Week 52 - A Merry Christmas

The weather this week was not festive at all. It was 60 on Monday and other than Christmas day being the in the 40's and foggy, it was all freaky warm until winter set in on Sunday. Not a chance of a white Christmas but it was a nice one anyway.

Helen had mentioned doing Christmas on the 23rd because she was working over Christmas. She texted me with an invite on Sunday night and when I didn't respond, she texted again on Monday. The problem was that I didn't want to go and I told her that. I have never been included in their Christmas plans and didn't have presents for any of them. The texts were flying with her trying to convince me that the presents were all about her grandsons and none of the adults got or gave much. I wasn't convinced but she texted me when I was on my way to  Lincoln to say I could just come for dinner at 5:00. I jumped at that. 

With that settled, I had a lovely lunch with Darla at our favorite dive diner, stopped at the grocery store and was home in time to have tea outside. I also fixed the door open light in my car by dabbing the switch with peanut butter to see where it hit the inside of the door and then putting a scrapbooking pop dot right there. That made up for the 1/4" dent and just like that, the door open problem was fixed. My mechanic wanted to take the door off and pound it out. How much money did that save me? If that dot fails, I have more. : )

On Tuesday morning I made little mince pies like the Brits do and Rolo pretzel turtles so I wouldn't be showing up empty handed. Helen loves mincemeat but no one else does so I knew she'd appreciate them. I was on my way planning to arrive at 4:30, which would be after presents, when Helen texted. Her ex and Michael's biopop had been hospitalized and Brenda, Michael's wife, had taken him in so presents didn't happen at 3:00. We had a lovely dinner at 5:00 and then did presents. Helen had bought me a few small things and it ended up being just fine. Her grandsons had tons of presents and I didn't feel awkward at all. I helped with dinner clean up and when Helen walked me out, I told her I didn't know why I'd been so freaked out about being there for presents and thanked her for the invite. I had been lots of fun.

Christmas Eve was quiet and the only thing I had to do was cook for Christmas. I made lasagna after lunch then read outside in the sun in the afternoon, finishing my book - The Day She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. I made a nice pasta dinner and watched It's a Wonderful Life. Yes, I cried, as always. I also did a Christmas Eve cast on (it's a knitter thing) of a new pair of socks. All good.

First thing Thursday was opening stockings from my sisters and a few presents from a friend. I talked to my sister Ginny in the car on the way to Anne's, getting there just before noon and I put the lasagna right into the oven. We had a nice fire and after a yummy lunch then watched a couple of movies - Train Dreams (meh) and Goodbye June. It was super foggy so a slow drive home but it was a nice Christmas over all.

After doing laundry and hanging it outside (freaky weather still), I happily knitted in the sun on Friday morning. I had to go to the library to pick up the final deposit from the decor sale. They were packing the leftovers up and I got roped into helping. I did some rearranging in the laundry room when I got home. Pixel, who is now blind, has been making it down the stairs to the laundry room but not to the boxes so has been peeing on the floor so I moved the boxes right by the door. I hope that will help. Other than that, she's doing better at getting around the house. She still panics when she's in the middle of a room and howls. It's usually in the wee hours so I'm hoping she'll get more confident as she gets used to getting around.

Saturday was the last warm day so after lunch, I drove to Placek Park where the trail that goes from town to the lake starts. I'd never done that before and it was lovely. It goes along the creek and is the closest thing to woods that we see in Nebraska. I took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed being out the fresh air. Goodie was outside enjoying the air too and wasn't coming in when I called her. I found myself with a flashlight in the neighbor's backyard, where I found her keeping a watch on whatever lives under their deck. With her inside and so no longer worried, I watched Call the Midwife and called it a day.

It snowed overnight and was still snowing and blowing Sunday morning. I was booked to volunteer at the animal shelter so verified that someone would be there to let me in before I headed out. The wind chill was brutal but I did the cats, chatted with the woman who runs the shelter, booked a couple more volunteer times and drove through BK on the way back home. I was done for the day so just puttered the afternoon away with reading, knitting and streaming. It was lovely to be toasty inside while it was storming outside. We didn't get much snow but what we got was blowing all afternoon.

Another lovely Christmas in the books. I hope you all had a nice Christmas too and a happy new year in 2026.

Week 51 - Ready for Christmas

It was another full week. For a retiree that is. How did I get all these things done when I was working 40 hours/week?

I took Goodie and Rose to the vet on Monday for their annual shots and other than that, got nothing done. Even knitting was cancelled. I did laundry on Tuesday and it was warm enough to hand outside again. Freaky weather for December in Nebraska but not all bad. I ran Wahoo errands and when I went to the Senior Center thrift, I found a pair of my handknitted socks priced at $.99! I knew who had donated them and promptly bought them because $.99 was crazy. I fear there were more donated and can only hope whoever bought them appreciates them. No more socks for that friend! I went home to make cookies before an eye doctor appointment at 4:00.

The cookies were for the Emeriti/Retirees Association Christmas get together Wednesday morning. I had considered skipping it but am glad I didn't. It was fun with a holiday trivia contest while consuming a season's worth of cookies and candy. It was held in a bank right next to Aldi so I popped in for a few things then Anne and I went to Hamnet. I'd read the book and was looking forward to the movie. It was good. I dropped a trunk full of yarn at the Stuff Creative Reuse store and headed home. I was slamming to finish Christmas socks for my cousin and with the 3 hour Survivor finale, I had them done by the end of the night. Yay!

I was back in Lincoln on Thursday for lunch with my work friends. I dropped my cousin's socks off before heading to campus. Dana couldn't come but Lana, Cindy and I had a nice lunch at Pho Factory. I had an entire list of places to hit in hopes that I could be done with shopping until after Christmas. First stop was Sam's for gas and yeast since mine was old and taking forever to rise. I got Starbuck's for the road and headed to Seward. I'd dropped bunches of clothes at the consignment store in October so went to pick up my money, which was only $17 so big time not worth the effort. I did hit the Etc Shop, which is one of my all time favorite thrifts before driving towards home. I went a bit out of my way to go to Buresh Meats in David City. You never know what you'll find there but I didn't get anything special this time. I got back to Wahoo in time to get my new favorite pizza from the food truck that comes to town occasionally. Delish!

I was happy to have a day at home on Friday. I volunteered at the animal shelter in the morning then showered and had lunch before a free afternoon. I called my friend Sharyn for a catch up and Andrea came late on her way back into town for her annual Christmas help. My sister doesn't wrap my stocking stuffers and uses yarn as packing material so Andrea opens the box, removes the yarn and then closes it back up so I wait for Christmas morning to open it. There was lots of nice yarn in this year's box but most of it wasn't suitable for socks. Still best packing material ever.

I was back at the shelter scooping cat boxes on Saturday morning after chatting with Carolyn first thing. My fave YouTubers were doing a zoom so I sat down when I got home with lunch and knitting to enjoyed that. It lasted until almost tea time so I made a cup and went to the front room to read in the sun. I went to bed early too so it was a nice, relaxing day. Sunday was another one. I cast on socks to celebrate the solstice and spent most of the day knitting on those and my monthly challenge socks.

Just a few more days until Christmas and it was looking good that I wouldn't need to hit any stores. I was ready for more relaxing days in the run up to Christmas, happy to stay home while everyone else is doing manic, last minute shopping.

Week 50 - Pixel Went Blind

It was a busy week with lots of Christmas productivity, some social fun and progress on my car with cat stuff thrown in too.

When I left you last week, my car was dead in the garage for want of a nut. I called Ozzy, my mechanic, at 7:15 Monday morning and told him the specific size nut I needed, which he promptly found at the auto parts store next to his shop. I arranged for my friend Lorri to deliver them and after some fiddling around, I got the battery reconnected and it started! Huge relief. With a functional car again, I set off to the library to print labels and then dropped a couple of packages at the post office. Just 2 more to go. We had new people come to knitting that night and luckily the person I was helping took to knitting like she'd been doing it for years.

