Breaker 1-9 on Final Friday Fiction

 

That name caused the time machine to flip back to 1983.

The Mad Mind was ON.

Do you know what this is?

It is a CB Radio. Citizen Band Radio. My CB handle, or call sign was

"Cherokee Rose"

Cowgirl Boot! I wore jeans and T-shirts and boots identical to these.

the pedal inside the truck was slanted really high, the heels to boots make it comfy to drive for hours.

Internet Image Source

this is a vintage 1983 Cab Over Semi, I drove a truck just like this one, with a husband you have never before heard mentioned (and never will again).

We drove for JB Hunt in 1983/84 for 90 days. 

I had never been in a truck. We drove to Arkansas and the company put me on as co-driver and the husband taught me to drive.

They licensed me for Interstate Driving only. Did they no know the interstate goes through giant cities?

We received aBrand new truck, we removed the plastic from the seats as it was fresh from the factory.

 we put 80,000 miles on it in 90 days.

We lived those 90 days, in that truck, 3 weeks on the road, 24 hours for truck maintenance, in a motel in Hunt Home base in Lowell, Arkansas.

There is a comfy bed in the cab of that truck, It is bigger than it looks.

Showers and food came from Truck stops.

We paid MONEY to take a shower! I was totally shocked.

we moved steel  from Maine to California

and comforters and pickles and anchor hocking glass

from

California to Georgia, 

Georgia to Wyoming. 

We drove through all of the states but Six of them, the Northwest part we missed. 

I had to learn CB talk.

Cherokee Rose calling Breaker 19 for a radio check

 (channel 19, can you hear me ok?)

Someone would answer,

Cherokee Rose, 10-4 Roger

(that means yes we hear you clear)

Cherokee Rose, you got a bear on your back door.

(cop behind you)

someone would key the mike and say

Chicken Coop coming up mile marker 138

(weigh station)

Smokies in the grass mile marker 140

(State police Speed Trap)

Bird dog side of the road

(radar detector set up)

Bambi on the road

(deer siting)

If you care to read it, there is a list of words here

My blog friend Hootin Annie asked on her blog, if we knew our state bird and flower. I did not know any of the three states I lived in.

I checked Georgia, Kentucky, Florida and was shocked to read Georgia, the state of my birth, 

flower is the

 Cherokee Rose.  

I must have known that back in 1983, so why did I not know it in 2021?

I know you will all have questions and I know which of you will have the MOST questions. ha ha

Cherokee Rose, over and OUT. (that means The End)

Not Fiction, All True

We are Stylin' on Wordy Wed

 

New Floppy hat, 2 new Towels for the backyard and Beau wearing the hat.

Some of you may remember The Hat and the MadSnapper a month ago. This is the hat today

The more I wore it, the more it fell apart. I duct taped it, more holes came

I saw this floppy hat at Walmart and came home from Tuesday Senior Shopping with a hat only Seniors would be caught wearing in public.

It protects my nose from the sun. 

I started putting Fluorouracil 5, chemotherapy cream on 2 Squamous cancers on my nose.

If you enlarge the first photo the ugly red can be seen,

The info says DO NOT get in the sun.

Ha Ha, I live in Florida. I get in the sun unless I am inside the house.

I had no idea it would have side effects until they started. So Far 7 days of it and I have about half the side effects listed.

I have Headache, 

Broken sleep pattern, as in wake up every hour,

 sinus dripping, can even turn to sinus infection. My nose pours constantly.

Dry mouth, hair falling out.

Last but not least IRRITABILITY... I HAVE IT.  Ok, so I already had that, but it is worse

 REALLY? from smearing one dot of cream on my nose?

 

THEN I read the how do you know if it it is working and how will the doctor know when to stop it.

WHEN IT GETS RED AND ANGRY and CRUSTED

I got red and angry and became a crusty old woman, because no one told me what to expect.

I guess its better than my nose rotting off, which I found on one site

This is why I bought the floppy hat!

I have no idea why I put Beau in the hat and Styled us together

. Maybe the chemo is making my brain angry and red.

Photo of my precious Beau sitting on sofa with hat on is on Fourpaws today

Oil Lamps and Sunshine

 

This photo is from my archives. The sun beams were hitting the glass chimney perfectly to make it look like it was burning.

This is my favorite of all the lamps I ever collected. It resides on my dresser and has since 1985. I bought it at a flea market for $7.00.

