GeorgeLesley

Stroke Survivor - male
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  1. GeorgeLesley

    Understanding good health

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    I don’t blog often anymore, but the topic I plan for this and the next blog is so important I plan another entry in a short time. I have been talking mostly about our travels, and as I write this Lesley is in Rome and will be home in a few days.
     
    But now to start what I think is a very important topic we do not deal with well. That topic is our nutritional health. For the past two years I have been studying whatever I could find on eating healthy and what benefits, if any, could be gained from eating well. First some background. Every cell in our body changes in seven years. I have learned that most individual cells die out and are replaced in just a few months, some in a day or so. Thus, what we eat and the lifestyle choices we make can gradually change the makeup of our body. This put me on the path to see if I could find solutions to some nagging questions I have had for many years about various health issues Lesley and I have. To that end I have recently completed a comprehensive course on nutrition and read several detailed scientific books on the subject so that I would be more informed on the subject and able to then draw my own science based conclusions.
     
    Four issues came to mind. 1st, Lesley’s beautiful hair began to fall out shortly after she received the third covid shot. I do not want this to become political, I just wanted to see if it could be stopped or if the shot had anything to do with it or not. After her hairdresser asked he if she was undergoing chemotherapy, and also reported that several of her other clients had the same problem, she went to our local doctor who confirmed that hair loss was a possible side effect of the shot. So, the issue then became can anything be done about it. I wish to make it clear that I am not giving medical advice, and what I found out about hair loss is not scientific proof the shot caused it. I will only say that we found some protocols that seem to have at least stopped it. Check one off the list.
     
    The 2nd issue is that Lesley’s gallbladder was removed along with her appendix at age 26. At the time, the medical thinking was that the gallbladder served no useful purpose so it was removed as a matter of routine. I wondered what if any long term medical issues might be caused by this. It turns out the gallbladder actually stores bile, which is created by the liver, so that it can be released as needed to digest fat in the food we eat. So the best diet for her is a low fat diet which explains why she has had a history of digestion problems in her life. It also explains some of the reasons the 3rd issue weight loss has been so difficult for her. Now that we know that, her weight loss program is seeing success. So issues 2 and 3 can be ticked off the list.
     
    The 4th issue is that eight years ago I was diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis. Which is something you really do not want to know a lot about. In some ways, it was more life altering in a bad way than my stroke was. Fortunately I found a diet that while unconventional and some would say strange, worked for me and completely controlled the disease and gave me my life back. The plan does however, have so inconsistencies in it that do not make scientific or common sense, but it does work. Being the curious type, I wanted answers to those inconsistencies, and maybe a way to resume eating a normal healthy diet again with lots of variety in it, not as narrow and strict as what I have been doing. I also had a concern that eating such a restricted list of foods might not give me all the nutrients I should have. Based on my research and my doctors advice, I am presently carefully transitioning back to a normal healthy diet with lots of variety. Weight loss is not a concern for me as my weight is normal. So far, so good. So I think I can tick number 4 off the list as a work still in progress, but nearly there. I should also say that soon we both will have very comprehensive blood tests so see if we have any nutrient shortages because of our diets and medical issues.
     
    So what else have learned that might be of interest to all of you readers? A lot, and I do mean a lot, but that will be for the next blog in a few days, this entry has gone on long enough. I promise the next blog will contain information of use to everyone. I only used our personal examples to explain why I have gotten so interested in the subject.
     
    Now time for tea
  2. GeorgeLesley

    New year

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    Well a new year is here again. So, anybody have any new year resolutions? None to report here sorry to say. But a quick catch up on what Lesley and I have been doing. Last April a week with the family, our son Stefan an his two daughters and us all met in London for a week. Then in August and September Lesley and I did two weeks in Norway, Sweden and a bit of Finland. We then met up with some friends in Paris and did a week river cruise from Paris to the Normandy beaches then back to Paris. We then rented a car and did two weeks in the south of France in the wine country and the Pyrenees mountains, then on to the Black Forest of Germany and then back to Paris and home.
     
    after we got back home our son Stefan decided to quit his job in NZ and travel around Asia for a few months. He really liked Thailand and will probably go back there. He is now with us and will be until the end of March. He has made the finished room above the garage into a music studio which has alway been a dream of his to have.  After he leavers us he will go to the UK and spend some time there working (he has Uk citizenship), and spend time with his daughters who both live there.
     
    Now a bit of medical news. The digestive issues I have had the past several years are back and seem to be pancreas related. This diagnosis comes from the results of several tests. The good news is that it is very controlled by just taking some enzyme pills with each meal to aid the digestive process. Other than that, all is good here medically.
     
     I walk our road about 2.5 miles most days. I have been looking at the same roadside trash for months thinking “somebody should clean this up”. A several weeks ago I decided that I should be that somebody. It took a week or so to get it done, but now I just use a small shopping size bag every few weeks to keep it clean. Just makes me feel better and the road looks better.
     
    Anyway that is our quick update, time for tea.
  3. GeorgeLesley

    It has been awhile

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    Glad to see the board back online. So much has happened, where to start. Well lets see, Lesley went to Costa Rica Last July for two weeks and loved it. She also met her granddaughter Paris, in Paris France for a week. In Feb last year. We also did another river cruise on the Rhône river in France, then a week in Barcelona Spain with a overnight trip to Andorra, and then a flight to Munich Germany where we rented a car and toured the alps of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Then back to Munich for the flight home.
     
    while in Italy we saw my old base Aviano, where I spent four years. We toured the Tuscany wine and olive region as well. In Switzerland we had some amazing experiences meeting people by accident that connected with my past travels there in the ‘70’s. We also saw the Alfa Romeo factory museum in Milan, something I have always wanted to see. in Germany Lesley and I dressed up in our German outfits and won first place in a costume contest at an Octoberfest celebration. 
     
    Now onto this year. I just finished a week tour of car/airplane museums in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan with a friend of mine I talked into coming with me. Lesley and I are off to Scandinavia in August and will drive around Norway, Finland and Sweden for two weeks, then a flight to Paris where we will meet up with some friends for a week river cruise to the beaches of Normandy. I will see the US  beaches and Lesley is going to the AnZac British beaches. Then we are going to drive around the south of France and back to the Black Forest of Germany, then back to Paris by way of Luxembourg. Then Paris to home.
     
    now the rest of the news. Lesley finally got to take her mum’s ashes back to New Zealand over the holidays. She stayed with our son there, but things are changing for him. Sadly he and his lady partner have decided to call it quits and the house is on the market. He has also decided to quit his job at the end of May. He, Les and I and the two granddaughters are all meeting in London for a week in April. Them I come home and Lesley goes on to Italy to see all the big cities we missed last fall. Our son will return to New Zealand for a few months and has been hired by a company he worked for at the Commonwealth games in Brisbane, Aus a few years ago. This time he will be doing the women’s world soccer championship in New Zealand. After a month of that he is going to Australia to visit old friends, then no plans. He finally has no responsibilities but to himself and is looking to continue to work jobs for this new company as needed around the world. We may well see him here in Tennessee sometimes. For those that wonder what he does, he sets up and manages the team that run the backup generators for large outdoor events.
     
