Week 44 - Dude and Socks

This week seemed to be very Dude and socks focused. I did get some other things done and had some social events, of course, and the weather cooperated with lots of fall temps, which made me happy.

As for Dude, he has been watching my other cats go in and out for a couple of months and has shot outside a few times but I've been able to catch him. My plan was to wait until we'd had a hard freeze to kill the fleas but since we have no freeze at all in the forecast through mid-November, I gave up and decided it was time to let him out. I started on Thursday when I went outside with him after supper. He explored the yard and didn't go far. I did the same on Friday and Saturday and by Sunday morning, I let him out on his own when I was on a zoom. We both survived and I think I'm done with outdoor orientation. He's happy to be going outside too.

On the sock front, it was the end of October so I had the usual month end admin to do for my Ravelry sock group. I also had a zoom meeting with the other 2 moderators to go over the 2027 challenges that had been voted on and decide which to put on which months. I had finished the first pair of my brown scrappy socks and with the new month, I had new challenge socks to cast on.  But the thing I swore I would never do happened this week - I dropped 6 pairs of socks at the gallery in downtown Wahoo to sell. Yes, I did that. I told her I wanted $25 for each pair, which only pays for the yarn and not the time it took to make them, which is at least 20 hours of knitting. I knit upwards of 40 pairs of socks each year and gift them liberally to family and friends but still have hundreds in my house. So it felt like it was time to give in and sell some. We'll see if they do sell. I need to stop in and see what she has them priced at.

Here are the non-sock, non-Dude things...

On Tuesday, I went to Omaha to see You Can See Everything with Lori. She had an appointment so we went to the latest matinee at 3:50. I had read the book for book club so was interested in the movie, which was good. I then started the Hulu mini series - The Dropout - and finished it by the end of the week. Enough about Elizabeth Holmes.

Wednesday was a soup food day at work, which are now few and far between because I was the one who used to plan them. I took cream cheese brownies, which I'd tried to make Halloweeny by dyeing the cream cheese filling orange but I couldn't get it very dark. They still went over well and were yummy. It was fun to see everyone and of course I filled the day with errands - picking up membership mail for the Emeriti/Retirees Association, meeting Anne to get my refund check for the cruise, which they'd sent to her for some reason, grocery shopping and going home via Baker's Candies in Greenwood for more of the extra dark chocolate peanut butter meltaways that they only have at Halloween. Worth the extra miles but Siri sent me on 6 miles of gravel roads to save a couple of miles. Siri fails again.

I was happy with Thursday being a bit warmer so went out to the east side again and cleared all the weeds in the ditch by the retaining wall. I filled the car again and drove the weeds to the city burn pile. Next up will be cutting and nuking weed trees but that will have to wait for a day without wind.

I ended the week with a couple of quiet days. I didn't hand out candy because most kids go to Boo in Wahoo at the fairgrounds the night before plus the weather was cold and damp on Halloween and there was a husker football game at 7:00. I figured no one would come so didn't even buy candy. Because it wasn't sunny on Sunday, the cats didn't wake me up at all so I got the extra hour of sleep, which never happens. I did the shelter cats that morning and got Chinese afterwards for lunch but felt so icky that I had to shower before I could eat. I spent the afternoon catching up with friends and ended with PBS, as usual.

So another good week is in the books. I'm loving being home and having cooler weather. I have more things to get done in the yard before snow flies and hopefully that won't be for awhile yet.

Week 43 - Lovely Autumn Week

I was so thrilled to finally get some fall weather. I did all kinds of things and never once ended up a sweaty mess. LOVE this season, which took its damn time getting here.

I headed outside on Monday to take advantage of the weather. I did laundry and hung it to dry then tackled my nasty bird feeders. I keep the seed in 2 galvanized buckets on the deck and for some reason the mixed seed always ends up wet and moldy while the sunflower seed is just fine. The feeders, which I hadn't filled all summer, were gross too. I emptied everything and scrubbed them out, leaving the bucket in the sun on the driveway and the feeders on the bench. After this disgusting job was done, I made my first pumpkin pie of the season to take to knitting. On the way to taking her camper to its winter storage, Andrea stopped at the library and gave the knitters a tour. It's a cute little teardrop trailer so was neat to see.

Tuesday was the rescheduled date for a program on the lake by Live Well Go Fish, which is a fishing excursion company that specializes in taking nursing home and hospice people out on the lake to fish. But before it started, I registered my car (I found the paperwork last week and it expired in September - oops!) and then dropped it at Ozzy's for the long overdue list from my 100,000 mile check up. I walked to Lorri's and she drove to the lake. Logistics done.

