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

Winter has finally taken hold. January has been wet and foggy, which means the residents who enjoy walking now have to pace around the table instead. You can see here our bridges they usually walk on being submerged. Pecan Grove is one of the highest points in our county, so no damage is done when the lake overflows.

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This January was Gilbert Reese’s 100th birthday! The staff made arrangements with Park Manor to have him ready so that we could bring him to celebrate at Pecan Grove. This way all of the residents could see him, as well as his close friends in the area. Look at the camera line! Genuine Paparazzi here. Here Gilbert is coyly grabbing a birthday cupcake with a grin, and lastly posing with most of the residents in front of the piano.

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We have already had some wonderful visits this year. Lyle Schober and his companion Timothy Uzzell came for a lunch visit. Lyle was kind enough to sit for a while afterward and impart some wisdom to the residents and staff. Here they are in front of the entrance.

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Elsie enjoyed a visit from some old friends Linda and Terry Boelter. They used to meet together in Illinois. They also knew Marie and Marilynn well. Here they are with Elsie, Marie and Marilynn.

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Marilynn also enjoyed a brief visit from Lyle and Roberta Overby, accompanied by Linda Sorenson. Here they are with Alice and Joyce at the table.

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Because December was really busy we had our annual holiday staff dinner in January. We often play some fun games and give gifts, then take a staff photo. Here is Abigail enjoying some coffee after lunch, and a picture of our current staff. We really appreciate their hard work!

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Shawn and Anita’s dog Bayla had a litter of 7 puppies! Here is a happy Patty holding one, and the rest in their box., and lastly a proud Bayla meeting the residents.

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Carl Hamilton had a sick spell which affected his walking. He’s with us here at PG temporarily, and making good progress in his recovery. His brother David and Virginia visited. Also, Lyn Sorenson, Lyle and Byrd Overby visited today.

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Resident Journals

Alice Oetken

Alice has been doing well this month. She still has trouble swallowing and sometimes takes her meals to her room to finish. Other than that she is in good spirits. She asked Salena to visit Fern and Gilbert after a dental appointment. Here she is posing with them.

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Elton Cleveland

Elton has been doing well. He still plays the piano regularly and keeps up with his correspondence. He misses his daughter Karen and still looks for her emails each night. Here he is with his good friend Gilbert on his birthday.

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Joyce Naber

Joyce is all smiles and sweet as can be, which is her usual. Unfortunately, she still has some eye trouble and has to get shots in her eyes routinely. She never complains though. She is one of the ones that doesn’t get out much and was so excited to have Gilbert here for his birthday. Here they are at the lunch table.

Ronald Elliot

Ronald has been experiencing back pain again. The physical therapist recommended that he get new shoes with greater support because he usually wears sandals. He switched shoes and it made quite the difference, still painful but not as bad. Here he is returning from another successful snack foraging mission.

Elsie Schroeder

Elsie enjoys her visitors, she often feels lonely back in her room. She has been spending a lot of time doing puzzles and bonding with the other puzzle ladies. This brings up her spirits and you can often hear them laughing. Here she is with her two visitors from Illinois, and again with her son Don who came for a quick visit.

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Esther Duncan

Esther takes daily walks. For the few days this month that it was freezing she circled the dinning room table instead. She sticks to her routine and this actually helps Joyce Naber as well because Esther often requests her help with small tasks. Every night the ladies strip the dinner table and prepare it for breakfast the next day. It is always good to see her looking out for Joyce, working with her and reminding her of things. Here she is happy to meet the expecting mother of all the puppies.

Gwen Farmer

Gwen still enjoys coming out and working on the puzzle with Elsie. It can be quite crowded around the table sometimes because several have taken interest in the puzzle building. The ladies put them together so fast they average about three a week! Here she is with our central Texas visitors David and Virginia Hamilton.

Marie Mounce

Marie is doing great, except she has been having trouble with her blood pressure again. The doctor gave her a new medicine that has helped combat this issue, but it still persists. She has a good spirit about it and tries to obey the doctors orders. She still loves working in the kitchen, finding new recipes to try out on our hungry residents. Here she is posing with Abigail and her latest creation: Salmon Wellington.

