OCTOBER 2015

Great news on the medical end here…I had an ECHO and my heart has improved quite a bit. The cardiologist is becoming more convinced that I was hit by a virus and that there is a chance my heart will return to normal. We both had our physicals this month as well. Haven’t had one this thorough since the 1970’s! One hour of tests and one hour of conferencing. So all checked out and doing well. I added a few dentist visits for 2 fillings and a crown. Guess I am catching up from a few years of neglect.

Two major projects this month: Plant the back yard and complete the front and back of the house with paint and gutters. The backyard we inherited was a lawn of crabgrass and Bermuda grass. I had been tackling it all summer and finally decided that it needed a major rototilling. We rented a machine from Home Depot and Rog went at it. We expected it to give us a lot of trouble with our clay soil but it got right through it and did a great job. I was able to rake up the crabgrass off the surface and can now dig up the new guys as they sprout up. I had researched drought friendly plants and had our list as we headed to the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale. We bought a bunch of plants and then finished the list off with a couple of visits to Green Acres. By the end of the month, all of the plants were in with mulch and one dose of compost tea and the “lawn area” was cordoned of with a brick ring and planted with a ground cover. Weather has been unseasonably warm so they got a few weeks of spring like days. Rain and colder weather is predicted for November.

Meanwhile, Rog took down all of the gutters, patched up holes and fixed wood problems. We spray painted the back, and hand painted the gutters. Rog used the back gutters as his training ground and had it pretty much figured out by the time he tackled the front. By the end of the month, all of the gutters were up, the trim and doors painted. It makes the house look so much nicer!! We are trying chains for downspouts and will have to see if it works out ok. If not, we can always put up real downspouts. So…on to the side walls.

The grandkids have been so busy with school and activities that we have suspended the Monday project days. We did take advantage of their Monday holiday on Columbus Day and made Halloween Oreo treats. Max’s date at the beginning of the month was a trip to Sierra College for their Mini-Maker Faire. It was the first one they have had so we weren’t quite sure what to expect but we had a ball. As we walked in, they were setting up a huge trebuchet and they asked Max to “shoot” the cantaloupe into the field. Then he raced a minibot, made a bunch of crafty things, tie dyed a shirt and played a few games. It was all geared to kids and they had just about everything. For lunch, we ate at the Mexican restaurant across the street from the college. Fun day! Max finished up his track season of one mile runs. He had some challenging runs in pretty hot weather but he did well, improving his time over the season. He also had a scout overnight trip to Santa Cruz. Karissa got to spend the night here since Michelle had to work so we had a fun evening together.

Rog’s karate group had their Karate Fest weekend. We did the grocery shopping for the BBQ dinner and Sunday morning breakfast. Always hard when you aren’t quite sure of the actual numbers. But it went well and there was plenty of food. I got visits from two of my sisters this month as well….Micki came by for a haircut before she took her travel group to Australia and Laur drove up for a fun afternoon and dinner. We had dessert at Michelle’s and then she drove the 2 hours back to Pleasanton.

We ended the month with a family lunch on Halloween and Pops joined a cat and vampire on their rounds that evening.