat loving plants, both in pots and climbers against the wall. My older conservatory was actually built by DH and me, 20 yrs ago, is a bit Heath Robinson, much plainer than my 'best' one (we didn't have fancy skills !!) I use it now for the dogs, its referred to as 'the dogs' conservatory', its full of soft dog beds, dog dishes, bones and the like, quite often little 'presents and puddles ' from the dogs !!!!, I also have a few climbing plants, but they quite often get munched and pulled down by the dogs, so the plants never look too good in there ! I have a large stone raised border I built years ago, sometimes I put plants in, sometimes the flaming dogs manage to climb up, and dig holes spewing plants and soil all over the place, so this conservatory is always 'grubby'
I spend any spare time I have in my best conservatory, On a morning I will sit in there, sometimes an hour and a half, waking up, (3 mugs of black coffee, and not talking to anyone, I am a misery 1st thing) Anyone who comes to visit gets entertained in here, everyone loves the warmth and light all year round. My DD and I come to blows about smoking in there, she just about chain smokes, and I will not let her in with a ciggie in her hand, so she tells her friends I make her go sit in the garden !!!!
Conservatories are quite popular here, probably because of our awful weather, but people tend to put up very small pokey ones, no room at all to spread out, I need space !!
Hope all have a good w/end, I have been at a big garden/flower show nearly all day. Thinking DH had plans I was hoping to sneak off alone, but he decided to come with me. He doesn't particularly like gardening, so gets bored easily ! I try 'parking' him near the food stalls, but I couldn't shake him off today...and nor could I spend. I only bought 1 plant and some wind chimes, normally I would be weighed down with goodies
Isabella.
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Thank you, Isabella. I can just see you sitting there, a couple hunt dogs curled around your ankles, you're wearing hunt clothes- you know, jodhpurs/long red coat, a servant brings in your morning coffee on a silver tray, silver coffee pot, Royal Doulton cup and saucer (no mug!), a toast rack with buttered muffins and a side of orange marmalade, a Maijolica pot on stand holds a draping (as we call them) Boston fern. There's a sideboard with an Indian shawl artfully draped across it and a slightly threadbare persian rug protects your booted feet from the cold slate of the floor. You look strikingly like Kristin Scott Thomas. Your husband enters the room and bends slightly to kiss the top of your perfectly coifed head. His dark purple velvet smoking jacket's sleeve brushes your cheek. He carries his father's meersham pipe in his hand but it is just an affectation as he gave us smoking when you became pregnant with the first of your ten perfect children. He is the image of Geoffrey Palmer, the young version.
Have I got it?
Talking about doing weird, dumb things: I can't blame it on chemo brain... maybe it was radia-brain. Anyway, six days a week breakfast is dry cereal and fruit but on Sundays we have a nice cooked breakfast. So I announced we were having biscuits and sausage gravy - a real treat. Cooking away, I could not figure out why the gravy was not thickening up. Went to the pantry to get more flour and realized I had, on first trip, scooped out of the powdered sugar canister! Too late to start over and no more sausage anyway... so just added more salt and pepper and served it up! DH never complained but had a very puzzled look on his face. I think he knew not to ask! I do not recommend the recipe
Anyone else?
Pam
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Pam - my gosh you should write fiction. I could just picture Isabella in that conservatory - but with only two perfect children and wearing a beautiful silk robe.
Isabella - I think I will come live with you - it sounds dreamy!
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Morning ladies.....what a treat. Pam - if you were ( you probably are and my pea brain forgot ) a writer I think I'd be hanging on every word. What a great description of Isabella's conservatory.
Isabella....I was not completely sure at first what a conservatory was, but I think we have something similar here in our four seasons rooms. Lots of people here have family rooms where the comfy couches, chairs, etc. are along with the T.V. Four seasons is usually a room --- often a porch that is walled in at some time, and can be used all year round but still has the light and sun and good views pretty much un-disturbed. Any combination works....but somehow a conservatory sounds a good deal more romantic and inviting than family or four seasons. Ah, if I ever win the lottery here, but the trick to that is to play. I better think about starting hadn't I.