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Marilynn Frye

Marilynn has had a rough year so far, but she keeps trying to have a positive spirit. She got off of oxygen back in December but because her levels keep dropping she is now back on it for a while. When her oxygen drops she gets really dizzy and weak. She has been trying to recover her strength by walking around the table at least once. Here she is on the right chatting with a few of the ladies during a visit.

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Fern Duncan

Fern is about the same, she stays in bed mostly and sleeps a lot. She is clear when she is awake and enjoys seeing visitors she remembers. They have her on powerful pain medications because she moans in pain when off of them. This contributes to her sleepiness, so some visits are cut short when she falls asleep. Here is a different picture of her visit with Alice.

Thank you for your interest in us here at Pecan Grove. The residents truly love getting mail from you and seeing how everyone is doing.

Kenny and Ken

The beginning of November really warmed up compared to October. We had some very pleasant fall days. We’ve enjoyed many visitors this month, not just for the memorial either. Ray and Myra Klepzig came and brought tea, so we had a little impromptu tea party at the table. Here is everyone having a cozy cup of tea.

Our workers, Clarence Mounce and Carl Hamilton, have started gospel meetings here at PG again. The residents really appreciate being able to attend instead of traveling or listening from afar.

We always look forward to visits from friends across the pond. Geoff and Linda Murray came to us from New Zealand. They lived on Lake Conroe and went to meeting with us from 1999 to 2002, so it is good to see them again after so long. Here they are with some of the ones they visited, as well as with Karin and Karla who really enjoyed growing up with their kids.

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“Many hands make light work” is the motto of all the visitors who come here. Everyone likes to jump in and help where they can. Here are some shots of our visitors helping out.

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Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed having the Furrows and our workers for lunch. Here are some shots of the table and our holiday spread. There is much to be thankful for around here!

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We enjoyed a visit from Andrew and Monica Newman from Atlanta, Georgia. Andrew recently retired from Ken’s old company, CTES, and came for a retirement party and to visit PG.

Resident Journals

Marilynn Frye

Marilynn had a bad fall at the beginning of the month. She was taking out the trash and lost her balance, falling hard on the stone banister before sitting down. She had a mobile X-ray come and check her out, which said she had no broken bones. However, the pain was quite severe, so Salena took her to the hospital which found that she had a small crack in her femur just below her hip replacement. She also has compression fractures in her spine but it’s not clear if they are new or old. She was able to return to us after a week of rehab, and has been doing well with physical therapy. All of this happened just before her 80th birthday which we celebrated belatedly at PG on Thanksgiving Day. Here she is with visitors in the hospital as well as at her birthday party upon her return to PG.

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Elsie Schroeder

Elsie has been having a tough time with Louis’ passing. Having Roberta here was very comforting and the two of them spent a lot of quiet time together, walking and doing puzzles. Here are the ladies deep in contemplation.

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We had a memorial for Louis on the 11th, with the family and many friends attending. Here are some pictures of the set up and of the friends and family who attended.

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Alice Oetken

Alice is doing well and she still walks with her cat everyday. She enjoyed the visitors for the memorial as well, several came from the Midwest where she grew up. She also got a special visit from her nephew-in -law and his son, Roger and Lee Fryer. Here she is walking with her cat and at Thanksgiving, and lastly with her visitors in the entry way.

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Elton Cleveland

Elton has been enjoying having Karen and David around so much. Unfortunately, he had a fall after Louis’ memorial. Nothing broken, just a scraped knee. Here he is with visitors and playing a duet with our visitor Dorothy Kleeb.

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Also our great friend and Elton’s daughter, Karen Cleveland, had a birthday this month. She turned 76! Here she is with her four quadrant cake.

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Marie Mounce

Marie was able to spend some time with family after Effie. She saw her sisters and their families for a few days before being brought back. Here she is at the hearth with her sisters and one of their husbands.

Joyce Naber

Joyce really loved a visit from her sister Diane and friend Dorothy Kleeb. Here she is reading her mail and with Diane. They took walks to feed the fish and helped Elsie with the puzzle, but mostly chatted and laughed (two of Joyce’s favorite things).

