Christian Photographers Community

Happy Fathers Day!  We now attend only the 5 PM Saturday church service because it is quiet and Don can hear what the preacher is saying.  I must say, it is really nice too. It is a full service with communion and also all the same music.  There are 3 services on Sunday morning. Yes, it does "feel" different to not be spending Sunday mornings at  church - We are blessed that there is a place for Don to understand the sermon and partake in the church gathering.  Giving thanks for this opportunity.

Also, giving thanks that two of our sons drove from the mountains here with truck & trailer and one car all the way to middle Montana - straight through safely.  One son is selling his cabin and moving to a small town. 

Happy Father's Day to all who qualify in here - sweet memories to all who miss their Dads.   

Larry:  How sweet it is that your church has such giving helpers to install a ramp for you.  I pour white vinegar into the dish washer with hot water - do not know if that is the best way to clean it or not - it seems to take care of any calcium buildup.   



 

Hi everyone on what looks like it will be a very nice day.  It is suppose to get up to about 91 degrees this afternoon with only a small chance of showers.

I thought I was going to have a rough night last night but woke up this morning and realized I had gotten 4 or 5 hours of good sleep and since them had a another short nap at my desk.  By 6 am I .  dressed and had eaten my breakfast.  I will be using my wheelchair to get around in the house today rather than trying to walk as the walking seems to bring on this chest pain.  I also realize I am not really ready to leave the house unless necessary. 

I decided to do an interesting exercise this morning to see approximately what I had spent since going under Hospice to fix up my bedroom as I wanted it plus some other purchases like clothing.  I found I have spent about $1,800 so far with probably another $1,000 spent by the time I get the ramp built in the garage.  When I considered what I would have paid in co-pays for doctor visits and medicines, etc, I am still ahead of the game by a few hundred dollars. There are only three or four things left to be delivered and one of the big ones will be the carpet runner that is to be delivered today.  This morning I ordered a keyed electronic deadbolt system for our front door that will allow 16 numbers to unlock the deadbolt and then at night there is a lock out feature where these numbers won't work.  This way each of my family members can have there own code to get in as can some of the Hospice workers, if they want to bother.  This along with my home security system should provide good protection as well as much less work going to the front door.

I am planning on having a FaceTime visit this afternoon with several men from my previous Church.  They apparently know very little about computers or phones and think they are going to be very pleased to find out how easy making such calls can be and the hours of driving if they were to make the 5 hour round trip to visit me. 

Carol, that must really be a huge Church with all of those services.  Glad you have found a place where Don can hear the services.  That sounds like quite a change for your son to sell his cabin and move to the small town.  It seems we always worry when our loved ones are on the road, especially a long trip. 

Greetings Larry  We have a nice sunny day on the IOM, not hot by your temperatures, but 61F is a pleasant temperature.

Splendid reading your long post. 

Hi everyone. The weather says it will reach 90 degrees again today and that there is a high probability of rain here late this afternoon, which we can use. Yesterday was sort of a lost day for me as spent most of it laying in bed. About any movement, and sometimes no movement at all, was bringing on these new discomforts in the middle of my chest. I was really tired. In mid-afternoon the girls came out and spent a couple of hours with us. When they came in they handed me a nice box of Dairy Queen Dilly Bars and, of course, we had to check them out at supper time.

 
Then around pm I had the call from my three Church friends from my previous Church and we got connected on Face Time and it was most enjoyable. However, I talked so much that I was sort unhappy with myself and wrote them an email to apologize for monopolizing the conversation. I find I am doing that frequently now and am wondering if some of the medication I now take could be contributing to this situation.
I sure hope I haven't always talked this much.

 
Scott sent a text late last evening after his work that he planned on coming out today. IT will be nice to see him and not sure what he has in mind other than to test out the Bluetooth receiver/transmitter that he got me for Father's Day. He is bringing his blue tooth headphones so we can try it out. If it works well I have already picked out a new set of noise canceling headphones to get.

 
The aid will be here from Hospice to help me with a shower this morning. As far as I know now the rest of the day will be one of rest. My plan is to begin to clean out a lot of old files I have saved on the computer. I am going to create a sectionalized notebook of the information Pat and Scott might need when I am no longer in the picture and it will have several sections of things that have been important to me such as a few poem written my my Grandmother. It should be both a useful project and a pleasant one in gathering this info from the computer and getting things on paper.

