Slow progress...

 We intend to not bring the fifth wheel back to Mexico in the fall. This will require the casita to be self-contained: a place to sleep, cook, storage, shower with HOT water, kitchen and bathroom sinks with HOT water, laundry facilities. So an addition is planned on the south wall of the casita, between the casita and the garage. After Ron takes me and the fifth wheel home to Minnesota in May, he'll come back down and proceed with construction. As things stand now, we DO have hot water, but just to the shower so far. Actually, the toilet also had hot water for a few days, which was VERY interesting... The pipes were reversed.

This is where the addition will be, with bedroom, expanded bathroom with TUB, and big closets.

Interior of garage. Ron likes to sit in there and move things from one box to another. His man cave. It's so cute.

The washing machine is connected temporarily, until all the plumbing gets sorted out. The drain hose is an extra RV sewer hose that terminates in the yard, which helps keep the trees watered. Yes, biodegradable detergent. But the first time I connected the sewer hose, I did it wrong and the water went everywhere.

This is the WRONG way. Note the precise placement of the concrete blocks and zip tie to hold the sewer hose.  

It was supposed to drain here. 

It drained here. 

THIS is the right way.  

And there's clothesline strung everywhere. 

So most of the renovations to date turned out to be temporary. The new water heater is IN the casita where the washer and dryer were. That's to be moved to the garage eventually. There is a big propane tank sitting on my front porch now, with a gas line going to my kitchen stove and another one going around the outside perimeter to the water heater. All temporary, he promises.

Local Scenes

 

Ron went fishing with Pat and Jim from the RV park. They did well, Ron's share was 8 "meals" in freezer bags, mostly sea bass fillets. They ended up towing a larger boat in that was having issues! That's Pat above, with Captain Jim at the wheel.

Towing!

The catch 

Marshall! 

My birdbath. The iron table had a glass top until my cat wrapped his leash around it and toppled it. Turns out my glass bowl fit it perfectly!

  

This is the cat at his new favorite spot: the shadow cast by our STUMP. Ron found this gnarly stump on the beach. The cat follows the shadow around as the sun goes by. 

The Seri Indians make these frames for temporary fishing shelters. 

Martin the Veggie Man comes to the park on Saturday mornings. Gorgeous produce. Long lines. Sometimes he has seafood or sausage in ice chests. 

The line waiting to pay.  

The park had a really nice Valentine's Day dinner/dance. Here are Pat and Bill. 

and George and Terry, married 62 years!  

Ron Z with his bride. There are 4 Rons here.

In front are Darrell and Michelle, not dancing because Michelle broke her femur Dec. 5 and she can barely walk.  In the back are John and Jan. John cooks, Jan decorates.

Mom and Alzheimer's

Actually, she wasn't ever diagnosed: Alzheimer's Disease is just one under the Dementia umbrella. Mary Frame was too far advanced in her disease to consent to diagnosis and treatment by the time we all could agree there was a problem. She's been living in a Memory Care residence in Minnesota, stage 7, doesn't know anyone, but could eat, speak, and ambulate. Then she fell and broke her hip. Very common beginning to the end. Surgery went well ( pinning only) but she is not waking up well. Anesthesia accelerates the decline in dementia. It's very well-documented, but like most issues with mental impairment in the elderly, there is scant to zero knowledge of it by doctors and nurses in hospitals. There wasn't a choice here, though. You can't NOT pin a broken hip.

So the future looks like this: a rehab facility (i.e. skilled nursing home) where she will starve to death over a few weeks. Many get feeding tubes placed at this point, which can prolong this limbo for years.

I have zero say in the matter, as I am not her legal guardian. My niece is, and is doing a terrific job with all the decision-making in this "upset".

I will fly home if/when I'm needed, possibly could assist my niece with the associated burdens.

Here are some Mom photos from happier times.

This was taken for the local newspaper column "Newcomers"! Davenport, Iowa, maybe?

I took Mom to see Yosemite  during mid-stage Alzheimer's. We call this Two Grizzlies. (That tree is Grizzly Giant).

The next year Mom and I drove to see her retired friends in Phoenix, stopping at Mesa Verde National Park. This park ranger immediately noticed Mom had issues, and was SO solicitous and kind to her. Gave us a private tour. 

At Jon Mark's wedding. This was probably the last event she could process. 

Mavis, Mom and Mary Ann, her Omaha friends. 

 

Mom requested once I use this photo as her obituary photo! It's saved on the hard drive as maryframeobitphoto.














So it's a wait and see game.

It's been a rough slide for her the last 10 years. She had to bury her son and her husband, 3 months apart. She lost her home and savings to pay for long term care. She won't see her grandson Andy get married. And she never got to enjoy her three great-grandchildren. One of the smartest, quick-witted women I ever knew is just a shell.

Alzheimer's Disease robs one of everything. I would much prefer a heart attack, massive stroke, or even cancer to this. But that's just me.

*UPDATE*   Feb. 21, 2010
Mom did wake up the day after I wrote the above and is now in a rehab facility. She doesn't feed herself, but eats when fed. 

How to waste a whole day...

It's called Googling. You know, how you quick look something up, then you see an interesting link and have to look at THAT, then...

'Twas raining again. But I still had birds at the birdbath, so I sat on the porch with my binoculars and bird books (the birds here are somewhat alien to Minnesota, have to look'em up). Couldn't find this one, so I googled him:

 

Pronounced FAY-NO-PEP-LA. They're unique because they eat mostly mistletoe berries AND breed twice, here in the winter and later in Utah.  Plus the mistletoe berries are two different kinds here and in Utah. Thought that was interesting, you may not.

Anyway, then I had to google the mistletoe. Turns out it likes Cats-claw Acacia trees here. So I had to google THAT. Then I went out in the rain and looked for them. I have lots, right here on our own lot.

 

These are also called "Wait-A-Minutes" because you walk by it, get your clothes snagged on a "claw" and have to say to your companion "Hold on, wait a minute..." Don't they look exactly like cat claws?

And sure as s**t, my Acacias were loaded with mistletoe. The berries are tiny yet, but those crested black birds were eating them anyway.

So next to the Acacia was a tree with blue berries, so I had to google that to see who eats those. Turns out it's an Elephant Tree (the trunks look like elephant legs), of which there are many varieties, endangered in the US but plentiful here and ONLY here. Never did find out what birds eat that, but a VERY interesting factoid emerged: the sap is very fragrant, and a resin like Frankincense is made from it. AND, it said if you break off a leaf, sap squirts out an inch high! The sap's good for stingray jabs, too. So I went back outside and found one (also have lots of those) and OMG! The sap squirted an inch in the air when I broke off a leaf! Plus it smells GREAT.

 

We were planning on cutting a couple of them down to create space around our planned bedroom addition, but now we're just going to work around them. Glad I chanced upon that. Now I want to harvest resin and get rich selling incense.

 

So then I had to google how to harvest sap from trees, how to boil it down to make resin (quite similar to maple syrup production), and before I knew it, it was time to make supper. Whole day gone, but then, we're retired. Who cares?