The program was great. I had never been out on the lake and thoroughly enjoyed it. The company, which is a 501c3, provides a wonderful service, including lots of patriotic stuff. Here's a wonderful picture of Lorri on the lake. Lorri dropped me home and I went right to a Genealogy Over Lunch zoom on a program called Filles du Roi, which sent marriageable woman from France to Quebec in the late 1600's to increase the population of French Canada. Very interesting. With both programs done, I went back outside and finished the feeders and hung them up. Now for the birds to remember they're here. I'm looking forward to some BirdBuddy footage. I enjoyed walking back to Ozzy's to pick up my car, which was just over a mile so not bad, especially in the gorgeous weather.

I was home all day on Wednesday and got busy outside. I always have a few weedy sunflowers growing in my yard but the east side, which was bare soil after the retaining wall was built, was a total mess. I cut them all down and the few others growing elsewhere and took a carload to the city burn pile. That done, I went inside to shower and get ready for poll training that night. As usual, it was a complete disaster - no introduction of who was speaking and didn't go over the information in our packets and so it immediately devolved into people chatting amongst themselves and a few questions from the trainees. Worst training I've ever been to, just like it was in April for the primaries. At least it was over early.

When I heard that my new friend, LoriG, was going to be in town on Thursday, I suggested lunch at  Chip's for their burger special - 2 burgers with sides for $15. She was ready early so we got there at 11:00. The plan had been to sit and chat for hours but she wasn't able to register the car she'd just bought from her aunt so had to go back home (15 miles away) and back to town again to get it done. She was antsy and we didn't linger over lunch, which meant I was able to hit the program at the museum on Saunders County veterans who fought in 19th century wars. It was interesting but I need to volunteer to help with the powerpoints, which are totally wrong. I ran Wahoo errands before heading home.

I got both covid and flu shots at the clinic on Friday morning and then made a beeline to Fremont for a grocery run. I hit a couple of thrifts too and was home in time for lunch. That done, I was ready for some down time in case I was feeling punk after my shots. My mom always called feeling under the weather as "punk" and a friend googled it when I said it and it is legit old school slang. But I digress....

I had plenty of knitting and streaming planned. When I finished my challenge socks earlier in the week, I'd pulled all my brown sock yarn scraps because I bought brown pants to wear this winter and have almost no brown socks. I got busy with the first pair and they flew off the needles. I'm not sure if I truly felt anything beyond sore arms but I happily knitted Saturday away and watched the entire new season of The Diplomat. It was a lovely day.

I talked to my friend Dee on Sunday morning and then went out to plant the tulip bulbs that had arrived from Holland. I planted them where I'll be able to see them from my comfy chair next spring. It didn't take long and I took a shower after I was done and then I washed my bedspread and hung it out. That was enough productivity to justify sitting on my butt knitting and streaming for the rest of the day, ending with PBS as usual.

I call that a good week with the perfect amount of productivity, three different learning opportunities and getting my car repairs and vaccines crossed off my list. The fall weather was the icing on the cake and I have high hopes that it'll last awhile.

Week 42 - End of Heat

The week started with a 92 degree day. In mid-October! But hopefully that was the last hot day until spring. With that done (hopefully), it was a nice week of fall weather and lots of fun times

I did laundry and hung it out first thing Monday to take advantage of the hot day. I made the ultimate no bake treat - rice krispies squares - to take to knitting and then went down to my craft room for knitting/streaming to escape the heat. I went upstairs to make a cup of tea and was thrilled that a front had come through and the temp had plummeted. Hopefully the fall weather would stick.

I was heading to Omaha to go to The Social Reckoning with Lori but had to take care of the shelter cats and get my glasses fixed (a lens had popped out at knitting) before the 11:00 movie. It had gotten mixed reviews but we both loved it and it sparked a parking lot discussion afterwards. I drove directly to Fremont for a wills and trusts thing I'd signed up for. It was, of course, a sales presentation. I hit Aldi before heading home and ended the night with a library board meeting. It was a long day.

I had 2 days at home before being out and about again so made a big to do list and started crossing things off. With the lovely 60 degree weather, I did some work outside and got lots of chores done. I also ran Wahoo errands and finished my first challenge sock. Love a day like that! With rain in the forecast on Thursday, I parked my car in the driveway Wednesday night and then went outside in the rain and washed my car first thing Thursday. I didn't take long and was easy. A hot shower and fresh clothes fixed me up and then I baked peanut butter cookies before a Ripples zoom then had a tea break zoom with Cindy before heading to the vet to pick up drugs for Goodie's snot nose. I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 days at home with the perfect mix of productivity and fun.