It was in the 50's on Tuesday so I did laundry and hung it on the line. I had 2 more packages and I got them both dropped off. I was done with shipping so it was time to relax and enjoy the season. First step was to make something to take to the food day I'd been invited to at work. Since it was a soup day, I made corn sticks using Jiffy muffin mix with my vintage corncob shaped pans. Fun.

I had a list of things to do in Lincoln around the food day. Before I went to campus, I dropped off the charity hats I'd been knitting all year, including a few from Goodwill bags that needed finishing, to the collection bin at the School of Natural Resources, which adopts a nearby low income school every year. Then I dropped a big bag of dead Christmas lights at the fire station for the boy scouts recycling project. I had collected them last year but missed the bins and added a few more this year. Do lights ever work a second year? Not for me. Anyway..... the food day was fun. I have always loved my work friends and count myself lucky that they still invite me to things. After hitting a few thrifts and Aldi, I headed home.

I was up and out early Thursday for a talk at the lake on planting pollinator gardens, which was right up my alley. I did another deposit of money from the library's decor sale and then went to Saunders County Lost Pets, which is our local animal shelter, to get trained on volunteering. They had posted that they were looking for help with their cats - another thing right up my alley. It was just filling food and water, scooping boxes, sweeping the floors and loving on the cats, of course. I signed up for a few more shifts and headed home for lunch. l ended up working with Dana for a couple of hours after lunch helping with minimum wage increase files for Payroll. When I was done with all that, I enjoyed an afternoon drinking tea and reading in the front room, which is lovely in the winter when the sun's shining directly in.

Friday was another up and out first thing day. I had an 8:15 haircut and was dropping my car off before then for a 100,000 mile check up. I walked to the library to print more shipping labels - for yarn this time - and Ozzy picked me up there and drove me home. It was bitter cold out so not a problem that I was car free for the day. I made homemade baked beans, which is an all day effort, and put up my Christmas tree. Of course last year's lights didn't work so after I picked up my car, which he only did an oil change on and said he'd send me an estimate for everything else, I stopped at Dollar General for more lights. Despite having no plans for the weekend that would require me to leave the house, it was good to have my car back.

It was still super cold and we'd had snow overnight and no sunshine at all. I ventured out despite that to pick up cookies at the Lutheran church in town since I'd done no holiday baking yet. I also finished decorating my tree (you can only do so much when it's dark) and called the vet. Sometime during the week, Pixel, my 17 year old cat, had gone completely blind. Like bumping into walls blind. They said it happens and there's nothing they can do so there was no point bringing her in, adding that it wouldn't take long for her to learn to navigate the house. I moved the litter box to right by the laundry room door because she had been making it downstairs but wasn't making it to the box. I have high hopes that she will do better and live awhile longer. She does howl like she's being torn asunder when she gets lost, which is usually in the middle of a room and the middle of the night. Oh well. She's still a sweetie and all my other cats love her.

The sun came out Sunday, which always makes me happy in the winter. I knitted in the sun all morning, getting up and down a zillion times to move ornaments on the tree. I did some final non-tree decorating and then made black raspberry jam with berries from Ed, my friend Donna's husband who does some handyman stuff for me sometimes. I will share some with him and have a few more small jars for myself and friends. I ended the day chatting with my friend Lori, who said she wants to host New Year's tea, which I happily agreed to. I haven't been doing a big event like before Covid but now I can be a guest and not have to host. Yay!

So that was a full week! While I'm sad about Pixel, at least she still seems happy and otherwise healthy. My car is back and my Christmas shipping and decorating are done plus I got to see all my work friends. Now to relax and enjoy the season.

Week 49 - Dead Battery Blues

With Thanksgiving over except for leftovers, the week started in full blown Christmas mode. Unfortunately it ended with car troubles but there was lots of fun before that happened.

The first of the month is always a busy knitting day because I start new socks for the monthly challenge. I also have to tally all the socks knitted in my Socks from Stash group and so spend an hour or so with a spreadsheet. It was also the start of opening my advents and I had 2 yarny ones - one I bought cheap when a local yarn shop closed its storefront and another that I won from one of my favorite YouTubers. Starting the day with sock yarn is the best! I was also slamming to finish a gift I needed to give on Wednesday so grabbed a dirt cheap pizza courtesy of a Pizza Hut special and knitted on the gift hat at Monday Night Knitting. It was a good start to the week.

I went through a basket of clothes on Tuesday and pulled out all my handknitted Christmas socks. After finishing the hat, I was free to read in the sun in the front room and then used the last of the turkey to make turkey fried rice for supper, which was surprisingly good. Wednesday was going to be a busy day.

Wednesday started with a huge deposit for Friends of the Library from the holiday decor sale. I picked up donuts for my friend who had fallen on ice and was home recuperating from a concussion (!) and picked up a prescription (getting those cheap refills in my last month of COBRA insurance) before heading to my first Christmas celebrating - lunch with Dodie. We had a lovely lunch at Bison Witches (our lunch spot) and she loved her hat. She gave me a fabulous Christmas gift for someone who needs nothing - a 12 pound bag of King Arthur flour from Costco. Love it! I hit a couple of thrifts, dropped the donuts at Darla's then went south for Trader Joe's, Aldi and Stuff Creative Reuse before heading home. It was a fun day.

I was back in Lincoln Thursday morning for an awards luncheon for the Emeriti/Retirees Association, which was prime rib lunch. Yum! I went to my cousin Helen's to hang for the afternoon and got a few groceries on the way home. I had just enough time to scarf down some fried rice and head to book club at the library. I was ready for a few days at home after two busy days. Retiree life!

I got time at home but ended up working for 2 hours Friday morning with Cindy on some training she's developing. In my nightie. After a shower and lunch, I ran
Wahoo errands and spent some time reading in the sun, ending the day with pizza and beer. Next on the list was wrapping/packing stocking presents to meet my goal of shipping them all early next week.

I started Saturday with a long chat with Carolyn and then got busy wrapping, which didn't take any time at all. I made up a wreath and a festive pot for my side door but when I went out to run errands, my car battery was dead. I had already been offered a ride to the Saunders County Democrats dinner at the country club so planned to call AAA Monday morning for a jump. The dinner, which was a first for me having just changed from Independent to Democrat, was fun getting to meet some candidates and chatting with an old friend I hadn't seen in ages.

With no car, Sunday would be an inside day, which worked for me. I made a cozy lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup then started cooking. I had banana bread in the oven and potato salad made plus a couple of boxes ready to ship when Andrea called. When she heard about my dead battery and said that she knew how to change a battery out, she came over with her tools. Now my car is ten years old and it was the original battery so it took some doing pulling the old one, during which Andrea dropped a nut, which didn't hit the ground. Thinking it was just for stability, we went to the farm store, which was having a battery sale but didn't have my size in stock so we headed to the only auto parts store open on a Sunday. $300 later, I had a new battery. Well, that nut wasn't just for stability so my car was dead. We went back to both stores looking for a nut but didn't know the right size so failed. Now I'd be calling for a tow on Monday. Damn! It was bitter cold during all this so I went inside chilled to the bone and dejected. Oh well. Andrea did come to the rescue, finding a schematic online that showed the part number and that it was an 8mm nut. I went to bed feeling hopeful that I could get the nut locally.

It was a busy week with lots of fun, holiday productivity and help from a friend. While it didn't end as planned, I appreciated that Andrea had the skills and wanted to help and it did end on a positive note. Now to get the nut and start shipping my gifts. Only when they're gone can I relax and enjoy the holiday season.