Hope you all have a fantastic day.
Hugs, Jackie
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Loved all the posts today! Very entertaining. Pam, you're a wonderful writer. You should think about writing a historical romance novel. Isabella, your description of your conservatories was so vivid I could visualize them. My house seems so mundane and ordinary in comparison. So American!
Speaking of American, it's time for me to go sit in the living room with DH and watch the New Orleans Saints.
Happy Sunday.
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Quite nice complement coming from CaroleH who IS an author! I, on the other hand, was operating on the residual glow of my weekly allotment of two glasses of wine each Saturday night
and just got carried away with the conservatory story. Although... it might be a good time of life to escape into a fictional alter-ego who is strong and healthy, untainted by the realities of modern medical science, and oblivious of the frailty of the human body. Hmmmm, what shall I call myself?
Pam
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loving all the descriptions of conservatories and four-season rooms. Not a writer, but will try to describe my deck--we had it enlarged a few years ago and added a roof with a ceiling fan to stir the air about on sultry summer days and help chase bugs away. The furniture is weather- resistant white wicker--table for eating out, chairs, two wonderful rocking chairs, bar and bar stools.......and our view is 40 miles of nothing but rolling Ozark mountains (really hills). Most mornings, early, the valleys are filled with deep, dense white fog from the lake that slowly fades away as the morning sun creeps up. Just a few times a year, the sun rises and hits the fog in such a way that the fog is tinted a deep pink--it is like looking at a world filled with cotton candy. Breath-taking--have yet to take a picture that captures the beauty--but, even if I did, wouldn't know how to post it....it ismy favorite place in the house.....
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It sounds beautiful and I can just feel the cool, damp morning air. We spent three months working in Harrison, Arkansas and every weekend we drove two or three hours in every direction. Just beautiful country. Hottest Fourth of July I ever experienced... but charming too. Watermelon spitting contest on the courthouse lawn, community band in the white gazebo, and a ceremony where every town veteran stood up and was honored. Nothing jaded or commercial about it. Thanks for the pleasant picture this AM and for stirring those memories.
Pam
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junie I loved the description of your deck and of the "views" you get to enjoy from it. I so love nature and all the treasures to be found there that my heart and mind can be captured quite easily.
We have a deck here and have mainly woods to look at. I thought about a roof/ceiling for it.....and maybe even screen around it but as we are in a heavily wooded area there are too many trees with sometimes falling branches to be very safe and there would be constant roof cleaning necessary. We are by a man made lake though it is not actually behind us ( sigh ) but we still loved the setting this house presented and the fact that their are only three houses back here. There is a one-lane road coming back here from the main road and this little road dead ends at the last house beyond us. We are a couple of miles from town and many people need heavy directions to find us here which makes us happy. We like the feeling of solitude and can't imagine living in town anymore.
Hope you all have a wonderful day.
Hugs, Jackie
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Chooks--I'm still here--having a bit of an energy deficit.
JO, I'm getting concerned about Motherof7, too--her last post was pretty upbeat. I've PMd her, but so far no word.
Chooks, hope everyone is doing well. I do think of you often, even when I don't get here--take care, Helen
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Wow, you all have been busy talking,
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Rita, the weather has been great in New England, a bit chilly at night but the days have been great. In the high 70's today, tomorrow warmer.0 -
Pam--you probably saw our neck of the woods--we're a little north of Eureka Springs, barely an hour east of Harrison.
Jackie--if you love nature and wildlife, you'd love to visit. I never know what I will see in our backyard: deer, lots of deer; skunks; have watched a bobcat chase a rabbit through the back yard; hawks--lots of hawks, sometimes with snakes clutched in their talons, and one time some small screeching little critter--that one gave me shivers; armadillos; chipmunks; tons of cute geckos; one time a grandkid caught a toad...a Road Runner who visits every spring; last year we had bears--did not see one but neighbor directly across the street got a pic of one in their driveway; bands of coyotes that start howling at 3:00 a.m.; bit unnerving for this city-slicker. It is interesting to say the least. bonus for flower lovers--in the spring there are over 1,000 daffodils that bloom across the back of our property--I didn't plant them, but am grateful to whoever did.
junie
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Hi Junie,
We were almost neighbors. First time we went there we were so enamored with the area that my husband bought a lot on Table Rock Lake. Beautiful view. Prices were pretty low... it was the very early 80s. Reality set in and we sold it a few years later
We were still working and kids were just starting to leave the nest so we were, and still are, tied to Florida. We saw Indigo buntings everywhere. Loved that. And goldfinches and blue birds! Would not like the coyotes howling. Wow!