At one time back in the 1980's I had a collection of 30 oil lamps, I am now down to 6. these are my 3 favorites. 

Yes! I had to take this one to PicMonkey.

this Lamp is the youngest of my lamps. Daddy bought it for me in a little country grocery store, in 1965. 

Am I crazy?

 

On the bathroom sink, I have 4 things only sitting out. 

Wrinkle Cream, a NECESSITY.

I can not have the jar there if the Loreal on the  lid  is not  facing the same way

as the name on the Jar.

Would you switch it if it was?

Fake soft soap, a necessity. I bought the soap years ago, and have reused the bottle ever since. I buy Ivory dish detergent and fill as necessary and the Bottle MUST be facing out, not backwards.

The 3 items across from the fake soap, must be jar on left, just like the photo on left. the one of the right will never happen, I did it long enough to take the photo.
Do you care where things sit? Does it matter if they are forward facing?
Do you use hairspray?
I have not used the hairspray since the pandemic started.
Do you have a large sink area? What is on your sink?

My 2nd favorite house

 
This is my favorite house on the route Beau and I take for our walk, we turn around when we get to this one. I love the beige color, the burgundy doors, the stone walls and wrought iron gate, and it has many palm trees, all of which I love

I have yet to get a photo of my favorite to show you. When we pass it the light is shining the wrong way, I need to go a little later in the morning.  

This house sitting in the sun makes me feel happy

PS. I just noticed there would be no watching neighbors from this house.

The Big Green Plant continued

 

For years, I have taken photos of my Pothos Plant. I have done dozens of Pothos Posts about all different types and indoor and outdoor Pothos plants.  

I say I was Shocked! when I ran a search to find Pothos Plant to replace the dying one that has been in my kitchen for 32 years, I could not find one that looked like mine.   I googled and googled and finally found out  my Big Beautiful Plant is not a pothos.

It is a Heart Leaf Philodendron and very similar... Our yard if full of pothos. You have seen it on my blog.  Bob kept saying just plant some from the yard, I kept saying it is not the same pothos. on and on.

I finally found it by typing Heart Leaf Pothos in search because the leaves are heart shaped. And now All My Labels are Wrong on the Big Green Plant in the kitchen. 

PRIOR POST known as Kitchen Pothos are Now On LABEL  Heart Leaf Philodendron.

Wish me luck, they are easy to grow, hard to kill, and we shall see what we shall see. How hard can it be?  

photo from my archives, See why I googled Heartleaf to find it? 
I liked Pothos better because it is easy to spell, unlike Philodendron

Nature Friday and the big green plant

The pothos plant on the left has been hanging in our kitchen for 32 years. It has been repotted when it started to look like the one on the right side. when it gets root bound, Bob Appleseed would, after a lot of nagging, take it down and break it in half and report it and shortly it looked like the one on the left. 

This time I waited to long to Nag him into it and because his knees hurt, nagging did not work and the plant is past being repotted. I searched in every store that has a garden shop and there were none to be found. I thought just buy a new one and start over.

On Amazon, they had plants to start one. This one says 3 inch pots, 18.99. It hurt but I ordered them and potting soil and a new pot.

The pot came first, I loved it. and then 

This arrived, this box, in my mail box, after 5 days on the road with USPS, US mail. 

It had these 2 plants wrapped in plastic stuffed in the box and 3 leaves on one and 2 on the other.

Compare what I got, to the photo from Amazon above.

Oy Vey!

Just how long will it take for these to fill this pot?

No, I am not sending them back, I just can't deal with it. I trimmed the old plant

Stuck them in water to start to root and will take the root ball and mess with it and put it all together in the new white pot and wait for it to all DIE!

Because I have a black thumb.

I put a bad review on the product. Take that Amazon!

But wait, there is more   To Be Conitnued................

 

Yellow House News.

IF you think you saw this on Fourpawsetc and commented, you did. I posted it on the wrong blog. 

Last week I show you the Yellow and a Aqua House Across the street! While out walking, I noticed a For Sale sign on another house accross from us, 2 over from the yellow.

I pulled out my phone and asked how much it was for sale for.

When it came up so did the Yellow House above.

The yellow house as a contract pending on it and NO WARNING that it was for sale.

It sold before they put up the sign, they just bought it a year ago. the aqua house just sold in Dec of 2020. It was white when they bought it.

SOOOO finally to get to the point.

the next morning while I walked Beau I counted 3 more Aqua Houses, and in the 3/4 of a mile of Beaus walk guess what I did?

