Getting Stuff Done

I'm currently sitting here with some shorts (horror!!) on and bare feet.  That's such a rarity for me that I frankly can't remember when that happened.  I do know this is the first time I've had shorts on this year.  That's how hot I'm feeling.  Went for a walk this morning, later went to class at the rec center, in between times, I've done loads of laundry vacuumed the entire main floor of the house, fixed lunch (breakfast for me) for The Husband and folded the clean clothes before putting them in their places.  It takes me an average of 35 minutes to finish the vacuuming, and I haven't even done the stairs.   All that work and I'm exhausted.  

Class at the rec center is fun.  I like seeing people I don't see daily, who always greet me with a smile and often a hug.  The class is actually more fun than I expected:  I get going and before I know it, it's time to start the cool down.  It's kind of an aerobic class with weights/stretch bands/sliding discs and lots of fun music.  I understand what the teacher is saying maybe only 20% of the time. But no matter, I enjoy going.  And frankly, I'm pretty certain it is helping my shoulder, it hurts less than it did before I started this class.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to get back to yoga with my favorite teacher one of these days.

This year we've given away more tomatoes than we've eaten.  Which is great.  But I think even The Husband is finally a bit tired of all the work.  Found him working out in the garden and asked if he had cut the supports for the plants.  Nope, they're so big and so heavy that nearly every single plant had broken the support and ended all in a pile on the ground.  Made it tricky to find the ripe tomatoes.  Ultimately, he decided that meant the season was over.  The plants are all out on the ground to dry out - so we'll be able to fit them in the garbage bin.   And the garden is ready to clean out.  That's a task for another day.  The sprinklers for the gardens have been turned off and yes, it feels like it should be fall to me.

Next year?  Fewer tomato plants.  I've often felt overwhelmed with how much produce is on my kitchen counter, even after we've given so much away.  I know in a few months I'll be complaining about the quality and taste of the winter tomatoes.  The Husband is a great gardener:  his plants were all happy and producing.

Went into the break room at the storehouse on Saturday to see these very cute little vases someone had made.  Just had to take pics of them.  There's another of all yellow No. 2 pencils.  But I've had such trouble getting them to fit in and look decent with the text without lots of empty white space that I finally just deleted it.  That happens when I'm trying to fit too many picture in here.

Last week the climbing roses were pruned.  The Husband found this cute little nest.  Wonder what bird left it.  The front of the house looks so much tidier after the pruning.  Every year I say I'm going to stay on top of the fertilizing of the roses, they've always been mine to look after.  This year, I didn't fertilize them once.   And couldn't even find the ooomph to care. I'm definitely getting old.

The mums out front are covered in buds.  I suspect we'll miss them blooming again this year. Sigh.

Received a very generous gift card for my birthday so after the storehouse on Saturday off we went to try a new place to eat:  Moochies for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.  So fabulous!  After washing my hands (a necessity after eating my sandwich) I mentioned that I thought more eateries ought to have a sink, like this place does, near the trash for hand washing.  

And now, I'm off to find a comfy chair for my aching back. I'm grateful to have a comfy chair (or several from which I can choose).  I'm grateful to see perhaps, maybe, some minute improvement of the cold sore that sprang overnight last week.  I've hated it.  It's ugly and disgusting and bothersome.  I tried several very expensive remedies that only seemed to make it worse.  Finally resorted to just plain old witch hazel.  I think it's proved more helpful than anything else I've tried.  Also again and always, grateful for repentance.  I surely have to do a lot of it.  You'd think I would learn.

Yup, We Remembered

lunch - small dish

It's kind of pathetic when the best thing about your day was that you remembered to take the garbage bins to the street for pickup.  We neglected to do it last week and I've been anxious every day since that we would run out of room and have nowhere to put the extra garbage.  But we remembered yesterday and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. 