Ellie, your weather would certainly be more comfortable than the above 90s we have been and appears will continue to have for a few days. Do you have a nice garden where you can sit out and enjoy the weather and the out-of-doors?

This morning started with an early phone call - friend/neighbor has a rescue cat and it disappeared last night.  I have looked hard at the open space in back but sure can not see any animal.  No coyotes this year so that is a good sign. 

We are about to meet youngest child for lunch and to treat him and his wife.  I heard of a new French Bakery and looking forward to some divine food. 

Larry:  Your daily posts are much appreciated.  You are so considerate with making things easy for Pat - hugs to both of you.

I almost have the latest quilt put together.  It consists of a lot of 2 1/2 inch squares and now to measure and add two borders all around.   

Greetings Larry  Splendid post and you don't talk too much.  Not that I have heard you, but your posts are interesting,  what hubby calls 'newsy'.  We have a small garden, but I prefer to sit in our conservatory.
 

Hi everyone. It is pretty early this morning but I awoke awhile ago from a 6 hour period of uninterrupted sleep and am ready for a good day. According to the weather app it is suppose to get to 89 degrees today with only a 20% chance of participation. Yesterday we did get some rain after sunset but have no idea of how much. The yard people were here and will be back finishing our neighborhood today so know they appreciate the rain holding off. 

 Pat had left me a note last night to wake her at 7 am as she has an early doctor's appointment. I didn't put it on my calendar so have no idea with which doctors she will be meeting. Scott is planning on coming out again today as he has agreed to work for someone who has a special occasion planned for today. Then he is actually going to take off 5 days so he can spend time with his aunt and uncle and with us to enjoy their visit. They will be flying in tomorrow but my sister wasn't sure if they would try to get by the house until Friday as my BIL isn't well and may elect to spend today resting at the motel. Pat has arranged for the housekeeper to come back and spiff everything up (as if since last Friday we have need it but she sees things I don't. 

Once again I spend a good many hours laying in bed yesterday and getting some "cat naps" even sitting here at my desk. I did increase the Lasix back to 60 mgs by taking 20 mg more at lunch time. I also forgot to take the morphine at noon so took it with our evening meal. I know I will be getting rest when I feel the need for it. I have most of my breakfast laid out but don't want to eat it at 4 am as makes a long time before lunch.

We had a very nice dinner last night that consisted of some fruit, something involving flower and eggs and milk and was very good. OK, it was a cherry cobbler with ice cream and it was very good. Pat had some left overs she had planned as the main item in the meals but I very politely declined her kind offer of the leftover before the dessert. I guess this is one of the joy of the freedom I now have with Hospice to eat whatever and whenever I want. My grandfather always ate his dessert first as knew he would eat it even if too full. This way he really enjoyed it and didn't over eat. Of course, his dessert portions were a "little" smaller than what I enjoyed last night.

 We are expecting the girls to come over and have Wednesday night dinner with us. Pat decided she didn't want to dirty up the kitchen so will have them pick up Firehouse Subs for our evening meal. I haven't had one of them for months it seems and that sure sounds good to me although probably a quarter of the sandwich will be plenty We are expecting the girls to come over and have Wednesday night dinner with us. Pat decided she didn't want to dirty up the kitchen so will have them pick up Firehouse Subs for our evening meal. I haven't had one of them for months it seems and that sure sounds good to me although probably a quarter of the sandwich will be plenty along with dessert naturally.. 

Carol, I have never heard of a rescue cat before. I thought they were basically too independent and would want their own rescue human. I expect the cat will return when it gets hungry and is satisfied his/her human has suffered long enough. I wish I could tag along to a good French bakery and have a loaf of that great French bread with the hard crust. I am not aware of any French bakeries in the area and it seems Panera is probably as close as we come to there being one. I want things to be as easy as possible for Pat but know that isn't always possible but when I feel up to it sure don't mind taking on small tasks for her. It seems sometimes our largest problem is that her hearing isn't too good and she will speak too softly or says she can't understand what I have been saying and then when I try to raise my voice it sounds like I am angry or something (such is not the case). We are actually using the telephone more and more to talk with each other in separate rooms as the conversation is well heard for both of us. Pat said yesterday that the quilts she likes to make the most are the scrap quilts. She keeps sewing things together and then cutting them into small pieces so she can sew them together again. I don't care as long as she enjoys what she is doing, even if her quilting session for the day is to watch a quilting video or TV program. I know it hurt her back to sit at the machine and sew. 