3 Brick

3 shades of green

5 shades of Gray, did not get the other two. I did not take photos of the rest,

There were 7 beige and brown

4 more shades of gray

A dozen of so still WHITE.

ODD thing, the people who bought the yellow house, not the one above, painted it cream colored and added an Aqua Door.

I paid attention to the house that have sold in the past year and every single one of them was a COLOR not white... Can you see where I am going with my desire to paint the house aqua?

PS... I did the collages above all on my phone, uploaded to Google Photos and here they are

Clever ME!

 

See the two pillows above? they look the same after they are in the pillow cases. Inside they are different. One is solid white and fluffy fat, the other is print on white and flat not fluffy.

The thing is I sleep with the two stacked on top of each other.

For My Comfort, the print goes on the bottom, with fluffy on top.

Problem is, there is no way to tell which is which if the lights are out.

Clever ME! 

When replacing pillow cases, the print one I hold under my chin WITH the TAG under chin,

The other one the non tag goes under my chin.

IN THE DARK, I can feel the tag and know which one goes first.

I told you I am at the bottom of blog fodder barrel!

How many pillows do you use to sleep comfy?

I use three, two under my head and a BIG fluffy one hugged against my LEFT side, with the end under my chin and the rest down my side.

It is a prop for my hip if I lay on my right side and a prop under my chin to keep it from dropping down and drying out my mouth while I don't snore if laying on my back.

Whatever Works, Clever ME! How Clever are YOU?

Rebel To The Bone

 

Monochrome is my thing,

Matchy Matchy is my thing.

My bathrooms were built in 1972, Tile in one is green, and the other is gold.

70's Green 70's Gold

Those colors were OUT of fashion when we bought the house in 1989.

The bathrooms had wall paper with tiny print that matched the gold, everything else was white

I bought white shower curtains and window curtains and until The plumbing went awry 10 years ago, they remained that way

I am cheap to the bone and if something is good and doesn't need to be replaced I work with it,

Fought the wall paper off, and Painted the walls Gold and Green.

I also nagged The Man into painting the ceilings the same color as the walls.

NO ONE DOES THAT is what I was told. 

Ceilings must be white.

I love monotone, I love Matchy Matchy.

My bathroom has 6 shades of Green and a lot of white.

I love it and I love the no one paints the ceiling Green.

It makes me happy.

Even the tile the man put down is shades of green.

Rebel to the Bone is what I am.

Cheap to the bone is what I am

I yam what I yam and that's all that I Yam.. Popeye the Sailorman

Also, I have been wearing the same shade of nail polish for 20 years. Yes it is out of fashion.

I love it and hate the new colors.

there is a RANT about HGTV in a prior post which tells me I painted the walls in 2013. It has a photo of the gold bathroom.

MadSnapper, M.D.

MadSnapper, M.D. ( Master of Drivel) 

 Since I am staring at the bottom of the photo barrel and the silly nonsense barrel, I decided to pick from the  Share Stuff I know barrel.

I  loved my Primary Care Doctor, she leans towards Holistic uses RX meds when necessary. 

She told me to use Aspercrème  instead of NSAIDS taken by mouth. NSAIDS topical before  NSAIDS by mouth. 

Aspercreme on Varicose Veins. IT WORKS! . 

The Arnicare is made from Arnica and any of the Arnica products are great.

Arnica for Muscle Pain, Swelling from Injuries and Bruises. I had a sore neck when she advised me to use it. It is a natural product from plants. It makes the bruises go away faster. 

The photo shows Arnicare Cream, I prefer the Arnicare Gel.. 

Arnicare is magic for soreness after a leg cramp, muscle cramp. AFTER you manage to stand up or get out of bed and quit going OH OH OH, stretch the muscle tight a few times and massage with Arnicare...  

Generic brands work as good as Brand names.

About the B12 , I had to take it for 10 days to help treat my shingles. What I learned about it is the word Sublinqual means under the tongue to absorb. Not swallow the tablet. I asked Why that mattered.

She said 1. it goes in the system faster 2. 

It bypasses the throat and stomach and goes directly to blood stream, and doesn't harm the stomach.  

that applies to the Aspercream also. Rubbing it on, absorbs and by passes the stomach, which is why it is dangerous to take pain meds known as NSAIDS. they harm the stomach. 