Our neighbor across the street brought us some peaches.  I've been saying for a couple weeks we need to stop at one of the roadside stands and get some.  The Husband absolutely adores peaches, particularly the fresh ones.  She brought us three different varieties, all freestone - which I think are w-a-y more flavorful than cling. She told us they probably wouldn't really be ready to eat until the end of the week.  But I took a chance and cut a couple of the smaller ones (lemon elberta) for lunch.  And we practically moaned at how good they were.  Perfectly ripe and ready to eat.  For dinner I cut a couple bigger ones (can't remember the name) - just fabulous!!  I did wonder out loud, though, what Heavenly Father was thinking when He made peaches fuzzy.  Yup, I'm weird that way.

There's a nasty cold virus going around.  Seems like most everyone either has it or is avoiding getting it, it's super prevalent.  I started with it on my birthday.  Never really got it very bad, and have been doing my best to avoid a sinus infection.  So far, so good - knock on wood. Now if only the rest of the family living here would recover better and quicker and more complete, I could relax a bit.

dinner - bigger dish :^)

We actually went to a movie the other day.  So very fun.  We thought we were going to be the only ones in the theater (we go on cheap - well, cheaper - Tuesday afternoons) but four more people showed up.  That used to be our every-Saturday-afternoon activity, but of course, COVID ruined that for us.  So it really felt like an unusual treat to be able to go.  And it was a decent enough movie:  a bit of drama, a tiny bit of romance, lots of action and a happy ending.  Really all I hope for is a happy ending and since that bit of me was fulfilled, it was a great afternoon.

I'm counting down the days until the room-darkening shades come.  Falling deeply asleep only to be woken with the bright patio lights kinda disturbs my whole night. Then I wake up grumpy and want to trash talk the inconsiderate nature of people.  And I really don't want to be negative, I'm working hard on that.

I'm grateful this morning that the sewing project is going just fine.  It's fun to have a different kind of project to do.  I'm grateful for library books that are finished and returned to the library, but hoping for something to come in.  I'm kind of at loose ends (feeling unmoored) without a library book or two to read. Grateful that we've something to look forward to.  And grateful that next week we celebrate 53 years of marriage.  I'd do it again.  He's definitely a keeper.

Food, Food, and oh, yeah, Food

 It was a quite a week.

Beautiful!!

Had a birthday so I'm now more fully into my 70's.  People have been so very kind and thoughtful.  I was surprised with gifts of food, and more treat-type food than I usually consume.  Some of it is in the freezer, much has been shared, some will keep in the pantry.  And the ice cream is being saved.  Let me think:  cookies (the milanos will be portioned out one-at-a-time, such fun!) including an entire box of Crumbl cookies, gift cards to places to eat that I will thoroughly enjoy (any meal I don't have to fix is the best meal ever) more cookies, (I'm not a fan of frosting - on cookies or cakes or anything - but the Crumbl key lime pie cookie was just scrumptious, and no frosting) a free birthday pizza from Papa Murphy's, dinner at one of those Asian cooking tables (my favorite way to have food), Leatherby's for an ice cream treat and lunch out with the ladies. 😊

Yum.

I love handmade items, the crocheted and then embroidered beauty is hanging in the  kitchen where I can see it all the time.  A new pair of walking shoes (love that they were on sale) will cause gratitude in every step. New socks - one of my mottos is "you can never have too many socks".  And a surprise visit at the Bishop's storehouse for a delayed birthday hug.  It was just a nice week, I felt "visible"  which I don't very often do and that was so needed and welcome.  Everyone needs to feel seen and valued.  Everyone.    

The Husband brought in one of our watermelon from the garden.  I can't tell if we should have picked it earlier or if it wasn't yet fully ripe.  We don't even know what kind it is.  But...while it isn't the very most flavorful watermelon we've ever had, it isn't the worst one we've ever had either.  And even better that it came out of our very own garden.

And more yum!!

Got a call yesterday just before five p.m.  Could I come over and play? Robert was invited to sing at one of his primary girl's baptism today.  He had invited a sister to accompany him on the violin.  Decided they needed a bit more support, so we're now a trio.  Vocal, violin and piano.  And it's a lovely arrangement of "I Am A Child Of God". I've spent some time practicing and after the rehearsal at church today I think it'll be just fine.  So nice to be invited.