Ellie, thanks for the vote of confidence on the length of my postings. I have always wanted to be sure I was understood in what I was trying to say and thus tend to add more information that is often needed but my philosophy is a little too much is better than too little since one can always bypass reading but if it isn't there such a condition doesn't exist. Is a conservatory like a little windowed in room or building or just a nice part of your house? It does sound nice. Unfortunately it is too hot or too cold here most of the time for sitting outside, even with a very nice porch like this house has. With the British TV shows we enjoy we do get an idea of the lovely gardens that exist over your way. I just love the pictures of flowers an the scenes filmed in them as well as seeing inside many of the homes. 

Greetings Larry  Oh how I enjoyed your post today, very newsy and you sound so positive.

Our conservatory is one that is built onto the property, Mainly the frame is UPVC and the rest glass.  It can be called a sun room, but in the main it is a conservatory.  I will try sending a picture of one.

I am not sure if a picture is allowed, if not please accept my apologies.

 Hi everyone. It is going to be another hot day here in South Carolina getting up to around 93 with some chance for rain, although less than 50%. I am expecting this to be an exciting and busy day. The aid will be here around 10 am to help me with a shower.

Scott has taken 5 days off of work so he can spend time with my sister and BIL and with us. He sent me a text saying he has turned off the phone portion of his smart phone so he can't be reached by his work. This will be the first 5 days I can remember him taking for a very long time as he usually loses his vacation time. He and Elizabeth are planning to come out this morning and work on a few more things, including seeing if they can get my TV hooked up for Bluetooth so that I can use earphones with it. He thinks he has what is needed but he will have to take the TV off the wall bracket for a minute to hook things up and so Elizabeth will be here to hold it. Scott has an old dishwasher that has now shorted out the electronics so he is shopping for a new basic one and has found a good deal and we are going to have the pleasure of giving it to him as a gift.

I had Elizabeth take out the mat in front of my computer and it is on the street for the garbage truck later this morning. I expect others of you know what I am talking about these soft mats where the wheels sink into it and then your chair doesn't want to move. I checked into the new glass desk mats and they look great but they are extremely expensive. I had some places to check on the web to see about getting something basic that is solid so the wheels on my chair can move easily. Yesterday I ordered another type chair cushion that is suppose to be very good at preventing or dealing with bed sores. I have lost so much weight that I am concerned about getting a bed sore and want to be preventive rather than treat after one occurs. 

 Last night the girls surprised us with a homemade German Chocolate cake that Elizabeth made. It has been several years since I have had German Chocolate cake and it sure tasted good. They had picked up sandwiches for our dinner so that made a nice meal. I even forgo my normal fudge bar. 

 Ellie, there is now no restriction on where we can post pictures and other graphics in our discussions. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I very much liked the appearance of your Conservatory. It looks like you have some very pretty country side off to the left of your Conservatory. Thanks for sharing the picture and I hope we get to see more pictures from around the Isle of Man in the future.

Ellie:  your special spot to sit and watch the world go by looks so inviting. Especially nice when weather is too chilly to sit outdoors.  Charming.

Larry:  It is so nice for Scott to finally have "free time" and he can enjoy visiting.  I understand about your frustration with the plastic mats as they are tough to move the chairs with rollers.  We are suddenly in the 80 degree weather here and it is a jolt.  Tell Pat that I am putting together a lot of 2 1/2 inch squares in a sorta pattern and really wish I had never thought about this project.  It is very slow going.  Scott will appreciate a new dishwasher. 

My friend/neighbor who lost her cat did find the wanderer in her basement after two days.  This friend is very forgetful and we are wondering if she forgot to look there at all. 

A neighbor saw deer in the ravine - hooray, we have been missing the wildlife. 

Greetings Larry  A busy day for you, but lots of help from Scott and Elizabeth.  Oh, the German Chocolate cake sounds lovely!  I will do my best with pictures of the Isle of Man.

