Chirp! Chirp!"

 

Anyone else out there have smoke detectors in their house? 

My house, which was built in 2006, came with six smoke detectors. They are hardwired with battery backup. They've been acting up lately with a "chirp! chirp!" Yes, I know what that means. They're going bad.

The last time I had a problem with one was about ten years ago. It was the one in my bedroom, which is right around the corner from my kitchen. That damn "chirp! chirp!" sound would wake me up intermittently at night. At first I didn't know what it was. When I mentioned it to Bill, he said it needed a new battery. He put in a new battery. Then six months later, again that damn "chirp! chirp!" would wake me up. We replaced the battery again. 

Another several months go by and again....."chirp! chirp!" What the hell? Why was it only the smoke detector in my bedroom? Bill did some more checking and discovered that the hard wired part wasn't connecting with the smoke detector in my bedroom. Bill, who was an electrician by trade, fixed it. Viola! No more "chirp! chirp!" to disturb my beauty sleep at night. 

Months go by. Years go by. Peace. No "chirp! chirp!" That all ended last week. 

At first I thought I was imagining things Maybe it was the birds outside. But at night in the dark? Hardly. That "chirp! chirp!" was relentless. No amount of denial or rationalization on my part could stop the inevitably of that annoying sound.

I did my research (AI) and found out that most smoke detectors only have a lifespan of ten years! Mine are twenty years old. What to do?

My research also advised to replace them all. More expense. Oh how I miss having a live in electrician. All those years Bill and I were together, I got free electrical service. No more. 

In the meantime that "chirp! chirp!" continued. I had to stop it. My tranquility was being serious disturbed. So I get out my ladder and climb the heights of my ten foot ceilings to figure out how to stop that infernal noise. 

I'm not good on ladders. That's all I need to do is fall.  But I had to stop that sound. 

I figured it out. Yes I did. Me, the non-electrician. The non mechanically inclined (I'm a natural cook and gardener) figured out how to disable that damn smoke detector. 

Once I had disabled it I decided not to call an electrician because the rest of my smoke detectors were still working. I would probably be gone before another one went bad. Save some money which I am continually trying to do these days on my reduced household income and in this age of Trump inflation. 

So yesterday, while I was amusing myself at my computer scrolling through Threads looking at the cat videos what do I hear? "CHIRP! CHIRP!"

Yes Virginia, another smoke detector was preparing to go to the Promised Land. 

I called my local electrician yesterday. He's going to e-mail me a quote for replacing all six of my smoke detectors. 

Just Relaxing

 

Just relaxing here folks, Enjoying the fine spring weather. 

I love my backyard. This is what I've been striving for all my life. 

I'm very lucky to live in such a nice neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. After a lifetime of looking for the perfect home, I found it. Only problem is that I just run out of energy to enjoy it. 

I spend more time sleeping these days. 

This is probably my last spring. But don't cry for me Argentina (Ron says). I have the best of both worlds. Someone to love and who loves me and a wonderful home.

Have a great day everyone!

Peaceful Moment

 

Yesterday morning I took some time out to appreciate a peaceful moment in my backyard.

All my life my goal was to have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, with good neighbors and a big, peaceful backyard. I have that now.

This is where I will end my days. 

I have lived in many places during my eighty-four years on this planet but this is my home now. Our home in Pennsylvania, where we lived for twenty-five years,

Our home in Pennsylvania - taxes too high and homophobic neighbors

was supposed to be our final home. We had to move though because the taxes (school and property tax) got too expensive to live in Pennsylvania. Thus we joined many of our fellow residents from adjoining states like New Jersey and New York and moved to the tax friendlier environs of Delaware twenty years go.  

What I enjoy most about my home in Delaware in addition to my wonderful palace of a house is the peace and quiet.

Quiet.

New WIFI Provider

 

When we lived in Pennsylvania, we had Verizon FIOS which was wonderful. Then we moved to Delaware. That's when the problems began.

