Blizzard

Although we have had warnings of heavy snow for several days and the temperature has reached new lows, it has not been a problem.  However I experimented with using encaustic methods today and my original intent to picture a blizzard, although not quite what I had anticipated, is working out.  Today after going to the temple I shopped at Smith's then Walmart to good effect.  I purchased a lot of Halloween candy but very few children came by the house.  Diana and Jacqueline came by to show me their costumes and I gave each of them a lot of candy to share with their younger siblings who had gone home early because of the cold.  I have ordered additional supplies for my encaustic endeavors.  The hot plate has uneven heating but several techniques I used worked out well.  I grated white beeswax crayon for the snow in my painting and it worked out quite well.  I used a plain white candle to clean off the griddle.  I used a regular bristle brush to work with the paint while heating it with a heat gun.  Although all the sources I have seen advise using a wooden support, I used a piece of mat board for my initial effort.  I also popped it into the oven a couple of times when I found that the particles of white 'snow' were blown off the surface by the heat gun. 

Popcorn with Peanut Butter Gooey

I invited Patricia to come up and help me make the treat to share with her family on her birthday.  She helped butter a cake pan and added chocolate sprinkles to the mix of popcorn and peanut butter fudge that we hoped to make cake shaped.  The bottom layer held form, but when we added another layer both layers tended to collapse.  I found a candle shaped like the number 4 in my candle container and mounted it on a small bamboo skewer so we could place it on the mound of popcorn.  Patricia was delighted with the doll I made for her.  I had fixed a very tasty meal by slicing some lean beef and adding slices of beef fat, then sauteing both just to medium rare, but all the popcorn loaded with fudge was tempting so I ate a bowl of Greek yogurt and cream with strawberry drink flavoring.  Most of the rest of the day was spent in working on storage for my encaustics supplies.  I accomplished this by combining several drawers of glass shards after mending the support for one of them.  This left me with two long spaces to store mediums, paints, wax and other supplies including the griddle and the heat gun.  This evening my ketone level was still stuck at .4 but my blood glucose had leveled down to 87.  Tomorrow after going to the temple I will stop by Walmart for bread, Bousin cheese, a cucumber or two and candy to hand out to children who come by the house for Halloween.    I have one picture ready for the Library exhibit intake on Saturday but I need to complete another.  I don't believe I can finish the portrait of Marge in that much time so I plan to execute my original conception of a blizzard which I planned before I got caught up in making everything excellent as far as completing plans to do encaustic.

Another Birthday, Another Dolly

My namesake Patricia is hard on dolls.  After she reduced the doll I made for her when she was two to a broken wreck I gave her the same sized plastic doll.  Soon it was missing limbs and its vinyl hair was a mass of frazzle.  She currently has no doll.  I decided to try again.  Tomorrow, October 30 is her birthday.  After I went to the temple and did a few other tasks I stopped by Hobby Lobby and used my 40% off coupon to purchase the only cloth body doll on display.  I picked my paintings up from SCERA.  When I reached home I sprayed the muslin doll with a paint solution except for the eyes which I blanked out with tape.  After drying the doll I sewed on pieces of blonde wig.  Then I made a face with permanent marker.  I've found that it is best to use permanent marker because it won't crack off like paint and it can be renewed easily.  After wrestling futilely with my sewing machine to make a simple dress for the doll and sew together a skirt I had altered to fit my slimmer figure I went to Lucinda's house where I used her machine.  I found that she had told Patricia that she would not provide for a family birthday because of some emotional displays, but that if someone else whanted to provide a celebration she wouldn't object.  I invited Patricia to come to my house and make some popcorn with peanut butter gooey on it.  I told her she could add the special ingredient, which in this case will be decorative candies.  She was delighted with the idea and although her older sisters and her mother know I plan to give her a doll, she is thinking in terms of dinosaurs and other things.  I stopped by the new UCCU office and it was quite a disappointment.  The lobby area is stak and looks temporary.  I was breaking a $50, trying to redeem a torn $5 bill, and depositing my monthly support check.  I also filled my tank when I drove past the Smith's Fuel Center and saw that the price was one of the best in town, which combined with my basic discount would beat other offers.  Tomorrow I plan to make a large batch of popcorn ahead of time, work on my portrait of Marge, and work on the encaustic 'Blizzard'.
This evening when I took my ketone and glucose measurements I was not in ketosis and my glucose approached 100.  I believe this is due to a snack of toast and butter I had last night.  It seems bread is worse for me than liver in terms of effect on blood sugar and ketones.
I ordered the pigments that will round out the pigment collection I have had for more than twenty years.  I acquired the pigments from an art store that was going out of business because they were a very good deal.  This means I won't have to mash up pastels as I had considered. 

