My week that was, Ups and Downs of New Roof and Hip Pain

The first photo shows some of the five roofers on our roof and their trucks. I didn't want to invade their privacy so I took the photo from across the street.

The above photo shows my house on the right and my neighbor on the left, they are gutting their house and adding an addition, so their house will be like new. Gutting means taking out all of the interior.
 

Starting Wednesday August 23 the roofers I hired came over to tear off our old roof and put on the new one. I had 3 companies come over and give me estimates and picked the one I liked the best. At 5 p.m. that very day I had sudden severe pain in my left hip. That evening and the next three days I could not walk, I only managed to hobble. Meanwhile the five man team of roofers are making lots of noise on the roof. Not very restful for me. This hip pain has happened bcfor including a year ago, at which time they took xrays and told me it is arthritis in my hips. Common for oldies like me.

The above photo shows on the right the new "forest brown" shingles, progress can be seen. The project is completed now with 7 full week days of work. Next up, someone to paint the fascia boards and then the contractor will come back and put up the gutters and downspouts in a couple weeks.

The above photo shows how everything in the garage was covered in plastic, and also the entire attic covered in plastic, even the floor, because the attic and garage are open beam and dust and debris seeps in when the old shingles are pulled off of the roof. The contractor said the dust could damage power tools, etc. The contractor said he does not allow his crew to go in attics, fortunately my sons went up there and did the plastic covering there and in the garage. I certainly couldn't. 

Below shows the completed roof. Completed roof, but now 200 linear feet of fascia boards (the white boards above the garage doors and all around the house) remain to be painted barn red, and then gutters and downspouts installed. 

 

What a week, so much pain in my hip and noise from the roofing. Oh how I love peace and quiet. To celebrate my handsome Forest Brown roof, shall I have a party and invite you all? We would not climb on the roof though.

Homicide Hills and The Undertaker and Puppy Welcome Mat at My House

 My cheery new dog welcome mat for in front of my front door gives people smiles when they visit me.

Some photos from two European TV shows I enjoy watching. The above is a screen shot I took from a delightful German TV series and shows the detective in her red convertible stuck behind a flock of sheep. She is a big city detective sent to the country in the Eifel Mountains to work. This show is all about a great and eccentric cast of local people. Her small crew of police often sit around the office bored to tears and hoping for a crime. Once in a while even a murder occurs and they are excited to try to solve it. Often the crime is on the lines of a missing bunny. I watch this on Hulu, 58 episodes.

 The above three photos are from the TV series The Undertaker and this is very character driven too, with the main character in the last photo being the undertaker who always gets drawn into solving crimes. The young man in the goth black suit and ruffled shirt mode plays Fabio who turns out to be a gifted addition to the staffing of the mortuary, and who is kind and creative with people. This is set in a small town in Switzerland. The main character is played by Mike Muller, a soulful actor who plays the overweight, grumpy and sometimes romantic lead. The first two photos show Fabio played by Reto Stalder, quite the handsome young man. I watch this on MHz Choice. 40 episodes.

This and That Photos

 

Bounce, bird bath in my back yard, peaceful place to sit in the gardens at my favorite coffee shop, wonderful book "Flash: The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me About Life, Faith and Second Chances" a true story written by Rachel Ann Ridge, Foreword by Priscilla Shirer (love her), and clouds near my home. Dori complimented the photographer of Bounce and said Bounce likes the photographer, that is so true, my oldest son took the photo.

A Busy Week and a Funny

 

This has been a busy week. Who knew being retired can be so busy? At this point, most things I do are things I choose to do and the people I spend time with are people I choose.

We celebrated my older son's birthday at our family's new favorite restaurant and our three nonalcoholic drinks were so pretty I took a photo, see above. Mine is the pretty lavender color drink at the front, it had Rose in its name and was delicious.

The next day I had lunch with my two long time friends of 25 years who I met while we worked at the university. We went to a restaurant that has Greek and middle eastern foods. They even have a dish I love, flaming cheese, which makes me happy. In an earlier post I shared a photo of flaming cheese, with its three foot tall flames at our table. That Greek restaurant closed and now I have found a new one that offers that entertaining dish.

