Tag Archives: street crew

Monday 10-19-2026

Barley and Birch

HGTV

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Last night the street crew was picking up – and sometimes DROPPING! – big heavy metal rectangles that have been covering large areas of the street. One woke me up, making me jump straight up in my bed, and it took me a while to figure out what was going on and relax enough to get back to sleep: hence, I took another nap this morning before heading for the cafe.

I had a good time at the cafe, although someone had taken ‘my’ spot. I had a good time finishing up two sketches and getting a third one started.

Here are the finished sketches –

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Tomorrow we meet Harvey and Khun Pim and the main doctor at the hospital for his routine visit and to get the doctor to fill out the form we need to take to the agent who helps us get Harvey’s medical visa renewed. We may go directly from the hospital to the agent’s place to take her the paperwork so she can get things processed for us.

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I gave one of the cleaning ladies a Halloween card this morning, and took one to the office staff of the building today, as well. It seems that people are happy to get them, so I’m pleased.

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I went ahead and read more than one chapter in the “Fury in Death” book by J.D. Robb this morning, unable to hold myself off any longer, and I finished the book. I really love the group of people that Eve Dallas has in her life in these books. Each new book feels like a reunion with friends to me. I feel lucky to have found this series and am always pre-ordering the next one…

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The cats puzzle is coming together in a whole different way than the others I’ve tackled. So far, I have one mostly-there face, one upper half of a face, another cat’s hat, plus another cat’s ear. The only clues I’m getting are fur patterns, so I’m putting them together to see what I come up with. It’s fun and interesting.

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TikTok

I’ve been increasing the incline on the treadmill at the gym and burning more calories than usual. Tomorrow I’ll change my focus – slow down, no incline, and concentrate on my balance, trying not to hold onto the handlebars. Although my balance is better than it was when I first came here – the retraining my brain and body is extremely slow. I do fine when my head is down and I’m looking at my feet on the street, for example, unless I turn my head to look at something. And then I get ‘wonky,’ listing to one side or the other. Sometimes, if I weren’t holding Brian’s hand, I think I might have a problem. I’m also training myself to stop before I look at something, but that’s hard when we’re going somewhere.

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Jan Chilton

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Wednesday 9-9-2026

Nanea Hoffman – Sweatpants and Coffee

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I’m having a happy morning. The street crew did something quieter last night, so I had a good night’s sleep. The Ugly American didn’t show up at the gym – though his ghost was there, making me work out mentally what I might say to him if he DID show up – like “Are you visiting? How long is your stay?” – I actually had a good session, feeling stronger than I have been. Brian and I had a beautiful breakfast together. I got confirmation from our insurance that they ARE covering the last hospital stay for Harvey, reimbursing Brian for his payments.

The sun is shining. I had my windows open and the breezes blowing for a while until it felt too warm. I have my wash out on the balcony and it should be dry before I leave my place this afternoon.

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I’m base painting my sketches from yesterday so I can work on the details when I go to the cafe this afternoon. I have two of the three ready to go so far. I have some ideas for new sketches I’m excited to try.

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Paula Siegert

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Monday 8-10-2026

Pamela Schifano – @pammypoo on Substack

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The street crew was busy again last night, but either they didn’t make as much noise, or I was so tired it didn’t matter, because I slept pretty well in spite of the trucks and activity. I awoke at 4 and looked out my window. The crew was still at work, but they were cleaning up, spraying the section of the street with water and sweeping. It would be interesting to know what they are doing, but….

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I got what is probably a hair-brained weird idea yesterday, but I started work on it yesterday and will try to finish the first part today. You know that I have lost a pretty good amount of weight. As the end of that ended here in Thailand, I kept ‘modifying’ the waist of my jeans and cut-offs so that I could still wear them. It finally got to the point where I couldn’t take them in anymore and I bought a couple of pair of jeans that fit a lot better. (These are now getting loose, but that’s a story for another time.)

I put the old ones on a shelf in my closet. Yesterday I got the idea to cut the back pockets off a pair and sew them onto the front of a sweatshirt. Weird, right? Particularly in November through February, the weather is much cooler. We feel this because there is no central heat, no reliable space heaters, no electric blankets you can trust, etc. So you learn to dress in layers. (A sweatshirt is also good at the cafe, where they keep the a/c on ‘kill’ most of the time. ) If I don’t get ‘my’ spot by the window in the front, I get cold after a while and either put on the hoodie I’ve brought or a sweatshirt to stay comfortable.

The bathroom is in another part of the building. You walk outside from the cafe to the other part of the building to use the facilities. I have trained myself to take my phone with me in case of emergencies and it would be nice to have a pocket – the idea for transferring the pockets from my jeans to my sweatshirt. These pockets are large enough to hold my phone securely, plus Kleenex and whatnot in the other.

So I’m busily sewing them on the sweatshirt today. I have never been a fashion icon and appreciate ease, comfort, and practicality above all else these days, so I look forward to wearing the sweatshirt with the weird-looking added pockets.

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this is my latest painted sketch

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I read about a new exercise to help control blood sugar. At the end of the article, the “boat” pose was discussed as a good thing, too. (It also builds core muscles and helps with balance.)

“Boat pose, or Navasana, is a seated core-strengthening posture where you balance on your sit bones and lift your chest and legs to form a “V” shape. It targets the abdominals, hip flexors, and spine while building focus and stability.”

Best of all, the article said if you couldn’t do the exact boat pose, you can start in a seated position, knees up, feet flat on the floor. Then lift your feet up so your calves are parallel to the floor, and accomplish the same thing. This sounds doable to me. I plan to try it today, as Monday is yoga stretches afternoon.

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Cecy

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