Where I moved to Delaware (the Rehoboth Beach/Lewes area), there is only one provider. Comcast. Need I say more?

For the past twenty years I have had no choice but to use Comcast. Comcast was and continues to be notorious for poor customer service and expensive. That's the way monopolies work.

For the past couple of months my WIFI signal, while never good, deteriorated significantly. I didn't even bother calling Comcast because I knew I would get anywhere with them. This from my past experiences, which I could write a small book about. 

During the past twenty years that I have lived in Delaware I often receive and see ads about Verizon high speed Internet service. "Call to check to see if available in your area" the ads say. For the past twenty years I've been checking to see if I could get Verizon internet service in my area. Nada. Not. NO!

Last month I was so frustrated with my weak WIFI signal that kept dropping in my house I was seriously considering stopping my streaming service with Netflix because I couldn't get any movies. Then I saw another Verizon ad. It mentioned 5G. Oh! 5G, that's what I was using when my WIFI signal dropped on my iPhone. Then something clicked in my increasingly addled eighty-four year old brain, the past few years I've seen the increasing proliferation of 5G towers here where I live in coastal Delaware. Could it be? COULD IT ACTUALLY BE? 

I signed on to the internet and the Verizon website to see if their service is now available in my area. Viola! It is! And even better they were offering me all kinds of incentives to sign up with them. Actually, they didn't have to offer me any but I'm taking them anyway. The main one being instead of paying $95 a month for a weak WIFI signal, I now pay $75 a month for a stronger WIFI signal. Also, they provided a service person to install (no charge, normally $90) and a $200 Amazon gift certificate if I keep the service for two years (I will of course). Also, two WIFI extenders free of charge. 

When I called Comcast to cancel my service they offered me incentives to stay with them. No way Jose. This is what I've been waiting for twenty years, dealing with a company that actually has customer service. Competition is good. 

This morning Verizon called to inquire about my service and if I was satisfied. Actually I'm only getting one bar of three bars but that's enough and better than I was getting with Comcast's WIFI signal that I kept losing. I just got off the phone with "Sabrina". We were working on getting me two bars or more of the WIFI signal. Can you imagine Comcast working with me like that? Made you smile didn't I? Comcast customers know what I'm talking about. Know what an oxymoron is? Here, I'll give you a good example. "Comcast service." 

Sabrina and I were working on getting me more WIFI bars which required me to move the Verizon box nearer the window so it can reach the 5G tower, which, unfortunately is on the other side of my house over on Route One. Just like my heater is on the opposite side of my house so my bedroom is the last to get the heat and air conditioning. Pat's bedroom is right above the HVAC system. He gets it all. Too much in fact. But I digress.

So here we are, one of my longest blog posts in months. Hope I didn't bore you with such a mundane issue as my WIFI signal strength but this is important to me and my quality of life. Or as much of life as I have left in this world. I see my VA doctor on Wednesday and the results of my latest PSA test to see if my score has further increased. But that is a subject for another blog posting.

Have a great day everyone. This has been a great day for me!

Daylight Savings Time

When I arose from my slumber yesterday morning I was confused. What time is it? My clocks were not in synch. What is going on? Then it hit me, daylight savings time took effect at 2 AM early Sunday morning. Oh how I hate the change of time.

I have between forty and fifty clocks here at Casa Tipton-Kelly. I love clocks. I can never get enough clocks. I have all types of clocks, even ones that done work. At least I don't have to change the time in those clocks. 

I have two rawther large clocks that require me standing on a ladder to roll back or fast forward the time. Me on a ladder? Very unsteady. I managed to change those clocks though by being very careful. 