    now some medical news. I will be having hernia surgery after returning from London. I also battled a return of my colitis during our week in Barcelona and two weeks of travel afterwards. My fault, I got lazy and did not follow my diet, but worked thru it, all good now. Lesley will also be having some surgery on her jaw, something is amiss there. She is also having a device implanted so she will no longer need a CPAP every night.
     
    i also have a few new hobbies. Many years ago I played pool on a table we had at the house I grew up in and also a few tables I have had over the years. We just bought one and Lesley and I both love it and play often. I still play the Dulcimer and have also started playing golf again, the first time since my stroke 17 years ago. I only play with two good friends and we play once every few weeks and play a very relaxed game with our own liberal rules. With all of these hobbies and travel I have not had much time to build models with my Erector and Meccanno sets but when all else fails, they will be there.
     
    well enough for now, tea time (I think Lesley may have fresh scones to go with it)
     
    P.S. while Lesley was in New Zealand I finally finished song in memory to a dear friend I lost two years ago. The video is on youtube. If you wish to see it and the one I did for Lesley’s mum just search for George Gradek on you tube. My four videos will pop up.
  4. GeorgeLesley

    Fragile Times

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    Our son in New Zealand several years ago cut a CD with his band he was part of then and they called it “Fragile Times”. I think that makes a great title for this blog entry yes the times are uncertain to say the least. I try as longtime readers will recall to be upbeat and positive, but am finding it harder all the time. So much is out of our control that we used to never even think about because it just happened like it was supposed to. I fear those days are over and we all must get used to and expect uncertainty in virtually everything. Yes the virus caused some of it, but I think much of the uncertainty we have in this world has much deeper roots than we can blame on the virus and was merely accelerated by the virus.
     
    So, enough gloom and doom. What to do about it? That is the question we all want an answer to and must personally each solve in our own way for our personal situation. For Lesley and I, sitting back and worrying and expecting the government to solve our problems is not the answer. So, we are getting on with our life and making some decisions we feel prudent for the times we live in. We have sold our motorhome, although I certainly did not want to. The prices for used motorhomes are high now, and I do not expect that to last because fuel prices are also going up and will someday collapse motorhome values. So we sadly sold it while we could.
     
    The times have also had an effect on our travel plans. We did not go to the wedding in Minnesota in Sept or the festival in October in Iowa that we planned because of selling the motorhome, but did make the wedding  in Indiana in Oct. most importantly we did do the trip to Iceland together in July. What a fantastic place! I have been in 33 countries now and rate Iceland as the most unique. Beautiful in it’s own different way, spectacular in ways I have never seen, and the people most friendly. We were able to go places and see things Lesley did not see on her trip in May. I would suggest any that can go there should make it a priority to do so while you can.
     
    we also squeezed in an unexpected two week river cruise on the Danube, Main, and Rhine rivers in Europe. Lesley cancelled her planned trip to Hawaii in Oct, and she finally talked me into going with her on a river cruise in November over thanksgiving. We boarded the boat in Budapest Hungary and ended in Amsterdam, Holland two weeks later. Amazing experience for both of us, first time either of us have been on any cruise ship. It will likely not be our last. I have been telling Lesley this past year that during and after this pandemic time, there will be short windows of opportunity for travel  and you must keep your bag packed and your powder dry as the saying goes. This trip was no exception. The cruise line completely paid for our air fares from our local airport to and from Europe. The price we paid for the cruise included daily covid testing for all of us (all were negative the entire cruise), shore excursions at all stops, and every other expense. They are desperate for business and the window of opportunity is briefly open. I do not expect it to last, some companies will not survive this uncertain time so be careful and always take out full money back insurance.
     
    The highlight of the cruise was meeting two couples that were traveling together. We met them accidentally and discovered we had much in common, both men were USAF retired as I am, had some common assignments and had probably seen each other many years ago. We had a lot to talk about, and shared many great times together in Europe. In fact, the couples live near St. Louis and invited us to come for New Years, so we did and just got back. We all have already booked another joint cruise with both couples and a third couple, friends of the other two,  in the South of France with a separate add on week in Barcelona, Spain Lesley and I suggested with an add on trip to the tiny country of Andorra for a day another place I have always wanted to go to. All three other couples agreed these were good ideas and have signed on. This trip is scheduled for Sept 2022. This experience makes my point: opportunities await, but will be fleeting. (In fact, Austria closed completely the day after our boat left Austria). Two months ago we did not know any of these people, now are best friends. Be ready and brave. Some scheduled things will not come to pass, but the time of living in fear is over, go forth, expect change, prepare for it, do what you can, do not let “Fragile Times” defeat you. If international travel is not possible or what you want to do, hold those important to you close and see them often. Create memories with those you like and love. That is far more important than all the “noise” in the world today we cannot control.
     
    as for what actions we all should take now I suggest taking some vitamin supplements, other meds if you wish to, if doing something or going to a place makes you uncomfortable rethink it.  (if anyone wants specifics about what we are taking, just message me privately), a bit late to do much about weight, but try if you can exercise and just get as fit as you can. Expect to get this new variant, I think nearly everyone will, the good news is that nearly all should survive it after a week or so of feeling poorly. Be positive, look to the future, control what you can.
     
    wow, I guess that is enough for now, maybe I should post more often and keep it shorter.
     
    Time for tea.
     
     
  5. GeorgeLesley

    Traveling while we can…

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    Well life has been busy here for sure. Lesley had a great time for two weeks in Iceland. She saw the volcano erupting there and many other things of interest. She has convinced me to go there in July. She wants to go back and see some areas she missed and I want to see it as well, so off we go. She went to Dollywood earlier this week with a lady friend of hers and that lady’s two twin grandchildren. After a swim upon arrival, the lady got a call and her father had passed away unexpectedly. So they all came back and Lesley hopped a plane yesterday to go see some family in Florida. She will be back next week. We will then start our final planning for our Iceland trip. We did go to a place called Maggie Vally, North Carolina last week with our motorhome and met some really nice folks that also travel with an RV. There were about twenty of us all together in the group. We will hopefully see them again someday.
     
    All seems to be going well here and we are making the most of our health and travel opportunities that present themselves while we can. As we all know, life changes unexpectedly so we are making the most of it while we can. While Lesley was in Iceland I did get my entire “honeydo” list completed and did even keep up my music practice and exercise regimen. The exercise is not particularly enjoyable, but I do enjoy the results and what it allows me to do that I do enjoy so I force myself to keep it up.
     
    I have gone thru an uncertain period in my music. When I started last year I did not even know if I would keep it up or had the basic skills to even play anything at all, so I set the bar low. Well I basically met the bar and now have been not sure where to go from here. No, I am not bragging, I am no great musician and never will be, but I have met the easy goals I set for myself at the time. I set the bar low because I did not know if I would want or could stay with it or not. So now I have been trying to decide what next? I have discovered that music is like most everything else, the first 80/90% is fairly easy, but the last part that makes you better and all you can be is not so easy. Rather like my stroke rehab. Initial improvements came relatively fast and fairly easy, the last parts not so much. Much work, less improvement. The devil is in the details as the saying goes.
     