It's easy to be grateful when things are going well.  This last couple years have found me feeling discouraged more often than I'd like, and more often than I should.  I keep writing here to actually put down in black and white some things that I'm grateful for.  I find that it seems to be a catalyst for actually feeling not only gratitude but some hope as well. 

I'm grateful today for another birthday.  I'm not ready to leave this world yet - I haven't had enough fun, so I'm glad to be alive to have another birthday to celebrate.  So grateful that I'm generally healthy and able to physically do things without too much effort.  I might be 20 pounds too heavy, but I'm grateful that we've always plenty to eat.  I need to work on controlling that appetite and intake.  (It's the ice cream and cookies that are doing me in.) I'm grateful we've been able to share some garden produce with those that don't have a garden and that appear to be glad that we share. I've been grateful to have a new song to learn, those religious songs that speak to my soul are such fun to play, I love the peace they bring.

Beautiful Morning

 We drove across the valley to walk around the lake at Daybreak community.  A man-made lake with a huge island around it.  We constantly marveled at the charming houses, some of which looked more like mansions to me.  It really is a community with character.

The best part was the morning sky. We've some weather coming in and the clouds were constantly changing.  I wished for a clear view (sans houses) and ability to take constant pictures of the ever-mesmerizing skies.  It was cool and just-right-breezy, though I might have enjoyed it better had the trail around the lake been less busy.  I guess everyone was out enjoying the morning, even the dogs and men fishing.  Grateful to have been able to do that myself.

September

 I am sad that today I don't have any pictures to share.  Somehow or other that always feels like it lends a certain amount of validity to my thoughts.  But anyway, September is here.  My least favorite (hot, nothing going on, hot, and hot) month of August is over.   September can be a bit hot, but since the days are getting shorter we know the brutal heat of summer is done for the year.  

I've always loved September and the way the seasons change, there's a new school year for the kids,  and it just feels good to me.

It's been a bit of a week. • The Husband went in to have the new hearing aids adjusted.  So far: a bit of an improvement, we're monitoring the situation.   • The pile of rocks that were in the street are finally gone and I'm thinking that means the neighbor's yard improvement project (it's taken more than a year) is finally, finally finished.  They even did what they said they would (I predicted they wouldn't - so very glad to be wrong) and filled in the dirt they over-dug in our yard and laid fresh sod.  It isn't perfect, but it's a tremendous improvement and my nerves don't jangle every time I look at the damage they did.   • My ministering partner and I took one of the sisters we minister to to lunch. She's a sweetheart. I despise cancer and what it does to people.   • Went to dinner  with a friend, just the two of us.  The Husband always wants to know what we talk about for four hours!! Anything and everything.  I just love getting together with her.    • The room darkening shades have been ordered for the bathroom. We opted for the slow shipping, saved us several hundred dollars.  That means they won't come until the first week of October.  While I'm mentally chafing at having to spend all that money that we don't want to spend (and shouldn't have to spend) I'm so looking forward to a cessation of frustration and anxiety from the lights.  • We've seen deer nearly every morning we've walked.  One morning they were even trotting down our street, a rarity.   • Our former neighbor stopped Sunday by the church library and visited with us for about 20 minutes.  I don't often feel that kind of connection to other people, but with her, I always do.  I'm old enough to be her mother, not remotely in their financial class (or physical beauty class) and move in different circles.  But on the rare occasions I see her, I always feel valued and important.  Even if she doesn't feel that same connection with me, I'm grateful that she is so kind.   • Last week, coming out of Chick-Fil-A (The Husband's very, very favorite place to go) we responded to someone calling our name.  It was our friend we haven't seen for a while.  We used to get together with them frequently before her husband died.  That was a happy thing. 

I often feel like our world is very small.  We don't go a lot of places or see a lot of people.   Our age and lack of desire to spend $$ are both factors.  But really? Seeing just a couple people during the week tremendously boosts our outlook.  We don't feel quite so isolated.  It's good for us.

Today I'm grateful for the clouds and the promise of rain over the weekend.  Grateful for dinner plans that don't require a ton of preparation or trips to the grocery.  Grateful for several books to read.  And for hugs from loved ones.  I need those.