My digital clocks are always a challenge. No two are the same on how to change them. By the time six months roll around to change the clocks again, I've forgotten how to change those clocks. And my Bose radio clock, somehow I always end up disconnecting my three satellite radios from the main radio unit. Somehow I manage to connect them all again but it's one of those "back into" corrections. I don't know how I did it but I always manage to disconnect them. I can't have that because my Pandora radio station music selection is what gets me through the day since I'm all her alone without anybody or pets. I used to have the TV on a lot but not so much anymore since much of the TV these days are just commercials interrupted briefly by content. 

I have a few clocks and my Apple products (watch, iPhone) and Alexa that updates automatically. That's a relief.

I'm telling you, the older I get the more annoyed I get with this semi annual change of time. I remember something my Mother told me years ago when I was just a mere sapling of a young boy. She said "They only have daylight savings time so the rich people can golf an hour later." I think she was right.

Warming Up

Picture taken from my back deck yesterday afternoon

The temperature now is twenty-two degrees. The forecast for today is a "high" of thirty-seven degrees. This is a regular heat wave here folks! Maybe this frozen snow will finally begin to melt.

One good thing about living in the southern most county in Delaware (yes, I officially live in "the South"), it that on those rare occasions that it does snow, the snow is usually gone in a day or two. Not this time folks, our rock free sandy loam soil has been covered with frozen snow for two weeks now. This is the longest I can remember since I've been living here (twenty years). 

Right about now I should be packing for my annual trip to Palm Springs and Modernism Week. No trip this year. As I said neither Pat nor I can afford that luxury this year. And talk about cold, whatever cold temperatures I'm having down here in Delaware, Pat's having at least ten to fifteen degrees colder. This is a winter both of us will remember well.

Next year, Palm Springs. If I'm able to that is. We're planning on driving out. Yes, across the United States. Something I've always wanted to do. Now is the time to do it because I'm running out of time. I remember years ago a woman who I used to work with at the bank said she was visiting Ireland, where her ancestors came from. She was older and she said "Ron, I want to visit while I can still walk." I thought that was an exaggeration on her part but now I know what she meant. I'm barely able to walk. Another reason I don't want to be running through airports trying to make a connection. 

Have a great day everyone!

Neighbor Emergency

My frozen front walkway just now. Looks innocent and safe but it's not. All frozen solid. Dangerous.

Today, for the first time in a week I ventured out of the house.

The temperatures are still in the high teens. 

The snow and subsequent rain of the winter storm last week is still on the ground except for the roadways.

I could stay in my house for another week, I have enough food to sustain me but mentally I have to get out of this house. 

Cabin fever. 

I have to get out.

I'm telling your folks, I wouldn't do well in an assisted living facility. Living in one of those old age warehouses is like a glorified prison. 

I was taking my chances of course of slipping and falling on the frozen snow by going out. Thank goodness my local supermarket had their lot cleaned out. I didn't have to walk on any frozen snow.

While I was at Food Lion (my local supermarket of choice) I received a phone call from my eighty-six year old widower neighbor. My MAGA neighbor (we don't discuss politics, we know better). He was locked out of his house. His garage door wasn't opening and he didn't have an extra set of keys hidden outside of his house.

He was in a panic. He said "Ron, I'm in big trouble!" He wanted to know if I had a set of keys to his house (I don't). I have the code to his garage door (I walk his dog when he's on one of his frequent fishing day trips). He said he tried to break the glass next to his front door. He said it wasn't breaking. Well, that was good news because if the glass broke that easy, any criminal could easily break into our cookie cutter development Ryan homes houses. He wanted to know if I had a big hammer so he could break his glass. I told him of course Bill has all kinds of hammers. I told him I was almost finished shopping and would be home in about fifteen minutes.

When I arrived home I saw him sitting in his car in his driveway with his motor on to keep him warm in his car in this 18 degree cold.

I went into my house to get one of Bill's hammers and when I very carefully walked over to his driveway over the frozen snow (yes, here I am risking falling walking on frozen snow) he was on his phone calling a locksmith. A locksmith! Of course! Why didn't I think of that? 