    Some examples that will make the accomplished musicians on this board smile are small to them things, but large to me. When I first started playing, just being able to play every note in the correct order was all I was trying to accomplish. No thought was given to tempo, pauses, holding notes, etc. now I am trying to learn all of those items since that is what actually makes the song recognizable. I am also working on lead in and ending songs and not starting and stopping abruptly and also filling in pauses with something. All small things, but what make the music easy and fun to listen to, but as I am finding out, also take a lot of practice and effort.
     
    So our travels for the rest of the year after Iceland next month are back to Minnesota for a wedding in Aug/Sept, Lesley going to Hawaii in October, both of us going in the RV to October fest in Iowa in late September, and maybe another get together later in the fall with the group we stayed with last week in Maggie Valley, NC. Other than all that, not much else happening here.
     
    Time for a tea.
  6. GeorgeLesley

    Moving on with life

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    As I write this Lesley is traveling around Iceland in a rental car. She is on a two week adventure there alone and having a ball. She has fallen in love with the people and the unique countryside. I did not go because somebody had to take care of our 14 yr old dog Tippy. Just before Lesley left we unexpectedly had to put Tippy down. So I am actually alone now and we may go back to Iceland together at some point, she really wants me to see it. Being alone has given me a chance to catch up on many “honeydo’s”. 
     
    Lesley is still hoping she can return to New Zealand sometime later this year, but that remains to be seen. Now that they have an open “bubble” with parts of Australia there is hope. 
     
    We are also beginning to travel in our motorhome again. We spent a week in Amana. Iowa at a May festival and met several really great people. The festival was fun and the trip up and back was good. We did come back to Tennessee a somewhat longer way through Missouri and avoided driving on Interstates most of the way.
     
    next month we are making a short trip to Maggie Valley in North Carolina and in August we are going to Minnesota for a wedding. Then Lesley is off to Hawaii in October maybe alone, maybe not.
     
    as far as I am doing, all good at the moment. Health is good other than a few aches and pains. Working on the annual stuff that needs to be done on the motorhome, washing and waxing, lubricating lots of things, oil change, etc. just stuff to keep me busy. I did hire out the cleaning of the roof, as Lesley does not allow me on it anymore.
     
    Lesley just called rom a fjord on the East coast of Iceland. She is overlooking the ocean and now going for a walk around the small town. She had another hot spring bath today enroute to tonites stop. she could not be enjoying it more.
     
    anyway, time to go now.
  7. GeorgeLesley

    Spring awakening

    By GeorgeLesley,


    General
    Well spring is on the way, buildings going up near us. A neighbor has just finished a large out building to store his farm implements in. Also the vacant lot next to us is having a house built on it this year, construction to start soon. I hope they are prepared for the cost of building materials these days. Wow, have they gone up. Anyway life seems to be reawakening and so are Lesley and I. We both have been vaccinated now and are ready to start doing something, but hard to find a good place to go these days.
     
    Lesley has a severe case of cabin fever and really wants to go somewhere overseas, but most countries are still not accepting tourist type of travel even if you are vaccinated. She really wants to take mum’s remains back to her home of New Zealand, but that does not look likely this year. She is discouraged over that as she would like to be there in September for her son’s 50th birthday, but that will likely not happen.
     
    She has been looking at a do over trip to Hawaii which we did last year just before the pandemic started. She gets daily updates on what is possible now, but I expect her to wind up in Hawaii again soon. I will not be traveling with her wherever she goes since somebody has to take care of our 14 year old frail dog Tippy. Long time readers might remember just after my stroke I asked readers of this blog to help me out by naming the then puppy. A member of this board suggested Tippy and so the dog was named. That lady has the only picture of Tippy autographed by us when Tippy was a puppy. She has been a truly great pet for us and deserves special care now in her sunset years.
     
    i am trying to get out of a lazy funk I have slipped into with the self isolation we have been doing since this pandemic started. Now that we are vaccinated I feel I can start doing more, but now I just have to get the energy back. Outside honey do chores await and the usual springtime maintenance on the motorhome awaits me, washing, waxing, lubricate all sorts of things, oil change, etc, etc. fortunately I have spent the past year doing a lot of routine exercise so I feel good and have my strength back. No excuses I guess.
     
    my music hobby has been going well recently. Those readers that have played music for many years would likely laugh at my meager efforts, but I am seeing some progress. I am now learning how to chord which since my 75 year old left hand fingers do not move all that well is a real challenge. When I started playing a year ago I never expected to chord. I am now starting to play with a friend who has played for many years and that is really helping. Another trick I have learned is that before playing I put my left hand in warm to hot water for a few minutes. That seems to limber up the fingers and playing goes better. Another really neat opportunity unexpectedly came my way a few weeks ago. I was able to have a personal two hour lesson by a former national champion dulcimer player that lives a few hours away from us. We had a great time (I did anyway) and I learned sooooo much from him and the door is open for more if I wish to pursue it. I expect I will go see him a few times a year. It will take me several months to digest all he gave me to do.
     
    Medically we are both doing pretty well considering we are both in our 70’s and I am a stroke survivor. More aches and pains than we would like, but both still active and looking forward to whatever the new year holds.
     
    time for tea.
  8. GeorgeLesley
    At this time of year I like t evaluate the past year and see what worked and what didn’t. I then try t look ahead and see what we should prepare for and what I want to accomplish in the next year. So here goes.
     
    Obviously most of us would declare 2020 was a bad year not to be repeated. Since we all look at things through our own perspectives and our personal situation, we all probably have different thoughts about the past year. To start with I try to evaluate things that were within my control and things that were not. I don’t like to dwell on things not within my control since there is usually little I can do about them anyway, so why waste time and energy worrying about them?
     
    that being said, I do believe it is prudent to do whatever preparation we can for any concerns we have about the future, even that outside our control. Save money, do what we can to reduce any risks you perceive ahead, prepare for a “new normal”, change any personal behaviors that are not useful, start doing things within our control that are beneficial to us, etc.
     
    Surprisingly, when I look at the year just passed, I find not everything was bad. Yes, we lost mum, had to cancel some travel, had some things break around the house that needed repair, could not be as socially active as we wanted to be, but not all was lost. I find my “honey do” list is amazingly all done! My Amazon wish list is empty. Our bank accounts have never been higher. Because of extra time, we have both read far more than usual. I finally went to Hawaii and now have been to all 50 states. I also took the down time to get the cataracts removed from both eyes and can now see well again.
     
    most importantly to me personally is that my efforts at playing music have shown some results that a year ago I would have never believed possible. I recently read an article about a study done on babies and toddlers and how they learn fastest. The bottom line was that they learn through being persistent and always trying things just at the limit of what is possible for them. They get out of their comfort zone and are not afraid of failure.
     
