Let’s catch up

I owe you some follow ups to close out several conversations we’ve had in past posts.

Big pharma – Without describing my medical issues in detail on the world wide web, I want to clarify that the two prescriptions I was talking about in a previous post were in liquid form not pills.

At a regular appointment, I made a point to talk to my doctor’s assistant about the issue with the prescriptions and showed her the documentation – 21 day supply for 30 day copay and 68 day supply for 90 day copay. She knew exactly what I was talking about and said it was the way the doctor had worded the prescription. If a three month supply or a bottle is called in, then that is what they fill. However, if they stipulate the measured amount of liquid needed, the pharmacy will fill that.

Two days later, I went to the pharmacy to pick up the new 90-day prescription, and this time I was given two bottles which will actually cover 136 days for the same copay. Imagine that. Bottom line – read the fine print and ask questions.

Granddaughter’s quilt – I put together a quilt top for my granddaughter this past winter. When I took it to the longarm quilter in April, I found out the backing of a grand piano was too thick and would not fit in the machine. I ended up having two quilts with one between a full and a queen size and the other a good sized lap quilt.

I made quilt labels using fabric sheets that can be run through an ink jet printer. Because the larger quilt had a moon/sky/star theme, I wanted a good photo of the moon. So, I asked one of the best photographers I know, fellow blogger Deborah at Circadian Reflections, if I could borrow one of her exceptional shots that showed two sand cranes flying in front of the moon. She graciously agreed to let me use it. A fabric sheet doesn’t do justice to the quality of her photo, but I look at it and see her beautiful original photo and her generosity.

Quilt with a vintage linen – At a SC quilt show, I saw a wall quilt and wanted to copy it – maroon background with a lovely antique linen tablecloth. But, where was I going to find a small tea table sized tablecloth?

It’s a good thing, one of my favorite bloggers is Kerry at Love Those Hands at Home. She was kind enough to check her stock and send me a beautiful piece she had in her inventory.

If you’re ever looking for vintage linens, please check out Kerry’s Etsy Store because she has an amazing assortment of lovely linens and other items. Besides her great linens she also has the best toffee recipe around on her blog.

DIY Headboard project – I’ve been working on a tufted headboard project. I watched a video and was convinced it was a weekend project.

That weekend turned into several and even required an email to our resident carpenter blogger, Dan at No Facilities, for advice. If you ever decide to try one, email me so I can point out all the speed bumps to completion so you can avoid them. I’m happy to say it is finished, I like it, and its on the wall.

I thought when I did this post I could say I was done with projects for a while and was headed back out to the garden. But, I visited a friend last week who wanted to show me a sewing project she had designed. The only problem is she doesn’t sew. So, on a rainy afternoon that will be my next indoor project.

If you noticed a theme of fellow bloggers coming to my rescue, you are right, and that is why I love the blogging community. It is a wonderful group of creative and supportive people, every one of you – bloggers, readers, visitors, and those special folks who take time out of their busy day to comment.

Okay, we’re all caught up now so I’ll head back outside and see what I can find to work on with my shovel. Hope you are having a wonderful mid-week in July. Hot and humid here today. 😎

Thursday Doors

Let’s spend this Thursday in the small town of Bath, New Hampshire, named after William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, an English Whig politician.

It was incorporated in 1761 when equal shares of land was set aside for 68 families plus a church and a school. In the past, Bath was home to a copper mine, grist and saw mills, railway, woolen mill, creamery, starch factories, and a distillery.

Today, Bath covers 38 square miles, has a population of around 1,000 permanent residents, and provides a bedroom community for nearby Littleton which is sixteen miles away.

Bath is also home to the oldest continuously operated general store in the United States. The Brick Store is known as a community gathering spot and for its wonderful smoked foods and delicious fudge. It is also happens to be located right next to the Bath covered bridge.

The Brick Store has been serving the Bath community since the early 1800’s.

And, a couple of extra historic white doors for good measure.

Left to right: Bath Historical Society 1824, Bath Congregational Church 1791, American Heritage Gallery of Art 1833

Have plans to be in New Hampshire? See if you can include a short stop in Bath.

Beautiful scenery, historic buildings, covered bridges, plus smoked foods and hand-made fudge – all good things.