I could see he was having trouble getting a live locksmith on the phone but he finally left a message. He asked if he could stay at my house until the locksmith called him back. When he got to my place I decided to call another locksmith. I did and got hold of one right away. The locksmith said he would be here in twenty minutes or so. That was more like it. WTF? You should be able to get hold of a locksmith right away not leave a message. 

While my neighbor was here I told him about how Bill sends me signs and messages of the Afterlife. My neighbor also his wife about a year before Bill died. His wife and Bill were very good friends as I was with her also. "Bob" (I'll stop calling him "my neighbor", his name is "Bob") listened to me patiently but I could tell the more I talked about the different ways Bill has been keeping in contact with me, that he thought I cuckoo beans for Cocoa Puffs. Oh well, I don't care. I know what Bill is doing. As he was leaving, following him I said "I hope I didn't spook you Bob." He said "Oh, I'm spooked Ron. I'm spooked" as he carefully walked over the frozen ice back to his driveway, getting away from me as fast as he could before I further spooked him.

He called me about a half hour later and told me he got in his house. He thanked me for my help.

Thus my little drama today.

Poor Pat, he's been stuck in the Quebec area the past two days in the cold and snow with his Go Valet job. As I type this I see on my iPhone GPS tracker he's still driving those snow covered roads in Quebec environs in cold, cold Canada.

 

Cold, Cold, Cold

 

View out of my front door yesterday, January 27, 2026

This is a view of the cul de sac from my front door.

Fortunately we here in southern coastal Delaware didn't receive a lot of snow (about three inches) but we did receive and continue to have a lot of cold.

The temperature right now as I type this blog posting is nineteen degrees. While not as cold as Alaska, Minnesota or even Quebec Canada (where Pat was working at his Go Valet job today), nineteen degrees is cold for us Delawareans. 

This cold is expected to continue for the next seven days with another winter storm watch this weekend.

I have enough food to last me a month, thanks to my unfortunate lifelong habit of over shopping and two refrigerators and one freezer chest for storage. However, I am getting cabin fever. Just another reason why I'll never put myself into an assisted living facility. 

I feel like I am in a prison now. 

I feel like I am being smothered. 

January and February of each year for me are always the worst months of the year. To me these months are the "just get through" months.

However, I have much to continue to be thankful for.

I have my independence. I have a comfortable and warm home. I have friends that I can talk to on FaceTime and Zoom. I have my social network on Threads. 

Normally, this time of year I would be getting ready for my annual trip to Palm Springs for Modernism Week. A two week celebration of the glorious days of the Fifties. Oh for those calm filled days. I remember being bored by the Eisenhower Years. Hey, I'll take that boredom of those years over the danger and chaos of the Trump Years now. 

In the future, long after I am gone, school kids will read about these years and wonder "How did they manage to survive?" One day at a time folks, one day at a time.

Survived The Blizzard of 2026

Hey folks! I have survived The Blizzard of 2026!

Glory be to God on high!

In my neighborhood here in southern coastal Delaware just up the road (ten miles) from Rehoboth Beach, we received maybe three or four inches. That's just enough to make everything pretty and winter like. 

My neighbor across the street from me offered to snow blow my driveway out which he did. At first I turned down his offer (I hate to ask anyone to help me) but when he said he's only used his snowblower once since he got it two years ago, I accepted his offer. 

I was going to go out today at the edge of my property to dump some accumulated garbage for my compost pile but decided not to because of the frozen snow. No thank you, I don't want to take a chance of falling. I put my container of potato peels, apple peels (made fresh applesauce this morning) and green pepper and onion debris (made Swiss Steak two days ago - delicious!)

I'll just stay here, hunkered up until the snow melts and hope ICE doesn't come knocking at my door looking for undocumented immigrants.

First Snow of 2026

First snow of the season folks! 

Very pretty. 

Right now it sleeting rain.

I ain't going nowhere.

