Week 37 - Labor Day Fun

I'm sure I say this every time there's a Monday holiday but there's nothing wrong with a week that starts with a day off. 

Rene was coming over for lunch so first thing up was to clean up the deck. It had months worth of leaves and the table was covered with a layer of gunge. An hour later, everything was neat and clean and the new cushions were on the chairs. I had told Rene I'd order a pizza but with all the veg from my garden and the stocked fridge from my Omaha run, I decided to cook. I made sausage and peppers (from Lorri's garden) and caprese salad with my tomatoes and served it with my favorite asiago cheese bread from HyVee. We had ice cream sundaes with my peanut butter caramel sauce for dessert. It was getting hot by mid afternoon so we spent a few minutes sawing up branches then went inside to the AC and knitted and chatted the afternoon away. It was a lovely end to a long weekend that was both fun and super productive. I need a few more like that this fall.

I spent every evening outside finishing up more weeding and dealing with the last of the branches and by Thursday I was done. My body was done. I was still covered with cuts and bruises and now my whole body was sore. It was time for a break. I rewarded myself with a pizza on Thursday night after taking my last load of brush to the city burn pile. I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend, especially because it was going to be hot again. I woke up feeling tired and dumpy on Friday but made it through the work day. 

I had nothing pressing on the weekend so pulled a bin of mystery yarn from my stash and started bleach testing. Every time I got up, I put snips of 3 different yarns in little cups of bleach. 100% wool completely dissolves but nylon, which is in sock yarn, doesn't. Since I mostly knit socks, I was hoping that some of the yarn would have nylon and quite a bit of it did. 

I can't say I did much beyond testing yarn and the bare minimum of chores that weekend. I did a tiny bit of weeding Sunday night but didn't even cook so would be scrambling the next week. I did get the recharge time that I needed though. It was going to be another hot week coming up so there'd be more sitting and knitting in my future, which would leave me fully energized for more gardening when it cools down again. I'll take it.

Week 36 - Finally Some Gardening

It was only my 2nd week of work since my vacation but I was already looking for more time off and with Labor Day weekend coming and finally some cooler weather, I put in for Friday off. The 4 day work week, which included the 1st monthly reports of the new fiscal year, flew by. All good.

I started Friday by cleaning the house and getting errands done. My thinking was that I wanted my mind clear so I could dig into gardening. I took Tot to the vet where they told me she is allergic to the enamel on her own teeth and would need ongoing cortisone shots. Really? The vet said it's not uncommon. If she stops scratching at her face and eating better, it will be worth it. I had all my errands run and the house in decent order by mid afternoon and that's when I headed outside.

I started in the front cutting back the volunteer sunflowers that had taken over the parking (the strip between the sidewalk and street for the non midwesterners) but with the loppers out and that done, I started in on the crabapple tree. It had never been the same since the guy in the wheelchair hacked it up a few years ago. I started at the bottom and got busy taking out the entire lower level of branches, using just a 6 inch pruning saw and loppers. I went in for some dinner and then was back outside past dark finishing up. Sometimes you just have to go with whatever inspires you.

I was right back out there Saturday morning. I cleared up the branches and started in on the enormous yew, which I'd left to grow out after I took out the other 2 in hopes that it would show some new growth. It was time to cut it back to where that new growth was starting and see if it fills in next spring. I took load after load of branches to the city burn pile and had cut up some smaller branches to burn in my fire pit. There were some bigger branches to saw into logs and Rene was coming with her chain saw on Monday to do those. By the time I finished all that, I looked like I'd been through a war with cuts and bruises everywhere. But it was all looking good and I felt great about what I'd gotten done. Here's the before and after.