Let me know if you knew this before you read it HERE from MADsnapper MD

New Air Fry Oven

 So far I have Air Broiled this steak, Air Fried Fish, Air Toasted Cheese toast, Air Roasted Squash and Cauliflower.

Bob loved the Squash, we both hated the cauliflower, but Beau LOVED it. but it does make a peculiar smell a few hours after he eats it.

Steak was good, Fish was Really Good, Cheese Toast was, Well Cheese toast.

The best thing about the Steak/Fish was no mess on the stove and no mess in the oven. Easy Cleanup

As for the Air Fry Basket, I had to buy these two Adorable Brushes because using the veggie brush did not work well scrubbing it.

Directions say, just place all of the trays, racks, baskets in the dishwasher.

Evidently they don't know not everyone in the world has a dishwasher

of course you just might find out which of these works the best sometime in the future.

Now I Know, Thus You Know

Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

Frustrated, tired, can't think properly, forgetful. Turning on wrong burners, setting kitchens on fire. On an on... then I received a news letter from Web MD with the article titled, What to expect in your 70's.

I am well past 70, only 5 months from 78. 

Quick summary of what I learned. Well, just delete Quick.  We know I am not.

 Life in your 70's, not in THE 70's, YOUR 70's.

 Some changes in your 70s are universal, 

Experts sometimes call this “pure aging.” 

Shifts happen, 😋

If we live long enough, 😋

Your Mind! 

The brain shrinks, signals from different areas to your brain, Slow Down, multitask is harder, 

 attention span gets shorter.

Your Heart

After 70 your heart can’t beat as fast during exercise or when you’re stressed. 

The heart walls get thicker, valves get stiffer. Blood may not flow through as efficiently. 

The heart’s electrical system may start to glitch, which can cause an irregular heartbeat. 

Plaque builds in veins.  (plagues come and stay)

Your Skin

Age spots and wrinkles appear. Skin bruises more, you sweat less.

Skin dries, feels like paper. Itchy, easily irritated.

Nutrition

Your metabolism slows

.We gain or spread out, we don't drink enough water because the body doesn't tell us we are thirsty.

 1 in 4 women -- and some men, too -- over 65 have osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease. Your muscles get weaker, and the tendons -- which connect muscles to your skeleton -- get stiffer. 

(sit for and hour and try to get up)

We have a decrease in strength, flexibility.

 In your 70's, you might lose an inch or two off your height as disks in your back flatten. .

(2 of my inches are GONE)

Your Sleep

you either sleep to much, or not at all, or sleep with many wakeups. Sleep patterns change.

Your Immune System

Your body’s defenses lose a step in your 70s, which leaves you more vulnerable to illness. 

Vaccines don’t work as well as they once did for you, we are more susceptible to infection and viruses

Your Digestive System

Your stomach lining is more fragile. your digestive system doesn't move the food as well as it did.

Constipation comes, or the opposite.

 Urinary Tract

Your bladder can’t hold as much as it once did, and your muscles that support it lose strength. 

more trips to the bathroom or not enough trips.

(leakage happens)

Your Vision

Your pupils react more slowly to changes in light

eye muscles weaken

it takes more time for eyes to adjust from bright to dark or vice versa

fine details are to to see because there are fewer cells to send messages to your brain that tells it what to do

lens thicken, makes it harder to see in dim lighting, colors are less vibrant.

Your Ears

certain sounds can't be heard

hard to understand what others are saying. 

Background noise also can interfere more with your conversations. 

For details and answers got to WebMD HERE

Depressed yet? Hang in there. I have always said humans have expiration dates, just like merchandise and products... Now I know MINE is rapidly approaching since Every single one of the above mentions I HAVE in my 70's. (I will cancel WebMd news letters before I reach 80.

There is nothing wrong with me, I am just IN MY 70's!
I AM NORMAL! 😎

UPDATE AFTER 9 COMMENTS.

This is not scary, it is comforting to me. When I read it, I thought so I am not alone, this is supposed to happen, I am not going crazy or getting ill. 

Asparagus Fern leaf Plumosus

 

Our orange hibiscus is blooming its heart out and one stem is reaching for the sky.

the Asparagus' Fern is climbing the stem reaching for the sky,

Each photo has those things that look like barbwire growing off the hibiscus. 

that is The Fern a.k.a. Barbwire Fern.

The plant Fern Leaf Plumosus Asparagus Fern is sold on Amazon, and many other places. 

It is used in flower arrangements and as a house plant.

