Pecan Grove (www.pecan-grove.net) Pecan Grove and Senior Residence

May has been very wet and windy. We received over twenty inches of rain in May! Our pond and lake were overflowing. We are in a high location, so there are no problems with any of our buildings. Areas north of us and south of us have received over 40 inches of rain, so we are fortunate!

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Some creatures really thrive in the wetness. Like our new resident beaver for example, here are some close up shots of him moving around.

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This rain is certainly good for one thing, gardening! Here are some pictures of the garden that Esther is tending, and the flowers Marie has planted. They have certainly taken off! Lastly, here is a picture of a Nectarine tree that has been very fruitful this season, the fruit is juicy and delicious!

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Despite the rain we still found beautiful days for some outdoor fun. We had a quick picnic for the residents with good ol’ southern cooking. Here they all are on the porch chowing on chili and cornbread, and Kenny serving coffee.

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We had many visitors this month. Kent and Linda Opel stopped by with Fe Gatan. Abigail’s car has been acting up so Kent came to trade one of his with it so that he could work on it. Here they are after lunch with Esther, Joyce, Marie and Gwen.

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Sue Dawson visited with her parents, Jean and Connie Dawson, who live in WA. They know all the residents well and wanted to sing Spanish hymns with those who laboured in Latin America. Here they are singing the hymns, and just the three of them, and lastly posing with most of our residents in front of the fireplace.

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Elsie had a nice visit over Memorial Day weekend. Her granddaughter Candace Sandon and her three children AJ, Miles, and Brynna came first followed the next day by Candace’s parents, Don and Becky Schroeder.

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Ty and Amy Nordic brought 7 Husky/Wolf pups to visit. The residents enjoyed them!

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Three sisters from the next field east of us in Louisiana came for a doctor’s appointment and to avoid flooding where they were. Lyle and Timothy visited for lunch one day. Dominique had a birthday in May.

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Kathy and Dominique had birthdays in May.

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Resident Journals

Elsie Schroeder

Elsie is still doing well, she focuses on others mostly. She likes to encourage Joyce and Alice to take walks with her, and spends quite a bit of time each evening doing the puzzles with Gwen. After that one particularly wet week this month Joyce and Elsie decided to survey the damage on a clear sunny day.

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Marilynn Frye

Marilynn’s heart function continues to deteriorate, causing her to retain fluid, causing shortness of breath. Her oxygen levels have been increased to keep her comfortable. She was put on to palliative care last week and then today on hospice. They gave her a hospital bed which allows her to sleep better. Here she is holding another puppy with Amy Nordic.

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Esther Duncan, Marie Mounce, Alice Oetken and Gwen Farmer

We’ll lump these 4 residents together because they all do well and are a big help to those doing less well. You can see all these resident’s smiling faces in the previous photos enjoying all our company, both furry and human.

Elton Cleveland and Ronald Elliott

Elton and Ronald are doing about the same, maybe a little more frail. They are also in previous photos…

Joyce Naber

Joyce is unsteady on her feet when walking outside. Thankfully, Elsie and Esther know this and take her too hand. Here she is after one of her summer walks with her two walker buddies Elsie and Alice relaxing on the porch.

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Gilbert Reese and Fern Duncan

Gilbert and Fern (who are in the Park Manor nursing home in Conroe) remain much the same. Fern says less and less, but responds well to comments, especially humor. Here are some pictures of them this month.

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Thanks for your interest in us here!

Ken and Kenny

Our dear friend, Dale Maki, passed away Saturday morning.  His soft spirit and friendship are already missed.  His memorial service will be this Sunday.  Here’s a picture of Dale with Patty and a friend from China, taken May 1.  The second picture is of part of the group that was together that day.

Ruth Evans came from Georgia to join our residents at PG… so now we have 7 residents.  Here’s a picture of Ruth, and then a picture of her with the Colsons, George and Norma.

Marilynn Frye is here for a visit from north Texas, and Marilyn Nutt and RoseMary Fandrich (shown with Elton) are here visiting Naomi in the nursing home.  Naomi has rallied some with their frequent visits, but she is still very weak.  Ron Nutt (Marilyn’s brother) took Marilyn up to Tyler for the weekend.

Jeff Chenault came to do some landscaping and to visit.  Here he is with Elton.  Michaela and Katie visited, shown here with Kathy and Jeff.

Samuel found a very young fawn in the woods.  They are feeding it… it’s growing quickly… named it Bambi. Kathy had three 65th birthday celebrations in May.

A group of Spanish friends came yesterday for a Memorial Day picnic.  Here are some pictures.

Here’s a group picture taken this morning, including the 7 residents.

We had another flood last week, the worst so far.  Fortunately we haven’t had much damage at PG, but a lot of roads have been closed.  Some of our grass carp went out the secondary overflow and were laying in the pasture below.  Samuel picked them up and is cooking them… says they’re good!  Even John wasn’t interested in trying them.

All the moisture is causing scab (a fungus) to grow on the pecan leaves (black dots). We lost much of our crop to scab last year, so we’re spraying fungicide more often this year… but there’s more rain in the forecast.  We know now why farmers are like hound dogs… crying all the time!

 

Ken

 

The 7 residents at PG are finishing the year well.  I forgot to mention last month that Bea went on a 6 day cruise with Virginia.  Not bad for 96 and nearly blind!  Esther has started telling folks she’s 16.  She’s going to make it to 100 (next September) or die trying!

The first picture below (taken today – Dec 31) of the residents: Doris, Bea, Esther and Naomi in front, Betty, Jean and Teresa in back.  The second picture is of the residents with those of us that were there for lunch, including my sister Ronda and her husband Mike from Arkansas.

Today is mom’s 83rd birthday.  Yesterday Liz Wilbur brought Jerry and Kathleen Fredrick to visit.  The Milles children and grandchildren were also here, with Mike and Ronda.

Samuel and Conchita are with Ronda and Mike in the first picture, in the house Ronda and Mike used to live in at PG… now rented by Samuel and Conchita.  Scotty and Dorothy Scott visited with their daughter Glenda Kadir and her children (who live in Dubai) and their son-in-law Galen Grillo (who lives in California).

Terry (all hat and no cattle) Hoffman’s family visited from Wisconsin and Georgia. Ron and Anna Furrow (Brendan’s parents from Ohio) came to visit with Karla, the twins and Evren.  Esther is always glad to see folks from Ohio.

Mary Sitton brought Bernie and Sarah Hatchett for dinner on Christmas day.  These pictures show Mary with Hector, Conchita and Samuel, then Betty with Sarah and Bernie.

Sisters Betty Goss and Mary Stanton visited their old friends, Betty and Bea.  Lyle and Ginger Meyer and their 3 – Jessica, Austin and Blake – were down from Minnesota.

Howard and Mary Ann Colson and Wayne and Dawn Overby babysat our residents so the staff could go to a holiday dinner.  Ava and Oscar Waldo enjoy Naomi.

Our road signs (needed for 911) were installed.

Terry made a Texas slab at the bottom of the flag pole.  There are still a lot of pecans on some of the trees!  We’re to busy (or lazy) to bother with them.

Good progress was made on the Mille home… rafters were going up today.   Our place was started in January… windows are going in now.  That retaining wall turned out to be a lot of work!

Dominique took these pictures one frosty morning.

Happy New Year!  Thanks for your interest in PG.

Ken