protest moved so bridal party can have photos at the Arch

bridesmaids wear black and carry red roses (GA colors)

That day did not start too well. Ray and I were finishing up a relaxed breakfast; we would have gone for a walk and eventually gone to town. But the phone rang at 8:30. It was my Dad wanting his car back (Ray had driven it home Thursday night after his meeting). Captain was supposed to walk Jean's dogs Friday morning. So we jumped in the shower and got there as soon as we could--in two cars to avoid the same problem again. For every solution, there's a new problem...and apparently left my phone at home. I hated being without it, but went ahead down to the Arch with my chair and my knitting, while Ray went to his office. I sat for over an hour; there weren't many people there--6 or 8? and I felt like I was getting chilled. It wasn't very cold, but just enough that sitting, without a warm sweater or hat or scarf made me a little uncomfortable. And the fact that I had no communication.

Ray being interveiwed by channel 5 about release of data

I took the bus back to the car (a fairly slow process, at least 30 minutes) and then drove home. I had some lunch and gathered my phone. I had missed one call--Becky inviting me to lunch, which I declined. After a couple hours, I headed back to town, with my phone. The hard part was getting the chickens to go back in the coop. They like being under the deck, out of the sun. In fact, I found an egg there, which I got out with a shovel. The chickens were much harder to reach. I wasn't willing to crawl under there, not that it would have done any good. They were not interested in being lured with corn. It took a good 30 minutes, I think. And another 5 to get Cameron to come in. I was hot and not happy by the time I left.

my dinner

Ray's steak frites

There were a few more people and it was warmer. Maureen McGinley sat with me for a bit--and Hannah Hay. Will didn't arrive until late in the day. Maureen said Erin is pregnant! In China...Charlotte Poss and her parents were there for a bit at the end. Ray headed to get a haircut, then picked up my Dad and we met for dinner. Except they left the cars and came on the bus. We walked over to Etienne, the new French restaurant Ray and I had eaten at when it opened in May. We had a very pleasant evening, toasting my Mom and thinking about what she would have liked about the restaurant and the menu. It was quite good, but not up to Bistro Niko standards. My fish was a little overcooked (or reheated) and the coq au vin was dry, with not enough vegetables. The frites with Ray's steak were amazing and the creme brulee awfully good too. It took us a long time to go back on the bus, the night route goes more places for one thing. But eventually we got to the apartment and left the Captain there. We drove home, watched TV and went to bed and slept well.

It's Saturday morning, with no obligations and I'm not sure what I'll do with my day. Water the garden for one thing.

I think I can say I am completely well. I often have minor background digestive problems, so it is hard to tell the difference.

Beautiful fall days--hot and sunny in the middle of the day, cool and dry at night. Sadly, no rain. But the Captain has been watering and our garden is producing well. Watering restrictions are in place for lawns--only once a week before 10 and after 4. Vegetable gardens are exempt, so far. We keep a plastic tub in the kitchen sink and catch the water we use for rinsing dishes and other kitchen chores. It's interesting how much I use, just to rinse my hands, for instance. This water goes out to the plants near the porch. Sometimes Ray uses a pan or cup measure to scoop it and fling it into the garden.

Yesterday, I went in with Ray to the Occupy Athens protest. I brought my camp chair and my knitting, as well as my iPhone and iPad and I was there for four or five hours. It was exhausting and at the same time uninteresting. Of course, there were many interesting people there, some too interesting for my tastes. A few that I knew, like V., who used to attend the Fellowship when she was small, and Will, Molli's friend from high school, who came over and introduced himself to me and asked about her. There was a young girl (12), who was attending her first protest. She is home schooled. She said they just moved here from Myrtle Beach, "so she could be with people like her." She said she had no friends there...Chris Fricks with her youngest...but many many students/young people. Some with pink hair, piercings and tatoos. Other people who were strange in other ways--one with a brain (plastic) around his neck...one who kept spouting about calling Steve Jones to ask him to investigate the millions that were supposed to help solve the poverty problem in Athens and went to university professors instead...