    I can say now from personal experience that this strategy works for old guys as well. My musical progress was greatest when I left my comfort zone and tried new things. After a few weeks or months of trying some new things, I noticed they started becoming natural and easier, more automatic. Two weeks ago I picked out 4 new songs to learn, all requiring me to try new to me techniques. After only two days I could pretty much do them to my satisfaction. I had set the bar too low and made it too easy. This coming week I will pick out more challenging songs and force myself out of my comfort zone.
     
    i am reminded of the time after my stroke when I kept falling when trying to lift and carry my canoe. It took six months of hard sometimes painful effort. But in the end a few of you long time readers may remember my posting a picture here of me carrying my canoe. In the years since I had become complacent and did not try enough new challenges. Now that I have music as a hobby, finding new challenges is easy again.
     
    the point is not that I will ever become a great musician, I won’t, but I will spend the rest of my life enjoying trying to get better at it. So for this year I now have several new goals I am aiming for, because that is within my control. Remember, we can tell other people whatever we would like them to hear, but we cannot lie to the person we see in the mirror because that person knows the truth about us.
     
    i remember when I came home from the stroke rehab hospital in a wheel chair. Despair and bad thoughts were my companion. A month later I drove a few miles out in the open country. Then after that I drove 20 miles or so. Then a few weeks later, 50 miles, then 100 miles from our home to Duluth, MN, then finally a few months later both ways. Then six months later I met my main goal of carrying my canoe so I could go fishing again.
     
    my bottom line is for us to work on those things we CAN control, prepare as best we can for those things we cannot control, and always push ourselves to be at the very edge of what we can do, whatever that is.
     
    happy new year to all.
  9. GeorgeLesley

    Christmas video’s

    By GeorgeLesley,


    Music
    Just a short entry today. As I mentioned some time back I am trying to learn to play the mountain dulcimer. I started practicing a year ago and have made a bit of progress. I am self taught so not perfect by any means, but thoroughly enjoying myself. I just finished two Christmas videos and I wanted to share them here. They can be easily seen by going to youtube.com and just typing in my name, George Gradek. There will be three videos show up. “Christmas medley 1”, “Christmas medley 2”, and “ode to mum” which I came up with as I was practicing Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore the day after mum passed away. The words just came to me so you can view it if you wish.
     
    so now that is done, I am deciding what I will attempt next. Hope somebody enjoys the videos.
  10. GeorgeLesley

    Musings and random thoughts.....

    By GeorgeLesley,


    Kindness
    Recently this blog has become mostly historical reporting on what we have been doing and what we hope to do in the future. This entry will be a bit different, musings and thoughts that just come along, so lets get on with it. Most of us have had lots of extra time as of late to just think about things, read books, catch up with old friends which is easy because you are sure they will be home, eat into the “honey do” list, etc, etc. well, I am no different so while I have been stroking my beard covered chin musing about the state of the world, I have also thought much about my life (now75) and how things worked out for me.
     
    Well lets see, some worked out well for me. Two good lucky picks for wives. The first lasted 28 years before she passed, and now 19 years and counting with the second one. During my time with these ladies I have traveled to 30 countries and all 50 states. I have been nursed back from a stroke. I have lived my life dream of living in Northern Minnesota in the wilderness and fishing my summers away in a solo canoe. Both ladies have spoiled me rotten. Not sure what they got out of it, but since they stuck around I guess they got enough to keep them satisfied. 
     
    A comment from the first wife summed it up nicely. As the end was nearing and we both knew it, I asked her one day that since we can still travel at the moment, is there anyplace you would like to go or is there anything you still want to do? After a long pause, she looked at me and said “no, I think we have done it all”. I was dumbfounded but happy. She passed a few months later, finally at peace. I made a lousy bachelor and Lesley and I married 4 months later.
     
    So far there has been no need to ask anything like that of Lesley. But her mum lived with us for the last three years of her life. One evening as she drifted off to sleep we heard her talking to God. We heard her say among other things, “God, I am ready to go, no regrets”. That was the second lady in my life I heard have such peace facing the future. As she spent the last five days with us in a coma, we confidently whispered in her ear, “it’s OK mum, you can go now, God is waiting for you”.
     
    So where does this leave me? Well, still pondering. Yes life has had it’s great moments for me, a few wins where I was blessed enough to hopefully make a difference. Sadly, I can also recall times where I missed the opportunity or was, even worse, the actual problem or part of it. Hopefully I have learned from those failures and will attempt do better in the future. 
     
    Where to go from here, well I have decided to be more giving by nature. Sounds easy, but in practice the old spirit can rear it’s ugly head. A longtime friend of mine told be he carries 3-4 $100 bills in his wallet and his goal is to give them out every year as the spirit gives him the urge. I have not started that program, but am now always on the lookout for opportunities to do good things. Recently three children that lived next to us were abandoned by their parents. The great grand parents stepped in and took them. We were able to help and still do so from time to time as we can.
     
    i tell you folks this not to garner praise but to alert us all that opportunities like this exist all around us if we but open our eyes and hearts.
    I find the more I do, the more happiness I find. The more I realize it is not about me but someone else, the happier I get. My tipping has gone up. No longer do I worry about the exact percentage, but just do what seems right. Not trying to brag here, just share a source of joy I have found that we can all share in. I think with the state of affairs the world is in today, it would be a better place if more of us did these sort of things. Yes, we all have dark times and things we would like to be better, but if we look around we will not have to look far to find someone worse off than ourselves.
     
    now it is time to practice my music I started a year ago. I am trying to put together a Christmas medley. That is one thing I would start sooner in life if I could live it over. I really enjoy it.
     
    Well, the musings are over for today, let us all try this next year to try and find someone or something that needs our help. Bye for now.....
     
     
     
  11. GeorgeLesley
    Sad to report that Lesley’s mum has passed away. We had felt she was at that point several years ago but she was a strong resilient lady. This time however she had a massive stroke and slumped over and never spoke or moved effectively again. After 5 days with no food or water since she could not swallow, she died peacefully and in no apparent pain. She did open her eyes one last time with her last breath.
     
    we are of course sad. We are relieved she went without apparent physical suffering. It was, of course difficult for us but we got through it. We kept the family well apprised of what was happening and because of the mess the world is in at the moment they were not able to be here with us.
     
    now Lesley and I are slowly doing what must be done. Probably next year when the border restrictions are hopefully lifted, Lesley will take her remains back to New Zealand and she and our son will scatter her ashes where her late husband was scattered. And there will be a memorial service there as well. She was bright and coherent until the last 5 days of unconsciousness. She even wrote a letter and read a book the day the stroke ended things.
     
    As for Lesley and I, we are just planning what we will do now with the bittersweet freedom we have in our lives. Obviously we knew the day was coming but find little consolation in that knowledge. She will be missed terribly by many.. she was 97, 98 in September.
  12. GeorgeLesley

    Waiting it out

    By GeorgeLesley,

    We are waiting things out like the rest of the world these days. Lots of small news nothing dramatic to report. We got our grand daughter back home to New Zealand finally. She was trapped for a few weeks in Northern Ireland. She was visiting family and stayed a bit too long and then for awhile could not get back to NZ. We finally got her a ticket on Qatar Airlines and she is back home now, but still in a mandatory 2 week isolation. The entire country of NZ is in a lockdown until the end of April anyway so no matter.
     
    On a different subject mum is showing signs of change and appears to be losing ground. To be expected, she is 97! Has had several mini strokes, probably TIA’s. Still mostly ok but not mobile anymore. Wheelchair only now. Still of good spirit but does not read books much anymore or write letters like she did. We do not take her out of the house anymore. Conversations with her are much simpler and shorter than before, but her personality is still as sweet as ever.
     
    Lesley and I just keep chugging on day by day, all of our planned travel is either cancelled or on hold at the moment. I go out for supplies once a week, Lesley stays with mum. Nobody gets into our house for any reason at the moment and we only go out when vitally needed, then with gloves and mask, etc. we just cannot risk bringing anything home and getting mum infected. We are also at risk since we are both over 70 ourselves, Lesley having had her 70th birthday earlier this month.
     
