Month: June 2023

A number of small items and news updates take up the blog post this week. Some involve the house, others the yard, and a few involve pets. A couple medical updates round out the topics. Read on!

The painter, who is to do the gables, is due on Monday. Per our agreement, I fired up the pressure washer and tried to clean the eaves and gables by using our 12-foot ladder. I did notice some dirt coming down and some loose paint was blasted off. I hope it was enough to satisfy the painting crew.

Another pre-painting task was to get the power company to come out and put a few guards over the powerline where it connects to the house. These guards are to prevent damage to both the painters and lines.

Out in the yard, a few new flowers came into bloom. Two of the hollyhocks have opened blossoms. One is a traditional pale yellow, but the other is a crimson with “feathered” edges to the flower. Both are very attractive.

Unfortunately, lack of rain is turning many parts of the lawn brown. According to the local weather channel, we are short almost 3.75 inches of rain for the month and it shows.

Moving to pets, the “Terrible Two” (Stirling and Vienna) continue to claw into things, frustrating Pam in her attempts to keep posters and pictures on the walls as decorative elements. They’ve even been trying to claw on the soft pine of the wood table pedestal in the library.

Oldest dog, Blondie, is sleeping more and more. I’m not sure how long she has left with us, but seems to be eating OK even though she doesn’t move with much fluidity anymore. Blondie will be 15 years old next month.

I mentioned last time that Pam had a biopsy taken of a lesion on her forehead. The results confirmed it is a spot of basal cell carcinoma. Pam is taking the steps to get an appointment to have the lesion removed; the operation will take place later this year, most likely in later summer/fall.

I have a couple weeks of physical therapy left. Both my therapists indicate I have come a long way and am improving steadily. While still under 100%, I am working the shoulder more and can note my range of motion and ability to lift small weights above my head is improving. Full recovery, according to my doctor, will take several more months.

I’ve also been cleared to move ahead with my tooth implant. The oral surgeon that did the work has declared, in an appointment last Thursday, that the implant post is fully healed in and ready for the next step of building a new tooth on it. The focus now shifts back to my local dentist who will do the work. That is good news.

I never thought I would have to worry about air quality in Iowa, but here we are, under advisories and warnings for quite a few days this month. The first were related to smoke coming out of Canada, but the recent ones have been for ozone. Currently we are in “Level 3” which is “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” and only just below just plain “Unhealthy.” Quite a large area of the midwest is affected. Not much can be done except hope for a weather pattern change that will disperse the ozone and get the air back to safer levels.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

We envisioned our Iowa summer activities as including short trips to numerous local events. Then COVID arrived, and lingered for basically two years. This summer I think we can anticipate more activity. We’ve already been to a craft fair in West Union and the River Days festival in Greene. Plans for this weekend may get rained out; we had planned to attend a Civil War reenactment in Nashua but thunderstorms in the forecast may force a cancellation.

Himself mentioned Blondie above, and her age; the other two dogs are 12 and 13 (not youngsters either). During COVID lockdown, being home [pretty much] all the time meant the dogs became very comfortable with me as on-demand door opener. Now, retraining the dogs to be comfortable secured in the laundry room for up to five hours while we attend local events — that activity is ongoing.

Happy Trails.

Last week saw little in the way of outside project work, due to smoke haze from wildfires in Canada. Air quality warnings were the norm, with some alerts in the “Unhealthy” category and much time at the “Sensitive” level. Pam and I passed the days with routine yard work, getting to know a couple outside cats, and “puttering.” Saturday morning we visited Becky at her home in Greene and watched the local River Days parade.

I am going to start with a photo of the equipment trailer that I was working on in my last post. I did get both sets of wheels done and fenders as well. Pam took this photo of me at work. Note the rusty wheel and taped-up light and license plate, preparations for painting to come.

Wheels received a coat of white paint, hubs received a coat of black, and mounting hardware and fenders were done in red. Main deck is still to be done using a combination of white and red.

One development concerns a couple neighborhood outside cats that have been appearing with more regularity at our house. Autumn Calico and Cheeto are seen more and more frequently, with Autumn using the catio ramp and shelter from time to time.

While Autumn seems to be in good physical health, the same cannot be said for Cheeto. He is a skinny little thing and appears to be having problems with diarrhea. Pam is drawing on her rescue background to feed him probiotics with targeted diarrhea meds in hopes of helping improve Cheeto’s health.