With all that done, I headed to Omaha on Sunday for some much needed grocery shopping. My first stop was Trader Joe's, where I got the Greek chick peas with parsley and cumin that John had turned me onto in Rhode Island. That's why I did Omaha instead of Lincoln because the Trader Joe's is closer. I stopped at my friend Lori's for a bit and then hit HyVee and Aldi. I had a scare between those 2 when a big praying mantis appeared on my dashboard right in front of me when I was driving 50 mph down Maple Street. There was nowhere to pull over so I kept my eyes on him as he swayed side to side and stared me down. At one point he flew up the the visor. I screamed. I pulled over as soon as I could and it took 2 tries but I got it out of the car. Talk about adrenaline! I ran through Aldi and headed home with more groceries than I've bought at one time in years.

So all and all, it was a great long weekend and I still had Monday to go The cooler weather was a balm to my soul and it felt great to be able to start gardening again after losing so much of the spring gardening season due to my knee, which was doing absolutely fine even with all the heavy work. Yay! So even though I missed the post-vaccine pre-delta variant window of freedom, I guess it was still worth it having my knee done. I have the entire fall to look forward to with a fully functional knee and my gardens to get back in shape. Life is good!

Week 35 - Fighting the Pissiness

So, it was no fun being back to reality and with every passing day, I was getting more and more frustrated with the whole Covid mess. I had long ago given up on trying to speak reason to the anti-vax people in my life but as the delta variant ramped up more each day, I was getting pissy. My go to mood was now pissy and I had zero patience with anything - not just Covid - and had to fight it at every turn. Not good.

I did have a couple of bright spots in the week. I had to go to campus because I needed 2 screens to test a new reporting program so drove in over lunch on Wednesday, stopping at Panera to get my favorite salad. After I tested the system, I met with Sheila, one of the accountants, in person. That was novel. Then I went to the movies with Tammie. We had to wear masks and the theatre was only 1/3 full but it felt pretty normal. It was nice to see Tammie again too.

On another positive note, a huge box of sock yarn arrived in the mail. I'd found a posting for 7 pounds of sock yarn on Facebook Marketplace for only $30 but it was pick up only in St. Louis. I had posted on my monster sock group in case anyone was near there but a week later, it was still for sale. I asked the seller if she'd be willing to ship if I paid and she said yes so I paid $65 for the lot including shipping. There were lots of almost full balls and leftover bits too. I kept about 1/3 for myself and shared the rest with my knitting group. How fun is that! And such a deal. Not that I need more sock yarn, I know. At least I shared and I'll take all the joy I can get these days.

I learned a new British term that perfectly described my weekend - faffing about. I spent the weekend puttering around doing this and that. There was some cooking with squash from my garden, streaming, knitting... the usual for another blazing hot summer weekend, which I'm SO over. Fall cannot get here soon enough for me.

Week 34 - Back to Work

Back to work. At least fiscal year end mania was over but my beach week had gone way too fast.

After catching up on Monday, I had scheduled a spit test on campus at 5:00 on Tuesday because everyone had to have a re-entry test in order to go back on campus. I needed to food shop anyway so going to Lincoln worked. I scheduled the test at the spit hut by Darla's office so met her and we hit Goodwill (found nothing) before I headed to the market. It's always good to see Darla.

The rest of the week was the same old working from home routine, with a zoom training class (I taught it) and a big zoom meeting about testing a new system. It was still hotter than blazes so I found myself downstairs quilting again. When I looked back, I'd started my crumb quilt exactly a year ago after getting through fiscal year end and coming back from the beach. So apparently that's my quilting time. I was pretty obsessed and would quilt at lunch and then again after work. By the end of the week, I had made more than I had all last year.

Saturday was spinning in Fremont and we did some dyeing, which was fun. I did manage to slip and knock someone's jar off the table which made a total mess. Oh well. I went to Nan's after spinning and we chatted over Crabby's, which I'd picked up on the way. Then I hit Goodwill and Aldi before heading home.

Sunday was chore day - I really was back to the normal grind. At this point, I was counting down to fall and pretty desperate for cooler weather. And until it arrives, I'd be quilting in the basement. At least there's that.