    I have been busy doing some long delayed chores on the motorhome and will be doing more when it warms up a bit such as oil change, grease job, installing a few new brighter lights, and wash and wax. That is a big job since it is 34 ft long it takes me two days to do it, but not much else to do now anyway.  It has also been a very good time to exercise regularly. I now Do about an hour and a bit every two days and am feeling as fit as an old guy can feel!
     
    It has also been a good time to practice my music. I hav been practicing nearly everyday for an hour or so and it is paying off a bit. I have been really trying to play a few songs without using sheet music but play from memory. Not easy for me to do, but with practice and repetition it is working. I have also been reading a book on “self talk” which describes how to program our brain for success and not failure. I was skeptical at first, thinking it was just another motivational self help book, but it is actually much simpler, the theory makes sense to me, and so far seems to be helping some.
     
    Anyway, I am really enjoying trying to play music, something I never thought I would or could do and now am doing a bit of, having fun and enjoying having taken on a new challenge at age 74 and actually having a bit of success and enjoying it. Go figure!
     
    Like everyone else I wonder what has happened to our world and if or when it will get back to what it was. My opinion is that it will be forever changed, better in some ways and worse in others. I suspect that travel will be different, as will higher education and probably all education will be affected more at home , less on campus which will prove to be far cheaper, more work at home, less business travel, more awareness of personal hygiene in public which will lower the death rate of seasonal diseases. Most of this will be good.
     
    the bad is that some businesses will not survive. Cruise ships will have to change or die. Air, rail, bus, mass transit, and boat travel will all struggle to become accepted again. Social gathering in public places, retail stores, even large private gatherings will be awhile returning to the new normal. Sports will be forever changed in ways I cannot predict, but the human need to compete will bring sports back in some form. My biggest concern is for the economy. There will be changes, spot shortages, supply line changes and disruptions lots of unemployment, and even some political uncertainty. I hope I am wrong on all of this, nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong. Some of the experts I read are saying deflation is coming, some say inflation is coming. Both are bad, pick your poison. My best advice is get out of debt if possible and stay that way.
     
    Anyway, life will go on, some of the changes that are happening wil be for the better, some not.
     
    For now, it is time for mum and I to have a cup of tea.
     
    bye for now
  13. GeorgeLesley
    The rv trip I had mentioned to Texas is now complete. All in all a good trip. Mum handled it well but it is likely her last trip in the motorhome. She had an increasingly  Hard time moving about and her interest level seemed less than before. So Lesley and I have decided that we will just take shorter trips from now on and leave mum with a local caregiver she has become good friends with.
     
    The trip was about 2500 miles altogether and we got to see some friends in Louisiana for a few days on the way home. Several minor things broke on the motorhome but all were fixed while still on the road. We stopped in a small town called Red Bay, Alabama on the way back and had most everything that needed fixing fixed. It is the town where Tiffin motorhomes are made. Ours is not that brand, but the local shops can fix almost anything on any brand. We went to a mostly German area of Texas called Fredericksburg and spent New Years there with some other RV friends. Saw a great WWII museum there and got to wear our German outfits. Lesley her Drindle dress and me my Lederhosen and suspenders.
     
    we took our musical instruments along and practiced and played some. Practice was hard because as soon as I started practicing some people would hear it and show up at the RV and expect me to play songs. At this stage my practice is mostly doing small exercises and not complete songs, so is not easy on the ears! We did however both take our lap harps and show them to our friends in Louisiana. Soon both were playing them with the “cheat sheets” we have for the harps and a good time was had by all.
     
    now we are back home I am seriously practicing again and learning more all the time and enjoying myself immensely. I can only play a few songs fairly well at the moment, but getting better day by day. I am learning to use my left hand (stroke side) a bit more, but it will never be able to play an instrument normally but I can do enough with it to play the Mountain Dulcimer ok. The main thing is that I am having a ball doing it, no matter how it sounds.
     
    Now that we are home again I am forcing myself to exercise again. Not my favorite thing to do but I do enjoy the benefits of being able to do things I enjoy. 
     
    Next month Lesley and I are going to Hawaii for a week, and that will complete all 50 states for me. Lesley completed her 50th state when we went to Alaska a few years ago. Other than Hawaii  We don not have any major trips planned this year, but will likely go to a music festival   Or two along the way.
     
    enough for now, just a word of sorrow for Sue’s great country fighting massive fires. Best wishes, prayers with you all.
  14. GeorgeLesley

    New hobby continues

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Well my new hobby of playing a mountain dulcimer is moving along very well at the moment. I have been practicing for three weeks now and can play 4-5 songs poorly. Mainly I am having fun and it has rubbed off on Lesley. She has got her dulcimer out and is practicing with me. Playing together has really helped me as she has played off and on now for many years so I am learning from her. Last week She and I went to a day long workshop in the store where I bought mine. Much of it was over my head, but I did pick up several good tips and now have a better idea of where I want to go with the hobby.
     
    i have a much better practice plan now and am more focused on the basics. I won’t be playing in public for a long time but may join the dulcimer group at the local seniors center in the future.
     
    i have learned that picking a hobby is much like my stroke recovery was in the early years. What I mean by that is try until you find what works for you. When I was early in my stroke recovery I tried just about everything I heard of, some worked, some did not. This is my second major new hobby I have tried in the past few years. The first was ham radio. I gave it about six months of serious effort, passed two license exams, bought good new equipment, joined local clubs, but in the end it just was not for me.
     
    i have come to realize in life that if something is not working for you in spite of your best efforts, perhaps it is time to try something else. So, I gave up the ham radio and here I am trying to play music now. The good news is that I am really enjoying this and can see real progress. Easy? No, it takes effort, for me about one hour a day at the moment. Just like my stroke recovery. Longtime readers may remember carrying my canoe in the woods of northern Minnesota was my goal. It took six months of intense rehab, but I still carry it to this day at age 74. Not everything in that rehab worked, but enough did to accomplish my goal.
     
    my other hobbies are driving and working on our motorhome. I still do the oil changes and grease jobs, wash and wax it with Lesley’s help and as much other work as I can although I do not get on the roof anymore. I also have started building models with my Erector and Meccanno construction toys again. The instructor at the music shop I go to also does outdoor photography and I have gone out with him a few times.
     
    So, all in all I have nothing to complain about except my tea cup is empty.
     
    bye for now
  15. GeorgeLesley
    I am still recovering from the loss of my best male friend last month, but slowly getting some better. His widow has called for help a few times, but not much. That makes me feel like she is finding her own way thru the grief and that is a good thing. I am quite willing to help, but will only do so when asked.
     