Greetings Carol Thank you for your splendid comments about the conservatory.  It does get very hot in the conservatory on a warm day.

Hi everyone. We have just ended a 12 hour electrical outage due to a really bad storm that hit right in our area around 4 pm last evening. The power finally came on around 3:30 this morning. Am writing using my cellular plan versus the Internet as expect it will take them a while to also restore the Internet. So will just check in this morning and write more later.

Greetings Larry I was telling hubby about you being on the site through your cellular plan.  He thinks it is the same as our 4G, which we use when we don't have  a Wi Fi connection.

Sunny here on the Island, light breeze with 61F temperature.

Honey, I'm hooome!!
I tried to stay in contact, but wasn't successful.
A lot of the time I didn't have internet connection, and was only able to look at email headlines and delete a lot of those.  I saw a bunch from CP, but they were always the same postings.  I wish I were more techy!

It took us three 12 hour days to drive to Florida in our pickup.  Then we had a few days there, during which we picked up the camper and got stuff ready for the trip home.  I had kept all the things from the other one, bedding, dishes, towels, etc.  But the guys needed some hook-up stuff, and a drill to roll the stabilizers up and down.  We did get to go boating with the kids one day (Granddaughter Abby was there, too!) and watched them tube and dump each other off the tube!  Mark gave Abby some wild rides, dumping her off several times--then she said she wanted to drive the boat and pull Mark.  "Payback time!"  And she did get him back, good! I'm so glad they have a good relationship with each other.  Tiffany rode the tube a little bit, too, but neither Darrel nor I wanted to do it.  Years back, I did, though.

Anyway, we took six days driving home pulling the trailer, over some of the worst roads in the whole US!  I mean, those in Tennessee and Arkansas and a lot of Oklahoma were like riding a paint shaker!  Oh, yes!  I'm so happy to be HOME~!

Larry, I'm delighted you're still posting all your news--we love you!  And I love the rest of you as well, and have read all the posts since I left! 

Hi everyone. I'm just going to check in for today as the morning has gotten away from me and my family will soon be here to spend the day with us. I had prepared a longer posting but lost it somewhere and don't have the energy to go back and try to find it or redo it I'll see you all tomorrow by

Yesterday, we had a hail storm but I don't know if it was damaging anywhere.  It did snow in high country - they keep pushing out the last day of skiing  and it will be at least the last of this month. We have deer in the ravine once again and the news show a black bear in another area.  They will try to capture the bear and relocate it to the mountains. 

Church service tonight - unless another storm pops up on the radar.  That would be typical for this area gets late afternoon storms - we could set our clocks at 3 PM and sure enough a storm would descend.

I am rereading a book by a former pastor - "Vice and Virtue" and have started to read "Jesus Always" once more.  The last one is a book that can be read daily and reread upon finishing.  -- Must start to bake banana bread so there will be one little sweet in the house. 

Larry, I hope you do find your long post, as I'd hate to miss out on anything you say

Hello, Carol.  My, that seems late for skiing, but folks here needed sweatshirts this morning!  After 93 degrees yesterday.....

I forgot to mention last night that we did stop in Sherwood, Arkansas to visit a grandson who is in the Air Force.  He's 26 today, and has bought a really nice house with swimming pool there, has it all fixed up so nice.  He's in the market for a good,strong Christian girl, as he really wants to get married! This is our youngest grandson.

We have the camper all unloaded, I have last load of laundry in, and mail all sorted.  And I was up half the night (for unknown reasons) and am about ready for a nap!

Hello to anyone who pops in later!

Greetings Everyone  A good day to you all.   

Greetings Everyone  A much cloudier day on the Isle of Man today.

We did not make it to the Saturday 5 PM service.  Just looking west at the sky it looked fierce and another storm did pass through.  There was some flooding in the ravine in back of our house but the big drain solved any problems. 

Janet:  Glad to "see" you home safe.  How nice that you could visit with your grandson.  Have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday....

We had rain and hail last night.
 My flowers were really looking pretty; now they are beaten almost into the ground, all blooms knocked off and most leaves too.     They will probably come out of it, but they look pitiful right now!  We got one inch of rain here at our house.  Someone at church this morning said the hail in town was golf ball size!   

I'm so sleepy!   