Encaustic

Today, before the day really began, I sent orders in for the completion of my encaustic studio setup.  Later in the morning I sent in an order for more transparent lidded cans and a grill thermometer.  Then I began working on several projects including cutting a panel out of a skirt that is too large for me, cutting the wood to support the smaller dimensions of the painting of pomegranates that didn't quite fit the frame I had for it, and composing and projecting the image of Marge on the canvas.  Midway through my work on the portrait I realized that the easel was coming apart and paused to fix it.  I looked into the pigment bottles I purchased many years ago and discovered some lovely but dangerous materials that would just as well be bound up in encaustic medium and used for paintings before someone is accidentally poisoned.  These include alizarin crimsom, cadmium red and deep cadmium yellow as well as red oxide and a bright blue cobalt which has about a quarter of the bottle left from whatever project I used it.  Going forward this will mean I won't need to purchase red paint for quite a while.  Tomorrow, after going to the temple I will pick up my prints from the SCERA where they have been on exhibit for the past two months.  I will stop by Jeffs office and get the support check.  I need to stop by the bank to break a fifty and get a replacement for a torn $5.00 bill.

Sweet Sunday

Richard and I left the house about an hour and a half earlier this morning in order to attend the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation in the ward the Hancock's attend.  I enjoyed it, even though this type of event usually requires some personal interest such as having relatives in the program.  I came home and ate steak, liver and a mix of cream and Greek yogurt with some peach flavored lemonade powder added.  The steak was by far the most enjoyable part of the meal.  I did some planning for my encaustic studio, which began when I picked up a hotplate from DI several months ago.  I think it is a way for me to compensate for the lack of progress on my glass art studio in the back work area because the weather has turned cold.
Today we had our first snowfall that stuck and continued.  It hasn't been a blizzard, but it has deposited snow on the branches of the trees.  I left the chickens in their coop throughout the day. 
I had a long talk with Eliza and suggested she cater to Philips appetite for ham and boiled eggs.  If he finds that type of thing in the fridge when he feels hungry it could really benefit his health

Many Small Things

I purchased a hot plate at DI some time ago with the intention that someday I would make some encaustic paintings using the remains of beeswax crayons my grandchildren have enjoyed. Today, October 26, 2019, I finally decided to go ahead and make something and that was where the fun began.  I began to explore the art of encaustic painting and eventually I ended up purchasing more than a hundred dollars worth of supplies. 
I also checked through painting I began but didn't finish and found a picture of pomegranates that I decided to finish as part of my submission for the library exhibit.  I am working on a portrait of Marge Lewis as well and either it or the encaustic will be my other painting for the exhibit. I went out to see if Michaels had encaustic supplies and ended up purchasing some beeswax pellets in the expectation that I will use them for making a variety of colors, both from crayon remnants and from the encaustic paints I ordered.  The decision of the brand to purchase was decided by the packaging of the paints in little tins that can be used to store them between uses.  I ordered extra tins, both large and small with the expectation I will use them for mediums and gesso which I will mix from a tub of gesso I have had for years by adding marble powder.  I believe there is some marble powder in my supplies, but if not I'll just order some. 
Today I showed Adam how to use a heat gun with the tubes in his electrical kit to make sturdy and waterproof splices between different wires.