Isn't this is great and diverse country? So many wonderful places to live and each home with its unique place in each of our hearts.
Pam
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Pam - you are so right - this is a great and diverse country. I remember taking a trip to Arizona (I am born and raised in Washington, DC). I had purchased some postcards and was sitting at an outdoor table in the sun addressing them. In front of me was a sparkling blue pool and beyond that the red rocks of Sedona - at that moment I could have moved there! The other great thing you could see at night were stars! I have not seen stars in our neck of the woods since I was a child - I guess it is just too polluted.
Our house sits on a little hill and while all the other houses are just like most suburbs are sitting on top of each other. We don't gave any neighbors, eiither next door or behind us. We can see the houses across the street but I never seem to see any of them so its nice to sit out on the front (covered) porch. In back are lots of trees - there are houses behind the trees but we can't see them! We do have a deck in the back that is elevated; however, your view is only of the wooded area.
I love the mountains too. I picture a mountain cabin (A-frame) with a loft bedroom, the kitchen under the loft and one side wall all books and the other nothing but a view. There I would be with my two clumber spaniels and my three basset hounds (cats are inside) sitting in my rocking chair witih my dogs snoozing at my feet.
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Kathleen....I loved your A-frame. Having the kitchen right under the loft is perfect since all the good cookin' smells would waft straight up. I have been places where I wished I could just stay as they seemed so comforting -- so right. Guess it often IS perfect, right where we are NOT. A Murphy's Law thing.
Junie, you are right....I would be in Seventh Heaven where you are. We do have some wildlife, some little red foxes, deer, chipmunks, skunks, snakes, raccoons, possums, but the coyotes normally won't get this close to town. We also have hawks, a couple of eagles on occasion, lots of owls, and a couple of years ago, a huge flock of pelicans came to out lake which was way too dry so they had a magnificent feast There are some wild rabbits but they have been sparse this year as well as the turtles. I would have been bothered by listening to the screeching as well. I know that it is a natural thing - but still un-nerving to me.
Well, I am onward for the day. Hope you all have a good one.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi Jo-5 and Gram,
I am too new to this thread to know your friend, Motherof7, but now you have me worried about her too. What a bond having breast cancer creates between us! Well, I am the cheery optimistic Libra who always has to put the possible positive position on everything so.... let's hope her absence is due to the ever annoying and disastrous probability, the computer crash!
Kathleen,
Do you still live in the DC area? If so, I am guessing your starless nights are more due to sky-shine than pollution. In metro areas the reflected lights at night mask the ability to see the stars. I think Frank Lloyd Wright said to drive out into the country til you could no longer see the nighttime glow of the city AT ALL and that is where to build your house.
Where I live loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay their eggs high up on the beach dune. When the babies hatch out they follow the moonlight on the water to find their way into the ocean. So, during nesting season, most of the summer, lighting along the beach from homes, businesses, street lights, etc is restricted so as to not confuse the baby turtles. I've only seen a hatching once but it is a joy to see all those little guys scrambling into the waves.
Pam
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Please send some of your cool fall weather south! Sept is oppressively hot. Seems worse than August this year.
In spite of the heat, I'm off to the driving range this morning to see if I remember which end of the golf club to grip!
Hope everyone has a good day.
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HI CaroleH,
I hope the Arimidex is going down okay. Have a great golf game... a bad day at golf is better than a good day at the doctor's office. Although... these days a good doctor visit is hard to beat,
Pam
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JO - just a sore hip - I don't think bubble wrap will be cushion enough - I'm going for hockey or football eqipment!