    On another note (pun intended), long time readers may remember a blog I wrote in 2014 about wishing I could play a musical instrument. The Essence of the blog was that I have always envied those that can just jam away with reckless  abandon playing an instrument. To set this up, first of all I have no known musical talent. Logic, math, science, mechanics, etc, etc, that’s me.
     
    well for several years now I have watched Lesley play a mountain Dulcimer on occasion. I have wondered if I could play a simple stringed instrument. My concern has always been that since my stroke in ‘06 my left hand fingers move, but not quickly so playing an instrument that requires both hands to be active would be a problem for me.
     
    fast forward to now. A few weeks ago I went to a new music shop that just opened up in our small town. The owner plays and teaches the mountain dulcimer and Lesley knows him. So I went to his shop and talked to him about playing and explained my problem. He smiled and told me that the mountain dulcimer was designed to play only one string with the left hand. Eureka! All I have to do is slide one finger on my left hand back and forth stopping where desired to create the intended note. No multi finger cording with three fingers moving at once needed. Strumming with my right hand is no problem.
     
    So, I bought a very good used mountain dulcimer and a book and few other odd bits and am now practicing some everyday. My song list is limited to a few simple ones at the moment, but I think I can slowly learn to do this thing. I can get lessons at the store and have 4 free ones coming with the instrument. So far I have just practiced at home to get familiar with it. Now I know enough to at least ask questions and have some idea of what he is talking about. When I stumbled thru the first song by myself I really felt as though I had accomplished something I had dreamed of all my life but really did not think I could do. 
     
    Lesley has started to slip into my practice room now as well when she hears me practicing. I always let mum know when I am going to practice so she can remove her hearing aids! I will not be doing any concerts anytime soon as my song list is all of two songs at the moment, but hey I have only been at it two weeks.
     
    so one more thing off the bucket list and a new hobby found, something that both Lesley and I can do perhaps together in the future.
     
    well guess that is it for now, just had to crow a bit about another fantasy actually coming to pass.
  16. GeorgeLesley

    Bummed out

    By GeorgeLesley,

    We just attended the funeral of my best male friend of over 30 years. We went thru so much together, he was at bedside when my first wife passed, I was with him thru his divorce, present wife and I were married in his house by the preacher that preached my first wife’s funeral, both he and his now widow asked me to counsel with them before they were married, etc, etc. he and his now widow were happily married for over 20 years. He was too young, only 62.

    He and I could and did talk every month for usually over two hours about everything and nothing. His widow is now asking for my assistance in settling things and helping her set up he finances. A task that will be as difficult as any I have ever done, but I must do to fulfill my promise to him and her made long ago.

    He had cancer and from what we all expected, he would have some good time after what appeared to be a very successful treatment regime. Not to be. He passed two weeks after treatment was completed. Shock, misery, anger, no words to describe how I feel now with no desire to “get over it and move on”

    Thanks for letting me rant.
  17. GeorgeLesley

    Clouds gathering

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Been awhile since I blogged. Things happen. We have been busy, but more on that later. The huge issue for us now is that a very, very good friend of mine of over 30 years has lung cancer. He has finished chemotherapy and radiation. There has been some improvement but not much. I have done a fair amount of research on the subject and did not find much encouragement. I just do not have any other words to say about it at the moment.
     
    on a brighter note, we just celebrated mum,s 97th birthday. She is doing well indeed. Still sharp as a tack mentally. A bit slower physically, but still a great joy to have living with us. I would say that the past 2 1/2 years having her live with us has made them among the best years of my life.
     
    lesley and I went to a wedding of a niece of mine last month. It was in Indiana and we drove my red Mazda miata with the top down most of the way. We had a great time, just the two of us. We also did a week roaming around Ohio in July. We went to the annual Erector set convention (like Meccanno construction toy) in Akron, Ohio. We also visited friends in Cleveland and saw two museums there and also two near Dover, Ohio. Lesley drove her White Miata that trip and again the top was down most of the way. We avoided the interstates on both trips and saw a lot of neat small towns and interesting people and places. We stopped in Williamsburg, KY and saw the Ark display. Wow, what a sight.We had a caregiver stay with mum for both trips. She and the caregiver have become really good friends, and I am not sure if she missed us or not while we were gone.
     
    we have a few other trips planned. One with the motorhome to the Smoky Mountains near Dollywood, about two hours away. We are also planning a trip with the motorhome over New Years to Fredericksburg, Texas. Mum will come with us on both trips. Then Lesley and I are going to Hawaii in February. Mum and the caregiver will hangout in Tennessee then. After that no immediate trips planned but I am sure something will come up next year. We have joined a group of fellow RV’ers that have what they call “Hangouts”. They are casual, pot luck gatherings with no format and we all just hangout around the campfire and eat and chat. OK, some also have a bit to sip.
     
    we have a miniature peach tree that was here when we bought the house in 2015. It was a few years old and produced about 50 delicious peaches the first year in 2016. Nothing since then. I told Lesley last winter that if there are no peaches this year, down it goes. It must have heard me. So far in the past week we have harvested over 500 peaches from the thing and still some to go. Lesley is busy stewing and freezing them. I pick, she fixes. Glad we like peaches.
     
    well guess that is all for now, my tea cup is empty.
  18. GeorgeLesley

    Life update

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Been awhile since I blogged so here goes. I did my trip in August to see my longtime friend in Texas. He is doing well, still has some reading deficit but getting better. No other issues at this time. We had a great visit, he took me to the Ft Worth stockyards and I rode a long horn bull! From there I went to see some other friends in Louisiana for a few days and saw the WWII museum in New Orleans. I drove the trip alone, just me and my Mazda Miata with the top down most of the time and my favorite music going. Fortunately there was nobody along to listen to my singing.
     
    Some sad news, another very longtime friend has some significant health issues. He is 11 years younger than I am but life has not been as kind to him as it has to me medically. I just made another friend by accident recently. He is the husband of the lady we hire to take care of mum when Lesley and I need to leave her alone for a 1/2 day or more. We really hit it off right away but unfortunately he also has major health issues and is 20 years younger than I am. I also recently looked up a couple I knew over 40 years ago while stationed in Italy. Very sad news there, he is a bit younger than I and just diagnosed with terminal cancer. Wow, so much bad news among guys I know about my age! 
     
    I am most thankful that my health is at the moment very good. Stroke survivor yes, colitis sufferer yes, but all in all very healthy and grateful for it. Seems like the past several months since I had a heart ablation and a pacemaker implanted and I have been able to start exercising again most days I really feel great. I can tell my body missed the exercise I missed during the heart surgeries and our Alaska trip.
     
    i have a few other “guy” trips planned and will take another guy along if I can find a healthy one. There is a college baseball tournament in May I may go to, it has been on my bucket list for many years, and it looks like to me I should get on with doing whatever is on my list. In June Lesley, mum and I are going to Minnesota so I can get my fishing fix. On the way back we plan to take mum to the Auburn car museum in Indiana so she can relive the memories she has of her late husband Bill and her driving in the Auburn car they once had in New Zealand.
     
    then in July me and my Miata are heading to the A.C. Gilbert Historical Society convention in Akron, Ohio. He invented Erector sets for young boys like me to build with and many other toys for young lads to enjoy. I hope to see a “tractor pull” while in Ohio, another “bucket list” item.
     
    maybe a fall trip after that in the motorhome with all three of us and the two dogs to somewhere, maybe the Ozark’s of Arkansas and Missouri.
     
    mum is now 96, 97 in September. She is hoping to get her 100 year old letter of congratulations from the Queen which members of the British Commonwealth get. Her health has greatly improved since our return from Alaska. At this point I think she may just get her letter. I wouldn’t bet against her. I can also say that the best two years of my life have been the last two since she has come to live with us. I would not say that about all mother-in-laws, but her, yes.
     
    anyway, enough for now, life is very, very good here, even though we are unworthy.
     
    time for tea.
     
