We were up and out the door by 7:30 yesterday morning, which anyone who knows us can tell you is way too early. But we had appointments scheduled at Northport Medical Center for a mammogram for Terry and for bone density tests for both of us. I guess that becomes necessary when you get old and frail. Or at least when the medical folks think you are old and frail.
My bone density test was quick and easy, and the tech told me that Terry would be next, because they had sent her for her mammogram first. However, that didn’t work out because they seemed to have lost her sign in paperwork or something and it was at least half an hour more before they figured things out and got her taken care of.
But eventually it was all sorted out and we left the Medical Center and went to a place called Gillis Jewelers to drop off the necklace Terry wears all the time because the clasp on the chain broke the other night. When we got that done, I wanted to check out a place called Guns and Ammo, one of the local gun shops. Not that I need anything, but because I may someday, and I want to know who has what.
The tech who did our bone density tests had told us to try City Cafe in old downtown Northport for a late breakfast or early lunch. It’s one of those places that is popular with all the locals, and there was a good crowd when we got there about 11 o’clock. We were able to snag a booth, but as it turned out, they stopped serving breakfast at 10, so we were late for that. Instead, Terry had catfish fingers and fried okra and I had a chicken breast. While the food was okay and the service excellent, it didn’t have the wow factor for either of us to make us want to go back in a hurry.
After we ate, we spent a while walking around the quaint old downtown, poking into some of the shops. This area definitely has an old timey small town feeling that is so different from busy McFarland Boulevard (US Highway 82), where most of the commercial businesses in Northport are located.
Back at home, I decided the grass needed to be cut before it turned into a jungle, so I started on the front and side yards with the Husqvarna riding mower. That is usually Terry’s area of responsibility, but the way she’s been feeling, there was no way she was up to something like that. In the process, I learned a lesson – when you are mowing watch where you were going. I was busy looking down at the grass as I worked on the front yard and went under a tree with a low limb and smacked myself right in the head. It’s a good thing that the mower’s seat has a backrest or it would have probably knocked me all the way off. As it was, I just scraped off a layer or two of epidermis and seriously bruised my ego.
Once I was done with the yard mowing, I got the tractor out of the barn and used the mid-mount mower on it to mow the pasture and up both sides of the barn road. There are no trees out there, so I wasn’t able to hurt myself again. 😊
By the time I finished that chore it was about 6:30 and time to knock off for the day. There is so much mowed grass piled up around that the place looks like a mess, and in some places it was so thick it was choking the tractor mower. Today I plan to put the rake on the back of the tractor and see if I can get some of that cleared up. I sure am glad it has cooled down enough to get some work done around here!
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Callie And Natalie’s Dutch Family History by Darlene Miller. When nine-year-old Callie and her five-year-old sister Natalie go to Pella, Iowa with their grandmother they wear period dresses as they learn about their fourth, fifth, and sixth great-grandparents, who arrived in Pella in 1847. Other true Dutch stories are about more great-grandparents who immigrated in the early 1900s. Enjoy their experiences as they see, hear, and taste “all things Dutch” as they travel through Pella.
To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!