I was taking Helen out to lunch for her birthday on Friday and had to do the shelter cats that morning, of course. I dropped some cookies for Darla on the way to Helen's then we had a nice lunch at Green Gateau (yum!) before going back to her house for cake (Italian cream cake we got to go) and gifts. I'd found the cutest vintage ceramic bookends with horses, which she loved. I had a 3:00 appointment on campus to pick up my laptop then went to Anne's to pick up the bulbs we'd ordered last spring that had arrived from Holland. I also gifted her the volleyball socks I'd knitted for her. On the way home I did round 1 of taking care of Sarah's cats. I was easier than I thought giving the kittens their meds.

I was back doing cats Saturday morning then was off to my spinning group's annual retreat, which was in Wahoo this year so very convenient. I didn't do the morning class so happily knitted socks. Surprise! Lunch was from my favorite cafe and the afternoon class was fun. I got pizza for supper and enjoyed it with a beer before doing Sarah's cats again. I was late to the party but enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures. 

When I went to do Sarah's cats on Sunday morning, they'd absolutely trashed the room. Both lamps had been knocked off the table (one would need some attention) and their food was all over the floor. Sheesh! I cleaned up up the best I could with some wipes and texted Sarah about the mess. I had a nice day of chores and relaxing and ended it with a nice dinner from the freezer of cheese and cranberry stuffed chicken breasts and some brioche stuffing, both of which were Aldi impulse purchases. I needed to use up more freezer finds to make some room.

Another good week of retirement with a nice mix of days out with friends and days in with enough productivity to be able to enjoy the relaxation between getting things done. The fall weather held after Monday's front and that made me SO happy. I'm looking forward to getting some yard work done now that fall weather is finally here. Life is good!

Week 41 - Heat and Cats

I was all excited about fall weather last week so was not happy when summer came blazing back. From Tuesday on it was in the high 80's and by the weekend, it hit the 90's. I was determined not to turn on the AC so had lots of plans outside the house where I could enjoy the AC of others and if I was home, the house was shut up and I was either under fans or in the basement.

Monday was the last day in the 70's so I did my laundry, as usual, but also did some cooking so I wouldn't have to cook in the coming heat. I made sausage and peppers (still harvesting tons of banana pepper from my driveway pots), cranberry coleslaw and corn chowder. I didn't have a can of creamed corn in my pantry so had to run to the local market where I had to pay $1.99 for a can of corn! The market in Wahoo is outrageously expensive, which is what happens when there's only one market. I ended the day at Monday Night Knitting, where we started outside for an hour but were driven inside at dusk when the bugs came out.

I ran Wahoo errands early on Tuesday, enticed by $5 t-shirts for sale at the storefront that has wholesale t-shirts but no retail. I found 2 100% cotton ones and was home in time to do some baking while it was still cool - chocolate chip cookies, which didn't come out great when I made a quarter batch and it had too much egg, and banana bread. I talked to my friend Janice, who was the recipient of one of my paper products I'd mailed the precious week - a girl scout calendar that she was in from the 70's - and then went downstairs where it was cooler. That night I went to my first mahjong at the library and sat with 3 seasoned players. They were very nice and helped me when I had questions. I won the 2nd game! That felt great and I'll keep going for sure.

I went to lunch at Acapulco, the mediocre Mexican restaurant in Wahoo, on Wednesday with my new Lori friend (she's the 3rd) and we were there chatting for 3 hours! I ran to the library and bank on the way home and then talked to my sister until Cam came to mow and I had to run out and move hoses. It was a fun day enjoying the AC elsewhere.

There was more of that on Thursday. I had to do the cats at the shelter and then headed to Lincoln for lunch at Cook's Cafe with Becky. I had pancakes and sausage links (the best in Lincoln) for lunch and then went to East Campus for an emeriti/retirees board meeting. I hit one thrift and Stuff afterwards but found nothing. I blasted the AC in the car and drove home happy.

Friday's adventure was driving to Council Bluffs with my cousin to pick up something from an estate sale. On the way to Lincoln, I could hear something flapping as I drove so I called TO Haas where I get my tires and asked if they could balance my tires and reattach the plastic engine shield, which I suspected was the flapping. It was right on the way out of town so they worked on it and had it done before we got back. $300 and 2 new tires later. Bummer. As for the estate sale, I found some fun linens, including this rick rack beauty (not sure what it is but look at the work!), and spent $7. We had lunch on the way home then I hung out at Helen's chatting until 6:00. At least the heat wasn't holding so it was cooler as soon as the sun went down. Another day not in my hot house.

The weekend was here and the highs both days was 92. I did the trick a heating guy told me and put the furnace fan on, which pulled cool basement air upstairs. That cooled it down a bit. I talked to friends, got pizza for supper on Saturday. I did the shelter cats first thing on Sunday and ended the day at my neighbor Sarah's for supper and cat orientation. I've taken care of her elderly kitties before, one that requires meds morning and night, but this time I also had to do meds twice a day for the 5 kittens she's fostering. They were totally cute and didn't mind getting the meds so it wouldn't be hard. She was only going away for a weekend wedding so it would only be 4 times.