Week 48 - A Happy Thanksgiving

I was hosting Thanksgiving for Anne and Rene so was madly cleaning at the start of the week. Nothing like a deadline to get me cleaning.

It's not like I cleaned 8 hours a day but I did things well beyond my normal vacuuming, floors and bathrooms. I actually cleared the the hutch and dusted. Just the main level - let's not get crazy. But one thing I've never done was after vacuuming the 70's style kitchen rug that's on my landing and stairs, I actually got out a Bissel spot cleaning machine and shampooed the landing. The rug is awful (it was in the entire back of the house - kitchen and family room - when I moved in) but I got some spots out so looks as good as it could.

I was done with cleaning by noon on Wednesday so took a look at the weather and decided it was time to buy my Christmas trees. I drove to Menard's in Fremont and picked out my deck and inside tree in 5 minutes. It was made easier by the fact that most were still bailed so I had 2 trees to pick from for the inside tree. I got the better of the 2 and $88 later (!) I was heading home. I called Connie to chat that night and we talked until 11:15 and could have kept going but I needed to get to bed.

Thanksgiving was fun. Anne's kitchen was out of commission because she was having ceiling work done so she'd paid for the turkey. Rene was bringing rolls, which I had forgotten to buy, and a lemon pie for dessert so I was making turkey with stuffing inside, baked sweet potatoes (not that Anne or Rene would eat those), mashed potatoes, 3 corn casserole (that's new) and Brussels sprouts. They arrived just in time. I had Rene stir the gravy while I mashed the potatoes and hacked at the turkey. It was all delish and we chatted the afternoon away. They brought containers to take leftovers home and I had the turkey torn apart and in the crockpot before they left. I immediately loaded the dishwasher and did the pots and pans then showered and was in my nightie - probably before they got home. I was ready to relax!

I put the crockpot on overnight and when I moved it so I could make breakfast, it was so full that I dribbled broth down the length of my kitchen floor. I cleaned that up and then made eggs, which had shell in them. Sheesh! I talked to my sister and watched my favorite knitting podcast then started putting up outside Christmas decorations. Of course the lights for my deck tree were dead so I had to run out to buy some and had my tree up and was ready for the snow.

It had started snowing in the wee hours on Saturday and snowed until mid-afternoon. We got 5" and I got out as soon as it stopped and started shoveling. I have a method so had started a the back door, went around to the front and made one shovel width down to the sidewalk and did that. I was a third of the way down the driveway when my snow guy showed up on his ATV. I told him I was good to finish but when he asked if I was sure, I let him finish the driveway and went out back to shovel to the compost bins behind the garage. He did the driveway in <5 minutes so didn't charge me. Nice. I went inside and made a small blueberry pie to go with my leftovers. Lemon meringue pie is NOT a Thanksgiving pie to me so I hadn't taken any when Rene offered. Apple, blueberry, pumpkin - that's Thanksgiving pie!

I rounded out the weekend with my usual chores. I also pulled stocking stuffers out to assess (had enough for "stockings lite" for my sisters), watched The Exception on Hoopla (good movie - Nazis again) and listened to the The Alchemist for book club. I realized fairly early that I'd read it before and looked in old emails and saw that we'd read it for book club in 2019. Oh well. 

It had been a good week and since Monday was December 1st, I got out my 2 yarny advent calendars and my last magic bag so I'd be ready to start opening them the next day. Between advents and vlogmas videos (daily knitting podcasts that are day in the life short videos), December is always fun. Next up will be getting packages out so I can relax. 

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and are ready for all things Christmas.

week 47 - Ready for Winter

I got my wish for a week with less drama. I had some fun and did my final prep for winter. All good.

I woke up Monday craving a burger. I called my friend Lorri to see if she'd be up for going out to lunch but she was busy so we scheduled it for Thursday - an early lunch for her birthday. I thought I could make it until then but decided I didn't need to so took a load to the burn pile, stopping on the way to place a take out order at The Branding Iron and picking it up after unloading. It was delish and totally hit the spot. After lunch I roasted some garden tomatoes and made banana bread to take to knitting but despite making it my entire life and knowing the recipe by heart, I screwed it up, using baking powder instead of soda so it didn't rise. Sheesh!

After knitting Monday night, I only had a library board meeting on Tuesday night and a dentist appointment on Wednesday afternoon. Otherwise I was knitting and watching Ken Burns' American Revolution series on PBS. His documentaries are perfect for knitting because they focus on a picture, in this case all paintings because photography didn't exist back then, and talk for a few minutes. I don't have to worry about missing something if I look down at my knitting and learned a lot so it was a good watch.

Thursday was my social day. I finished my monthly challenge socks in the morning then picked Lorri up for her birthday burger lunch. When we were done, we went to the local coffee shop - Mocha C's - to chat for a bit. I dropped her home and headed to Lincoln for turkey dinner in the dorms with Anne and Rene. They were going to volleyball at 7:00 so dinner was early at 5:00. It was our 3rd year for turkey dinner in the dorms and it really is delicious and a good deal at $11 for retirees. I dropped them at the arena and then hit Super Saver to buy my Thanksgiving vittles, hit the nearby Goodwill (bought nothing) and got gas at Sam's. Only when I was halfway home did I remember that I'd meant to go to Menard's to buy my Christmas trees. Oh well. I finished a charity hat when I got home and cast on another.

Friday was drizzly and cold so was recharge day for me. I chatted with friends and my sister Dottie, again. It was the 3rd time that week but this time she was calling from Goodwill in Indiana about some potential sock yarn she'd found. It looked like it to me so she bought me 3 bags and sent this pic when she got home. Yay! That'll come with my stocking presents and I'll bleach test it then. I made a big pot of red sauce, which simmered for hours on the stove, which was nice on a chilly day. I ended up with 10 individual servings for the freezer plus enough for pasta that night. 

The weather on the weekend would be our last warm temps so I was on a mission to do absolutely everything that needed doing outside to be ready for winter. First up was cutting the perennials in the parking (the strip between the sidewalk and street) because if I don't, it acts as a snow fence and dumps all the snow on my sidewalk. After I took that load to the city burn pile, I dumped the last few pots and planted my two medium sized mums in the same bed where I'd put the rose bushes from the east side bed. I put the sprinkler on that bed to give them a good soak before winter and then disconnected the hoses and drained them, leaving them on the slight slope of my driveway in hopes that gravity would get the last water out. 

With all that done, Sunday was easy. I put the hoses in the garage and swapped the baker's rack for the new plant stand I'd tried that didn't work. When my mower kid came for the last mow, which was really about chopping up the silver maple leaves rather than cutting the lawn, I called it good. I was ready for winter just in time for cooler, late fall weather.

I call that a good week. I had some fun with friends, crossed a few things off and was 100% ready for winter - not just the garden but mentally too. I would be hosting Thanksgiving for Anne and Rene the next week so would be cleaning like a banshee for a few days but then would be ready for Christmas prep and cozy inside days. Anyone else?

Week 46 - Too Much Drama

It was a busy week with a mix of fun, frustration and ridiculous drama. I was also getting things done outside to prepare for winter. At least the week started well.

When I was driving home from a Fremont run on the weekend, I heard something funky with my car and found that the shield that's under my engine was hanging. I called Ozzy's, the local mechanic, first thing on Monday and asked if they could reattach it. They said to come right in and they not only did it while I waited but didn't charge me. Gotta love small town business! I drove directly to Helen's for some cousin time and stayed all day, getting home just in time to scarf some dinner down before heading to knitting. 