Week 33 - My Beach Week

Monday was not a beach day. It was overcast and since we were waiting for John's Covid test results, we laid low all day. There was boggle on the deck and John did a bunch of meal prep and cooking so we were totally relaxed when John's negative results came in. We went for a drive to the other side of our salt pond and had yummy grilled chicken for dinner. We were all relaxed now and ready for some beach weather.

Carolyn came Tuesday afternoon and we headed to the beach. John had taken his morning walk so he stayed at our base camp while Carolyn and I walked the entire beach. It was my first long walk with my new knee and it did just great. John and I went swimming and then it was home for a shower and dinner on the deck. It was a nice day.

Auntie Margaret and Bette were coming at 1:00 on Wednesday for a visit so we headed for Wakefield to pick up some snacks and festive beverages. It was great to see them and after nibbles and chatting, Bette wanted to get in the water so she and I rolled up our shorts and walked around the pond. It was nice to get some cousin time while Auntie Margaret regaled John with stories of her childhood and my dad. They left mid afternoon and John and I headed to Aunt Carrie's for an early supper, which was delish. I was disappointed that they didn't have my favorite coconut custard pie but we got ice cream and walked down to the shingle beach, which felt like old times. Nice.

Thursday was a full day but more for John, who had plans to meet a friend in Wakefield before his Covid test, which he needed because he was flying to Scotland on Saturday. I enjoyed a morning of knitting on the deck. I had planned to call Sharyn but had left my wallet and phone under the car seat the night before so that was out. Deanne came down and we headed to the beach, which I'd never gone to with her before. After walking the beach, of course, I was pleased to hear that Dee was a swimmer so we had a ball in the water before heading back for dinner. John's friend Nancy from high school came for dinner so the four of us had fun. The week was flying by.

Friday was our last day. Carolyn came down for another beach day but the tide was in so we weren't able to walk the entire beach. Otherwise, it was a perfect beach day. John and I had plans to go to his aunt's in Newport for supper after hitting The Christmas Tree shop, where I scored some stocking stuffers for my sisters to go along with the ones I got at Job Lot earlier in the week. Nice. It was warm in Jean's house but dinner (Thai food) was yummy and we chatted with his cousin Mel and her husband. It was a nice end to the week.

We had to be out of the beach house by 10:00 Saturday so started doing some packing when we got home Friday night and were up early finishing on Saturday morning. We gave a bunch of food to Vivian, our trusty next door neighbor, packed the car and were out exactly on time. We stopped at John's uncle's house for a visit then went to Carolyn's to offload groceries and have lunch. I had time to kill after John left to return the rental car and get the train to Boston. Carolyn's dining room is my happy place so I enjoyed a couple of hours with Carolyn before she took me to the airport. I had a nice, tight itinerary so would be home just after 9:00 pm.

And then the delays started. The trip from Providence to Chicago was on time and uneventful but there was an hour delay on my connection. Then it was another hour then another. We boarded the plane 3 hours late and then sat waiting for paperwork. Well, that took so long that the pilot timed out and couldn't fly more that day, which meant they had to fly in a new crew. They were letting people off the plane but there was a sleeping kid in the next seat so I didn't get off. Little did I know we'd be sitting on the plane for 3 hours! I was so antsy by the time we took off that I was pumping my legs and twirling my ankles, neither of which helped much. I did manage to doze a bit, which was good because I didn't walk into my house until 3:00 am, which was 4:00 RI time. Sheesh! I took a shower and went to bed. Exhausted!

I slept until 9:00 because the cats had gone out in the wee hours so didn't wake me up. I had a blazing headache that lasted all morning but by the afternoon, I was able to unpack and do load after load of laundry because I had 2 sets of sheets from the beach plus a week's worth of clothes. It felt good to be home and despite my troubles getting home, it was a lovely week. Also, I got a $100 credit from Southwest so that was nice. That's why I always fly Southwest.