Be careful, SRS. Before you know it, Zeke won't want to go home! :-) Seriously, as I've said before, what a very good help and friend you are, especially to Susie. I feel sorry for her having been through so much with her husband and now this. I hope she has a safe and swift, as much as possible, recovery.

I had a ton of energy yesterday so we cleaned house. It still hasn't been dusted and I still need to put more stuff away, but we started about 9:30 AM and I was still doing stuff around three or 4 PM. We had a huge stack of dishes so we shared and did them together whilst listening to Prairie Home Companion. Roger swept all the floors, I mopped, though I still have a bit more to do, scrubbed the bathroom, and I prepped more fruits and vegetables, & made more juice. I also called my daughter, who does indeed have our old Electrolux floor buffer/rug shampooer. It was expensive and does a great job on wood floors as well as carpets. Our LR is hardwood and needs a good cleaning/polishing, so she is to return it sometime this week. (I thought she'd left it behind when she moved down here, so was delighted to find she still has it!)

My office space in the dining room has been bugging me. the rolling hanging file cart that I had, sat right over a heat register. We had a deflector on it but the papers and things still got too hot. I took it back to the old office where I will put the hanging files in a big file cabinet. In its place in the dining room, I commandeered one of those kitchen stands which has butcher block on the top and three slide out metal drawers underneath and is on wheels. We weren't using it much except as a spot to throw stuff which we didn't want put away into cupboards. So, I found places to put it all and, as a consequence, the kitchen looks a little also. The cart fit the LR space much better and allowed me to get stuff off my desk and into the drawers which makes everything look neater and gives the cats more space on my desk. LOL

By the end of the day my bum was dragging and I felt as though I had done really a full day's work, physical work, and it felt good.Today, I feel a little worn out, but I think it's more from emotional reaction last night from hearing that my dad's cousin, who I called my Aunt Helen, had passed away Sunday morning.

It was to be expected, she was old and had been in terrible pain from arthritis for years, plus she had lost her eyesight. It was just a few years ago she had to leave our area, move out of her home and into a care home closer to her daughter in Idaho, mostly because of her loss of sight. So I had not seen her in about five years or so, but we always talked on the phone and she was always the dearest, sweetest person to me.

It was she who lived with my dad and his parents for a time when she was growing up so she really was like a sister to him. He had no siblings, otherwise. She's also the one who gave me a huge photo of my grandparent's ranch which was taken back in the 1920s or so. She also gave me a set of kitchen towels embroidered by my grandma with a different "chore" noted for each day of the week. Another treasure was a little stuffed cloth doll my grandmother had made for Aunt Helen's daughter. And, when she left town, she called me one day and asked me to come over. She had a little box inside of which was a beautiful pin my grandparents gave her when she graduated from high school. My mom had one like it though in different colours. It's an early acrylic, I think, one with miniature roses caught inside, like an insect in amber. It is very precious to me as are the other items she gave me. I am going to really miss our visits. I'm so grateful we had a wonderful visit at Christmas time, the last time I spoke with her. I know my dad has one or two other cousins who are still alive, but I never knew them, so it feels as though I've lost the last contact with my dad through relatives of his generation. So, here's to my beloved Aunt Helen. I know she's in a better place, free and clear of all pain and I am grateful for her having been a part of my life.

Thanks for listening,

kat