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Ronald Elliott

Ronald is doing well, just a little unsteady on his feet. The staff has been encouraging him to use his walker, and he has been for his walks to the pond. He actually prefers to carry his cane on his walker, in case he needs to go on an adventure. Here he is returning from one of his jaunts, and again with Dan Wisecup.

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Gwen Farmer

Gwen has been up and down this month. She had a bronchial cold for a while that was hard for her to shake. She still made the effort to come out and do the puzzle as well as attend all meals and studies. Here she is keeping up with her geography.

Esther Duncan

Esther has been doing well, except for some continued teeth trouble. She had a few more teeth pulled, and finally got a partial denture that fit well. She is happy to have teeth again and be back to normal food. She has had a busy end of the year. After having several conventions she went away again to New Mexico to see Caroline Dunn and is back now.

Gilbert Reese and Fern Duncan

Gilbert and Fern are doing well, they still enjoy visitors and mail. Gilbert still enjoys his treats, here he is eating a peppermint patty.

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Last month we included videos of a buck and a bobcat. Here’s a coyote taken at the same location.

Thank you all for your continued interest in the residents here. We can’t stress enough how much we appreciate the outpouring of support and love we receive, especially in times of mourning.

Kenny and Ken

June is turning out to be the hottest month yet. We are really glad for the air conditioning around these parts. Thankfully when people come to visit they like to sit around inside and talk. We have had no shortage of visitors again this month.

Karen’s long time friends, Alicia Weaver and Barbara Ballentine, came for a few days visit. Barbara and Karen have known each other since they were girls. Barbara went in the work 2 years after Karen. Elton was extra glad to have them here together. Here they are in front of the piano.

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Barbara thought it would be nice to take Alice to visit with Fern. Here they are around Fern for a visit, and again just Alice and Fern. Karen took this picture of Barbara and Bella, and labeled it “Bliss”. Unfortunately, on one of our 100 degree days, Bella did what she loved to do… swam and ran through the pecan orchard, and died, we think of over heating. So… unfortunately, this is the last picture of our dear Bella.

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While our visitors were here we had another temporary resident arrive at Pecan Grove. A very small Kitten that we named Squeaks, who was quite the welcome distraction around here. Here are some photos of the happy residents wanting to meet him.

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Shortly after Karen and Alicia left we had several more visitors. Franz and Sally Holzmann from New Braunfels came to visit Louis and Elsie who had been their next door neighbors. Here they are sitting together on the couch.

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Marie had been invited to spend some time away with Tony and Donna Hottel who came for lunch to pick her up. They saw Squeaks and offered to take him off our hands which was much to Marie’s delight because she got to hold him the whole car ride. Here they are on the couch before lunch.

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Hannah Bassham’s sister, Michelle, and her three girls Sadie, Willow, and Hazel came for a visit. Here they are in front of the fireplace with Marie, Marilynn, Joyce and Esther.

The Mille’s daughter, Elisa, and her family came for a nice visit. Elisa and Ian Herd with their three sons: Isaac, James and Eli and their cousin, Bryce. Here they all are in front of the fireplace Marilynn, Marie and Esther.

Marilynn’s good friend, Cynthia Abate, came for a visit. She went with Elton to see Gilbert and Fern also. Here they are with Gilbert, and again with Esther and Marilynn in front of the fire place.

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Our Enhabit home health nurse was very kind to us this month and decided to put on a little dehydration seminar. Here are all the residents drinking it in.

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We had two birthdays this month Joyce and Dominique (his birthday was in May but we celebrated it in June). Abigail has been splitting the cake-making duties with Salena and they are both masters of their craft. Here are the animated celebraters and their cakes. Lastly a third birthday, for Terry Hoffman, celebrated at Patty Maki’s after Wednesday evening meeting.

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June has been hot but beautiful. Here are some photos of the verdant property and assorted creatures. Kenny finds them while mowing and puts them back in the woods.

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Thank you for your consideration of us here at PG.

Kenny