Friday, April 25

Up at 6:30, so Hubbie could get ready to go to the armory to help the Master Gardeners prepare for a plant sale tomorrow. He started to leave the house around 7:30, but then discovered he couldn't find his truck keys.

He searched the house, then decided to check and see if he'd left them in the truck. Sure enough, he had. And not only that, but he had somehow managed to leave the truck ignition on. So, of course, the battery was dead. This necessitated calling the auto service to come and deal with it.

The service guy arrived around 9 a.m. He had to travel from a town about 40 minutes away, since there are no nearby auto services contracted with this emergency service. Seems ridiculous to me.

Around 9:30, Hubbie was finally ready to go to the armory. He was there until about 1 p.m. Before he left, he accompanied Mother to our house.

I did stair stepping exercises this morning, but skipped the resistance band and weights. While I was doing that and getting ready for the day, Mother sliced strawberries to be sugared. There were enough to freeze a quart of them for jelly-making later.

Spent the rest of the morning on my laptop. At lunch, I called Hubbie to see if he planned to come home. He opted to stay at the armory, since I really didn't have anything planned for lunch. Mother had her usual Ramen noodle soup. I chose to just have angel food cake, with strawberries and whipped topping, plus a cup of coffee.

After Hubbie returned from the armory, I went to the college down the road to view an art exhibit, and to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread and bread rounds. Stopped by a cafe' then to get a quart of chicken salad.

At the grocery store, I met a man Hubbie and I used to work with. In fact, he was my supervisor. He was carrying an oxygen tank. Seems he has to wear it pretty much always now. He's younger than me, but I don't know exactly what his problem is. He seemed embarrassed about the tank, but I assured him that if oxygen is what he needs to stay on his feet and have a reasonably normal life, then that's all that counts. I reminded him that we all have physical restrictions at our age. It's just a part of life.

What bothered me more was when he told me that his youngest daughter, age 33, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is now faced with deciding whether or not to have a double mastectomy, since she has a family history of breast cancer.

Didn't accomplish much after that until suppertime. Had chicken salad sandwiches and chips for supper. Mother was ready to go home afterwards, and Hubbie accompanied her.

Then he and I went downtown to the art gallery to attend a reception and the grand opening of the newly renovated space. The gallery now includes two storefront spaces, which the younger members of board of directors and visual arts committee worked on for two weeks, while the gallery was closed. I'm a member of the visual arts committee, but I wasn't up for a renovation project.

The gallery event was scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., but we were only able to stay until 7 p.m., since Hubbie wanted to also attend a gardening program, sponsored by the local plant society.

But we were at the gallery long enough to tour the new space, and to see the juried art exhibit, which is what we wanted to do. But we couldn't stay long enough to attend the artist awards part of the evening.

Wow, we were absolutely impressed by the transformation of the art gallery. It looks very up town. They replaced carpet with hardwood floors, installed lighting appropriate to art work, and painted the walls a soft gray. They maintained the integrity of the this historical building, though, by exposing the original embossed metal ceiling tiles, which they painted white. In so doing, they were able to obtain a grant from the state historical society.

This gallery space was formerly a shoe store. It now opens at one end to the space next door that used to house the gallery. That space is now a workshop, which has also been renovated with counters, a large wall-to-wall blackboard, and plenty of floor space to set up work tables. Within this space there is also a spacious bathroom.

At the back of the gallery, there is a nice display area for items other than art. It houses pottery, jewelry, woodwork, books, and other for-sale items.

A lot of people attended this by-invitation-only wine and light refreshments event. We really enjoyed visiting with folks we haven't seen for a while. Our friends whose son and daughter-in-law had triplets four months ago said the babies will be christened in June, and we will be receiving an invitation to an after-the-christening-party for folks to drop by and meet the triplets.

Before 7 p.m., we went to a local bank to attend the plant society's program on rhododendrons. The speaker was late arriving, so by the time he finished his talk and slide program, it was nearly 8:30. Before he began his program, he auctioned off several azalea and rhododendron plants. Hubbie was sort of interested in the rhododendrons, but he wasn't willing to pay $50 and more for a one. I think he was wise in not buying one, because from all I heard tonight, they are difficult to grow in our state, because of the weather.

From the program, we went to the WDCS to pick up an angel food cake and whipped topping. Got the cake, but they were out of topping, so after we filled the van with gas, we went to a grocery store to get the topping.

We were finally home at 9 p.m. Before settling in, I went over to Mother's house and administered eye-drops. She tried to be cooperative by leaning her head back and opening her eyes wide...but then clamping her lids shut as soon as I approached with medication bottle. So as usual, I had to force her eyes open.

We watched an episode of "Bones," and then headed to bed. Need to be up at 6:30 again tomorrow, so Hubbie can go down to the armory at 7:30.