Bumpety Bump

Today, October 25, 2019 was Adam's birthday.  I took his brothers and sisters and him for a ride in the trailer after we met at the church which shares a very large parking lot with another building.  To the east are hills, to the north and west backyards, to the south a large greenhouse facility for BYU.  It is a fairly private area.  Taking a load of 9 children in an open trailer would be frowned upon if I used the public streets, particularly since I drove a rather wavy path and went over a speed bump that made the trailer jump several times.  The kids really enjoyed the experience.  I took them once around then we paused to have a casual picnic of cheese, chiccarones, punch, carrots and bananas and cupcakes.  Then I took them twice around the parking lot again, but this time three year old Patricia rode in the car with her mother, James, her baby brother, and Mindy who is only 4 months old.  After the ride I had Jacqueline, Adam and Calvin help me put the trailer back in storage near the fence in my front yard.  Then I drove up to visit Rudy and Hannah and we performed the usual ritual of a visit to a local park followed by a visit to McDonalds.  I drove down to Nancy's house and accompanied her to the vet to get a final vaccination for the dog she got from Mary.  I was tired and the setting sun and heavy traffic promised a tiring drive home.  I rested for a while before setting out and made it home in good time.

Monitor

I think I will make a graph on my sd card keeping track of my ketones and glucose so I don't focus on them here and use this blog for other events in my life.  The monitor was on a special offer that included 100 testing strips for about half price.  I have managed to make mistakes in using the monitor to the effect of wasting four of the strips.  Since they average about a dollar a piece that is a relatively expensive error.  I believe I have come to understand my previous mistakes.  Today, October 24, 2019, I went to the temple then made a trip to Day's Market to see if they had any of the marbled beef steaks like I bought yesterday.  I picked up three which I plan to use in the next few days.  When I arrived home I began preparations for my meal and discovered a steak that was nearing senescence.  I prepared something to drink by adding PureLemon drink mix to a couple of liters of water to which I had previously added a salts mixture.  I wanted to determine if the small amount of carbs would affect my blood ketone and glucose levels since I find the mix refreshing.  I took my measurements a little after 2:30 PM.  Yesterday my 2:30 PM reading was 95 for glucose and .7 for ketones.  Last night I took the test again and got the results of 86 for glucose and 1.1 for ketones.  This means I am in mild ketosis and have a normal glucose reading.  Today I measured 89 for glucose and 1 for ketones.  This is a better reading than at the same time yesterday.   There are several factors that could have had an effect on my levels, but since they are better than 24 hours before Im okay with them and will continue making the drink as I have previously done.  I took a long nap after eating while yesterday I was quite busy after eating my meal. 

Keto-Mojo

I received my ketone and glucose meter today and learned how to use it.  My first results were .7 for ketone and 95 for glucose.  From what I've seen those are relatively healthy numbers.  .7 ketones is barely in ketosis, but is ketosis.  I was foolish in the middle of the night and found some candies that I thought that I had banished.  Not only did they likely raise my glucose, but they interrupted what I intended to be a 23 hour intermittent fast.  I plan to test twice a day, once at around 2:30PM which is at least 2 hours after breaking my daily fast, and around 10 PM which is when I finish up and go to bed.  At this point it seems my blood sugar is normal and my ketones slightly high, which is good enough for me.
Edit.  Because of the cost of the strips, averaging around $1, and the relative consistence of the results, (my ketone level at 10 PM was 1.1 and my glucose level 86) I don't see a need to use my monitor more than once a day. 