I couldn’t resist ending on a story about gardening.  🙂

Linked to Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors July 12, 2018.

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Bath Trivia…

• How many other towns are named Bath? Twenty two. Fifteen in America, and one each in Belgium, Canada, Jamaica, Netherlands, Pakistan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the United Kingdom.
• Which President and his family had lunch at the The Brick Store? President Obama in 2007.
• What 1950’s singer lived in Bath?  Patti Page.

Gardening in the heat

We have just closed out a week of high temps and humidity resulting in ‘feels’ like >100 degrees Fahrenheit. The amount of gardening done here was minimal, which translated means the only time I ventured outside was to water or pick ripe berries. Don’t ask me how many books I read.

This week I’m happy to say the temps are more July like which means the forecast includes high 80’s to low 90’s. I can work with that. The raspberry bushes are loaded, and the flowers are in full bloom.

I have three huge tomato plants that are looking great and a tank full of lettuce. I’m trying to keep the delicious lettuce from bolting by putting a beach umbrella over it. Seems to be working.

Then I have a gardening mystery.

This spring, we wanted to level a tank and install an additional one. We emptied the large one to level it and filled them both with super loam that included compost purchased from a local company that we have successfully dealt with for over twelve years.

The berries planted in the small tank are alive, not growing, and look somewhat petrified.

The plants should be 12-18″ tall and bushy. Not so much.

The three tomatoes and marigolds planted in the leveled and refilled tank were the same as the ones in the above tank, planted on the same day, fertilized and watered exactly the same.

They sit about 3′ apart so they have the same sun exposure. The outlier here is the soil. I contacted the company looking for feedback, included info and photos. No response.

So, what are we going to do? The only feasible thing seems to be to shovel it out again and start over because clearly this soil is negatively impacted by something which is pretty obvious when marigolds won’t even grow.

I always chuckle as these issues arise because I think back to the days when my grandparents sunk seeds in the ground, watered, hoed, and harvested. Simple. Today, we deal with every kind of pest, flying or walking, disease, off the chart weather, and compromised soil that we actually pay for. If you’re a gardener, I’m sure you can add to this list.

So, on a gorgeous Saturday, we drove north to McKenzie’s Farm in Milton, NH, where we picked up delicious cherry tomatoes, blueberries, ciabatta bread, and, of course, cider donuts. For the weekend at least, I let someone else do my gardening and baking.  🙂

Animals

I’ve been an animal lover all my life. Over the years, I’ve had birds, cats, chickens, cows, dogs, ducks, goats, horses (full size and miniature), pigs, and rabbits as part of my extended family.

Food, housing, love, and poop clean up were all provided by me  in an effort to give them a good home.

After working years in Human Resources, I also understand the meaning behind the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I stand and applaud the many organizations and their volunteers who work with service animals which are defined as dogs who are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for individuals with physical or mental disabilities.

On the other hand, I do not understand a phenomenon currently widespread in our society – the flood of  support animals.

It seems I can’t go anywhere where I don’t see a support animal riding in a child seat or a baby carriage, sitting at the next table in a restaurant, riding in the driver’s seat of a car as it speeds down the highway, or being carried around like a baby.

Maybe it is just me, but I like my restaurant food and groceries without dog hair and other things left behind by a pet that was intended to walk on its own four feet, hunt for food, clean itself, and live at home. I also don’t want to sit down on a plane and find out that my seat mate is a boa constrictor.

When did we become so traumatized by daily life that we have to take our pets with us as we go about our errands? I don’t know the answer, but it certainly concerns me. I think it may be a bigger issue for society than we think.

By the way, if you are planning a trip and just can’t leave your miniature horse at home, check out American and Jet Blue.

Enjoy your pets, and I’ll do the same.

However, you won’t see Zinnia and I out and about at the post office, bank or library.

Nor will I be boarding a plane with her, although I know you’d like to make her acquaintance because she is a sweetie.

Happy 4th of July week – have fun, stay safe, and if you’re in this part of the country, stay cool.  😎

Thursday Doors

Ever heard of Woodstock, NH? It’s 60 miles north of Concord and 90 miles south of the Canadian border, and it has a pretty well-known craft brewery at the Woodstock Inn, Station and Brewery.

