7-5-11. Another July 4 has come and gone. I hope everyone had a safe one. It was nice here. Usually it is about too hot on July 4th to do anything, but here it was very pleasant. We sat out in the shade and watched all the traffic coming and going in and out of the campground and wondered as usual where they go all the time. Then we see them coming back. There was a cool breeze and low humidity and just really nice. I’ve got the urge to crochet again so I worked on a vest in a pretty shade of lavander. I almost got it finished. I didn’t use a pattern and just made one up as I went along so it went much faster than if I had been reading a pattern.
We’ve been getting and hearing a lot of bad news lately. Almost two weeks ago on Thursday Walt got a call that his daughter, Berta, had a heart attack and was in the hospital. I think I already wrote about this. Anyway, they put in two stints in her arteries that were blocked and sent her home on Saturday. Then on Tuesday I got a message from my daughter, Anita, that a hospital in Springfield, Missouri had called her and said her dad was in there and having a heart attack. I think they put stints in his arteries too and I told her he was doing well and no need for her to come down unless she really wanted too. I haven’t talked to her anymore so I assume things are still going okay. Then Walt’s daughter, Mona, from Ozark, Missouri was up here visiting with her daughter, Candi, in East Moline and she came out here and spent most of Wednesday with us and we had a nice visit. Then I think it was the next day Walt talked on the phone to her and she said she had gotten word that her husband, Bob Stephens’, sister, Crystal, had been in a head on crash and was in the Columbia, Missouri Hospital in bad shape. So Mona left at 5 a.m. the next morning to go down there. On Saturday I called my sister-in-law, Marlene, and had a nice long visit with her and she said three members of her family were in a nursing home in Wisconsin. Her mother had a stroke a few years ago and was already there. Then Marlene’s youngest sister had a stroke recently and was in there and her oldest sister had her knees replaced and all three of them in the same nursing home. So that’s really hard on Marlene with them so far away from her. She said their garden was coming along good and Claud gets a bucket of green beans every day. Yum, yum, that sounds good. Then yesterday Walt got a call from his daughter-in-law from Minnesota and she said Berta was having more problems and was back in the hospital. They put three more stints in her arteries which makes a total of five. She said she was feeling pretty good now. Walt’s son, Randy’s wife, Laura, was down here visiting her parents who both have stage four lung cancer and was getting ready to spend time with Berta yesterday and found out Berta was back in the hospital. I just feel so sad for all of the people who are going through all these bad times and also their families and loved ones who are going through it with them. It’s hard to think about anything else right now. We’re still enjoying watching all our little “pets” outside. We’ve got one we don’t want. It looks like a vole and is living in the basement and goes out to the feeders to get food, then runs back under there. Walt’s trying to get it with his bow and arrow and I think he will. In the meantime I’m going to put one of those big glue pads in the house in case he gets in here. One got in here one time and they are really destructive. I finally caught it with a glue pad. Without the mail running yesterday I know this will be late. I meant to mail it Saturday, but forgot to write it in time to mail. Take care of yourselves and bye, bye for now.