Small Achievements

After going to the temple today, October 22, 2019 I decided to end my intended 72 hour fast at 35 hours because of the way events in the near future would fall out.  I cooked a nice thick rib eye and ate all of it except a tiny patch of particularly tough gristle.  I have to acknowledge that eating fruit causes me to have inflammation, mostly in the form of cold like symptoms.  Then I took care of several tasks instead of napping as I usually do.  First I edited my Sam page to remove his name and replace it with his middle name, Chia-lin.  Then I cut a half inch off the tailpipe on the sink to make drainage better and hope to avoid grease build up in the parallel pipe to the second sink's drain.  This involved removing the plumbing after removing the contents under the sink and then replacing everything.  Since I had mended the pipe yesterday it was not a lengthy or unpleasant job.  I then went out and cleaned the debris from taking trash to the dumpster from the trailer, which involved tilting the trailer with the wheeled jack and removing the back gate before using the outside hose to wash away the debris.  I then used white duct tape to mend the areas where the carpet tape had failed to hold the vinyl and reinforced several points of strain before replacing the back gate.  I had briefly taken time to apply nail polish to the latches I installed yesterday to prevent rust.
None of these tasks took much time but when I felt tired enough to nap I felt okay about doing so.

Wrestling with photos

Today, Monday, October 21, 2019 I have spent quite a bit of time trying to set up a personal page for my son Sam on my PatChiu website.  It has been a struggle.  Many of the pictures are not being translated properly.  On the other hand I accomplished two practical tasks and a quick exchange with a representative of my credit card company.  I set out early to Lowes and purchased a tailpipe for my sink without a dishwasher diversion.  The dishwasher created a mess yesterday, as did the failed pipe junction under the sink.  To prevent further difficulties I went to the hardware store immediately to find the pipe I needed.  Then I went to Walmart and discovered my card was not in my wallet.  After a quick check back at Lowes I called the mastercard number on my phone and got the card cancelled.  I completed the plumbing and later in the day I installed the hasps and locks on the gear box of my trailer.  I finished just in time to prepare to spend my evening with Marge.  I am about 24 hours into a 72 hour fast.

Roast Beef

I invited family for Sunday dinner and planned roast beef.  Thanks to my new meat thermometer I took one roast out when it was still a lovely pink inside and cut off enough for two meals.  I purchased potatoes, carrots and onions several days ago and once I had seared the roasts I transferred them to another pan and while waiting for the right temperature to register I peeled the carrots and added them to the original pot used for searing.  Next I quartered a couple of onions and added them to the pot for a bit of browning.  Next came the potatoes.  With the roasts continuing to cook to tenderness and the vegetables steaming I began to sort and name pictures of Sam in preparation for his birthday gift of a memory page.  The meat and potatoes were done about a half hour before people were expected to arrive.  I combined the drippings from the two pans to make gravy and slathered the meat and veggies with the gravy in a serving pan.  When Lucinda and her family arrived they brought fresh baked rolls to add to the dinner.  David, Alden and Talitha joined us shortly after 2 PM and we dished out the roast which I had sliced ahead of time.  I had eaten my portion earlier.  I find myself getting hungry in the evening.  I indulged in both sliced apples and cream with straberry cubes at 8 PM.  I want to get back to a more stringent way of eating and doing One Meal a Day. 

Noodling around

I have several projects projected for today and I went out to DI early to find a suitable container for the electrical tools I purchased for Adam's birthday.  I have been sorting through pictures for my gift to Sam, which will be a webpage of his early life.  I fixed up a base to stabilize the grinder so I could reduce the sharp edges on the butterfly locks upper edges.  When I went outside to mount the locks I found that it was sprinkling so I'm not sure I'll mount the locks today.  I replenished the layer pellets for the chickens when I let them out of the coop this morning.

Grandchildren

It is Friday, October 18, 2019 and I have spent much of the day involved one way or another with grandchildren.  This morning I provided materials for Talitha and her occupational counselor to make a pillow.  The counselor, the oldest of the Green daughters, was planning to make a trip to Joann's Fabric with Talitha but I had already invited them to sew in my studio and I opened up the storage closet to find several kinds of fabric, stuffing and thread as well as pins and scissors.  Talitha chose to use a cerise terry material with little blossoms woven into it.  It was difficult to cut and sew but it seems to have made a very nice small pillow, soft and cushy.
After showering I drove up for my Friday visit with Rudy and Hannah.  They were at the house on Louise for the day because of school holiday and we revisited the park and McDonald that had become a tradition.  Afterwards I drove over to Nancy's house to deliver the small birthday gift I intended for her.  Instead of Nancy, who had apparently already left for her flight east, I encountered my daughter Mary and her children, Tevita, Sela and Heta.  I had a brief visit with Mary before heading south, but stopped at the Harbor Freight on State and 35th south to purchase some eledtrical tools for Adam's birthday in about a week. 
I am truly grateful for my lovely grandchildren.