    P.S. I forgot to mentioned we had the privilege of hosting two disabled vets a few days ago for one night,that or part of a group of 10 such vets currently hiking the Appalachian Trail which runs over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. 
  19. GeorgeLesley
    We have completed our Alaska and Canada trip about a week ago. I have attached a few pics of the trip (I think). It was everything we had hoped for and more. We left Tennessee May 4th and got back in mid July. From TN we went to Iowa for some minor repairs to the motorhome at the factory and then on to the corn palace in Mitchell, SD. Neat place. Then on to Devils Tower, Wyoming. From there on to Banff. Alberta, Canada. Mum loved every minute of it she was like a machine gun firing out questions about everything we saw. Kept Lesley and I on our toes!
     
    Lesley and I shared the driving everyday. I drove in the morning as I am fresher then and she drove in the afternoon. Lesley took a driving lesson last year with our motorhome and so I had complete confidence in her driving ability. She drove up and down the mountains without any problems and did a great job of shifting gears, etc. Mum was the wildlife spotter in the passenger seat.
     
    from Banff we went to Jasper, and the Icefield parkway between the two is spectacular. Mum saw an avalanche in progress on the way. From Jasper we went into British Columbia into very remote areas., Prince George, Pink Mountain, Fort Nelson Laird River and a few others. We went into Northwest Territories and saw the buffalo there. Very remote area.
     
    we took the Alaska Hwy to Whitehorse, Yukon and stayed a few. Days and hit a Walmart to restock. We saw large beards of buffalo, many bears, moose, elk, caribou and some other things. We did see a mommy black bear with three cubs in tow. Neat! We camped on lakes and true wilderness. Finally on to Alaska to a town called Tuk. And then on to Fairbanks where Lesley and I took a flight in a small plane north of the Arctic Circle and saw the midnight sun. Then on to Denali National Park and mount McKinley. 
     
    Then on to Homer, Alaska and George went fishing for Halibut and sea bass. Yum! Then on to Seward and the Fiords National Park via a cruise ship. We then wrapped up Alaska and returned to Whitehorse, Yukon. Our plan was to head to Dawson City, YK for some gold panning and then back to British Columbia. Unfortunately at that point mum started to have what we think were TIA’s. We immediately headed south to get back into the lower 48 states as soon as possible.
     
    after three days of hard driving thru Canada we were back in the USA and four days later were back home in Tennessee. We called the local doctor while still on the road and he agreed to make a house call and did so the day after we got back. He diagnoses likely TIA’s and heard some fluid in her lungs. He increased the Lasix and suggested oxygen. Since then she has recovered well but we are staying close to home for awhile.
     
    we all loved the trip and are most happy we did it even though we had to shorten it a bit. We have created memories that will be with all of us forever. Mum’s late husband Bill would have been happy so see what we did and I can only hope he was looking down with a smile.
     
    on the medical side, both Lesley and I are well, I am a bit out of shape due to lack of exercise and so will spend the next several months working out most every day. An exception will be for a short trip I will be taking next month to see a longtime friend in Texas. Lesley and Mum both tell me to go so I guess I will.
     
    well have to go now.
     
     
  20. GeorgeLesley
    Well after my pacemaker implant healed up and now works fine, I also had a heart ablation. The pacemaker keeps the low resting pulse good and the ablation keeps the high pulse steady without meds. So, we are now on the road again heading ultimately for Alaska. We left Tennessee the 4th of May and are now in central Montana for a few days. Lesley’s mum is handling the trip very well, the motorhome is performing great and all is good here now. A few days here in a town called White Sulphur Springs, MT at the base of the Little Belt mountains and we will be moving on to Shelby, MT and then on to Banff, Alberta, Canada for a week.
     
    after that on to Jasper, Alberta for a few days, and then a few weeks of roaming around British Columbia. After that, on to the Yukon and finally Alaska for a month or so. Then a slow return South on a path yet to be determined but will likely include a trip across southern Canada thru Winnepeg and maybe a stop where we used to live in Northern Minnesota. Should be back in Tennessee sometime in August.
     
     
    we had talked about this trip for many years but never seemed to get it done. Then when Lesley’s mum came to live with us it was decided. She and her late husband had always wanted to ride the rails across British Columbia thru the mountains, but never were able to do it. Lesley and I had planned to see the Canadian Maritimes, Nova Scotia and some other provinces this spring and go to Alaska and British Columbia next year, but now that mum is living with us we just flipped the trips and will do the Maritimes next year so we can fulfill mum’s dream with our motorhome this year.
     
    so we are blessed with good health, a wonderful 95 year old mother to travel with, and the opportunity to do so. I have nothing to complain about, life is very, very good to me at the moment. Yes I had a stroke, yes I still have some deficits and still take a few meds, but all in all life is being good to us.
     
    time for a tea.
  21. GeorgeLesley

    Good news

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Some of you know that Lesley’s 95 yr old mum has come from New Zealand to live with us in TN. The day after Christmas we got a most welcome surprise, her Green Card has been approved and she is now a permanent US resident.we are all ecstatic to say the least. Although we expected it to go thru, it was still in the back of our minds, what if.... but now, all is well on that front. Having her here is such a joy and blessing to us all.
     
    this may change our travel plans with the motorhome. Mum dearly loves to travel in it and see the USA. She is so bright and asks a million questions about everything she sees. On a recent trip to Branson,MO for vets week as we were coming back she saw cotton fields being harvested in Mississippi. We stopped and got her some fresh cotton. She considered it a real prize. We also passed by some catfish farm ponds which she found interesting. Never a dull moment with her and Lesley around!
     
    our planned winter trip to Texas got canceled because I started to have uncontrolled afib. Off to a cardiologist and then two weeks of a heart monitor and then told I needed a pacemaker. A few days later it was in and done. I must admit I feel and look better afterwords. In a few more weeks the healing should be finished and we may reschedule some sort of RV trip. Mum and I are now healthy, but Lesley may need a knee replacement so all is on hold pending where that goes.
     
    so that is a quick catch up on our life here in TN. Got to go now, a cup of tea is calling........
  22. GeorgeLesley

    Life with mum

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Lesley's mum now is settling in with us. She is accepting her new life here in TN, a big change from 94 years of living in New Zealand. We can detect some homesickness, but she knows that moving here was her only alternative other than a NZ nursing home. She is very bright, mentally amazingly sharp, no memory issues, and still able to get around with a cane and walker. A few naps during the day and she is refreshed and active all day. Amazing.
     
