Don't Tempt Yourself

Here I am with my friend, Elmo Williams. Elmo is 97 years old and still going very strong. Funny, I don't think Elmo looks any older than I do in this picture! Elmo just wrote a play that opened locally here in Brookings. I loved it; as it was all about what Elmo believes. He is a rare person, who has not lost his belief in the good in people. I have seldom heard him utter any remark showing his dislike for someone and he doesn't complain about life. Sure his knees hurt and I'm sure he feels old every once in awhile, but we don't hear about it. He isn't one to give an "organ recital". We ate lunch with two other friends up in Gold Beach at Rollin Dough. Thank you Laura and Geoff for driving us up there! Laura took the picture of Elmo and I. I am afraid that I didn't leave bread on my plate and I succumbed to a dessert that I shared with Elmo. At least I shared it. The moral of the story is for me to find other activities other than eating out! Apparently my self control does not exist!

Yesterday I met up with June Ruby-Bloom , our weight control coach, and some of those that are on the same diet plan as I am. It was good thing to hear what others are doing, how much weight they have lost and their goals for the future. It has slapped me across the head the reality that I need to stay on track and not to fool myself into thinking I can fool around with the fat in my gut. I need to just plain loose it!

Cora was so inspirational. She has lost 25 lbs. I could not believe the difference in her face alone! She is wearing a loose size 6 pants! I need to go where Cora has gone. She is dedicated to staying on the plan period. I fool myself into thinking I can eat a little of that and a little of this....but in reality she has succeeded and I have hung out with self satisfaction of being just thinner instead of as thin as I need to be! I will think, "Cora, Cora, Cora" whenever I head for the few almonds or the extra vegetables. At least I haven't found myself eating a peanut butter sandwich! Whew missed that bullet. Cora is a senior citizen like myself. If she can do it, I can! I can! I can!

We are meeting again next on November 10, at 2:00 at Mo Joe's on Chetco Avenue next to the theater. They have a conference room they let us sit in. I will be at least 5 lbs thinner at that next meeting! I am bringing a couple friends so they can see the possibilities for themselves.

It isn't raining this morning so I am soon to be out on the Winchuck River Road doing my three miles with our little Maggie. Maggie now expects to go for that walk; which is a good thing. I seldom will ignore the needs of my pets, but easily blow off what I need!

Long Term Care Ombudsman Musings

June started off with presenting my information on Culture Change in Long Term Care at our local Care Connection Meeting headed up by Liz Cohen. I was surprised to see how many showed up and the way they seemed to eat up the information! It was a lively meeting with many comments by the audience. I love it when I can see sparks flying through a group knowing that they won't soon forget some of what I find worth sharing.

I have been energized by that Ombudsman weekend in Portland. My next step is to share my workshop on abuse in long term care. Abuse is such a gray issue. Sometimes I find myself not sure whether something should be reported or not. When in question, report. That gives the question to those much more qualified to decide whether abuse has taken place. I will share this next presentation once I get it typed up here on my blog.

We have a new Long Term Care facility here in Brookings, Oregon community. Sea View is like entering a fine hotel with a huge gathering place immediately upon crossing the front door. There are always groups of people at the many tables. Some are investigating whether or not to take up residency and some are residents enjoying getting together over lunch or listening to a talk or performance that has been brought in.

My friend Elmo Williams told me yesterday that he had given a talk there. Elmo is someone who recognizes good food and his report on the food was heartening. I find that I often do not even recognize what residents are being served in some facilities and here the food is presented as if it were a nice restaurant. I hope in a year or two I won't witness the food becoming much the same as anywhere else. I would love the cooks in all Long Term Care facilities to go to Sea View for lunch to see what is possible.

As an Ombudsman I need to stay objective. I will stay alert and not assume that all is perfect just because the food and facility is pretty!

Chetco Inn, a Residential Care Facility, is having a pot luck today. I've been invited to bring my mother. I think we will swing by as I hear it is always a good time. I like to see my residents having a good time.

The least favorite thing about being a Certified Ombudsman is writing up the reports. I find if I keep a running commentary on my computer with dates and times, I can assess whether a report should be written up along with notes about my residents helps me remember them and special information to help me serve them better. I feel good getting to know everyone better the more experience I have.

While I was at Sea View the other day, I sat in Memory Care with a resident sharing a cup of coffee and just chatting mostly about what she wanted to talk about. I feel I know her in a personal way. If I saw her at the grocery store, I would now feel she was like a neighbor eager to greet her and even give her a sincere hug. I'd like to have relationships like that with each and every resident I represent.