Dawn Pump and Car Manual

Today was Thursday, October 17, 2019.  I got up a tiny bit late but I completed my morning routine and was at the temple parking lot in plenty of time to apply makeup then check out the location of the scissor jack in the back of my car.  It will be useful for changing the trailer off the hitch.  I still fit well enough in two of my coats, the burgundy asymmetrical wool coat I purchased in New York when my daughters confiscated my black leather coat because it had begun to bag on me, and the brown suede coat.  Both coats seemed sort of small last year.  My bright blue coat, turquoise blazer and a burgundy corduroy dress are very large on me.  I had intended to alter the coat the the blazer and may yet get around to doing so, but I'm going to donate the dress to DI.  I ordered a burgundy corduroy wrap skirt and found a cream colored cable knit cotton sweater that should look well with it at DI today.  It was pretty much what I was looking for when I went shopping.  I received a package from Amazon that contained a pump for the top of my sink.  In the process of filling a gallon bottle with Dawn detergent I discovered that I had purchased ten bottle of ordinary 3x Dawn to add to my supply of 10 bottles of Dawn Platinum.  It was a bit of a bother.  The butterfly locksets are nice but the loops are a bit too narrow for the combination locks I bought to use with them.  I stopped to visit with Lucinda after shopping and had a good conversation.  She is intermittent fasting and eating a lot more meat and protein.  I printed out about half of the manual for my car which I plan to bind and keep in the slot behind the driver's seat.  I was able to download a PDF of the manual from the internet.  Tomorrow, Friday the 18, I plan to install the locks on the gear box on the trailer .  I will probably use bent pieces of brass to secure the locks.

Trash and Helpers

October 16. 2019
Today Adam, Ralph, Lelia and Jared came up to my house and cleaned up the trash around the yard and brought it to my trailer.  Adam was mostly involved in getting the trailer wheeled jack aligned.  The other children loaded up the trailer then Jacqueline and Diana joined us and we took the load to the dumpsters that are temporarily at Rock Canyon Park.  They did a good job of both the loading and unloading.  I protected the lining of the trailer with a piece of outdoor carpeting that I have used in several different projects and it turned out that there was enough left to cover the floor of the trailer with some to spare.  I folded it up after we returned and put it in the gear box at the front of my trailer.  The trip to the dumpsters was extended by a trip to Harbor Freight where I purchased another set of hitch balls that won't interfere with the working of the trailer jack.  The jack is a few inches too tall and I need to locate my tire changing jack so I can use it as an accessory when removing the trailer from the car.  It has been a good day.  I am grateful for the lively, lovely crew who helped me.

