Will Surprises Never End?

At dinner on the 20th, Annie mentioned the chalk picture of the baby in mommy's tummy that Charis had drawn that afternoon.  It was an oblique way to announce Baby Disher #3!  Annie had a recent doctors appointment for confirmation.  A due date in early January is the initial great expectation.

This is not the restful retirement I'd long expected.  It's better.

Visits with Galen Here and There

On the 12th, I drove down to hang out with Galen and Luna so Jean could get some rest.  Joel was visiting friends.  I enjoyed Jean's good cooking and caught two episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.  Galen naps often but he was also well behaved while he and I enjoyed Joel's Paramount+ streaming account.

The next day, Jean and Joel dropped Galen off with us for two hours so that they could have a dinner date at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue.  Mox is where they had their first date.  Galen got fussy until I figured out that he was hungry and thirsty.  This was the first time I changed his diaper.  He's eleven months younger than Valerie, but I think he'll catch up with her in height sooner rather than later.

Since Annie is home for a few months, I have more free time to visit Galen.  I went down on the 17th and 23rd.  Nancy and I went down on the 30th.

The Library is a Music Room and a Game Room

The new Library has become something of a sanctuary for me.  I've sat in Grandma Jean's blue recliner and listened to music, read my Bible, and held a sleeping Valerie for an hour.

The shelves are nearly full and we have many more books to sort and store.  We'll need to go back and reorganize the many volumes to group like topics.

I used the points on my Amazon VISA credit card toward a modest DVD/CD player for the Library stereo system.

Nancy likes games more than I do, but already we have begun to play a few here.

Finally Cucumbers?

It's been so wet and cool this Spring that my planned cucumber patch will be delayed until next month.  My cucumber starts (left) are still quite small.  But I've already harvested some oregano, onions, strawberries, and raspberries.

On a trip to Berrydale on Sunday the 12th, I stopped in at the Carpinito Brothers Nursery and Garden Center in Kent and picked up some plants.  I got four strawberry plants for $1.50 each: Eversweet (3) and Seascape (1).  I'd had so little success with my peppers started from seeds this year that I bought five different pepper plants.  Three are hot ones, (Jalapeno, Hot Red Cherry, and Thai Dragon), and two are Bell peppers, (King Arthur and California Wonder).  I added two Habanero peppers a week later and another King Arthur this last day of the month.

A second batch of tomatoes decided to start growing nicely on the deck.  I put two of them in pots and gave four to Randy.  I'll be interested to learn what variety they are once they grow fruit.  On the 29th, I finally saw the first small tomatoes beginning to set.

My Lupine flowers and Zinnias were growing so slowly that I bought a few more flowers to attract pollinators.  While I have more tiny Lavender seeds sprouted again, I bought three Lavender plants.  I also learned how to grow Lavender from cuttings instead of seeds so I started a few of those.  I added some "Easter Bonnet" violet Alyssum and an "Island Samoa" Aster.  I ordered some seeds of bright red Alyssum from eBay too.  I also planted more Zinnia seeds. 

Summer arrived on June 21st and with it we finally got warm and dry summer weather.  My horseradish, potatoes, green onions, and tomatoes were already huge.

I purchased some creeping Phlox and Nancy asked me to buy her a Phlox plant like one she had growing up.  It's called a Flame^® "Pro Pink Pop."

All the Marigold plants are flowering.

As July begins, I'm still planting.  By month's end, I'll be harvesting.

Jonny Gets His 
Birthday Visit to KidsQuest

Jonny's birthday was on the 3rd, but we couldn't get the whole Sleight/Disher/Sitte family together until the 22nd.  I'd been volunteered to accompany Jonny, Reuben, Charis, and Cynthia to the Kids Quest Children's Museum in Bellevue just nine blocks due east of us.

After an early lunch, we headed to the play place.  Nathanael, Annie, and Jean took this time to sort through boxes of family toys.  It was time to pass on many to the three young families.

Bits and Pieces 

Nancy and I had a rare week alone at the end of the month as the Disher's went tent camping with Thomas' parents and Nathanael's family on the Washington coast.  She put me to work refinishing the oak flooring at the foot of the main stairway.

Back in April, I noticed a problem on the inside of my top left premolar tooth.  It was one of the two teeth supporting a bridge where my second premolar tooth was missing.  I put off seeing my dentist, Dr. To, in May since I was teaching Bible.  I made an appointment for the 14th.  There he gave me the bad news that the tooth could not be saved.  But that meant that the bridge would also have to go.  The best, and most expensive option was to remove the bridge, extract the damaged tooth, and after the next three months, install two more implants.  I already have two implants so I know what I'm in for.  At 8:00 AM the next morning, I was back at his Shoreline office, enduring a painful extraction.  It had three roots and significant decay that made the oral surgery challenging for both dentist and patient.  Dr. To is such a good dentist that I have not changed to one on the Eastside.  Apparently, I do what I can to promote his job security!  On September 7th I get my new implants placed.  Three months later I get my actual new teeth ― perhaps by Christmas?!

Also this month, I had my annual "wellness" check up with Dr. Robert Kelley.  Along with learning that my A1c had jumped up from 7.4 to 9.4, mostly because I'd run out of a number of my medications, I learned that I was in stage 3a of Chronic Kidney Disease.  A return visit in September will show if I've learned how to lower both of these dangerous negative values.  I've learned an incredible amount about my issues from the YouTube videos of Dr. Sten Ekberg.

This month, I switched from Dr. Ted Zollman in Ballard to Dr. Alex Beazer in Kirkland, both with Eye Associates Northwest.  The good news is that he found no sign of diabetic retinopathy.

Annie had me start "Marie Kondoing" my things in the house, especially my clothes.  The first round of this culling process resulted in me getting rid of 29 shirts and 21 pairs of pants.  I also discovered that I am nearly down to the size 36 pants in my closet.  At the end of this month, I made it down to 174.9 pounds.

I resisted buying any new firearms in light of Senate Bill 5078 going into effect on July 1st.  None interested me in any case.  Sale of magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds ends then.  This month however, I did buy two 16-round and two 10-round magazines for my IWI Jericho 941.  At least for now, possession of standard-capacity magazines is still legal in Washington State if owned before July 1st.  The gun control bill President Biden signed on the 25th was significantly watered down from what was first proposed.  It does not impact me.

The Scout slogan is, "Do a good turn daily."  On Saturday the 25th, Annie and I took Charis and Valerie to visit Alicia and her kids in Lake Stevens.  (Richard is currently living elsewhere.)  I mowed their lawn and Alicia thanked me with over a dozen strawberry plants she had to spare, some of which I dug out of her lawn.  Rowan was as wild as ever.  Corvin was happy to be with "Grandpa."