Both animals are friendly and can be petted with no problems; they are obviously used to people. Are they cats let out by neighbors, or were they dumped? We don’t know. If they stay around Heart House they may end up in the catio over the winter. Autumn is already comfortable using the ramp and entering the catio building for periods of time, but Cheeto has not yet been so bold. We have a summer to work out the dynamics.

Staying with a cat theme, here is [indoor cat] Elmo at rest one day. That cat can relax in a number of unconventional poses.

The trip to Greene to visit Becky and take in Green’s local parade went well. The dogs seemed to be OK (sequestered in the laundry room) for the hours we were gone, and we enjoyed the drive through fertile Iowa cornfields. Here’s a photo of Pam and Becky waiting for the parade to begin. Our chairs were in the shade and a light breeze blew. Quite comfortable.

We are very impressed with the work Becky has put into her place her first year in residence. Becky’s small garden is doing well, growing a wide variety of plants, and the yard looks great. The work of planting, putting up arbors, and purchasing hanging plants has resulted in a good-looking place. (The photo does not include parts of the front walk and area at the end of the garage which have received attention and resources as well.)

There is (always) some medical news to relate. Pam has had a lesion on her forehead since just before our move to Iowa, and [finally] she was able to schedule a dermatologist appointment. During the consult, a biopsy was taken. The official results are not yet in, but basal cell carcinoma is strongly suspected. (This is the most common form of skin cancer in the U.S.) More on this as the story line develops.

So that was our week, routine tasks mixed in with a few trips and projects. Summer heat is building. Summer Solstice is this coming week.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

My sister is in the process of creating a charming “grandma house” in Greene. Inside, the decor is as interesting and detailed as the exterior landscaping. She has worked s-o-o hard, solo, to achieve results. Very impressive. And more to come!

Silly me. I though, with Cloudy Day’s exit to the Rainbow Bridge in April, the catio would be essentially closed down going forward. As soon as Cloudy’s presence was no longer an obstacle, the neighborhood cats moved in. First Autumn Calico, then Cheeto – next, maybe Frito and Spook and Muffin Head…don’tcha just love neighborhoods?

Happy Trails.

A routine week here at Heart House, folks. Some new flowers bloomed, Mom Rabbit appeared with her bunnies, and a few projects received attention. A few items to discuss this week.

The baby rabbits have left their nest and we have seen them with their mother, running around the north lawn. We accounted for three of the 4 (?) newborns Pam had originally seen under the ferns. Hopefully the young will survive the neighborhood cats and traffic on the roads. Below is a photo of the mom rabbit lounging beneath one of our lilac bushes.

A few new blossoms appeared this last week, including the bridal wreath, lily, and a gorgeous dark-red peony.

The standard peony plants also bloomed, adding color to the front yard.

Good to see the various colors as they appear around the house. Day lilies and hollyhocks will open in a few weeks and they look to have a lot of flower buds this year. Looking forward to that.

A couple projects moved ahead this week. Pam continues to work in the guest bedroom, sorting and arranging the stuff we have stored on the wire racks. She has consolidated and emptied quite a few boxes and put like or related items in some new decorative boxes she bought online. The room is finally clearing out.

I began working on cleaning up the equipment trailer I bought last fall. New paint is on the agenda, but the process is time consuming. Below are the before and after photos of the work started on the fenders and wheels. (The “after” photo is as far as I got before quitting for the day on Friday.)

I finished my twice-a-week physical therapy and will now be on a once-a-week schedule. The shoulder is improving but has a way to go, not unexpected, but still a limiting factor in what I tasks I can take on.

The cats provided some comic relief this week as cardboard boxes provided some entertainment. Here are Elmo and Stirling examining the latest delivery.

Hooray! We heard from the painter – he is scheduled to be here on June 26 to begin painting the gables. We are really looking forward to having that work done. But I never heard back from the roofer about a revised quote to do the tower, so I’m betting that won’t happen this year. A “Plan B” may be needed. We may personally need to do some repair on the tower’s trim from the bucket lift. There are no leaks or other problems – the work is cosmetic in nature – it would be the final element to address on the exterior project.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

What’s behind the curtain?