Diana

My neighbor Diana is likely mildly autistic.  That would explain the difficulty I have dealing with her.  She acts a great deal like my granddaughter Hannah.  If I assume that Diana is autistic it is a great deal easier to be friendly to her.  She has invited herself to go to the temple with me now and then.  It means I don't do the shopping I would normally do on Tuesdays, but that is probably just as well.  Today after our endowment session we went toward the sealing office and were immediately included in a group of people headed for a sealing room.  After the married couple in the group served at the alter Diana was called up to serve as a wife.  After a short time of serving as the wife during sealings she mentioned that she was uncomfortable since she had only ever been at the alter with her husband.  Since there were only three women in the room it wouldn't have been reasonable for us to leave at that time.  After serving in the sealing room for about 40 to 45 minutes several other people arrived, including a woman.  I said that Diana and I would like to be excused.  In the car as we drove home she explained that her husband had just undergone a serious heart operation during which his heart was stopped.  The doctor was not in the hospital when they arrived as he was called to an emergency with another heart patient.  Diana's children were present to help her through the ordeal, but I can understand why being called to the alter with a person not her husband was something of an ordeal for her. 
After resting and getting warm for a while I gathered materials to continue working on the trailer.  I installed 4 sturdy d-rings to hold the cargo net and other attachments.  I used some vinyl molding and the carpet tape I purchased for another purpose to secure the edges of the vinyl flooring I used to line the bed of the trailer.  It turned out very well.  The vinyl flooring is meant to act as a moisture barrier and keep small debris from falling from the edges of the trailer.  I finished up around the edges except for the front side of the trailer.  I made a quick trip out to Lowes to purchase some pvc fittings to use in making shelving as well as buying 3 more pieces of the molding which I will also use to install another piece of the flooring in the atrium of my workroom.  I ordered a corduroy burgundy skirt on Amazon after realizing that my burgundy corduroy dress is far too short and far too wide.  I may be able to make something with the material but I feel it is quite unflattering at this time.  There are some penalties for losing 50 or more pounds.  Tomorrow I will finally make my first trip to the local dumpsters.

Diversion

October 14, 2019 I started the day with the idea that I would use tape and plastic rim to fix my trailer liner so I could take a load of trash to the dumpsters at Rock Canyon Park.  Meanwhile my non-functional dishwasher was leaking smelly water out onto my kitchen floor and I assumed the solution would be to put a straight pipe under the sink instead of one that would enable the dishwasher to have a waste connection with backflow problems.  I was also determined to take advantage of the sale on Dawn Platinum at Smith's and I wanted to mail the newsletter and a survey I had filled out.  I had invited Adam and Ralph and whoever wanted to join them to come to my house and help with the trash run. 
As it turned out, I fixed the dishwasher problem after Richard found that the socket was a GFI, which incidentally also fixed the outside outlet, cleaned and bleached the dishwasher by putting it through a cycle with bleach and detergent, cleared out and cleaned up several cabinets including the area under the sink during which I found some things I had misplaced.  I cleared out the sluggish drain and found it nearly blocked with a plaster like substance that was mostly micro globs of grease.  I purchased ten bottles of Dawn, a couple of packages of T-bone steaks, some bacon on a fairly good sale, some plastic reusable gloves at Smith's, a very large bag of popcorn at Macey's and a set of shelves, some shoes and a fork and sturdy stainless steel spatula at DI.  I found an easy removable bucket lid that was not being used and used it for the salt bucket  as well as a piece for my meat grinder which should make it easier to use.  I was able to clean things up sufficiently that I had things put away and tidied after I got back from my five hours with Marge Lewis.  I called  the Hancocks and spoke to Adam earlier in the day when I realized my plans were making a major diversion.  Today I ate several small pieces of liver and sampled the steak I cooked but didn't feel like finishing everything.  I put it away for tomorrow.

Changing Function

This will continue to be a blog where I celebrate the things for which I'm grateful, but after the recent demise of my laptop in such a way as to destroy my files, I have decided to add the functions of accountability and planning.  Today was Sunday and I wore my purple wool dress for the first time this season.  The dress was a bit small on me last year, but this year it sort of hangs. 
Yesterday I disordered my usual eating plan, adding a large portion of melted cheese late in the day.  I have realized that by continuing with my plan of eating once a day, even if what I eat is outside the narrow confines of strict Lion Diet or Carnivore, I am defeating the insulin cycle, which is my main purpose for following this way of eating. 
Tomorrow, October 14, 2019, I will prepare my trailer for taking the first load of junk to Rock Canyon Park where the dumpsters are set up for several days.  I will get rid of the small refrigerator and the air cooler behind the lifting shed.  Along with these items I will discard the many small pieces of steel pipe that I used in the construction of my chicken run and trailer as well as any fencing that isn't used to put a raccoon barrier around my chicken coop as Ralph suggested. 