I have a male resident at one of my facilities that initially pretty well told me where I could go in no uncertain terms. Through meeting with him several times now, I feel he now even likes me and I have learned to like him. I think I might be a bit testy if I had lost my ability to communicate effectively and was stuck in a wheel chair somewhere I didn't really want to be. It is always good to put myself in their shoes before I go off thinking they don't deserve my attention.

I am sharing this stuff on my blog in a casual manner using no names or private information so that you out there bothering to read this might just spend some of your time being a friend for someone in long term care. Everyone deserves a best friend to off load on or just share with. Wouldn't it be special if each long term care resident had a "best friend"? The sad truth is many of them have no family, no friends and find themselves staring at the walls wondering why life ended up like it has. Now, some are still very much involved with life making the best of their situation and maybe even choosing to be where they are. Not all are suffering, but many are. I see dull eyes, lack of interest in much while hating the food, resenting sitting for way too many hours with nothing to do that interest them and missing their former lives. As human beings I feel we have a mission to make life better for those in need. I hope you find yourself motivated to stop by your local "old age home" to volunteer. Thanks for doing this! We never know if we will be one of them any day now.

Walking The Dogs Up The Winchuck River

this Morning I received a newsletter from Ceasar, The Dog Whisperer, http://www.cesarsway.com/askcesar/cesarspeaks/Go-the-distance-Hiking-with-your-dog reminding me of the joy of hiking with our dogs up trail close to our home here on the Winchuck River in Southern Oregon. I hope you spend a moment reading the link to this post. It might just inspire you to get out there yourself re-connecting to nature while giving your dog some real joy! The picture above is myself with Marley, our Wired Hair Pointing Griffon who MUST run to have a complete life.


Myself again with both Marley and Maggie. Maggie is half Jack Russell and half German Shorthair. Can you imagine having that much energy? I certainly cannot. I appreciate her outlook on life going for the most at all times! If we could channel her makeup, we might just get our task done each and every day with time to spare! Look at that beauty of early spring forest!


The challenges for us old folk is hopping over rushing creeks. I wore boots this day, but prefer my hiking shoes so I don't really want to wade across. It is good for us keeping us able and moving even at our advanced ages. I am 69 and Jim is 72. We know many people that cannot imagine walking as far as we do and stop at the first creek...even those younger than us! It amazes me how we can put limits on ourselves that just don't make sense! Move it or loose it!


I love this regal picture of Marley seemingly on point high on a fallen tree. Staying home throwing a ball across the lawn just can't compare with getting up close and personal with our surrounding nature with Marley using her nose to find special smells not available in her home life.


You can see that I could walk further and faster to loose a few soft areas I have gathered on my body in old age. The dog treat bag is my fashion accessory; along with a whistle and a dog clicker. I look at all dog activities as a training session of sorts. The dogs are expected to come on call, sit and then get a reward. My training is to keep the heart rate up, breath deeply and take in my environment. I like to stay in the moment, enjoying the silence of the woods; while giving my dogs pure joy.

Pacific Antique Mall Brookings, Oregon

Here are just a few of the items that Elmo Williams has for sale at the Pacific Antique Mall in #141. I will update this blog often showing new items that we have placed in the mall. This set of antique copper pans is not in our #141 space, but elsewhere in the mall. They were purchased in Europe during the period that Elmo worked for Fox Studios as European Productions chief.
Elmo found this lovely antique copper sink while working with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis on the movie The Vikings. Just a bit of trivia that Elmo shared about the movie was that the children running across the field to greet returning Vikings. The children are Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis and Elmo's daughter. It was a late minute decision to have the children in the scene so they used the only children they had on set.
Tony Quinn and Elmo worked well together. Elmo got a letter from Tony expressing that he was looking forward to working together again. We also have a Quashi-Quai Runner measuring 14"6" x 3'6" for sale at the mall that was purchased while filming the movie, Caravans. Along with this movie still, we also have one of Jennifer O'Neill and a few others, including the Press Package for Caravans.
You will be delighted to see the selection of storyboards for Tora Tora Tora we have for sale that have been signed by Elmo enhancing their collecting value. Mentor Huebner was the artist that drew most of the storyboards. We also have a set of 10 storyboards drawn by the Japanese.

