AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND JUNE 8

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND 

Saturday we still were locked in, the temperature had raised but the rain hadn't stopped. A few residents were agitated and running around like headless chickens. The poor things had to vacate their rooms because they will be renovated. Others had to move back into the newly renovated ones. 

That's already unpleasant when you're 30, but at 80 or 90 it's a real challenge. Of course, the management suggested that relatives help, but there are also those who don't have any, and anyway, it's not the relatives' job but the staff's; after all, it's the management that is undertaking the renovations and, of course it wants to save money. I will have to vacate my room one day too so it can be renovated. That's supposed to be in fall of 2027, but judging by how the schedule is being followed, I assume I will have time until 2028.

Apart from my cat collection, I won't be able to help much because of my COPD. The nervousness of those affected was somehow contagious. Luckily, we had a rather difficult quiz in the afternoon about sea creatures, whether they are mammals or not, and other questions as well. Not so easy, but we learned a lot!

On Sunday our little group got together to play Bingo and for the first time I was first ! It was a nice afternoon. 

My little neighbor, who loved her red wine and champagne so much that she bought two bottles of wine and a small bottle of champagne (for breakfast) every day, was asked by her daughters, who thought she was spending too much money, to move to a smaller room  to have enough money for her fuel.  At 86 it is impossible and even dangerous to make her stop. I only hope that her new neighbor will be able to open her breakfast champagne bottle, as I used to do. 

She invited me to see her new room . I was naturally very curious, as I had been told that the rooms were really tiny and you could barely turn around. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rooms were a normal size, not as big as in "my castle," of course, but her furniture fitted, and it looked really cozy. Those who told me the rooms were small must have thought she wanted to share her room with an elephant. There would even be enough room for Rosie my cat. I found the rooms very tasteful, and the view of the park and the little chapel in the attic was lovely.

This is the view from her former room in the castle, the new single rooms are all in the annexed convent. The tower of the little chapel nearly disappears with all the new annexes. They managed to keep this special atmosphere which makes that our residence doesn't look like a hospital.

FRIDAY'S FAVE FIVE

As we can't go out due to the cool temperatures, thunderstorms and rain. My COPD affected my movements and I was quickly breathless and had to behave like a snake. But that wasn't so bad, since I spend a lot of time with my old photos.

Everything is in complete chaos here now that the third floor was finally finished and over 30 TVs were delivered, which was naturally quite interesting for the some residents, and two days later, beds! There were boxes and bed parts lying around everywhere. So, you couldn't exactly walk fast, and those in wheelchairs had to do slaloms.

While I am typing another thunderstorm is arriving ! Fortunately little Rosie doesn't care about lightening and thunder !  

 

thunder is a good lullaby 

All our games have a purpose. This time we tested our dexterity. It was quite fun, we had to put a cup over our hands and then pick up plastic balls and place them on top of upturned colored cups where they should stay put ! Not so easy ! A stopwatch was used. The best person took 1 minute, and I took 1.5 minutes. The last person took almost 3 minutes. 

The week ended with a special event. My best friend, whom I've known for over 20 years, met each other again for the first time since five years. Neither of us knows what happened back then. It was the time when Rick approached his last hours, and I was a nervous wreck. Finally, she sent me an email this Christmas. And so, we slowly reconnected and both realized that we were far too old and didn't have to much time for misunderstandings, as we were both actually suffering. 

We have done so much together, traveled, taken yoga and painting classes together, that it was more than time to see each other again. Which is exactly what we did today. I drove to her place, and we fell in each others arms and spent the next three hours catching up on at least the most important things. She now has ten great-grandchildren (!!). 

We probably both have a few more wrinkles, but we both felt that we had not changed much. It was a very lovely afternoon, and many more will follow. Now I am angry with myself because I forgot to take pictures !

 

Excursion Loch Ness on our tour around the UK

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

    

HODGEPODGE JUNE 4

 1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

To calculate ! I am an absolute 0 when it comes to numbers. I would need a calculator to add 1 + 1. Rick calculated quicker as a machine, so he was my calculator ! Now it's my phone ! 

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

 

Yes, absolutely ! I return to life slowly in spring and absolutely in summer ! I am also born in summer I don't know if that has an influence. One thing is for sure I hate autumn and winter.  

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

I don't eat pickles, I just don't like them, I wouldn't add them to nothing.  

4. This the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

 

Weddings ? not at all it's more funerals in my age range. But I love the movie "Notting Hill"  I even visited the place where the film was made.

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

For the moment as we are again singing sitting in the rain, I am very busy with restoring our old pictures from 1971 when we were for the first time in the USA visiting my aunt in Madison/Wisc.

To get our visa she sent us this letter, European tourists didn't exist in the USA at that time and apparently the government didn't need more immigrants to become Americans. We only wanted to discover beautiful places and certainly not become Americans. I got a visa for 10 years because I was German and my Italian husband only for 5 years, the Mafia was still hanging over the head of all Italians. 

I changed the black and white photos into color, and after a few trials I finally managed these ones and was very satisfied with the result as a beginner user of AI.  

 

 Yellowstone Park we as 2 years married couple and my uncle !

 

Montezuma with us three

 

Lake Mendota in Madison with my aunt. At that time we liked wearing the same clothes. (see our jeans)

 

Home sweet home in Madison/Wisc 

I think this was the day we took the bus to Chicago and then the flight back to Brussels. There was no direct flight, but I don't remember where we had to land before the final flight home. 

It was so nice to work on these photos and see the result, it kept me busy the whole mornings and evenings.