See you tomorrow!
 

 Hi everyone on what looks to be a beautiful but hot South Carolina day that is to be sunny, with no  chance of rain and a high of 95 degrees.  Today is the day my sister and brother-in-law have to return to their home in NW Iowa.  There visit has seemed much too short but it has been a wonderful, memory filled experience.  We have laughed a lot and cried a little as we recall our childhood and the many years since.  Fortunately they will be able to stay until mid-afternoon.

Yesterday Scott and Bob (BIL) got my new beautiful TV on the wall and Scott  went through the process of getting it all set up, something he really enjoys doing.  I got my new blue tooth headset and am enjoying the XM music station Escape that plays beautiful music.  I had a very restful night.  I was really exhausted when I went to bed right after dinner and slept for 2 or 3 hours, then was up for an hour or so and then sort of followed that pattern for the night. I just don't want to waste one of these very precious hours and know that later this week everything will pretty much quiet down. 

Today Scott will install our SimpliSafe home security system.  He advised me last night that we really aren't going to be able to eliminate the Ring Doorbell as that is the outside camera and the SimpliSafe works within the house.  He wanted me to order a couple of key fobs so that the alarm can be activated or deactivated from the car rather than having to rush into the house and remembering to turn off the system.  I will do that later this morning when I can just call and order them.  We will activate the system and we have a 72 hour testing period where they would not call 911 as get everything set up and in place.  I also get a one month free monitoring.  So by this evening we should be pretty well protected and monitored 24/7 with a good deadbolt system on our front door.  My new glass chair mat for the big computer is to be delivered today and finally Scott and Bob may install the four grab bars around the area where I will be sitting at the large computer in the mornings.  Am I a lucky man or what.

 Yesterday in the daily devotional book the Upper Room was a reference to Galatians that I am going to make my new Scripture reference and that is Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness and self-control." In other words "Playing with Joy" and that is the way I hope and want to live out the rest of my life here on this earth. 

It looks like all faired well in the stormy weather.  We had a lot of rain before dark yesterday evening so it will be awhile before we will need to water. 

Greetings Larry  Another one of your splendid posts.  We enjoyed reading about your time with your sister and brother in law.  As you say, a wonderful, memory filled experience.  The memories we cherish, will be with us for evermore.

My day has been one of housework and more housework, it has to be done.

I like your scripture reference. My hubby's favourite choice is not scripture, but a poem published in 1888.
Let me know what you think of the poem.  It was written after the author of the poem, lost a leg due to illness and he was moved to write this poem.  It is  is called Invictus.

 Out of the night that covers me,
 Black as the pit from pole to pole,
 I thank whatever gods may be
 For my unconquerable soul.

 In the fell clutch of circumstance
 I have not winced nor cried aloud.
 Under the bludgeonings of chance
 My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 Beyond this place of wrath and tears
 Looms but the Horror of the shade,
 And yet the menace of the years
 Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

 It matters not how strait the gate,
 How charged with punishments the scroll,
 I am the master of my fate:
 I am the captain of my soul.

Larry, I was so happy to see that you had posted today!  So glad you're having such a good ad memorable time with your sister and bro-in-law. And you're continuing with getting everything set up the way you want, house protected, etc. etc.  Yes, you're a blessed man, to have Scott to help you with all these things.  We have so much trouble with our technical devices, and have to call on Curtis (grandson) for help. He's a busy guy, so sometimes it takes a few days before he can get here.  But sometimes he can tell us what to do on the phone, as happened last night when Darrel couldn't get his computer online.

Enjoy the rest of your too-short visit with family!

Ellie, I like the poem Invictus, but hadn't ever read the backstory of it.  However, I cannot say that I agree with the final stanza.  Well,  I guess we are the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls, in that it is only our decision alone which determines our eternal destiny.  Other opinions?  (and I am in no way trying to be argumentative!) 

We picked some of our cherries today, at least enough for a pie (I'm thinking there's enough for two pies)  I'm glad we have a cherry pitter! 

Greetings Janet  I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the poem Invictus  And you are right to ask for other opinions.  In  saying you can not agree with the final stanza, could I ask why?


There is another reason why my hubby likes this poem.