I left about 4; the crowd had thinned and I began to question if there wasn't something more useful I should be doing. I made some food for the Kenney Ridge potluck--I guess building a community is important...Ray joined me there. I played with the children some--Miles, Solomon, Ada--frisbee, pushing her on the swing (until she fell and wanted her mother)...we cleaned up and went home. TV and bed, a good night's sleep.

Well, I went to a meetng of housing providers at 10 o'clock, but it was really a waste of time. I did get a look at the new director of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter and I was not particluarly impressed. We'll see. One friend said he was going to have to cut back his hours to half time; maybe he will quialify for assistance with his mortgage to avoid foreclosure. Funding has been cut by HUD nationwide for housing counseling. It was a little hard to hear two people at the table talkling about how they were new and asking questions that I knew the answers to...

I came home and finished the chicken soup and rested. I didn't feel as good as I wanted to. It was hot out, but pleasant in.

My Dad came over about 3 and brought Ray home. He picked an eggplant and made ratatouille for potluck. Sadly, there is a rash of serious illness at the Fellowship. John Schell, Joy Schomberg, Don Dawe, Bettina Hughes, Ray M., are all very sick.

After choir, we watched one Big Bang episode. They are rerunning the first year and we haven't seen them. Funny stuff. I slept well, wasn't awake in the night.

Health is so ephemeral. And yet we take it for granted. I am not really well. I ache and my digestion is not right. But I am so over being sick. I have been sitting or lying, mainly reading, for what seems like an eternity. I am determined to have a "normal" day today. But it will not be pleasant.

Yesterday was also sunny and warm and dry. Ray was gone all day, naturally. I didn't go past the garden, but enjoyed looking out every now and then. My faithful dog kept me company and my chickens--although they didn't give me a single egg. I did have contact with the outside world via email and Skype. And I was fine, trying to enjoy the lack of obligations. No cooking or planning. I did some work on the Green Sanctuary assessment, prior to our meeting next week. My Dad came in the afternoon, planting garlic. It is one thing we have managed to achieve self-sufficiency on. He planted some of the cloves we grew last year and I still have lots left. Will it be enough to last until this batch is harvested? And will it keep that long? We'll see. It's not a necessity, but it is something I use a lot of. We chatted some, although he kept his distance. He watered a lot, and Ray continued watering when he got home before 5. Then he prepared and cooked the pork roast and some asparagus, as well as heating up the squash from the day before. It was a good meal and I didn't have any indigestion in the night. I was awake toward morning, so I didn't get enough sleep. I suspect it is from lack of physical activity.

Murder Makes Waves by Anne George

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


a new setting is good. I love her relationship with her husband and daughter, as well as the others.



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Another beautiful morning here in Georgia. It is about 50 out now, but the sun has already warmed it up to 70 inside. This is one of the times the solar house is a wonderful thing. I sat on the porch for a bit; it's cool, but the sun makes up for it and the corner of the porch is warm. My mother loved sitting there and I miss having her to enjoy it.

Yesterday I took it pretty easy, reading most of the day and spending some time on the computer. Not much interest in eating or cooking, but chicken soup, etc. Talked on the phone some. So there's not much to say.

Ray came home about 5, I had started cutting up the butternut squash and broccoli, he finished. Neither of us really felt like eating pork roast, though, so we didn't cook it. we ate some and watched some TV and went to bed. Woke up in the night with stomach pains and more diarrhea--mostly just gas. But I was disappointed, because I thought it was going away. Which it is, but... I went back to sleep and woke up late.

Murder Runs in the Family by Anne George

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Still fun--there are a lot of common things, which I won't share.