My contractor was coming on Tuesday to finish my bathroom. He came with a crew because he was injured and couldn't do much himself. They changed my sink and shower fixtures then spackled and painted. Of course it's not 100% done because the new shower head didn't come with the cord thing so it's still brushed chrome and will be replaced at some point. Unfortunately they didn't wait long enough for the spackle to dry so I can see everywhere they painted. I guess I'll just touch it up myself. They were done around lunch time so I had time that afternoon to make this cute project bag I'd offered as an October prize in my online sock group. I made a pan of blondies for the next day.

I had had a package I'd shipped returned to me because apparently rules have changed and you can't put stamps on anything over 1/2" thick. I took the yarn and the project bag to the post office but couldn't get either the yarn or the bag into the already stamped envelope so left without mailing either and headed to Lincoln. I've had a sensor failing - the open door one - in my car so it would go off when I turned corners. Well, on the way to Lincoln it came on and stayed on, which meant I had to turn off my interior light and couldn't lock my car with my fob. Just another thing to fix when I get a tune up at Ozzy's next month (they told me to wait to schedule it when I need an oil change).

That was the end of the frustration for the day though. I had a nice lunch with Dodie, went to Nuremburg with Anne, stopped at Stuff and found some sock yarn then went to Lana's for a work party. It was great to see everyone and Lana's not so new house. I stayed until 8:15 and when I got home, I found a package with this skein of gorgeous sock yarn from one of the members of my online sock group, which she said was to thank me for being a moderator. How lovely!

After such a long day, I'd have liked to stay home but there was a talk at the lake on water at 9:00. Since we'd just had the boil water thing last week, I was hoping to get some answers. The presenter was not good but there was question time after he was done and there was someone who had some info about Wahoo's water problem, which apparently happened because they're been replacing water mains and that's when problems can happen. After I dropped Lorri at her house, I went to the post office to try again. The clerk was very nice but a guy who must be her boss stuck his nose in and was a total jerk. I mailed both packages after paying a bunch more money and left near tears. Total a-hole. And when I got home, I found a registered mail notice on my front door (it had been there for days because I never use that door) so I had to go right back to the post office. Luckily I didn't see the guy again. I went back home for garden therapy, which helped my mood immensely. I dug up all the plants that I wanted to save from the east side of my house, which will be dug up in late winter when my basement wall gets reblocked. I planted them in one of my veg beds and went inside to make a pot of soup. I had hopes that the drama was over for the week.

Not so much. I started the day Friday meeting Anne at the Quilt Museum for their artist sale, which was fun and I found some yarn, of course. I won't go into nitty gritty detail but when I went to my cousin's to drop something off, I ended up in a text blitz with her husband that left me feeling totally crappy. Not cool. I hit HyVee and went home for tea. I felt shitty for the rest of the day and am thankful I have friends I could vent to. By the end of the day I was feeling some better.

Saturday was spinning in Fremont so Andrea and I did the usual run. I found fun stuff at the Restore before going to spinning which had more people than any recent meeting. Afterwards we hit Goodwill, Aldi and Baker's, where Andrea and I went through every single turkey to find the smallest one for her. This is not the first time we've done that. It's kind of our specialty. 

As usual, Sunday was my chore day. I made a nice breakfast of waffles and bacon then got busy with laundry (it was warm enough still to hang things outside) and cleaned up the deck, planting the 2 little mums that have been on my deck table for a couple of months.

I still had fun but there was way too much drama for my liking. Here's hoping next week is drama free.

Week 45 - Boil Water Order

Well, I got a mix of things again, including a fun road trip, but there was also lots of frustration. I guess I need to be careful what I wish for.

The week started in the 70's but we were having our first hard frost at the end of the week so my priority was to finish the outside work and bring in the plants I overwinter. I started Monday afternoon, dumping containers and potting up plants to bring in. I was outside again Tuesday afternoon, clearing veg beds, cleaning dahlia tubers and dealing with more containers. On Thursday, I brought my plants inside. On Friday, I dug up all the daffodils that needed dividing, which I'd marked with white plastic knives in the spring. I dug a new bed and enlarged another and got many, many bulbs replanted but still have lots to share.

When I came in on Tuesday after working outside, I saw a Facebook post from the city saying that they'd found e-coli in Wahoo's water and we were under a boil water order. That's a first in the 29 years I've lived here. Now I'd been drinking tap water all day while working outside so I'd probably already been exposed but I got busy and started boiling water. I spent the week using boiled water for drinking, cooking, brushing my teeth, etc. Total pain in the ass! Luckily my dishwasher wasn't full but I had a sink full of pots and pans. I finally gave up and boiled water to wash them on Friday morning. Between boiling then cooling some then boiling more to wash them and more to rinse them in a dishpan, which I found in the laundry room with canning jars in it, it took me all morning to get those pans washed. They started hyper-chlorinating the water (the smell when running the faucets!) and said we might get the all clear on Friday but didn't until Sunday. It made for a long, frustrating week.

I had my appointment with the medicare agent and am now all signed up for all the parts I need - medigap and prescription - all effective January 1st. Cross that off my to do list.

Wednesday was a fun day. Anne, Rene and I were going on a day trip to Nebraska City. We stopped in Unadilla for the meat market and thrift shop then headed to Arbor Day Farm hoping to find apples. Nope. They were sold out so we took this nice pic of the 3 of us and left. We found a great restaurant for lunch then walked downtown, checking out all the stores. When we left, we took the scenic route rather than the highway and checked out all the small towns along the way. I had tickets to dinner at Southeast Community College and got back to Rene's just in time to change into more presentable clothes and get there. Lorri met me there and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal, which was a mix of midwest and Korean fare. It was a long but fun day.

Merry Market started Friday night and I always work at the library with Denise staffing the library's holiday decoration sale. I picked up pizza and was there at 5:00 when the library normally closes. We had more customers than last year and made some money. I fed and medicated my neighbor's cat on the way home and called it a day.

I woke up early Saturday and threw clothes on and went to do the cats again. When I got home I got back in my nightie (ha!) and enjoyed a morning sitting in the sun, knitting and chatting with friends. After lunch, I went to Fremont for HyVee's annual baking sale. The prices on everything needed for holiday baking are so cheap that it's worth the drive. I chose Fremont because I wanted to pick up turkey dinner at a church in Cedar Bluffs on the way home. I usually get early turkey from Project Close Up at Wahoo High but they aren't doing it anymore. This was a good replacement.

Sunday is normally chore day for me and it was cold and windy so a perfect day to stay inside. When we got the word that the water was OK, I started cooking. I made corned beef casserole with fresh green beans and a pumpkin pie to take to knitting. I'd been eating out of the freezer all week so I wouldn't have more dishes to do. I was so happy the water was safe again!

Despite the water issues, I still had some fun. Everything was just hard with having to deal with water but I survived. Let's hope that doesn't happen again.

Week 44 - A Nice Mix

It was a week with a mix of all things including working some at my old job, taking next steps on medicare, attempting to do my civic duty, having some social fun and even learning something.

I got a call from Dana Monday morning about a problem with grad allocations. I had documented those to the Nth degree and she'd followed all the directions but something was wrong. We slogged through everything and, of course, it ended up being something that had never happened in the 20+ years I'd done them. After working all morning, I rewarded myself with a chicken finger lunch from DQ. I did some laundry and ended the day knitting with friends.

On the medicare front, I made an appointment with my GP to discuss my medications because if they were going to change, which she'd mentioned they might last winter, I'd need to know that before signing up for my Rx plan and I also wanted to get another 3 month refill before I was done with my COBRA through UNL. She was fine with leaving them as is so I made an appointment for next week with the agent who was helping me with medicare sign up. Cross that off the list.

We had our first chance of a frost so I covered my plants on 2 different nights and they all survived just fine. I'd have to bring the ones I want to overwinter in soon but wasn't ready so was happy the covering worked.