Ellie: In many ways we believe we can be "masters of our souls".  I believe we can train our inner thoughts to think first - what would Jesus guide us to do - for instance.  We do have free will and I so admire the person facing dreadful decisions who can step back and formulate a fair and sensible answer to the crisis after prayerful thoughts.  Thank you for your interesting post.  There isn't any perfect answer but we can look for guidance through prayers.

Janet:  Wishing your AF grand the best in finding a wonderful wife some day.  I found my Air Force guy - he was a blind date and I had never gone on one before - 

Ellie:  House work never ends for girls.  I also want to add - the author wants to show us we are in charge of many directions of our lives - in some ways & how we adapt to life.  That is my take on your question.   

 

Good morning everyone. It is a bright and beautiful morning here in South Carolina the temperature is headed up to about 93° but no rain in our forecast which will be nice. I had a good six hours asleep last night but really needed it because of the time the evening arrive and I've been a long day and as you know when we have a realtors leave us perhaps the last time they will see them it's a little difficult. But as I told my sister and brother-in-law I intended to be here next year and if they would come and visit me but if not I will be waiting for them in heaven.

Scott came out and spent the morning with us and then went home to rest a while and take care of some things for himself his dishwasher is I think I mentioned previously had failed and he needed to get the old one out of this kitchen into the street where someone would pick it up for the parts and be ready to install The new one which will come on Saturday apparently. As soon as he finished that he came out and brought in the glass floormat and put it down for me and boy is it nice. It is certainly a luxury that I never expected to have but I will certainly enjoy it. Decided to  wait until the day of install the home security system, which should be very easy to install after reading the instructions. About the only thing left now would be to put up for a little grab bars here next to my desk on the walls help me pull my chair up to the desk. I ordered a wireless keyboard and mouse yesterday to use with the big computer to laminate some wires and also to help me take the keyboard and use it.

Pat  and the birthday coming up in a very few days and I want to make this a very special Acacian for her because this might be the last one I get to spend with her. I have a plan that I will discuss with Scott today and then we will see about bringing it into being. There is no reason she can't enjoy the same good television picture and Bluetooth headset like I have more than dealing with the television it has pretty poor picture actually I'm having to use all technology in the headset she uses it wants to fall off her head all the time. The only problem is what I do with all these extra television sets but perhaps of someone who would appreciate a nice television and we certainly don't need all that we have I hope this is not being wasteful.

The aid will be here in a couple of hours to help me with my shower for the day and that is about All that is on the schedule. So I'm looking forward to relaxing rest of the day although I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy as I want to be. Of course I'm taking quite a few naps and all of this so it sort of cuts the day up into little pieces and this is something I've never experienced before in my life, actually kind of nice.

A few more thoughts since it is difficult to go back and quick edit on the phone using cellular I think maybe this will work better than what I have been trying to do.  I will just make more than one posting. Wish I thought of this before.

Carol, I thought your posting was excellent and you expressed the thoughts we probably all have here that we have different opinions but staying them doesn't mean we're trying to change somebody else's thoughts because in reality it just never works. You obviously found A great husband in the military family and have a great family. I will be lucky to have a family that loves us?

I'll see you all tomorrow and have a joyful day because that's what I plan to do each and every day.

Ellie, the reason I disagree with the last two lines of "Invictus" is because he says I am the captain....I am the master.  I believe that God is always the master.  Yes, we are in charge of our fate here on earth, but only if we have chosen to accept Jesus' gift of eternal life will we get to go to heaven. And I am assuming that is what everyone wants! 
 
May I ask the other reason your hubby likes the Thanks!

Larry, I'm ever so glad about your nice visit with your relatives.  I called my sister who has cancer a while ago, and told her our next trip will be to come see her!
She was happy to hear that.  I'm not sure if we will go right away or wait until after the fair.  I still am obligated to be here for that, but have decided to tell them this is my LAST year!  Some of the younger folks need to step up and help!

I'll have to check out those glass mats; I don't think I've ever seen one!  You are such an appreciative person, it makes me smile to read the gratitude for everything in your posts!  Good for you!

I finally got all the bills paid, and other items in the mail taken care of.  What a relief!

Carol, thanks for your good wishes for our AF grand.
I told him I will be praying he finds the girl God has chosen for him.  I never went on a blind date--but the idea always intrigued me, for some reason.