October 11, 2019 Breaking Fast and Visiting old and new places

After four weeks of eating only beef, mostly ribeye steaks, although I have a habit of sucking on Altoid Strawberry flavored 'mints', I ate an egg this morning, followed by a drink of whipping cream, topped off by a plate of melted cheese, followed by my usual meal of steak.  So far, twelve hours later, I feel no signs of discomfort that might have resulted from introducing any of these foods.  That is still a possibility since many people apparently take several days to manifest signs of food intolerance.  I visited Rudy and Hannah in North Salt Lake, which is a region west of Woods Cross and the farm where I spent my mid-years of childhood from six years old to thirteen or so.  The house still stands surrounded by the suburb built where the orchards grew.  The elementary school that was finished the year after we moved is still there, as is the funny little shop at 7 corners.  It is now a 'Red Hanger Cleaner' but long ago it was a funny little grocery store with hanging fly paper.  Rudy wanted me to play on the slides with him and I did so.  It has probably been more than 50 years since I last went down a slide.  I went down all three, two of which were sort of scary.  I also sat in the swing and pumped my legs to send myself flying back and forth.  When we got back to the apartment Ridu let me know rather definitely that it was time for me to go.

Box Day

I was able to put my gear box for the trailer together today.  The top and bottom made of metal lids from an old grill are all painted white with the handles removed.  I had quite a haul at Smith's Foods today after stopping by impulsively to pick up some Dawn to remove the grease from my kitchen after finding that Ajax detergent was a fail.  A new product has come out and it was on a really good sale.  I picked up some t-bone steaks for $5.99 and some Kerry Gold pastured butter for less than most of the prices on Amazon unless you purchase 12 packages.  Even so I purchased 6 packages.  I took a long rest but got busy on the box when I woke up.  I ordered cute little latches, not because it was my idea to make the box cute, but because they will fit the space. I ordered some matching combination locks.  Richard announced that nothing can be recovered from the failed laptop and I tried to get some help from Hewlett Packard because my new one is acting glitchy.  I hope it isn't my Corel software that is causing the problem.

Busy Day Back Home Again

Today I was home for the first whole day in a week.  I had ordered various supplies that I now was able to use.  I made little serving sized molds of beef tallow in silicone molds made for candy.  I sawed off part of a piece of metal meant to use as a flat screen TV mount and will mount it on my trailer as the base of my wheel and gear box.  I re-positioned the roost in the chicken coop and put in the heated waterer, as well as putting in fresh straw and covering the window with plastic.  I just remembered I need to close the coop. I found out that my former laptop is so fried that Richard can't recover anything from the hard drive.  It is just as well I have other places I have stored my files. Tomorrow I will go to the temple then finish off making the gear and tire box.  Adam was able to re-position the rear lights on the trailer to make them stick out less.  We did a function check and they work well.  It is good to be home.

Farewell old laptop, welcome new

My laptop gave up on me.  It happened yesterday and I decided to purchase another one instead of fiddling around trying to recover what was lost.  I have the UVAG newsletter to publish in the next couple of days.  I found an almost identical laptop at Walmart online, I believe it was about $50.00 less than if I purchased it in the store from what I could see.  It is a smooth almost pearlized  red.  I have set it up with Gimp and Open Office and when I am able I will load the software for Corel Suite and my scanner and printer.

Cats and coughs

Years ago I knew a woman who had several cats even though one of her daughters was quite allergic to them.  I couldn't understand her point of view.  Later one of my daughters had a couple of cats and insisted that they , stay even though her husband said he was afraid of what they would do to the baby.  Eventually she reluctantly parted with the cats.  At present one of my granddaughters is suffering symptoms of asthma such as shortness of breath and coughing.  I suspected the two cats she lives with might have a relationship to her condition.  I arranged for her to spend most of the past few days and the night between at an Aunt's house.  She didn't take her usual allergy prescription and her condition seems much improved.  She loves her cats although she didn't have them until the family moved a few years ago.  One of them is getting very old and suffers pain from arthritis.  However the other is likely to live for several more years.  On the other hand several of my grandchildren are autistic and I believe I know a partial relief for their condition, but I am not their parent.  I have made mistakes in my parenting and likely some times I made similar decisions with the idea that I was doing the best thing for my child.