Jackie - doesn't it just sound perfect - of course, in my mind there is a quaint little town at the bottom of my mountain so I don't get bored!
Pam - yes, I do live in DC area and I still think its pollution because in our neighborhood everyone is in bed by eleven and there are no street lights and I still can't see any stars. But you may be right.
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Kathleen, you may well be right to a degree. I loved coming home here because we seldom saw good ( make that any ) clouds in southern California where we lived....from Santa Barbara to Ventura/Oxnard area. It used to be so baffling to me that there were no clouds. Maybe God knew most of us would be busy looking at the beautiful Pacific with waves crashing against the rocks and smelling the wet, salty smell of the beach and the seaweeds. Still....like a petulant child, I was used to big, fat, billowing lazy clouds drifting around the sky and I missed them the whole 25 years we lived in California. I am glad to have had the experience and was in most other ways very happy there. I loved San Juan Capistrano and Solvang....two of my all time favorites, but there is no place quite like home.
Dh and I were able to get the first load off to the auction house on Monday....thank the Lord. I pretty much have a real living room now and the packed up items that sat there for two years are gone. We had planned to make another trip on Tuesday but it rained. The auction will not be for some time as yet, so we have plenty of time to add ( and we will substantially ) to the pile that has begun. I also have a couple of closets, a storage shed, and we have a rented storage unit that will be emptied, along with many things in our garage. I'd like to feel we won't have much left, but the truth is that no matter what you get rid of.....there will always be something else you could have and let the chance go by. Hoping for a nice bit of pocket change after it is all over but who can be for sure in this economy. Still, as it stands I have nothing but warehoused items...so whatever comes will be a blessing.
Hope you all have a marvelous day. Hi to everyone.
Hugs, Jackie
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Just popping in to say hi.
It is a wet blustery Spring day here with parts of the country having late snow. And I saw that Denver was having early snow falls this week. The weather can be really funny.
Do hope all is well with you all today. I must go and see if the rain has improved my back yard. We are having work done at present. It will amuse some of you that I am having a new folding washing line put up. Yes I line dry most of the washing but won't be for a few days as it was so wet they couldn't get the concret laid yesterday and now aren't here until Monday.
Jackie, I am most impressed with your clean out. We live in a big house and somehow have managed to fill it up with possessions and I don't like getting rid of things though I have been through my wardrobe and have bags of things to go to the church op shop.
Must get moving as I have ahair appointment soon.
Alyson
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I am on cloud 9, no, make that cloud 10 tonight !! My little boy has been to see me. ( he's only 42) He moved quite a way from me, and I haven't seen him since Christmas, and it was just SO good to see him, AND I got 2 big hugs from him, AND he's coming again next week....AND he had a shower while he was here, AND he left me some dirty clothes behind to pick up freshly laundered next week...AND I will iron them for him !!!!!!
My cup runeth over ....I really, really, really miss him (does it show !!!!!)
Isabella.
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Okay, Isabella, only because it's your baby, we will overlook your ironing.
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Hello All,
I think with time Arimidex SE's go away, I was having hip & muscle pain but they are gone now. It has been 26 months now that I have been on Arimidex. But the hot flashes are still here. Oh well I was having them B4 Dx.
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Isabella, Here I was, just getting over my guilt about hating to iron......
Pam, Motherof7 is a sweet woman from Jennings, FL. She posted regularly until she and her husband began the concessions service at a FL park over the summer. The park was a distance from her home, but she would post whenever she returned to her residence. It's been weeks now since we've heard from her--hence the concern. You are so right about the bonds we develop here.
Am going in for MRIs tomorrow--my insurance denied a PET scan to check out hip pain...instead they approved three MRIs???? PET scan was denied because of the expense and because "patient doesn't require this procedure" since I just finished chemo and am in radiation...GRRRRR I hate having my health care determined by a bean counter at an insurance company...
I am so bruised from the rad techs scooting me around on the table...didn't anticipate that side effect!! Take care, Chooks. Helen
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