Some of you (Becky, Craig, Carol) may remember when the storage room had three five-foot-high piles of boxes w/ walkways. That second floor room was where most everything was stored immediately after the relocation from Colorado. Over the last 3+ years, items from that room have been distributed throughout the house as decor, but also some to under-eave storage (holiday), basement, and above garage storage. When I look at those two rolling storage units of consolidated storage, plus the “tower of totes,” I finally see an end to that initial distribution.

I probably should have purged way more than I did, but I did meet my decorating goal of “everything out of boxes that can be accommodated.” How many of you could find space for 1930’s era hockey skates or a 1950’s bowling ball with bag?

Happy Trails.

It was a mostly quiet week. On Friday we did make an outing to an arts and crafts show. Pam discovered baby rabbits under some fern plants. A columbine plant put forth a show of color. These topics and photos are below.

Pam, her sister Becky, and I attended an arts and crafts show in West Union, Iowa, on Friday. This was our first visit to this show and we didn’t quite know what to expect. We found displays in [fairground] buildings as well as outside displays, and live music was playing through the event. The venue was quite well organized.

Both Pam and Becky found and purchased a few small items. Pam found a couple of small metal hearts on rods which can be pushed into the ground (destined for the garden). Becky found at least one basket from a vendor and a couple cat-themed markers at the same metal crafts shop where Pam purchased the heart markers.

There was not much in the way of antiques, but we did find a vendor who does architectural salvage, along with dealing in antiques, and picked up his card. He has baseboards and corbels in his warehouse, which is located west of Waterloo. As these items may be of interest in our renovation activities, his shop sounds like it would make an interesting day trip destination in the near future.

Here are a few photos I took during the outing.

Overcast skies kept the humid temperatures to a bearable limit and we managed to walk through the event. It was good to connect with Becky again as well. The show was definitely geared more to arts and crafts but there were a few antique dealers mixed in — something for everyone.

There are a few items of note from around the house. Pam was startled to discover four baby rabbits under one of the fern plants. She was trying to determine why the ferns were not flourishing and found this nest:

Since all of our outside cats have passed on, this means there’s no feline patrolling the premises. It appears the rabbits feel safe and under cover in the fern bed now. It will be interesting if these babies survive into adolescence.

The bridal wreath is beginning to flower; photo will be in the next post. It turns out this species has male and female plants and only the female plants bloom. We have three plants and two of them are male. The female is located between the two males and the three form a nice symmetrical arrangement.

The Grandpa Ott morning glories are beginning to twine up around their metal grid support structure and are looking very healthy. Same with the wisteria plant; it’s beginning to twist around the support frame. Two of the hollyhock plants, one existing and one new this year, are forming flower buds. The goal is to have something flowering most of the season and yard plantings are getting closer to that goal.

The pink columbine burst out into a bouquet of color this week. (The blue variety did not make it this winter.)

The upstairs bath received a few minor tweaks with the addition of towel racks and re-installation of a couple shelves. Another towel rack, to be mounted where a person can reach it from the shower, is on order, as is a new small flip-top garbage can (cat proof!) to be placed near the sink. Gradually the room is becoming more and more convenient and finished.

The warmer weather kind of limits our outside activities. Warm inside temps created another side issue: our internet router, at least the wireless service of it, appeared to be overheating. Located in the upstairs Media Room, the router receives very little cool air from the A/C system. We stream our TVs over the wireless network and were getting long “buffering” pauses and long delays in switching channels. I zip-tied a small computer cooling fan to the side of the router and have not had problems since, even though it’s been even warmer the last few days. (The unit does have ventilation holes in the sides and top but has no internal fan.) Seems like there is always something technological to cause additional aggravation.

This time of year is slow for us, given my still-recuperating shoulder and the increase in heat and humidity. It may be time to rent a lift and get some more painting done, but I’ll have to see how much actual repair of broken siding and trim I can manage. These tasks may have to wait until cooler weather in the fall, but I would like to see some progress being made on getting the remaining side of the house painted.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

The tulip and daffodil bed is now the hosta bed, and have these plants ever “exploded” this spring. Almost every one of them was subdivided last year to provide plant material for Sister Becky’s yard. Most of these hostas will probably need to be subdivided again this year. I chuckle when I remember how I tried and tried to get hostas established when we lived in Colorado, without a single success. In NE Iowa, they multiply like dandelions.

Discovering baby rabbits in a ground burrow is a new experience for me. (I can only say thank goodness the startling movement at ground level was not reptilian.)

Happy Trails.