    We just completed a month long trip in our motorhome with mum. When she got here I put a chair lift in the motorhome for her use. Amazingly she seldom needs it. Lesley and I get on each end of the stairs into the motorhome and she gets up or down the stairs with one of us pushing and one gently pulling.
     
    our trip was up to Wisconsin for a week with friends, then on to Iowa for some work on the RV at the factory. We then went to the wonderful town of Amana. Lots of things to see no do. A planned day stop turned nto several days. We then went thru Illinois to Shipshewanna, Indiana. A planned three day stop became almost two weeks. I grew up nearby in the Elkhart, IN area and was able to show mum where I lived, worked and played. We stopped by the grade school I went to for four years and asked if they had anything on classes in the early 1950's. The lady said no, but after thinking about it she came up with some PTA meeting minutes. My mother was mentioned in them a few times. What a neat trip down memory lane!
    I was also able to show mum where I lived as a five year old in a house trailer and walked 10 blocks alone everyday to and from kindergarten. The school and trailer park are still there. I felt pretty good about my memory still being able to find these places considering I was five and that was 67 years ago!
     
     
    we then drove back home over two days, stopping in Kentucky for the night. Lesley drove about 1/2 the time and did her share of dumping the tanks, and hooking up the water and electric. All in all, an really memorable trip. That is the essence of traveling in an RV, creating memories. It is not going from point A to point B via the fastest route. We avoid interstates when we can, seldom go thru any large cities, and stick to US and State highways. So much more to see and do. Lesley has learned to navigate well and between us we get it done. Often times we have no plan as to where we will stay that night, but we always find somewhere!
     
    Mum is always agreeable to whatever we do. Our last day in Shipshewanna, Indiana, Lesley asked me if she should wake mum up from her nap and take her to town again, I told her I thought mum just needed a day of rest. So Lesley went on her own, I think she also needed a day alone. When mum awoke she and I had some good mother-in-law/son-in-law time. Another irreplaceable memory created.
     
    we expect to be home now until November when we are planning a week in Branson,Mo which is veterans week. Then back home and not sure after that. We had planned three weeks in Corpus Christi, TX over Christmas but the hurricane hitting there a few weeks ago may change that. We will find somewhere.
     
    well, my coffee cup is empty so time to go.
  23. GeorgeLesley
    Lesley's mum is now here and settling into life in North East Tennessee. She handled the long flight from New Zealand to Los Angles very well. She and Lesley spent 5 days there resting and spending time with relatives. A 5 hour flight here and all is now going very well. The paperwork and medical exam are in the hands of the immigration lawyer and mum's health is good. She has a nanny nap once or twice a day and awakes bright and cheerful
     
    What a joy it is to have her with us at this time in her life! Lesley has been taking her all over the local shops and we have been spoiling her every day. We spent last weekend in Atlanta with some relatives and she was the center of attention. Lesley and mum are sharing many special mother/daughter hours together everyday. I rather stay out of the way and do as I am told. I have never eaten better!
     
    Before she arrived I put a short hand rail by the only two steps in our house and they have worked out well. It is all she needs to get up and down them without assistance. We just hover nearby. This week I will be putting the seat lift in the motorhome so she will not have to deal with stairs getting in and out of it. She is excited and cannot wait for us to get on the road again soon. We plan to be traveling in late June for a month or so, depending how she handles it.
     
    the dogs have become very protective of her and are always nearby.
     
    well, I must go now, just a quick update here.
  24. GeorgeLesley
    Lesley is preparing to go back to New Zealand next week, April 3. She will be there three weeks. Then, surprise, surprise, she will be selling the house and bringing mum back to live with is permanently! Mum has initiated the conversation this time all by herself. She is now lonely and feels deserted. The two great grand daughters have both passed thru her house on short term stays in the past 8 months and both are busy living their lives. One is 20, the other 18. So, school, jobs, boys, etc are more important than spending much time with nana.
    The pace of the life of the young ones has left her puzzled, wishing for days gone by, and most of all lonely for someone just to spend an evening with her. The grandson is also living his life with a new girlfriend and job, band, etc.
    thus she has opted to come spend her last days (she is 94)with us. She still lives in a three bedroom house alone, fixes her own meals and with a walker gets around pretty well. Her mind is sharp as a tack. We had noticed in the past few months she was becoming somewhat despondent in her daily call from Lesley. Now since making the decision to come here her voice is full of excitement and hope that had bee lacking for awhile.
    i have been in contact wil an immigration lawyer, and all is set up there to get her permanent residence status and health insurance. That process should take 6 months or so.
    She did travel with us in the motorhome before when Lesley was a full time travel nurse about 12 years ago. Mum loves to travel and is already talking about doing so again. I am putting an electric lift in the motorhome to give her easy access and so she and us will not have to worry about steps. Exactly where we will go is now up in the air since she cannot go out of the USA while her permanent resident status is being finalized. So the trip to the Canadian Maritimes we had planned this fall is on hold for a year or two. She has always wanted to see the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, so as soon as we can do that with her, that will be the next big trip outside the USA.
    So, that is our big news. Lesley is off with a girlfriend getting her hair pretty for the trip to NZ next week Since I do not have that need, I am home with the dogs watching the blue birds nest in the new birdhouse I just put up. We now have three bird houses up just the right size for bluebirds, and all have a lot of activity today as spring is son coming here.
    my coffee/tea cup is empty, so bye for now....
     
  25. GeorgeLesley

    Back on track

    By GeorgeLesley,

    Well the MRI is done and all is well. The spot on the liver is harmless according to the dr. Just a broken blood vessel. So all the travel plans have been reset and modified. We are now leaving the day after the Super Bowl. Lesley has reset her driving lesson and rebooked the campground for us. It is sooooo nice to have her helping to do such details without me having to do it all. She is now more computer literate than I am in some areas. The trip had to be shortened to three weeks because Lesley has an aunt in California who turns 90 early in March. We will be back then so she can fly to the party for her aunt. The dogs and I will hold the fort here. Because of the shortened trip we will be only going to Huntsville, AL to see the NASA. Space Center there and then on to visit some friends in Louisiana. Not sure how we will come back to TN yet but we will find a way.
     
    Some good friends of ours are looking at leaving where they live in SC. The nest is now empty, both are retired and the house that has worked for them for many years no longer seems to fit. They are looking to maybe leave SC and move to TN or NC. Naturally we hope they willl wind up in our area but are trying to give them information without being to biased and talk them into something that will not work for them. They also want to get an RV and travel. Since we live in TN and also RV and love both, we want to make sure we just give them facts and not try to sway them just because we want them to come here.
     
    Lesley has booked a trip to see her mum in New Zealand in May. Mum will be 95 in Sept, still lives alone, no longer drives but is still active and bright.
     
    We have become stand in grandparents for a 11 year old girl and 9 year old boy. They are the children of a couple we know in MN. Lesley and the young girl talk nearly every day and spend an hour or so on skype knitting and sharing time together. I have also helped the young girl with her math homework. They are both being home schooled and she has a bit of trouble with math, which just happened to be something I was fairly good at many years ago. I will say that asking me to look back and help her with things I learned 48 years ago is a challenge! I just this week sent the boy a complete Erector set made in the 1950's. he is into Lego and has done most of them so it seemed good to give him s construction toy that is not limited to one model but can become whatever he wants. The girl just got a horse, so Lesley has been helping her buy bridles and such. She is also helping her make and sell knit and crocheted items online. Wow, neat!
     
    A few days ago a neighbor saw me working under the motorhome and came over and asked if he could help me. I said, "be careful what you wish for or I'll have you up on the roof soon". Soon he was in fact up on the roof since I no longer wish to get up there. I and Lesley much appreciated it. We do live in a very nice area. I tell Lesley people around here must take "nice pills" everyday. They are nice.
     
    Well time to go now, my tea cup is empty.