I signed up to phone bank for Dan Osborn, who is running against our awful senator, Pete Rickets. I signed onto a zoom for orientation and then attempted to do the calls, which are done through an app with a script for what to say. The first caller couldn't hear me so the guy had me try doing the audio through my phone instead of my computer. That didn't work either so after a 3rd failed call, he told me that he was just filling in for the regular person and couldn't fix my problem so I called it good. I tried!

I had a fun day on Halloween. Darla was off so I met her at my favorite breakfast place in Lincoln - Cook's Cafe, which has the best sausage links. We chatted over breakfast then hit Goodwill and Dollar Tree before parting ways. I then went grocery shopping and even bought Halloween candy. I haven't handed it out in years but had a fire laid and planned to put the firepit at the bottom of the driveway and hand out candy from there. Alas, the wind picked up that evening so I couldn't light the fire so I gave up. We get very few kids walking the streets anyway because they all go to Boo in Wahoo at the fairgrounds. Oh well.

I had a relaxing weekend with knitting, doing the tallies for my sock group and starting new challenge socks (a 1st day of the month thing), doing some chores and chatting with friends/family. I did go out Sunday afternoon to a program at the library on Forts on the Missouri by a local historian. It was interesting for sure and it was great to end the week learning something. It was warm enough that I had tea on my garden bench after the program.

So, a nice week, right? I love a good mix of things and it was the perfect amount of busy - not too much and plenty of time for relaxing. Hopefully I'll have more weeks like this soon. In the meantime, here's a pretty sunset pic I took out my windy.

Week 43 - Finished Anne's Socks

I started the week with a mission - to finish Anne's Husker socks in time to give them to her on Wednesday. I started the week with one sock done and the cuff of the second. A cold front came through and helped me out.

The temps dropped mid-morning on Monday, which made it easy to sit and knit the day away. I was past the heel with half the foot done by the end of the day Monday and finished the sock just after lunch on Tuesday. Mission accomplished! With that done, I went outside to move plants against the house and cover them because there was a chance of our first freeze. They made it through just fine, even the impatiens that I left hanging from the garage so no freeze Tuesday night. I had taken cuttings from the various impatiens to root over the winter, which sometimes works. Not much to lose so I'll try again this year.

Wednesday was a Lincoln day for an emeriti/retiree association program on gerrymandering and I was meeting with the membership chair about helping with their data beforehand. Anne was meeting me there, which is why I wanted to finish the socks because she'd need them on Saturday for the game. She loved them. From there, I picked Dodie up and we went to Pho Factory for our favorite spring rolls. Yum! I did a big Aldi run to restock my fridge and cupboards and was home for tea. I made carbonara for supper and had some wine. It was a good day.

I had recovered the plants and they survived again but I did see frost on my neighbor's car when he left for work Thursday morning so I'm glad I'd covered them. And while you'd think I had enough knitting, I spent the morning knitting in the sun. I zoomed with Cindy for a bit and then cleaned up the kitchen, which lead to a complete scrub down of the stove. I also put the flowers back in their spots because there was no frost in the forecast. That evening, I went to a town hall meeting for Dan Osborn, who is running for senate against the loathsome Pete Rickets. I signed up to help so we'll see if they get in touch.

My coffee maker died Friday morning so I had a decision to make. I could buy one locally, which would give me zero choice and be expensive, or I could drive. That's what I did. I went to Lincoln after lunch and got one at Walmart for $17 and was in and out in literally 5 minutes. I got cheap gas at Sam's (the savings covered the cost for driving one way) and then scored some fun yarn at St. Theresa's Thrift Shop, which is only open on Fridays and Saturdays so I rarely get to shop there. Nice.

I finally heard back from my contractor. We'd always used Messenger to communicate but he hadn't responded and I was getting concerned. I finally looked up his email from when he'd sent pics when I was in Europe and got an immediately response. He had taken Messenger and Facebook off his phone to eliminate some drama and so wasn't seeing my messages. He said he'd come on the 11th to swap out the shower head, the sink faucet, the towel bar and install a 2nd one. Yay!

I was back in Lincoln on Saturday to hang out with my cousins. We chatted the afternoon away and then Michael came with his family for supper. It was lovely family time and we even did some crafting (Christmas ornaments) after supper. I got home at 10:00.

After all this out and about, Sunday was a recharge day. I did the bare minimum of chores and relaxed (aka knitted/streamed) all day. It was a nice end to a busy week.

Yeah, it was a good week with lots of socializing, learning some things, doing my civic duty and getting some stuff done outside. The socks and family time were the icing on the cake. Hearing from the contractor was great too. I'll take more weeks like this please.

Week 42 - A Busy Week

It was a busy week for a retiree. I was out of town 4 times this week for all kinds of reasons and other than getting bird feeders set for the cold weather and knitting, of course, I didn't get much else done.

I had an appointment with the oncologist on Monday so scheduled lunch with Darla. I discovered a gift card on my desk that had been a retirement gift so we used it to go to Cracker Barrel. Shrimp and grits was the daily special and it was delish. The appointment was just routine and other than getting gas at Sam's (I recently joined specifically for cheap gas), I didn't do any other errands so was home in time for tea. Nan brought cookies to knitting, which was a nice end to a good day.

Tuesday was a meeting of the Emeriti/Retiree Association, my second time going, about drones. Afterwards, I did some thrifting. When I had gone to one of the Goodwills recently, the shelves were loaded with many bags of overpriced yarn and I asked if they'd ever mark them down like the one on Vine Street did when they didn't sell. They said they'd probably just throw them out. Well, the shelves were bare so they must have just thrown them in the dumpter. One of the two bags that was there had a skein of Lazy Been yarn in it (a local dyer) so I was pleased with that but only when I was halfway home did I think that I should have checked the dumpster. Such a waste! I had a library board meeting that night but had a few hours at home before then so knitted while drinking tea. Lovely.

It was a rainy day on Wednesday so I enjoyed relaxing in comfort while it rained. The sun did come out late in the afternoon so I went outside to change the clothesline, which had broken, only to realize I'd mistakenly bought a 50 foot one so I had to tie in a piece of the old line. I also cleaned out all the birdfeeders and the buckets that store the seed on the deck and put them all in the sun on the driveway to dry. I packed up some more yarn for Becky and called it a day.

I had no plans on Thursday and was watching a YouTuber from Omaha. She showed a picture that she didn't buy and I loved it so I got in the car and made a beeline to the thrift where she'd seen it. Of course it was gone but I appreciated being able to go and check it out. Retirement life! I went to Bagel Bin and hit a couple of thrifts and was looking for a park to eat a bagel for lunch but both of the parks that Siri gave me directions to were soccer fields with no picnic tables. Lame! I ended up heading home and eating a late lunch there. I had enough time to change my sheets and hang laundry on the line so the day wasn't a complete bust.

Saturday was the annual retreat for my spinning group, which is always at a summer camp north of Fremont and I'd only paid for lunch and dinner because I had not intention of getting up early enough to be there for breakfast and had no interest in participating in the morning class. I was happy to see that there was a No Kings demonstration in Fremont that started at 11:00 and asked Nan if she wanted to go. That meant I had a sign to make so on Friday, I dug in my scrapbooking supplies and the garage for a stick and made a simple one. I also set up all the feeders, including the Bird Buddy that was a retirement gift from the office. It has a solar roof to power the camera on it and it sends pics to your phone of all the birds that eat there. My sparrows abandonned me last winter, probably because the word of Rosie the killer cat got out, so I hope I get some this year.

I had time to chat with Carolyn Saturday morning then loaded up my sign and some sock knitting and headed to Fremont. The demonstration was fun and there were a lot more people there than I thought there'd be. We got lots of people honking approval too so it was an inspiring morning. I got to the retreat just in time for lunch and spent the day knitting while everyone did the afternoon classes. This year they didn't serve us dinner in the lodge but rather sent us to the concession stand for their corn maze/harvest festival area to eat there. Because of that, we all just left from there instead of going back to the lodge. Worked for me.