On our way north a couple of weeks ago, we decided to take a little detour and check the area out. It is a lovely little New England town with around 1,500 residents. The early industry was logging and paper, but once the White Mountain National Forest started buying up property, tourism became a very important part of the economy.

Woodstock Inn, Station and Brewery has a rich history including starting out as the area rail station. Today, it is a destination spot to enjoy locally brewed craft beer, delicious food, and an opportunity to stay over night at a brewery.

The green awning and door leads to the main building while the other two buildings house additional lodging. Small town, good-sized brewery, and multiple lodging units make for a pretty interesting stop.

Checking out doors always goes better with good beer, right? We thoroughly enjoyed Red Rack Ale, Raspberry Weasel Wheat Ale, and meatloaf and chicken salad sandwiches.

This was the 3rd brewery to open in NH that had a seven-barrel system and taproom. It has now increased to a 37 barrel system, and their beer is available in stores and restaurants throughout New England.

The length to which I go to stay in good stead with Norm, the head brewer of all things Thursday, is hard to believe. 🍺

Linked to Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors June 28, 2018.

Life on this last Monday in June

I could put you to sleep describing weeding, mulching, trimming and such so I’ll just cut to the chase and say I’ve been working outside a lot.

The weather is going to hit upper 90’s this coming week, and I’ve tried to get all things growing ready for that as much as I can.

I’m holding over 60 plants  for next year’s plant sale so I had to dig them into the ground or face a couple of months of multiple daily waterings.

Things are doing well, but with nature there are always interesting things to observe. Two of my five Knockout roses are not blooming, and someone is eating holes in the leaves, the red Clematis have holes as well, and one tank of tomatoes are almost three feet tall while the tank next to them aren’t a foot yet – same soil, same watering. Hmm.

I went on a Master Gardener field trip last week to Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and Kirkwood Gardens in the northern part of the state. It was my first visit, and I found it interesting. A friend asked if I thought my twelve-year old grandson would like it because she has grandkids visiting this summer. Uh, the answer to that would be ‘no’ because there were a lot of things for a gardener to observe but not a lot of action.

Today, before I start any other projects, I have to renew a prescription and thought I’d share an observation. I discovered something by reading the fine print on the documentation, at least in my case, that is stapled to the bag that contains the prescription. Typed on the documentation is a field entitled ‘Days Supply.’ For the 90 day prescription it reads 68, and for the 30 day prescription, it reads 21.

I think I can safely say that most of us only use and pay for prescription medicine if it is required to maintain our health. I’m wondering what big pharma thinks I’m suppose to do for those 9 or 22 days or how they explain a co-pay for medicine for which I don’t receive a full allotment. I’ve sent a letter asking for clarification, but so far no answer – big surprise.

Dealing with holes in plants is certainly easier than trying to understand insurance and pharmaceuticals so I think I’ll go get another load of mulch – that I can handle.

Happy Monday and remember to check the fine print. 🙂

Thursday Doors

Last week when we headed north, we needed an overnight stop in Littleton, NH. We usually stay at the Hampton, but it is ‘in season‘ and the rates are $200+. When we pull off the interstate for one night and only want a clean bed and shower, that seemed a little over priced.

So, I did some shopping, and found the Littleton Motel, which is heralded as ‘the oldest motel in NH’ – built in 1948. At first I chuckled, and then in looking at the reviews we decided it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane.

When we pulled up and saw this cute little porch with two doors, my husband and I had to smile and think of years ago when this was the definition of a motel.

When we walked inside, we again smiled at the knotty pine paneling, checkout time notice, and the door key, all of which we haven’t seen in many years. But, what was most important was the fact that it was immaculate. I don’t know when I’ve stayed in a room that was cleaner.

There were two additional doors – the closet on the left and the bathroom on the right.

Clean room, nostalgic decorating, Dunkin Donuts next door, Littleton Diner across the street, and we could walk to Schilling Beer Company for a beer, salad and some pretzel bread. Nice.

After getting home, I took the time to do two reviews.

This is one cute motel, centrally located, and with tax was a little under $100 a night.

Clean, good deal, craft beer, Riverwalk Covered Bridge, and a trip down memory lane – can’t beat that combination. 🍺

 

Linked to Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors, June 21, 2018