I'm hunkered in for the duration of this storm in my cozy warm house also known as Casa Tipton-Kelly.

Stay safe everyone!

Christmas Day 2025

 

December 25, 2011. 

Here we are again folks. 

Another Christmas Day.

I hope everyone reading this blog post has a wonderful Christmas Day.

I will be spending my Christmas Day here at home by myself which is fine with me. Even when Bill was alive and I wasn't working, we always preferred staying at home for a quiet day. This year Bill is with me but in spirit only. 

Winter Weather Advisory Tonight!

 

This was our lovely home in East Brandywine Township, Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Bill and I enjoyed twenty-five glorious years living there from 1980 to 2005. 

We bought the land (6.875 acres) in 1976 for $25,000.

 Four years later we built our dream home for $125,000.

Twenty-five years later we could no longer afford to pay the very high Pennsylvania school/real estate taxes ($9,000 plus) a year. We had the misfortune to live in a highly rated school district.

To his dying day Bill would say how much he missed that home. Truth be told, I did too but I had to do what I did (move) because I just couldn't afford to pay those taxes which increased each year.

Today we have a winter advisory, which means the first significant snow of the year here in southern coastal Delaware. Whenever there is significant snow I think of Bill and our wonderful home in Pennsylvania. Bill used to love getting his snow blower out and clearing our five hundred yard driveway. 

Here's to you Bill. Some day again we will be rejoicing again in the reunion of our spiritual lives. 

Blue Spruce

 

Me, visiting our former property in Pennsylvania that went into foreclosure.

One of my all-time favorite trees is a blue spruce.

This photo was taken August 23, 2011 at our previous home in Pennsylvania. We had 6.875 acres of wooded land in East Brandywine Township in Downingtown, PA. Both Bill and I loved that property. We lived there for twenty-five years. We had to move because we could no longer afford the school/property taxes. 

Bill missed that property until the day he died. He was so happy when he lived there with me and our three Pomeranian pups. The mother, father and their puppy. Those were the days.

These days, as I near the end of my life, I think a lot about those wonderful seemingly never ending days when we lived our lives without the worries that we have today with American being slowly destroyed by the reckless and chaotic leadership of Donald Trump and his enablers and cult following. My MAGA brother still lives across the street from our former home, on separated by a small forest of trees. I guess he's happy, I wouldn't know because I haven't talked to him for about three years now. He's lost in the cult.

I remember when I bought that blue spruce tree. It was only a small (one foot) tree when I bought it at a local garden center. I always wanted a blue spruce tree. Over the years it grew up to be that wonderful, perfectly formed blue spruce. This photo was taken when Bill and I made one of our periodic visits after the buyer of our former home went into foreclosure. We visited maybe a dozen times before the new owners bought the place for a bargain price of $302,000 (we sold it for $500,000). One of the first things the new owners did was cut down that beautiful blue spruce tree. 

This is what I do these days folks, when I spend most days living here in Delaware in my solo existence. Oh sure, I married Pat but he continues to live at his home in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. He can't sell his home until the housing market improves. He also took a big loss like I did on his previous home sale. Something else we have in common. I talk to him every day on FaceTime but I do live alone here in southern Delaware and that's just fine with me. But I have to admit, I do miss my previous life with Bill. I thought those days would never end. But they did. I feel like I'm in a transition period now until I rejoin him in Heaven. 

This I know, I will die one day. We all do. I also know that one of two things will happen when I die. Either my spirit will go on to my eternal home or there will be nothing. The latter I don't believe at all but there is that possibility I guess. I've been pretty brainwashed my whole life so I cannot completely dismiss that possibility. But there are stars in the sky and that means something. 

One day. Not too long now.

Married Man!

 

My husband painting our wall. He does a great job. I hate to paint. I'm glad Pat doesn't mind. He's good. He plays his Canadian radio station while he paints. He's a regular dynamo. God I love this little guy!

There's my new husband painting our house already!