Sunday was a nice day at home. I washed my quilt and hung it on the line and did a few chores, making pot roast for supper. I was slamming on a pair of socks for Anne to wear to the Husker football game the next weekend and got the first sock done and the second cast on before heading to bed.

So that's a busy week for a retiree but it's all good. As I'm know for saying, better busy than bored plus it was a nice mix of socializing and getting a few things done at home. Loving my retiree life!

Week 41 - Fence and Medicare

The week started with a lovely rainy day, which ushered in much cooler weather. Hopefully the 80s/90s are in the rear view for a LONG time. I made the most of the coolers temps and spent a bunch of time outside this week, got some good news on Medicare, and ended the week with my annual vaccinations. 

Monday was a cozy inside day where I knitted, talked to Cindy about her trip, and when Monday Night Knitting was cancelled because everyone wanted to stay home, I just kept knitting. I had some plans for a new outside project that I was excited to get going on.

I ran errands in Wahoo on Tuesday with all the usual stops - bank, library, The Warehouse but ending at the hardware store for supplies. I had seen something called a permaculture fence online and thought it would be perfect for against my neighbor's chain link fence. They don't take care of their yard at all so it's a mess of tall weeds and weed trees so anything I can do to block that is good. The longest stakes they had were 2 feet but it was a start. I did a final run to the burn pile with my car loaded with sunflowers and then stopped at the carwash to vacuum out the back of the car and retire it (for this year anyway) as a pick up truck.

When I got home, I started putting the stakes about a foot out from the chain link and then started cutting brush and loading it up. I was in Lincoln on Wednesday for a goodbye lunch for Brook, the other data analyst who was leaving UNL, but was right back outside on Thursday after a talk at the lake. I was mostly cutting beside the garage and put the rest of the stakes in so the entire fence was lined except for a couple of feet where I planted a grapevine this spring. It was wonderful to be able to load the brush in my own yard rather than loading it in my car to take to the burn pile. The pic is just the first day but it's now 30+ feet long. This is supposed to create habitat for bugs and wildlife too so win win.

On Wednesday evening, I met with the local Medicare lady at the library. She has open sessions each month but I was the only one who showed, which was a good thing. The great news is that because my birthday is the first day of February, I can get Medicare on January 1st. That'll save me $700! But the rest was a chore. It wouldn't let me through the SSA.gov sign up because it wouldn't recognize my cell phone, which is the only phone I have these days. We went to id.me and it had the same issue so we had to do a video call for them to approve me. Only then could we do the sign up for parts A&B. I can't sign up for medigap and a drug plan until those go through but she recommended plans to me that will be a pittance compared to COBRA. I was there 1.5 hours and I'm not computer illiterate nor an idiot. Sheesh! I then went home for another 1.5 hours of computer frustration trying to login to the Husker Cats paypal account. I did manage to get in after a flurry of emails. I was over the computer drama and was happy to go to bed that night.

I went to Fremont on Friday because it was Estate Dispersal store weekend and I hadn't been there in several months. I only bought one thing (a skein of sock yarn - go figure) but found some stuff at thrifts, stopped at Nan's, and hit HyVee for their one day sale, which alone made it worth the drive. I had a lovely dinner of more zucchini butter pasta with a glass of wine and was ready for the weekend.

My only goal for the weekend was to get my covid and flu shots at the Wahoo pharmacy but I couldn't resist going outside to cut more brush for my fence. I went out first thing on Saturday and worked until it was time for a shower before heading to the pharmacy. They'd warned me that Saturdays could be busy so I might have to wait but when I drove up at noon, the street was empty - mostly likely because everyone was home watching Husker football. I was the only customer and was in and out in 10 mins. I got BK for lunch and headed home. I did dye a gorgeous skein of yarn in fall colors that afternoon but by evening, my left shoulder (covid side) was getting sore. I spent the rest of the weekend knitting and chatting with friends. By Sunday evening, my shoulder was back to normal.

That was a good week, right? I love my new fence project, got great Medicare news, and crossed vaccines off my list. I also talked to lots of friends and had dyeing fun in addition to my usual knitting fun. The best part was the cooler weather. I'm hoping I'm done sweating for months. : )

Week 40 - Crazy Hot Weather!

It was another week of ridiculous hot weather with three days of 91 degrees in October! The other days were all in the 80's. Despite vowing not to turn the AC on, I gave up and put it on. Nuts! Beyond that, I did get more things out the door, potentially because I was able to work in the house without sweating like a stuck pig.

On Monday, I pulled clothes to take to the consignment shop in Seward on Wednesday and zoomed with Darla to validate that I'd chosen well. I had to check tags for copyright dates because she wouldn't take old ones so quite a few didn't make it into the 2 bags I'd be taking there but plenty did. When I went to my appointment, the owner went through my bags and showed me what she liked and when she rejected something, why she did. That will help me when I fill another box, which she provided, to drop more off next month. Gone is good! I did go to the Etc. Shop on the same block, which is one of my favorite thrift shops ever. They had 50% off the entire store and I found lots of yarn for Dottie and a wonderful bag of vintage fabric for me. I can just see the knitting bags I'll make with all these lovelies. From there I went to the other thrift shop in town and donated most of the rejects from the consignment store, which felt right.

Starting Thursday, it was in the 90's during the day but it was cooling down at night so mornings were an option for working outside. I went outside for something or other and found myself cleaning up the crap pile that had gathered all summer at the top of the driveway. There were boxes of brush for burning, empty flower pots, tools and various other detritus. To add to it, weeds were growing through the mess so it was BAD. By the time I was done, the brush boxes were stacked, the weeds pulled and the driveway swept. I even laid the next fire in my firepit. You gotta go with these things when they hit and I was glad I did. After a shower (because you know I was sweating bullets), it was back into the basement for the afternoon.

I gave up on the basement and turned the AC on on Friday, which allowed me to do things upstairs. I packed up a big box of yarn for Dottie and another package of yarn I'd sold and headed to the library to print labels then dropped Dottie's box at the hardware store for UPS pick up. The post office was closed so I put that in my mailbox. More stuff out of the house - yay! I then did some cooking and started a new pair of socks.

I was on the fence about going to the start of the Omaha Knit Night picnic in Omaha due to the heat. It was originally scheduled for 11:00-3:00 but when I checked online, I found that they'd moved the time to earlier, most likely because of the 2:30 kickoff of the Husker game. Had I known I would have gone and been back before it got too hot but missed that so went downstairs and started sorting fabric in my craft room. Oh well.

Sunday was the annual roast beef dinner at the church in Colon (a small town 6 miles north of Wahoo) that I always look forward to so I went there as soon as they opened and got take out. I was enjoying the first of 3 meals from it when Lorri stopped by after church. Then I did some laundry and a few chores, ending the day with breakfast for supper and an evening of PBS.

The weather was supposed to break overnight on Sunday and I was really looking forward to cooler temps and turning off the AC. I'm glad I turned it on so I could actually get stuff done inside but I'm excited to wear long pants and wool socks with Birkenstocks. Hopefully this will be the last hot weather until next year. I live in hope.

Week 39 - Donations and Travel

It was another week of freaky hot weather that had me hanging in the basement because I was not going to turn on the AC at the end of September. It started out in the 90's, had a single day in the 70's and the rest were 80's. Ick! There was some productivity, a dyeing score in Omaha and some stuff was gone but the best thing was Anne and I booked our next trip.

