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

April was a busy month.  Today, the last day of the month, was special because Lois Culver returned to PG from The Wellington where she’s been recovering from a stroke.  Here she is at the supper table just now.  Fern and Marybelle weren’t present.  Also a picture of her at the Wellington with dad, Kathy and myself.

Sadly, Elton’s daughter, Cheryl Hutchison, passed away from the cancer she’s been fighting for 12 years.  David Cleveland came to be with Elton, and took him to the service in WA.  Here’s a link to Cheryl’s obituary which has pictures of her:  Cheryl’s Obituary. Here are pictures of David and Elton, and then one of Elton on his 103 & 1/2 birthday.

We had wonderful special meetings in April.  The Sunday Houston special meetings were held south of Houston in Pearland.  Most of the residents were able to go.  Also, there was a special meeting at PG on a Wednesday afternoon.  The first picture below shows 5 of the 8 workers who were here.  Visitors in April include Mike, Becky, Lottie and Adelia Hepner, who have relocated from Arkansas to Magnolia TX.  They are shown here with Kathy and the Milles.  Also Sharon and Gary Nordic shown visiting Marybelle.

Pedro, Sary, Meghan and Peter Rodriguez came from San Antonio for a weekend, show here with Ronald.  Denis and Deanne Swenson visited from Colorado, shown with Alice, Marilynn and Marybelle.  Della’s relatives, Charles and Angela Strong visited, shown with Della and Esther.

Marilynn Stafford and Kathleen Bly visited from LA.  They visited mister Gilbert, played music with Elton and visited Lois at the Wellington,

Laverne Branson visited Marybelle.  Wayne (Clarence’s son) and Mary visited Clarence.  Kathy and I were in San Antonio and visited Conchita and Samuel Valdez who worked here at PG for several years.

Alice and I share a common birthday (1st pic).  Two of Alice’s nieces, Marion and Roger Fryer (WI) and Carol and Mike Martin (OK) came for her birthday (2nd pic).  Marion Fryer also had a birthday, 10 years minus 1 day younger than Alice, so we had another cake, one day later! (3rd pic)

Shawn had his 47th birthday (shown with Anita), and Kenny (Salena’s husband and our son) had his 29th.

On a Sunday afternoon the paper is quite important!  Lois was here for the meeting and lunch.  Our dog Bella returned from a month of obedience training, and got to visit one of her good friends, Marilynn.

Thanks,

Ken

Marybelle’s pain in her leg and hip has gotten worse.  We were finally able to get hospice for her while she still stays at PG.  Hospice should help with pain management.  We’re trying to keep her from having to go to a nursing home as long as possible.  Lois continues to improve at The Wellington, and we still have hope she will improve enough be able to return to PG.  Lois has been out for meeting 3 Sundays and dad 2 Sundays in March.  Dominique and Salena are designated “essential care givers” for Lois which means they can go to her room.  Anyone else can visit her on the porch.

Marilynn finished her bladder treatments and hopes there is no more tumors to deal with.  Della got hearing aids and is doing well with them.  The other 7 residents are about their usual.

Visitors this month included Della’s daughter Chris and my sister Ronda, shown here with Della.  Also the Walker family from TN visited Esther.  Lyle came by for a visit, shown here with Gilbert.

Nohemi and Anahli Lopez visited, shown here with Alice, Marilynn and Ronald.  Pat and Linda Bly visited, shown here with Marybelle.  Del and Kari Campbell and children visited Kari’s parents, Wayne and Dawn Overby who live here on the farm.  This picture is of Kari and daughter Kate with Della, Dawn and Marilynn.

Eric Jackman and two grandsons Michaias and Erik (who live in Arkansas) visited Fern. Howard and Maryann Colson knew the Jackman’s in Guam.  At the same time Roger Paul, his son William (also from Arkansas), his daughter and son-in-law the Joe and Julie Trapp (who live near Houston), visited.  We failed to get a picture of them.

Birthdays this month included Esther 87 and Salena 28.

Marybelle likes to collect food for the chickens.  Abigail takes her over to feed them about once a week.  Shawn took a picture of these wild hogs down by the cabin.

Thanks,

Ken

The Winter Freeze post from Feb 17 showed what was happening here due to the freeze.  Several friends jumped in to help replace hot water heaters and fix broken pipes.  Almost everything is repaired now and back to normal.  The Goldners were able to move back to their home.  We sure appreciate the help!  The temperatures are reaching the 70’s and even the low 80’s now.  It’s hard to believe that all happened in the last 2 weeks.

Lois Culver continued down and was admitted to a rehab hospital Tuesday.  When I visited her this afternoon her mind was fairly clear and she had the same sweet spirit, but she doesn’t seem to have improved physically.  Here’s a picture of her taken today.  Also a picture taken with dad today… he continues to do much better than he had been.

Marilynn has some weakness and shortness of breath (not covid), but she was able to get to the meeting today.  The other residents are about their usual.

We had 3 birthdays in February, Patty Maki, Mimi Mille and Pecan Grove!  Bea came to be our first resident 12 years ago today.

Richard and Rosa Smith who knew Ronald and Alice from time in Mexico.  Clarence had several visits with his family, inside and outside.

Kathy and I took a week off last week and relaxed in Mexico.  Dominique and Mimi are taking this week off, visiting friends and family.  Thanks to the vaccinations, we feel safe to travel some, still wearing masks and distancing.

Ken

Several have asked how it’s going here with the snow, ice and cold.  We received 3 to 4 inches of snow while the temperature dropped to 6 deg F (-21 deg C) Monday night.  We’ve been in this area all but 3 years since 1985 and certainly never saw anything like this!  Here’s the residence, ice on the lake by the cabin and our stairs on Tuesday.

The power was off from about 3:00 PM on Monday till 1:00 on Tuesday… 22 hours.  Fortunately we have generators at the residence and at our home, so they remained warm.  But even with the generator, 4 external hot water heaters at the residence froze and busted.  So now, the residents are doing fine, but without hot water.  That doesn’t seem to bother them much… they’ve all lived without hot water before!  3 of the women did go over to Milles for a hot shower today.  We don’t know when we’ll be able to get replacement water heaters.  Almost everything here is closed.  Of course there is no road clearing equipment here, so the roads are treacherous.

The other homes got cold!  Mille’s, Overby’s, Goldner’s and Bass’s.  Milles and Overbys had portable generators for part of the time.  The only damage was to Goldners (the home my parents used to live in).  The water froze, pipes broke and when the water thawed this afternoon water came out of the ceiling.  The Goldners had moved into the residence yesterday… not sure how long before they will be able to go home.  Here’s a picture of Jerry and Betty Goldner in the residence this afternoon.  Also a picture of Overbys peach tree that is in bloom, and our old buggy Monday evening with the first snow.

We’re very fortunate compared to many in this area!  So no complaints.

A different subject, we have a replacement for Vince.  Meet Bella, a silver lab, 10 weeks old.  She’s very popular at the residence, we take her to the morning bible studies.  Soon she’ll be too big to be a lap dog.  Here she is being held by Maven Furrow.  Also a picture of dad… he’s doing better!

Ken