So that was my week of enjoying other people's AC. I made it through with strategic closing up of the house during the day and opening windows at night. I also had lots of fun with friends. Much as I hate the heat, especially in October (!), I survived and wasn't too cranky. I wonder if the people I spent time with would agree? : )

Week 40 - Friends and Rain

I had lots of fun with friends this week, did some power streaming on my last 2 days with Acorn and got some things crossed off my list too plus learned mahjong. Sounds like a good week to me.

Aside from chores on Monday, I finally got my Fidelity account unlocked after someone tried to hack it this summer. That was a long process so I was happy to have that settled. Andrea and I were alone at knitting but we had fun and she gifted me a skein of yarn for checking on her cat while she was away, which was nothing and I only saw him once on the last day but gift yarn is always nice.

After knitting and streaming for most of Tuesday (my last day with Acorn), I headed to Lincoln for lunch at Olive Garden with my work friends on Wednesday. It was a dreary day with impending rain so soup, salad and breadsticks was perfect. I did a quick Aldi run and bought a pastry to go with my tea before heading home. I captured this picture of Dude trying to play with Goodie and Goodie tolerating it. The rain started falling that evening.

We got 4" of rain overnight and yes, I had a bit of water in my basement. Nothing that required more than a single bath towel and running the dehumidifier but still not fun. Some came in on the new east wall but very little and I chalk it up to the huge subsiding of the soil they put by the new retaining wall, which has dropped 2 feet in some places. The contractor said he'd be back this fall to put more fill in (it's in a pile on the alley). I got more on the driveway side. I think getting 4" of rain in one overnight is more than my basement can deal with. 

I was heading back to Lincoln on Friday, starting with a routine 9:00 appointment at the oncologist. I had changed it to first thing so I could be at UNL's annual service awards lunch to work the Emeriti/Retirees Association table. I'm not sure why this is considered a good event for the ERA when most of the people getting awards are youngsters getting a 5 or 10 year award. Regardless, I had fun. I saw all kinds of friends and got more hugs in 2 hours than I normally get in a year. It was a blast. I had already gotten gas and picked up mums and another pumpkin at Menard's between the doctor and the lunch so was able to head right home. I had failed with my first choice of yarn for socks on Thursday, which was the 1st of the month so tallying and new challenge socks, so cast on something completely different when I get home and made tuna casserole for supper. Yum!

While I usually stay home on the weekends, I didn't have far to go on Saturday morning. I had signed up to learn mahjong at the library with a new group. I had never even seen a board but have a couple of friends who play and love it so I gave it a try. It was harder than I thought but I liked it and we were there from open to close - 9:30 to 1:00. There were 6 of us learning and we all planned to go to the first meeting next week. Something else to add to my retirement fun.

I had a zoom first thing on Sunday with the other 2 moderators of my sock group on Ravelry - Lia in Germany and Jenna from Minnesota - to discuss planning for the process of choosing monthly challenges for 2027. I then went through the tedious process of setting up my new firestick and antenna then decided to wait to flip my mattress, which I try to do at the change of seasons. Then at 2:30 I decided to do it after all. While this may sound easy, I pulled off all the linens and put them on to wash then took off the mattress and box spring. There were dust bunnies the size of an actual bunny under the bed, which lead to sweeping, swiffering, washing and then putting it all back together. Luckily the linens did dry outside before it got dark but sheesh! That was a busier Sunday afternoon/evening than I usually have these days.

Another lovely week of retirement. I like weeks like this with a nice mix of being home and out and about. I saw lots of friends, learned something completely new  and had some knitting fun, of course. And I didn't need AC so the weather is starting to feel like fall. I'll take it.

Week 39 - A Huge Relief

The week was dominated by paper, fun with friends and my first ever UNL volleyball game. But keep reading for the best part of the week.

Awhile ago, my cousin asked me to look for a recipe for her and after going through 2 boxes of recipes in the basement and not finding it, I kicked myself for not throwing most of that paper out while I was looking. So I started the week going through paper. All the paper in my house - not kidding. I filled 2 recycle bins and needed Tuesday morning to finish. I kept very little of what I went through. I do have a stack that needs shredding or I can burn it next time I have a fire in my driveway.

Having gone through all that, Wednesday was a clean up day. I went to the post office with 2 paper things I'd found that I was mailing out to friends and ran Wahoo errands while I was out. I vacuumed the back room, where I'd done the sorting, because there was dust and schmutz everywhere from all that paper. I ended the day going to a banquet at Southeast Community College with Lorri, which was delicious.