I got a postcard from the company we did out last trip with announcing a big sale on their early spring cruises - $1000 off. Combined with the $888 credit from the cruise that became a bus trip, I checked out the options and called Anne. We chose a trip from Antwerp up to Amsterdam in late March/early April. We got on the phone and booked it, including airfare from Lincoln. It was a total score pricewise and it's early enough that I won't be sweating and it won't interfere with gardening season. I did say that if it's not going to be a cruise for some reason, I won't go. I doubt that'll be an issue so early in the year but just in case, I'm on the record.

On the gone is good front, I packed up a couple of piles of stuff for Becky when I was holed up in the basement staying cool to go with the stuff that I'd already collected upstairs. I also went through all the various shipping envelopes that I'd saved for shipping (way more than I would use) and recycled tons of those. I also got rid of many plastic bags while I was at it and I did a long overdue return/rebate on a steamer that had been recalled. I also called and made an appointment to set up an account and drop clothes at the consignment shop in Seward and emailed Changing Spaces SRS about consigning some Pyrex in one of their auctions. Hopefully these last 2 will lead to more things leaving my house.

I got out of Wahoo twice - once to Omaha and once to Lincoln. The Omaha run was to pick up a score Andrea found for me on Facebook Marketplace. A woman was selling all her dyeing supplies, including bunches of natural yarn, for $75. Since I was in Omaha, I hit some thrifts, of course, and the Rotella bread factory store. I found a cat cave at Goodwill and found a fun 3 tier plant stand at a little antique store while I was killing time before picking up the dye stuff. I went to Lincoln on Saturday to drop the donations for Becky at the garage sale that was in progress (the pic is just some of what I donated). I then met Anne at the Stuff Creative Reuse store (bought a couple of balls of yarn) and then we got ice cream at Zesto, which would probably be out last for the year since they'd be closing for winter soon. I got some groceries and headed home.

I ended the week out in the yard Sunday morning cutting sunflowers, starting by the sidewalk then did the bed under my bedroom window and around to the east side, which is the messiest in my yard. I took a huge load to the burn pile then showered and did 3 loads of laundry and hung most of it outside. At least that made use of the still ridiculously hot weather.

So it was a good week. I did some cooking and a few chores, got rid of some stuff and booked my next trip. Knitting was cancelled due to weather but I had a Ripples zoom on Tuesday and book club on Thursday plus got out of town twice - all this while the weather was too hot for my liking. I even got some gift socks finished and cast on another gift pair. Other than the weather, I'll take more weeks like this.

Week 38 - Satisfied with Progress

It was another blissfully nice week at home. I made some progress on projects and got out of town twice.

On the getting rid of stuff front, I cleared the heap of crap from my desk then went through the pile on the spare room bed and came up with 4 bags of yarn to donate to Becky for her Stuff for Strays sale. I also took the old grill (the one that had hornets nests that the Windstream guy nuked) to the metal recycling bin at the hardware store. I also took another load of sunflowers and weeds to the burn pile. Gone is good.

I went to my first ERA - Emeriti and Retirees Association - meeting on Tuesday. I had been providing them with data for years and the membership chair, who has zero tech skills, had asked me to help out with data but I'd put him off in the spring because.... cancer. Well, this was the first time I'd showed my face at a meeting and as a new member, I was introduced and given a welcome gift of chocolate. The program was an interesting presentation by the head of the emerging media arts school at UNL and I sat with Anne and a few of her workout friends, who I know a bit. As soon as the meeting was over, the membership chair made a beeline to me and I agreed to help. I'll chalk it up to giving back after working at UNL for almost 27 years.

The other out of town trip was on Saturday, which was my monthly spinning meeting. But before that, I went to Valley to check out the Quasar Bazaar, which is a flea market at the drive-in theatre. I grilled the person at the entrance booth and she said it was not super busy. I was there right around noon and with a 2:30 kick off for Huskers football, some of the few vendors who were there were already packing up. I did talk to a woman who vends at sales all the time and she gave me some tips. So it wasn't a total waste but it wasn't as inspiring as I'd hoped. From there I went to the Restore in Fremont before heading to spinning. I got the missing piece for my wheel from Helga and enjoyed the knitting machine demo and chatting with friends.

I had picked plenty of produce in my garden and made squash casserole and pork chops with one lot. After getting zero green beans this summer, my vines have all of a sudden started producing so I got my first green beans of the season. Then my friend Lorri stopped by on Sunday with a big bag of chard (I'd lamented my poor chard germination so she came to my rescue), a small butternut squash and some delicious cobbler.

Another good week in the books. A bit of this. A bit of that. There was plenty of knitting, of course. I finished 2 pairs of socks and redid the toe on another to make them longer so I could gift them to Janice. I found a few fun things while thrifting and otherwise had a nice mix of productivity and socializing. Works for me.

Week 37 - Downton and Wheel

The week started out with beautiful weather but was in the 90's by the end of the week. This ridiculous heat impacted my to do list big time. But I had lots on my calendar - knitting on Monday night, to which I took a pineapple upside down cake I'd made, a library board meeting Tuesday night, went to Omaha Knit Night on Thursday night and was in Lincoln on Friday.

I didn't have much motivation to start the week but did a few things inside like gave my African violets some love and potted up a begonia I'd had rooting, did some dishes, made tortilla casserole - that kind of thing. But with the heat looming, I went outside on Wednesday and weeded a huge amount, starting at the alley and working along the fence by my veg beds. It was the biggest load yet and I thought I'd have to make two trips to the burn pile but I loaded to the roof and made it in one. By then the heat had arrived so it was a good thing I had more inside stuff to do.

My internet was down on Tuesday morning so I called Windstream and they scheduled an appointment for Thursday. It came back later Tuesday and was still up on Wednesday morning so I cancelled the appointment in the app. Well, something didn't work because I got a text that the tech was on his way. I tried to cancel again to no avail and he was at my door. He said it happens all the time and when I asked about when I could get fiber, he went into my backyard to look at the wires. I told him to be careful near the old grill because there was a hornets nest in it. He then offered to kill them, explaining that they find hornet nests all the time in the boxes on poles. So he got out his spray and killed them then opened the grill and pulled out the nests (there were 2) and threw them in the trash. Now to get rid of the grill, which I only kept because the cats sleep on it in the winter when the metal is warm.

I have followed Omaha Knit Night on Facebook and have been to one event they held - a potluck picnic at Elmwood Park in Omaha for World Wide Knit in Public Day last spring. I enjoyed the group and said I'd make an effort to go to more, which are usually evenings or weekends in a coffee shop somewhere in Omaha, so went to their meet up at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, which has a coffee shop in the lobby, on Thursday night. It was fun and I need to keep making the effort to go more often.

The last Downton Abbey movie premiered on Friday and since Dodie and I have gone to all the Downton movies together, I bought tickets on Monday for the first showing on Friday at the theatre near Dodie's house. If you want good seats, you have to pay an extra $3 to get them online before the day of the show. Rip off but oh well. I drove down Friday morning and we were front and center (actually halfway up and center) for the first show and it was wonderful. They wrapped things up nicely. I will miss Downton Abbey for sure.

After dropping Dodie, I hit a few thrifts, of course, and found the score of the century at St. Louise's. It was a Ashford spinning wheel, which retails for ~$900, for $32. The clerk said that it had been in the basement for a long time and they were going to throw it out but she convinced them to price it and see if anyone would buy it, which I happily did. It was missing its flyer but Helga from my spinning group sells Ashford so I could order it from her. I have always said that I'd spin after I retired so now I'm all set to give it a go. Yay! Here's a pic of it in the grungy back of my car, which I won't clean until I'm done with burn pile runs. Sorry.