Prophets and Projects

Today I dropped Miranda at Mary's home where a birthday party was planned and drove to Provo.  I listened to the morning session of LDS Conference as I drove.  When I arrived in Provo I picked up a length of linoleum I had ordered from Lowes, potentially enough to cover the floor of my trailer with flaps up the side and front and also cover the floor of the foyer of my work room which is currently covered in dirty felt carpeting.  I stopped to pick up my grandson Adam and drove home.  I found that the trailer wheeled jack had been delivered along the the two folding steel wheel chocks.  Adam installed the wheeled jack and helped me cover the floor of the trailer with linoleum which I placed over a layer of corrugated plastic pieced together to form a buffer between the plywood floor with its round bolt tops.  I found that a spare piece of metal meant to support a flat screen TV would work as a support for my trailer tongue box in which I intend to store various items pertaining to the trailer.  Meanwhile Adam and I listened to the second session of conference on my phone.  He commented that it had been an unusually good session, which I believe reflects his growing maturity.  I encouraged Miranda to stay overnight with Mary since she has been experiencing difficulty breathing which I believe is due to the cats that are sleeping with her since her mother is gone and I am using her bedroom with its shutter door to keep out the cats.  I stayed at Mary's house to listen to the Women's Session of Conference and they announced the list of proposed temples, including another in Africa and one in Orem.

Random accomplishments

Today I altered some pants that I ordered in the spring before I lost nearly 50 pounds.  I had previously altered one of the identical (except for color) pairs and they fit well enough to make the venture with the others.  I ordered a roll of linoleum which should suffice both to line my trailer and to finish the foyer of my workshop area.  Then I played hostess to my daughter and her three children and took them along with Miranda, Hannah and Rudy to the park near Tisha's house then to McDonalds for chicken nuggets all around except for Hannah who always has a double cheeseburger meal.  I listened to scriptures with Miranda before she said a prayer.  It has been a good day.

Miranda's Nanny

On several different occasions I have been asked to come along and help care for my granddaughter Miranda. The first several took place when I accompanied my daughter Nancy to a professional meeting and stayed with her daughter during the day  The first two were in Florida, the last in Hawaii.  I go to Florida fairly regularly because my youngest daughter and her family live in St Augustine.  I doubt I would have traveled to Hawaii if not for accompanying Nancy.  At present I am staying in Salt Lake City at Nancy's home while she attends meetings in New York City. Miranda is now a young woman in junior high school and largely self regulates.  She tends to cling to her bed in the morning, a behavior that cost us a tour when we were on an Alaskan cruise.  However for the past two days she has made it into my car in time to be to school in time.  I am not in charge of feeding her.  My routine has been one meal a day around the middle of the day when she is not here and I currently only eat beef, somewhat extreme as a diet for a teen aged girl.  Today I attended the Salt Lake Temple which will soon be closed.  I doubt I would have taken the opportunity to see it in the final months before it is closed for renovation if it had not been for being here with Miranda.

first trip for the trailer

I had not expected to take the trailer out until I returned from taking care of Miranda next week but I stoppped ut  by the house in order to take care of a few items .  Adam came by and suggested that we should take the trailer to the compost yard since we had a load of plum branches and sagebrush ready to go today. I trailer worked well and although she'll at backing the trailer into the driveway I pulled it in with the car are enough that we were able to move it in using a dolly it will be a lot easier when I receive my free old Jack

Tool Apron for Tevita

Today was Tevita's birthday.  I made a 'busy apron' for him using some things I had around the house: small scissors, a multinut tool, five crayons in a plastic box, to fill the pockets and a picture I created by making a picture of Tevita on Presentations and adding some clip-art representing cooking, building, and art.  I think he had hoped for a toy and was sort of bemused and disappointed, but his mother loved it.