Thursday was a mini road trip day with Darla. After going to the Rotella factory to buy bread, we had fun in Bellevue at some new to us thrifts. The place we wanted to get a burger at, which was actually how the idea of going to Bellevue started, was not open that day so we asked for a recommendation for a local restaurant for lunch and were sent to The Special. It was like stepping back in time with original wooden booths, a fancy carved bar and delicious food. We hit Aldi on the way home and then Darla went through some of my old work clothes and took some. It was a wonderful day with Darla and it ended with book club at the library.

But the best part of the day that left me smiling incessantly was that we got a call from Grand Circle Travel and they cancelled the cruise!!!! I had called them Monday to ask for the actual itinerary and was told it was what they had sent. When I told her that on Facebook customers were reporting being put in hotels and bussed because the rivers were so dry that they weren't navigable, she put me on hold and came back to say she had no information to share. What? Anne and I had planned to call Friday to cancel, which would have cost us each $600 because we'd be using our travel insurance, so having them cancel on Thursday was the best thing ever. Not knowing whether the cruise was happening or not was stressful and constantly on my mind so it was a huge load off. Every cent I get back will go right to our knitting trip to Denmark next April. I can't express how happy I am to have this resolved.

The event on Friday was I was going to my first ever UNL volleyball game with Anne. She's a huge fan and has season tickets but had an extra and no one better to take. She has it down to a science, which required us to get there 2 hours early so we get primo free parking. I grabbed a hotdog for supper and then we knitted as the venue filled up. It was interesting to see the enthusiasm of thousands of fans but as someone who doesn't enjoy sports, I crossed it off my list and will not be going again. Hopefully Anne was happy that I used her extra ticket.

With that done, I was home for the weekend. I had done a 30 day free Acorn subscription, which was ending soon so happily spent the weekend knitting and watching Acorn between doing chores. I was also dropping Peacock so watched Pressure Saturday night. I did have to do the cats on Sunday morning then hit the farm store for birdseed, pumpkins and some mousie toys for Dude. Otherwise, it was reading and knitting all afternoon and PBS in the evening. Another nice weekend at home.

So despite the productivity of going through all that paper and having a fun day with Darla, nothing can eclipse the joy of having the cruise cancelled by them. It really was a constant stressor and Anne didn't help vacillating between still wanting to go, even without me, and definitely wanting to cancel. I accused her of being a total flake about it while we were at volleyball and she agreed that she had been, which made the cancellation even more opportune. Hopefully there will be fall weather in October so I can get some yard work done when I would have been cruising.

Week 38 - So Much Lameness

It was a pretty normal week, meaning I was out and about a lot, but the weather did not cooperate, which is ridiculous but becoming the norm. It even cancelled Monday Night Knitting and then the forecast storm didn't arrive. Then the heat was back at the end of the week - pushing 100 degrees on Friday. Where is fall?

I went to Lincoln on Tuesday for the monthly emeriti/retirees lunch, which was on student food insecurity. It was very interesting and I was happy to hear that in addition to the Husker Pantry, they also have Husker Closet. I've been looking for somewhere to donate clothes so will go through and pick some things that a young person would wear and donate there. From campus I went to Seward to pick up my state fair entries and since I was there, I hit their wonderful thrift shop and also discovered an old school meat market and bought some of their hotdogs and a loaf mix to make a ham loaf kind of thing. Time will tell on that.

After dropping off the quilt I'd picked up for someone I know from the library, which included 30 minutes talking in her driveway, I went home to look at my comments. LAME! Clearly they have someone judging the knitting who has no idea about knitting. I entered 8 pairs of socks and 5 had the comment that I needed to weave in my ends (every single end was meticulously woven in), a pair made with tweed yarn, which has little blips of colored wool spun into a main color, had a comment that it was pilling (seriously?) and I got a good choice of colors on a self-striping pair. I am done with entering stuff and plan to email the fair about how lame the judging was. You'd think they could come up with a competent knitter to judge at the state level, right?

I was stuck at home on Wednesday because they were coming to convert my internet over to fiber and hadn't sent a text with when they'd come. The tech did an appalling job of installing, putting a huge gray box right next to my slider right at eye level. Really? I made him move it so now have 2 silicone filled holes but at least I don't have to look at it every time I walk inside. His reasoning was that it would be easy to service. Such an idiot! Could you have lived with this location? It's now over next to the old box.

He was done by lunch so I made my zucchini/pineapple jam, cooked dinner and repotted some African violets to take to a plant program at the lake that night. The program was by a man who owns a local nursery and he brought all kinds of trees and bushes for show and tell and left some to be prizes for plant bingo. I was particularly interested in a coralberry bush he had and totally blew it because I had a diagonal bingo but was looking for a straight one so missed winning the bush by seconds when the women right before me took it. I was bummed. It's not like I can't go buy one but I probably won't.