Pat just left yesterday morning for his home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A nine hour drive.

We had a wonderful thirteen days here at Casa Tipton-Kelly (no name change). Those days went by so fast!

We were going to travel to Pennsylvania to visit friends but my leg (right) was giving me so much trouble and we just didn't have the time, Pat started to paint our house and I decided to save money by not traveling. Instead I brought a top of the line home movie theater which I had installed. More about that in a future post.

I'm just catching up now. 

I a very happy! I have won the lottery with Pat as much as husband. We're a match! Oh sure, there are some adjustments to be made, I've been living by myself for a year and a half now and Pat's lived by himself his whole adult life. But it's all good. He thoroughly enjoy each other's company and I love having a living, breathing human being in my house again. It's all good folks!

Later.

My Oasis

My oasis here in southern coastal Delaware. Just short of one acre (.97 acres), I spend a lot of time and money creating and maintaining this retreat from the chaos of the outside world. Come along and experience this one minute of zen with me.

For Bill

Bill's stairway to his downstairs bedroom

 Monday I pulled out all stops and put in new rope lights to Bill's stairs. The previous ones had almost burned out. This was a big job.

Bill loved his downstairs (our finished basement) bedroom. Ironically I didn't even know I had that room. When I was having this house built in 2006, I was preoccupied in selling out Pennsylvania house. I only came down on weekends to mow the grass.

When we finally sold our Pennsylvania house eleven months later (yes, eleven months later!), and we moved in here I assumed Bill would take the upstairs bedroom because that's the kind of bedroom he had at our Pennsylvania house.   When he told me he was taking the "downstairs room" I said "what room?" I thought he meant the big media room. He said "No, the room to the side (right) of the stairs." I had to go down and look and viola! There was a room completely drywalled, drop ceiling, pot lights, carpeted. "How about that?" I thought to myself. And that room tucked in by the stairs was Bill's room for the nineteen years we lived here. He loved that room. Since he died, I haven't changed a thing in his room. I even leave the lights on and his hearing aids in the charger. Bill's container of ashes and his American flag are also in his room. His room is my memorial to Bill. I don't have to visit a cemetery and look at a headstone and the ground to visit Bill. I go downstairs to his room. 

A couple of weeks ago about half the rope lights that lined the stairs to his room had burned out. I was going to leave it. Then, I noticed that every time I used those stairs, I got a little depressed. Maybe the stairs were a metaphor for Bill's passing. Whatever was triggering my depression I had to change it. It was big job removing the old rope lights and installing the new ones, with my arthritic body resisting all that bending bur I got it done.

Now when I descend and ascend those stairs; those bright lights remind me of the bright light that Bill brought into my life for fifty-nine years. 

Refrigerator Still Needs Repair

 

Yesterday I had an appliance repairman take a look at my old refrigerator. Just to be on the safe side. I don't want my refrigerator conking out again. 

He took a look and yes, it will malfunction again. He ordered a replacement part and will install it when he receives it. 

I'm still glad I'm keeping my old refrigerator though. Not only is it cheaper to replace the part ($330 including labor) it is a lot less than the $1,704.98 I was paying for my new refrigerator. Also, I had a suspicion that the new refrigerators aren't as well made as the one I have now. My appliance repairman agreed with me. 

Fence Removal

You know folks, it's always something.

This morning while I was relaxing in my bedroom, staying out of the oppressive heat and humidity that is hovering over southern coastal Delaware today, I hear my doorbell ring.

"Oh who is it now? Another salesman?" 

Alas no, the person ringing my Ring doorbell was a very attractive redhead (not Pat) in a orange construction helmet and Day-Glo lime green T-shirt.

He identified himself from a local tree service company called Asplunh. He was here to remove Bill's white PVC fence from around our transformer. 

I knew this was coming.

For the past year there have been rumblings about too many homes here in paradise i. e. Sussex County, Delaware, hiding their transformers with shrubbery and the like. 