The day after that I attended Women's Bible Study at church with ten wonderful ladies. The age range is 30 to 80, I am guestimating. Two of the ladies immigrated to the USA from other countries, Jamaica and the Philippines, and we are a diverse group, united in our love for Jesus and for each other. The group leader brings her one year old daughter who is a friendly youngster, and her daughter even sat on my lap briefly, Those were treasured moments.

And a funny for you. Some readers like when I type out the words, Remember Life's Most Valuable Antiques Are Dear Old Friends.

 

Now this little old lady wants some quiet time at home.

Johnny Jump Ups On My Patio and "Mapp and Lucia" Fun to Read

Do you have favorite flowers associated with childhood? One of my favorites is Johnny Jump Ups which my mom always had in her gardens. Now I grow them every year in mine.

These are growing in a big pot on our patio. I think they have cute faces. Lilacs and bleeding hearts were also grown in our gardens when I was growing up Do you grow flowers that remind me of favorite people?

 

Have you seen the two TV series of Mapp and Lucia? I enjoyed them and recently read "Miss Mapp" and "Lucia in London", both by E.F. Benson. I think the TV series were BBC productions. The author has a great knack for gentle humor, a comedy of manners and I like all the characters in the two small towns they are set in. Plus London in the second title. Miss Mapp and Lucia have some annoying competitive habits which add to the plots. I think there are six novels in this series, plus other authors have written more in the style of E.F. Benson, I read one titled Mapp at Fifty by Hugh Ashton and it was also excellent. A fun series to read any time, and especially if you need a pick me up diversion from worry or events.

Rose Campion Beauty, George Washington, Epoch Times

 

Rose Campion growing across the street from my house. I called them Purple Succulents until I learned recently they are Rose Campion and not succulents. I love that name, Rose Campion. Sounds like a name for a pretty English lass in a novel. People have had a love affair with this plant for centuries, and Rose Campion was grown in English gardens in the 1600s as shown in garden records and Thomas Jefferson wrote about growing Rose Campion in his gardens at Monticello in the 1700s.

Below is Bounce, to show the immense size of the pot the plant is growing in, plus of course every post needs a Bounce!

The bench also shows the size of the container, these are beautiful flowers. I have a few small ones in small pots and would like to have more in my garden. Happy gardening and flower admiring to you, my blog friends.

And here is the George Washington sculpture and quote from him, which I found in The Epoch Times, the newspaper I subscribe to which arrives once a week and is full of thought provoking and informative articles and columns from a conservative viewpoint. Epoch Times covers politics, history, art history, health, gardening, healthy cooking, religious freedom, has a puzzle page and comics, etc. I also subscribe to our local paper which is very liberal so I see differing viewpoints.

Sometimes people can not read words printed on an illustration posted online so I will include the words here. I learned about that difficulty reading on some online reading groups I am in, where the rules are that when you post a picture of a book cover you must also type out the author and title so all can read it.

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor." -- George Washington, first President of the United States

 

Walking Has Great Benefits, Thank Goodness

 

Recent books and studies show even more ways walking is good for me, thank goodness, I will take all the help I can get! Many of you readers know I walk with Bounce two times a day, and we love doing that. For health and enjoyment and a lift to my spirits. I read a recent article that says that moderate walking like I do can also build the white matter in the brain. That makes even more incentive for me to keep walking at my age. The above photo shows Bounce's coat with the word "Security". Below he is wearing a warmer coat.

 

Neuroscientist Shane O'Mara wrote a recent book "In Praise of Walking" where he shows data about how walking improves cognitive powers. For seniors like me and for all of us that is good news. One study shows that people who walk more than 4,000 steps a day (that's me) had healthier brain tissue in the area responsible for memory and cognitive function. 

Hurray for walking, and thank you Mr. Bounce. I know that lots of you enjoy walking, some of you hiking for long distances (hello Ilona, DJan and all). Anyone have a walking story to share in the comments?