I was back to Lincoln on Thursday for lunch with Dodie and dropping my dead laptop off. Philippe (the computer guy) wasn't in his office so I went upstairs to drop it in my old office. Lacey found me in the hallway, which was a treat because she's only 20% at UNL so rarely in the building, and after talking to her, I talked to Layton and then met the new data analyst. I stopped to see Ben on the way out of the building and just like that, my afternoon was toast. I picked up book club books at the library commission, got a frapuccino since I'd missed tea time and headed home. It was fun to catch up with so many friends. Have I mentioned that I love the people I worked with?

The heat was back on Friday with a high of 96 so I had to turn the AC back on, which I was not happy about. I did laundry and hung it out so at least the heat helped with that but otherwise hunkered down inside talking to friends and going through a stack of papers. This had better be the last time I need AC!

I had spinning in Fremont on Saturday and took yarn to share, which was the last the yarn from my sale that I'd designated to give away. All but a couple of skeins went and those few went into a bag to drop at Stuff. While the weather did break on Saturday, I was still mostly inside on Sunday doing regular chores. I do enjoy my Sundays, choosing to stay home while the working world is out and about.

So another retirement week where I was exactly as busy as I wanted to be. Now if some actual fall weather would arrive and stay, I'll be happy happy happy. Are you with me?

Week 37 - Dude Settling In

I was feeling fully back to normal at this point and so it was a pretty boring week. Laundry, cooking, taking care of the shelter cats, a bit of shopping... that kind of week. Labor Day was a non event except for the fact that the library was closed so no knitting.

Little Dude was settling in nicely and I took his cage down on Tuesday and loaded it in my car to give to Anne, who would return it Becky. My cats were still unhappy, of course, but Dude was having fun exploring the house, especially after I took all the Chewy boxes down giving him full access to the house and basement. My cats were coming in at night without me having to drag them. Small but I'll call it progress.

I made tetrazzini and blueberry muffins Wednesday night because I was heading to Lincoln on Thursday after a talk at the lake about leaves. I had an Emeriti/Retirees Association board meeting then went to Helen's to hang out. She was doing much better and was able to eat again so we had muffins with tea while chatting the afternoon away. I left the tetrazzini for her supper so she wouldn't have to cook. I did an Aldi run on the way home.

After a few nicer days, I had to turn the AC back on on Friday, which I hoped would be the last hot day. Fall weather was finally due to arrive on the weekend and I was thrilled. On Saturday, I opened a long unused cabinet in the laundry room and found a bunch of ancient, unlabeled, homemade jam so brought them up to dump and save the jars. That lead me to my upstairs cabinets and a few more went down the garbage disposal - 11 jars in total. Note to self - label and date jam when I make it. Duh.

I was a lovely cool day on Sunday so I got busy cooking. I made squash soup, 3 bean salad and prepped zucchini for zucchini/pineapple jam. It's a British thing and I love it. You peel and seed zucchini then shred it so that when you mix it with crushed pineapple, it soaks up the flavor and being just the flesh, you can't see that it's even in there. I'd let it soak for a couple of days then make the jam. It's a favorite of mine.

Anne and I were watching the Friends of Grand Circle Travel group on Facebook and it wasn't looking good for our cruise. With the Danube and Rhine so low that they aren't navigable, people on the same cruise were reporting being in a hotel in Vienna, on one ship for a few days and being bussed around for day trips then a long bus ride that bypassed all the castles on the Rhine and meeting up with another ship in The Netherlands. Since we were just in Amsterdam in April and in Vienna last summer, the part we were most interested was the part that we'd miss. I was all for cancelling but Anne was back and forth between cancelling and wanting to go. I was a stressed out mess waiting to hear anything from Grand Circle. Anne and I even discussed driving to Canada if we cancelled the cruise. It was just a waiting game to see what the company would do.

So that was my week. Mostly normal with a new kitty to enjoy but stress over the trip. At least the weather cooperated and finally cooled down. I'll take it.

Week 36 - Ribbons and Kitty

What a week! I went to the state fair for the first time since it moved from Lincoln to Grand Island and more importantly, I got my new cat. Yay!

I started the week getting things done on Monday. I picked peppers from my driveway pots, dropped a thank you gift for watering while I was in RI at my friend Lorri's, hit the hardware store for a part to fix my hose and a picture hanger for my HUGE auction win painting then stopped at the shelter to love on Louie (not keeping that name). When I got home I cleaned up the kitchen and mended the hose so I could water out back. All that done, I finished a pair of socks for my friend Darla and ended the day sharing yarn at knitting. I call that a good day in my retirement life.