We've been warned to REMOVED ALL OBSTACLES but of course I've been ignoring the warnings because Bill put in that fence. It's part of my memory with Bill. Actually, I was against putting in the fence, I wanted to keep access unobstructed to the transformer but Bill insisted. He said the transformer was "ugly."

Bill and our neighbor Bob leveling off the fence

Over the years I've had many colorful and beautiful displays of flowers including a magnificent display of light lavender clematis. The past several years I've been the talk of the neighborhood with my blazing red display of salvia flowers. That is no more after today.

Poor Bill, he would be turning over in his grave if he was in a grave. Actually his ashes are in a beautiful box in his bedroom downstairs.

After the guys from Asplundh left I put a call into GOT-JUNK! to remove the fence. They want a minimum of $398 to take it away (quarter tuck). Instead I posted "FREE WHITE PVC FENCE" on my NextDoor app and got an immediate response within five minutes. It's 12:30 PM now. "Jared" said he would be over at 1:30 PM.

I feel bad for my salvia plants that just took hold and my long time clematis but it is what it is. 

Another piece of Bill's history gone. 

Tour of Backyard 5 27 2025

Hello folks! I'm still here, way behind on my blog posts though. I can't believe how busy I am even though I no longer have to care for Bill or have a part-time job. I am spending a lot more time in my backyard though. Casa Tipton-Kelly is a project of love for me. And I know Bill is with me when I'm out back in our yard perfecting "our" wildlife sanctuary. 

Right now the time is 8:03 PM. I have a little daylight left so I'm going out now to lay another wheelbarrow of mulch. I have a large pile I'm working on. The goal is to make that mulch pile disappear by July 4th!

Update April 2025

My two hearts pin which I plan to wear on my lapel when I get married to Pat

 Time for an update.

I'm tempted to write about the latest stupidity from the Convicted Felon who occupies the White House but I'll give everyone a break from his never ending quest to destroy our country with his tariffs. 

My question is, will I live long enough to see the Congressional Republicans grow a spine and finally do their job and impeach this Russian asset? I doubt it so instead I'll write about .......ME. Always an interesting subject, at least to me. (smile)

Ah yes, my hearing is back. I'm listening to a DColor mix right now as I type this blog entry.

I have my hearing back and it is wonderful! Oh how I missed those upper registers. I'm hearing them now though.

Pat is busy filling our his paperwork prior to his visit with the American State Department Consulate in Montreal. It's Pat's turn to jump through all those hoops like I had to do last September. Getting his K-1 VISA is a complicated process folks. Hopefully this last step will go smoothly and we will be able to get married by June. That would be good timing. I would like to get matching outfits for our wedding but Pat isn't having it. He HATES seeing two gay guys dressed like twins. I have to admit I'm not too thrilled about those displays of "We're together, look at our matching outfits!" Pat and I look enough alike already so that will have to do. I will be wearing my Two Hearts pin (pictured at the beginning of this blog entry). I wanted to get one for him but again, Pat isn't having it. 

In other news here at Casa Tipton-Kelly: I got my John Deere riding tractor serviced on Tuesday. It was a mobile service and the service guy did a great job. Expensive but worth it. He was friendly, knowledgeable and will to share his knowledge. He showed me how to properly start my John Deere. Later on this morning I'll do some grass mowing with my new sharpened blades. I'll be mowing my grass every other week. I'll have Jose (my local all-purpose landscaper) mow every other week. He does the weed whacking which I don't do.

Later this morning to motor on down to the VA Clinic (which is still open, Trump and Musk didn't close this one .......yet) to give blood for my labs. I have an appointment next week with my doctor for a six month checkup. 

I haven't heard from my ENT nurse practitioner but my hearing is back as I said earlier. I don't know if I need another appointment but I guess I do to go over my recent CAT-SCAN.

Time to leave for my labs. 

Have a great day!