Prior to this post, I just called it Mommies fern. My dad's mother kept pots of this fern on her porch and inside during the winter.

Say a silly woman, moves in a house 32 years ago, and receives a gift of a

dish garden with beautiful fern in it, decides to plant it in the ground,

Think Tropics, year round growing. 

It will strangle everything it touches and climb as high as Jack's Beanstalk.

It will strangle everything, it will wrap around your ankles and wrists and cut like barb wire.

In our house it is known as the Plant Strangling Barbwire Plant.

Conversation Where I can Find it

Leaving for our walk, we discussed in depth the house of 7 cars, now 4, had hung 7 throw rugs out on the porch railing. the point was trying to decide if they were people rugs or dog rugs, and why they were on the rail not on the line in the backyard.

Next we discussed where the 2 rabbits that lived in the 2 trucks and 1 car house. were they eaten? given away or are they locked in cages.

Bob ranted about the SAME thing he Rants about every single day we walk, which is 365 days a year.

 The fact the man has 2 trucks, 1 van and a huge boat in his front yard. he then discusses that 20 years ago, the woman who is dead now, reported Bob for having a small boat in the driveway and he had to sell it.

 I KID YOU NOT, every day is groundhog day.

I came home and gave him this report from my ALONE walk with no one talk to.

I step in the door and the first thing out of my mouth is.......

"The 20 somethings that live in the brown house and never speak, came up behind me with their dog, and did not move over or warn me they were there."

"I turned to look at the house that burned because 2 dogs barked from there and when I looked over my shoulder to make sure I was safe from the crazy drivers, I  was right in the faces of the couple that NEVER speaks."

"Maybe they hate old people."

"You know, the house that burned?  there are 2 cars and 2 young people that look to be barely out of their teens, have moved in the house that is not finished yet. I forgot to tell you that about 2 weeks ago

the first time I saw the green jeep there, I saw a Boy come  outside in his PJ's shorts, wet a wash cloth at the outside faucet and go back in the house.  I think they might be grandkids, maybe house sitting or maybe they are camped out in there. No electric, the commones are sitting in the garage. How can they live there like that?

Guess what Bob said????   

NOTHING! AT! ALL!

 I said Well?? 

He said  WHAT!!!! 

I said NEVERMIND..... 

He said What did you say???   I said REALLY????

Day OFF, I am FINE, Comments OFF

 Day OFF, I am FINE, Comments OFF

I never know when to STOP!

  I never know when to Stop!  OR maybe the title should be,  How to Turn a simple annual visit to the dermatologist into a Blog Post.

I had something to tell you. I mentioned in the past that the front desk lady told me how thin I looked. I had this outfit above on, with a black sweater. 

I remembered that and wore the same thing to the Derm Doc minus the sweater.

I was sitting in a The Big Girl Chair, and the PA opened the door and said,

 Oh you look so pretty, I love the mask and pants, Where did you get the mask?

We were instant friends for life.

Since she was busy checking my body under the ugly blue paper dress they made me put on, minus of course the pretty outfit, I did not take photos. they came later at home.

After the check up, she said get dressed and I will freeze three pre cancer and 2 biopsies. She surprised me by doing a 3rd of a spot I said worried me, but no one seemed to think it should, but it is growing. Last two times they said it is not cancer, we don't know what it is.

I said if its not cancer, what is it, its double in size.

I had to do the 2nd photo  so you could see how I looked MINUS Mask, Because while I was sitting there after the 4 needs stuck in the nose to numb it. She reached out and ruffled my hair like we do to small children when we think they are CUTE, and said I love your haircut, it is perfect for you.

Now that I am typing this I have begun to wonder if all this was an insult and not compliments.

Pretty and cute are not definitions for 76 year old women.

the part about don't know when to stop. First I zoom/cropped so you could see the 2 Band-Aids on 3 biopsies. I was shocked when 24 hours later I found the 3rd one an realized she biopsied the not cancer growing thing.

2nd I created a collage just to learn how in PicMonkey

Then I realized I looked like I was in pain instead of POSING. at the same time, I realized photos make my hair parted on the wrong side. See the Avatar? it is a mirror image as are the photos I took

The above photo is what the cell phone I waved at took.  This what I see in the mirror.  The part on the left but my face you would see is parted on my right side.

  As soon as I realized all this I flipped all the photos on the above collage to see what I look like to others. 

And when I came out of the fog I had turned the background Green and added words.

To bad the band aid on my mouth is not there when I type a post