Tuesday was state fair day. Anne, Rene and I were making the drive, instigated by me because I wanted to check my ribbons in situ. Of course it was blazing hot and humid so the best part of the day was the drive in AC. Rene did a pro job of fitting into a street parking spot right near the gate and it was only $2.50 to get in that day. Our first stop was the 4-H building where open class was displayed. I was shocked how few entries there were and they were very unorganized. That done, we went in search of the quilts, which required walking outside in the blazing sun to get to that building. The quilts were great and we perused the vendors (bought nothing) in that building. We then decided to take the shuttle to see if there was anything else we wanted to see. We got stuck behind a marching band so it took ages but we were done. We got a cinnamon roll to go, paid through the nose for a sandwich in the Beef Pit only because it had AC, got ice cream and left. Never need to do that again. We had parked at Buresh Meats so shopped there before splitting up. 

Anne had brought me a big cage to set up for Louie until he got comfy in my house so I set that up when I got home then made celery/date salad and brownies to take to Helen's on Wednesday. Then it was time to do the monthly tally for my sock group and since it was the first of the month, I cast on my September socks. I was only able to do all that because I had 2 recuperation hours in the air conditioned car between the ride home from the fair then home from Lincoln.

I was spending the day with Helen on Wednesday so finished setting up for Louie before heading to Lincoln via Raising Cane's for chicken fingers to go with my salad and brownies. Helen had been home for a week after having surgery but couldn't eat so watched me eat lunch. Worrisome. We chatted the afternoon away and I stopped at Sam's for a chicken and some gas but the lines were so long that I filled up elsewhere before heading to the shelter to pick up Louie. I went straight home and put him in his cage while I set up a Chewy box barricade so he couldn't get out of the back room. He was unphased by his new location.

I spent the rest of the week inside with Little Dude (testing out different name options) and he acclimated pretty quickly. Sirens on the TV scared him at first and his safe place was under the couch, where he barely fit. He was fascinated by the outside world, especially because my other cats, who were totally bent out of shape by him, were outside all day, only inside when I had to battle to get them in at night. When I wasn't cuddling Dude, I was streaming, knitting and cooking. I gradually moved the barriers so by the end of the week he had full access to the back of the house, keeping the bedrooms and front room off limits. I did get some chores done eventually. 

At least the blazing heat and humidity (in the 90's with feels like >100 every day) coincided with kitty acclimation time. The Sam's chicken I'd bought fed me for days and I had Acorn to stream and plenty of knitting for when the kitten was sleeping. Because growing kittens have 2 speeds - full on and full off. He's going to be huge too so has lots of growing to do for his body, which is already as big as 2 of my adult cats, to catch up with his feet. And he's only 5 months old! Maybe I should name him Bruiser.

Week 35 - Happy Being Home

I don't know what made me spend so long in Rhode Island. Maybe it was because I was using points to get a free ticket? Anyway, Monday was day 12 and I was already ready to go home.

I saw a message on Facebook that my sister's dog had died so I called her from Deanne's front porch, where I was knitting while she was dealing with something for her mom. She had an appointment at her mom's that she needed to be at so I called my cousin Bette, who was back in town, and we went to lunch at Cracker Barrel then she drove me to Deanne's after the appointment was over. Better than sitting in another room during the appointment for sure. After chatting with Mrs. for a bit, Deanne and I visited Mrs. Bassett, our old girl scout leader, then drove around East Greenwich for a bit sharing memories of growing up there. We went out to dinner at Deanne's favorite restaurant and I was happy that it'd be my last restaurant meal for awhile because I was flying home on Tuesday.

Deanne needed to talk to her brother on Tuesday morning so I was back on the front porch knitting, which was fine by me. We ate leftovers for lunch and I packed a sandwich to eat for supper and Dee dropped me at the airport. The lounge was not full and when I asked if they were looking for volunteers to check luggage, they said they weren't. Clearly the flight wasn't full but awhile later they came over and asked if I wanted to check my luggage and I happily handed it over. Then there were plenty of empty seats on both flight so I had room to spread out. Both flights were uneventful and I walked into my house at 11:05. I let the cats out and unpacked then showered. I was happy when they all came right back inside so I could go to bed. I guess they missed me. I was happy to be sleeping in my own bed surrounded by my cats. It's always good to get home no matter how much fun a trip is.

Wednesday was a catch up day with laundry, emails, tallying for my Ravelry sock group and trying to make food with what I had in the house. Grilled cheese on old bread from the fridge hit the spot. I picked peppers from my driveway pots and made sausage and peppers on Thursday and went to a talk at the museum on the New Deal in Saunders County. Then I hit the rummage sale at St. John's in Weston and found a few goodies. For supper, Andrea joined me for the BOGO burger special at Chip's. The last thing I need to feel back to normal was a grocery run and that was next.