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The sun is streaming in the south-facing windows. The dog is downstairs barking at something, probably deer that ventured too close. It is very quiet. I am recovering from a severe bout of stomach virus that had me in the bathroom most of Saturday night for one thing or the other--or both at the same time. Thank God for my loving husband, who cleaned up after me and brought me bananas, canned chicken soup and Saltine crackers. Also lots of water. Of course, he also brought me the bug. He was sick starting early Friday, but his cast-iron stomach kept him from vomiting, limiting him to intense diarrhea. I knew I was in trouble, because he never gets intestinal stuff. Since then, I have heard of two others at our fellowshp who have it as well. I cancelled all activities yesterday and today, and don't have anything planned for tomorrow either. Ray is back to his usual schedule and I am alone to build up my strength and enjoy not throwing up. The best thing about being sick, I have said before, is how much you appreciate when it's over. I mostly take my healthy digestive system for granted, and now I am grateful for its functioning in the background. As an older person, it does seem to be a little hard to get back to "normal." I am stiff and uncomfortable from being in bed all day yesterday. And there is much I would like to do that I can't. On the other hand, it is wonderful that there was nothing urgent on my calendar, nothing that will suffer from my absence for a day or two. I am sorry to miss an OLLI class my Dad and I were scheduled to take together this morning, but he will fill me in later, I'm sure. And it is good to enjoy the slower pace of sitting around without feeling like I ought to be doing something. It would be a good day for baking; it was 45 out this morning. And the garden probably needs watering again. But there is a 60% chance of rain a week from now--I can hope.

On Saturday, Ray was in bed most of the day. He got up for breakfast and to take a walk, but then went back to bed. Daddy came for a visit and we talked about plans for my mother's remains to be buried in Connecticut. He was pretty sad and headed home to make himself some beef stew. He said he had not slept well. Ray got up and had some lunch and sat for a while before going back to bed.

At 5, we met other dance students and picked up recycling from the stadium after the home football game. It is easy to be upset and the things we found, but the weather was nice, we were all working together and recycled lots of items. We each got a free pass for a dance class.

We got home and I finished making the pasta with veggies, including chard. Ray did not want to eat anything like that. I had finished eating mine and we were watching TV, when I became more and more convinced that I was getting it. What do you do when you know you are about to be sick as a dog? I went upstairs and changed into my nightgown and settled in for a long night. I certainly don't need to tell you any more details about that! I read two mystery books in 24 hours, and started a third. I read some other things too and came downstairs once or twice yesterday to sit on the couch. Ate some plain pasta with a little cheese for supper and was glad to have a fairly good night's sleep last night.

Ray is not sick very often, I mean particularly his digestive tract, so when he woke up yesterday with extreme diarrhea and nausea, it shook my world. We thought it might be something he had eaten at potluck, but I was fine. I sent out an email to the others and no one else had a reaction of those that responded. He stayed in bed until I woke him in time to go to class. He ate a little yogurt and applesauce but wanted soda crackers, which we didn't have. I was really worried and nervous.

I took him straight to Aderhold, just in time for class, and then met Andy for a picnic on north campus, where the wind ensemble was playing. It was fun and the weather was really nice. I was a little cool sitting in the shade wearing shorts.  

I picked him up again after class and took him to the Geology building for a lecture. While he was doing that, I spent a little time at my Dad's, making his bed for him to come home to and bringing in the mail.

 I waited in Ray's parking lot for a while. Thank goodness for the iPhone. We stopped at Kroger and got soda crackers and more yogurt and a few other things. It was a madhouse because there is a home football game today, so traffic is bad and shopping is worse.

We did eventually get home, where he ate a few crackers and went back to bed. My Dad had made it safely back from Durham and visited the garden, but he was at his apartment by the time we got home. He left me a wonderful present from Amelia, though, a stair basket. Have you seen them? I remember somebody had one and it is great. It sits on the stairs and you can put things in it that are supposed to go up. It looks cool, too. Shaker-style.

The big event yesterday was the Hootluck (Hootenany/Potluck), an opportunity to sing folk songs together impromptu. Deb and John hosted and there was plenty of good food. I brought plates and utensils so we didn't use disposables. John made sure mine got in the dishwasher first so they were clean when I brought them home. That is how to be green!
 

 When I got home, Ray was asleep. I am a little worried now that I might catch it, if it's not food poisoning. There were a couple other people who had called Deb and John to say they were sick, so there must be a bug going around and if he caught it from them, I am likely to catch it from him. Oh, no!

The good thing is the weather has turned cooler and we even slept with the windows closed. I didn't hear any barking dogs or anything else and slept well.