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They finished installing our new solar battery system after Andy left yesterday, so he went up this morning to turn it on. He came down for lunch and to take me to Santa Fe for my doctor’s appointment, then back up to the land to start understanding how this system works differently from the old one. He won’t start using it until we get enough sun to fully charge the batteries. Needless to say, we’re relieved it’s installed.

The doctor’s appointment — we were both looking forward to it. It was the three-month follow-up x-ray of my fractured hip. The x-ray six weeks ago said the bone had healed. This one says there is even more bone in that area. That’s what had been hoping for because I’ve been doing weight-bearing exercises to strengthen it. Anyway, I’ve been officially discharged from their care.

Monday I have my last visit from the Visiting Nurses physical therapist. I could continue with PT over at the medical center, but unless something happens I will just continue with the exercises I’ve been doing at home. I need to continue them but I’m already noticing a slow but steady improvement.

I should mention that it’s been five weeks since I started with Merry Maids, and having an uncluttered apartment is still one of my top priorities. That part is working fine. I love the way it looks and I’m automatically putting things away rather than getting immersed in projects.

All in all things are going well!

October 17, 2024

(1) Silver Sneakers. I finally had a chance to tune into it and I love it. It gives us a good cardio workout as well as exercising all parts of our body. And it’s fun. Nalani is still teaching, so it was like going home. (Via Zoom.)

(2) My laundry bag backpack I ordered from Amazon. I always use a handrail when using stairs, and carrying a big laundry bag with one hand throws me off balance. I can now safely carry my laundry to the laundry room and back.

(3) Deciding to separate coloring from drawing. I’m trying to integrate more playing with colors into my life, and I decided to start with designs I can do quickly and easily. And not worry about how the finished product looks. Today I did a flower.

I’m not going to try drawing everyday, just when the mood strikes. Last night I played with a portrait of Tempi.

When the mood strikes I will do another one. Again with an attitude of curiosity and play, no judging the results. Just noticing. (Yes, there are at least three things that I am itching to change. They will have to wait.)

How did your day go?

October 16, 2024
 

I was thinking of going back up to the land this weekend, but I’m having second thoughts. This was tonight’s weather forecast:

(Click on the photo for better resolution.)

I redrew the bear with water color pencils:

Then I went over it with a wet paintbrush. It smooths out the pencil marks.

October 15, 2024
 

I’m not talking about Florida or down here, I’m talking about up on the land. We haven’t had it for a couple of weeks now, and there’s no telling when we’ll have it again. The idea was to change our battery system so it required a lot less maintenance, and the change was supposed to start happening about August 26th. Hopefully they will work on it again this week. More about that later when we know what’s happening.

In the meantime I had been waiting for the internet to come back before going up to the land, but the fall colors weren’t waiting for that. So I went up Friday.

It’s been a patchy fall, but there were some bright colors.

A set of colored pencils came before we left here to go up, so I brought them along. I used one of Annie’s pictures for inspiration,

and I drew this:

It was a short but good trip. We left early because we had appointments to get our flu shots down here that afternoon.

October 14, 2024
 

This morning I forwarded an online newsletter, highlighting this quote:

If you are anxious about the election, skip this morning’s espresso — the latest batch of polls showing a tightening race will provide all the jolt you can take.

I added this. (Click on photo for higher resolution.)

I’m glad I bought Clancy.

He’s a hugger and so am I.

Years ago I read that people who get at least ten hugs a days are happier and healthier. I can check that off my box.

I’m also inspiring my inner kid with an abundance of art supplies to play with: water colors, colored pencil sets, and water color pencils. The emphasis is on play, not on finished products.

Escaping from the problems of the world? Not at all, just feeding our souls to increase our chances of dealing with those problems with a little more strength and courage.

October 13, 2024
 

Kaitlin sent this message today about their attempts to see the Northern Lights,

Last time they came around we asked our neighbor up the street (in the new development so they cleared a lot of trees) to tell us if they saw them. He sent these last night around 8:30, so we leashed the girls and walked up there, but by the time we got there they were gone.

That’s too bad they missed the lights, but it was worth a try.

October 12, 2024
 

Our local paper had a picture of the Northern Lights as seen downtown last night. Huh, really? We were clueless and didn’t know it was going to happen. This morning Kaitlin sent a screen shot of the lights from the Valles Caldera webcam.

It was fun seeing the pictures, but I’m not sorry I didn’t see it in person. My life is full right now, not busy, just leisurely and rich. In Vacation and Life Style Change? I said I wanted to take time to enjoy how the uncluttered apartment looks for 30 days. That part seems to be working. It’s now easy for me to keep that uncluttered look, and I’m continuing to reorganize, recycle, and toss out parts of my old life to make room for art supplies that I’m starting to play with. Not because I want to create finished products, but to feed my soul as Kurt Vonnegut says. And, of course, I’m still doing a lot of physical therapy exercises that I’m integrating into my life. At the moment it’s all tying together nicely.

October 11, 2024
 

As Rose mentioned in a comment, Sandra is all right. In Sandra made it through Rose says Sandra wrote to her and said there was some minor damage but it’s not bad. They are without power so Sandra wants to conserve the battery in her phone. Please don’t write to her now. If there is more news Rose will report it as soon as she can.

Thanks, Rose!

October 19, 2024
 

everyone else in Florida. Pray for them all.

From the National Weather Service about 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time this evening.

October 9, 2024

Andy and I both said that in the past week or so. He was walking from the car to the apartment when a buck and a doe walked right in front of him as they were going to the back of the apartments. They didn’t seem to notice him.

I was walking to the post office in the evening, and as I was passing the pond a doe was nibbling the grass inches from the sidewalk. She noticed me, stopped eating, and quietly looked at me. I stopped, told her I wasn’t trying to bother her, then continued walking past her. She took a couple of steps back but clearly wasn’t afraid.

They would have made great pictures.

October 8, 2024