Mentor Huebner (19 July 1917 Los Angeles, California - 19 March 2001 Burbank, California) was a leading Hollywood production illustrator who did storyboards, production art and creative concepts for more than 250 films, including King Kong (1976), Blade Runner (1982) and Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992).

His early work was uncredited on Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Time Machine (1960), Ben-Hur (1959), North by Northwest (1959), Forbidden Planet (1956), Quo Vadis (1951).

Trying to Find Retirement in Brookings, Oregon

I've closed my website for Winchuck River Store, pulled out of a local shop where I was selling and compromised by placing my items in an antique mall where working time is minimal. I can now spend more time with mom, work in my garden and enjoy our home near Brookings, Oregon.

The reason for all of this movement or lack of movement is that I brought my mother home from Long-Term-Care. She was on 5 mind altering drugs. I had lost all trust that she was taken care of in a dignified and even sound medically manner. I am now responsible for the care of my mother. I have hired a friend to watch over her when I need to leave; which is working out very well.

My mother's "sitter" loves to chatter and mom loves her for chattering. What a union made in Heaven! Taking all but one mind altering drug away from mom has restored her memory and level of function. She is no longer in need of "memory care"!

I have become a Ombudsman for the state of Oregon as a result of my frustration and need to learn all that I could about long term care. I am glad that I have had the experience I did with mom, as it makes me more alert to potential problems in long term care. I do not assume that all is well. I'm more likely to say...hmmmm...what is really going on here? I'm here for anyone who may be searching for answers to any long term care problems. If I cannot personally help, I do have some sources that possibly could.

We lost two of our labs to illness and old age this past year. In late December, we found a girl in need hanging out in Gold Beach at the dog shelter. Marley, a Wired Hair Pointing Griffon, is now just 2 and beginning to simmer down. Her previous family apparently spent a fortune on her (her breed runs 1K or more), didn't socialize her or train her and gave up after 1.5 years. I imagine she was stuck in a small backyard alone and ate it for something to do and chewed on their smaller dog! She was very aggressive with our other dog, Maggie, which shows her lack of socialization let alone good manners. I rushed to learn all I could about getting rid of anyone's need to eat another living being. Maggie was also guilty of wanting to rid the world of Marley's presence. I rushed to get on Cesar's website, read other internet information and bought two books one on dog body language and one on aggression. It paid off, with two girls that actually play together and enjoy a run in the woods together. I got the help of my husband and the two of us did not let a side glance go unattended to. We were on those dogs like glue for well over a month...and then to less than glue and more relaxed even today! We both agree that the trick was also to walk and run those dogs together each and every day to get them bonded into our cohesive pack with us as the leaders. What power! I am a pack leader!!

Brenda Atwood's great book, Aggression in Dogs, which saved us from death on the Winchuck, can be found on Amazon.Com. I found much of what she wrote in her body language book repeated in Aggression in Dogs. I've learned to speak "dog" . It actually works to go into their world to communicate in a way that is very clear and not a bunch of run on sentences in our "foreign" human language hoping they get the meaning. I've learned to lick my lips and yawn to help a stressed girl relax a bit. I'm not yet sniffing butts and scratching my behind! LOL

and now that I am back on the blog, I will make an effort to update more frequently with what is going on in and around our world here on the Wild River's Coast of Southern Oregon.

Hollywood Connection with Elmo Williams

We have been busy getting ready for a really fun event here in Brookings, Oregon on the America's Wild River's Coast of Oregon. I love my "retirement"! I have never been so busy and having fun while working 10-14 hours most days. I have been so lucky to have met Elmo and his late wife Lorraine shortly after moving to the Oregon Coast. I now have their lab, Cody, living with me. I feel that I actually have a piece of the Williams' family snoring at the foot of my bed every night. Who would think I'd be so blessed!

Hollywood Connection

Movie: The Longest Day

* June 19th & 20th
* $15.00 each day
* 10:00 5:00

* Presentations at 11:00 & 2:00




* Stories on the making of The Longest Day
* Book Signing
* Charity Auction
* Elmo’s Antiques, Collectibles and Art available for sale
* Catered Hollywood Delicacies


Tickets available on line at: www.EnglishVillageShoppes.Com or at any of our stores at English Village Shoppesor you can simply mail in the payment.


English Village Shoppes

15957 Hwy. 101 S,

Brookings, Oregon 97415.


Checks should be written to Blue Chip Properties


Tickets sold via mail or on the internet will be held at the door for pickup.

Check out our retail business website EnglishVillageShoppes.Com for more information under Events and then Hollywood Connection.