I had finished a pair of navy blue socks that Helen had requested so I stopped at her house just to drop them off. Yeah, right. I sat down just for a minute and two hours later, Charlie walked in from work. I still had to hit a grocery store but was tired and hungry so had to force myself to stop, which I did. Adulting! I drove right by St. Theresa's when I left HyVee so popped in there (they're only open on Friday evenings and Saturdays and I'm rarely in town then) and scored 2 vintage Pyrex lids. I have many casseroles without lids in my garage and getting back on ebay to sell vintage linens, Corelle and Pyrex is on my short list. 

With all my trips here and there done, it was time for another hanging at home retirement weekend and catching up with friends. Andrea stopped by the check out my new wheel (she's the one who found the Ashford name on it) and I caught up with Carolyn and Dee. Otherwise it was streaming, knitting and chores.

Week 36 - Burn Pile Loads

It was my first full week home and I hope it was the first of many. I had plenty to get done and was still enjoying just being home.

First thing on Monday, which was Labor Day, I made a call I'd been dreading. I called Connie to tell her that I was not going with her on a road trip to Toronto. I had told her it sounded fun but that was mostly because I thought it wouldn't actual happen. As you know, I have no interest in going anywhere anytime soon. She took it well.

With that out of the way (huge relief!), it was time to get busy. The weather was perfect so I spent 3 mornings outside pulling beggar's tick and cutting sunflowers. I made 3 trips to the city's burn pile - gone is good! When I get that done first thing, I come back and shower then can do non-sweaty things in the afternoon. It works great. I did make a nice sunflower bouquet from the ones I cut down. So pretty.

I have been enjoying cooking and have been using produce from my garden, the peaches I bought from the Lions Club (most went into the freezer for future pies) and my friend Lorri stopped after church and shared produce from her garden. I've been trying to use what I have so cobbled together a pasta bake one night (all from the freezer and cupboards), have enjoyed BLT's with my tomatoes and made banana bread because I also have dead bananas.

I did have one fun thing on Saturday. One of my post-retirement goals was to make lunch dates with friends new and old. I had recently found someone on Facebook who used to work in HR and we had clicked but then she left UNL. Jane counts as an old friend because I left HR 22 years ago! We met at Burning Bridges, which is a restaurant in Omaha that specializes in chicken sandwiches, and enjoyed lunch and a LONG chat. We were in there for almost 4 hours and got all caught up and chatted about everything and nothing. It was great.

Also on the friend front, I had a nice zoom with Cindy to catch up before she leaves for her long overdue France trip, which was supposed to happen in fall of 2020. I also zoomed with my friend Lia in Germany, who is the other moderator of the Socks from Stash group on Ravelry (knitting website). We had some admin stuff for the group but also caught up on life in general.

I did chores all week and knitted between being productive. There was plenty of streaming while I knitted but I also started listening to the audio book for book club - another true crime (not my fave) so I listened at 1.5 speed to get it done. Andrea was away so I was feeding her cat ever daily. When I wasn't heading out of town for something else, I ran Wahoo errands while I was on cat feeding runs. Between that and the burn pile runs, I was out and about plenty this week.

So it was a nice week staying home with a good blend of productivity, streaming while knitting and getting chores done. Plus the friend stuff. As far as I'm concerned this was a perfect week in retirement. I hope there are more like this after the hot weeks that are coming up that will be cramping my style. I'm so looking forward to cooler weather. Are you?

Week 35 - Heading Back Home

I had 2 more days in Rhode Island before I'd fly home Tuesday evening. It's a good thing I was having fun because home was calling to me. Even after a relaxing week at the beach, I was ready to be home. For a LONG time before I travel again. But first the rest of my RI time.

I used to love Dunkin Donuts but they stopped making my favorite donut - lemon filled with chocolate icing. Well Janice found that Market Basket (a Massachusetts grocery chain that has a couple of stores in RI) has them so we started the day Monday getting a donut. Janice had donations to drop off a a thrift store so we ate our donuts in the parking lot after dropping them then went inside. It was a lovely store - clean and well organized. I found a couple of Evesham ramekins so was happy with that. From there we went to yet another Job Lot. I think it was my 4th one on this trip but it was the biggest one so far and had lots of stuff I hadn't seen yet. I bought quite a bit more. : )

With our shopping done, we headed to one of our old haunts for a late lunch - Newport Creamery. It was bogo day for Awful Awfuls, which are super thick milk shakes (called cabinets in RI) so we got one after our sandwiches. Yum! After a quick stop at Dave's Market, where I stocked up on Near East tabbouleh mix that I can no longer find in Nebraska, we went home to veg. Janice and I were always big box game players so we played boggle for awhile. When we got hot, we jumped in her pool and then enjoyed swordfish and corn on the cob cooked by Chris (Janice's husband) on the grill. I had bought a small serving of grapenut pudding (another RI thing that's an egg custard with a grapenut crust) and we were so full we split it 3 ways for dessert. It was another fun day and my last full one in RI.

I started Tuesday packing up all my stuff, which was mostly Job Lot purchases. Lots of them. I got it all into my suitcase and loaded it into the car. We were headed to meet Deanne at Mrs. Basset's, who was our girl scout leader, for a visit. It has become a tradition on my RI trips and was fun, as usual. I said goodbye to Janice and Deanne and I headed to her new house where she had an inspection or something. I got to see it, which was cool, and then we went to a late lunch at Avvio. Delish. We had some time to kill before I needed to be at the airport so we drove to one of my favorite neighborhoods on the water in Warwick - Conimicutt - and then she dropped me at the airport and I was headed home. My flights were nearly empty and on time. I walked into my house at 11:30 and didn't let the cats out so I could shower and go right to bed. It was good to be home.

It was great to wake up at home on Wednesday and after unpacking first thing, I got busy with laundry - mostly sheets and towels from the beach house with a few undies thrown in. It all got hung on the line. I picked some produce in my garden, went to Lorri's to pick up the fundraiser peaches she'd picked up for me and then did some cooking - sausage with peppers from my garden, tabbouleh with my garden tomatoes and pasta for supper. It was a lovely first day home.

Thursday was a Lincoln day because I had scheduled lunch at the Chinese buffet with Layton a month ago. I started at the rummage sale at St. John's in Weston and scored some cool Pyrex mugs in lovely avocado green. Peaches to Anne was stop number one then I enjoyed a long lunch with Layton, catching up on all things UNL. From there I went to Helen's to hang for a bit before hitting Aldi and Russ' to restock on groceries. I was now ready to stay home.

Friday was laundry day and I enjoyed knitting and catching up with YouTube videos. I talked to Lori in the morning and offered to chart a sock pattern that she wanted to make but it had no chart and needed to be converted from toe up to top down. I ended the day with more knitting charts. Rene wanted to make basic cabled socks and after we looked on Ravelry and couldn't find the right thing, I charted that out and emailed it right before bedtime. Helping friends with sock knitting - all good.

Since I retired, weekends have become time to spent at home to avoid all the working people who flood stores on their days off. I got dressed early because Tim was coming to mow before the rain. I had just enough time to pick produce and throw some fertilizer on my containers before it started raining. I spent the afternoon on socks - frogging 2 pairs and then spending 4 hours reclaiming the tangled skein from one of them. I was way behind on my temperature blanket so did minimal chores on Sunday and knitted squares galore. When the internet went down that night, I went to bed early to read and called it a good weekend.

While I had a great time in Rhode Island and it was a totally relaxing time, I am travelled out! I want to stay home for a long time. Like maybe I won't travel until next year. I have lots to do in the yard and have a basement to clear out so they can reblock my east wall this winter. I also want to get into a routine. Gotta work on that. I'm ready.

Here's a pic of my front step, done Janice style. She has a front door she doesn't want anyone to use so puts an enormous plant blocking the step. I never use my front door so centered the huge impatiens on the step instead of having it on the side. Great idea and I like it.