I chatted with Lori on Friday morning and then went to the shelter to do the cats. Deb, who's in charge, was there and I talked to her about adopting Louie, having told myself that if he was still there when I got home from RI then it was meant to be. She said she'd prepare the paperwork and I could sign it Sunday. Yay! I went to Lincoln that afternoon and met up with Anne for some yarn shopping and ice cream at Zesto. I loaded up on produce and a few other things at the market and headed home for the weekend, happy that I could do some cooking. I checked the state fair website when I got home to find that 10 of the 12 things I'd entered had ribboned. My winnings were $104 and I'd be donating $100 for my cat so he's my ribbon kitty. I won't be keeping the name Louie but isn't he cute? That face!

I had a lovely, relaxing weekend cooking, cleaning a bit and the like. When I did the cats on Sunday I signed the paperwork and paid for Louie, arranging to pick him up Wednesday evening after he was done with his last meds. I ordered a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut and got an offer for a month of Acorn free. I took the offer and settled in to knit and stream the day away.

It felt great to get back to my regular routine and now I'd have a new kitty to look forward to. My first male cat in decades and he's such a sweetie but more about that next week. Until then....

Week 34 - Fabulous Beach Week

Are the beach weeks every not fabulous? Relaxing with a view and friends visiting every day - what's not to like?

John went out for breakfast with friends on Monday so I happily sat on the deck  knitting the morning away with the awning keeping me dry from the misty rain. I also made calls or texted friends and had visits all arranged before John got back. After a lunch of spinach pies from the farmers market, we did a Job Lot run, which we'd saved knowing the weather wouldn't cooperate. I made zucchini butter pasta for supper, which was an aberration because John usually does the cooking.

Janice came over on Tuesday morning and brought my favorite donuts - lemon filled chocolate covered, which Dunkin no longer makes but Market Basket does. Yum! Lunch was just turkey sandwiches and we played Boggle, with Janice winning every single game. John joined us and I beat him but Janice was still the champ. Kate, who was in John's class and was the owner of the cottage when we originally rented it, came for supper. It was a lovely time, as usual.

Cornelia came for lunch on Wednesday and we had saugies, which are a RI hotdog, for lunch. We talked all afternoon, which is easily done. We rarely talk beyond the beach week visit but boy when we do! John's Uncle Tom and Aunt Gail came for drinks and nibbles that night. It's always fun to see them too.              

I had called my cousin Bette about having lunch on Thursday but she was out of town so I called her brother, David, and he was free so we agreed to meet at Aunt Carrie's for lunch. David is as close to a brother as I have so it was great to see him. Our food had just arrived when John got a text. He was supposed to meet his friend Nancy for lunch, which he'd never mentioned to me, and had completely forgotten. He felt bad but we enjoyed lunch. We bought swordfish in Wakefield then hit the local farm stand for sweet corn before heading home. Deanne came for supper that night. More fun with friends.

Just like that, it was our last full day. We had planned to go to the beach with Carolyn and Matt but it was rainy and cold, meaning we'd been there all week and never set foot on the beach. Oh well. We met halfway between us at Providence Wood Fired Pizza. After a delicious lunch, we did Job Lot again (they're all have a few different things) then I hit the local yarn store for a skein of thank you yarn for Andrea taking care of my cats. And just the one skein - how adult of me was that to not get one for myself? We went back to the cottage for our last evening. We snacked on some of the leftovers and John made us burgers late then we had huge helpings of ice cream to finish it up. For the first time in my life, I had horrible acid reflux. I couldn't lay down so was up sitting on the couch chewing tums until 3:30 in the morning. Yikes! If this is what people put up with, holy crap! It was brutal.

Check out time is 10:00 so we were up and packing first thing on Saturday. We pretty much have it down to a science and since we'd eaten most of the leftovers, there wasn't much food to pack. Our first stop was Tom and Gail's for John to offload because he'd be staying there that night. We hung out for a bit before heading to Carolyn's. We were all going to Bob's retirement party that evening so we hung out all afternoon. Bob's party was fun, hosted by Michelle and planned so John and I could be there. How nice was that? I got to talk to some of Bob's friends and his brother, none of whom I'd seen in ages. John dropped me at Deanne's, where I'd be staying until I'd fly home on Tuesday.

Deanne has been going through tough times as she's taking care of her mom who has terminal cancer so it was good that her brothers were taking care of her mom while I was there to give her a break. We started with going down to the beach to get lobster rolls for lunch on Sunday. Delish but $86 for 2 - yikes! We then went to Wakefield where Dee got a manicure while I sat outside knitting. We hit the chocolate store for goodies for Mrs. Bassett - our old girl scout leader who we visit every summer. We tried to stop by but she wasn't home so we went back to Dee's and she made yummy Italian sausage and potato bake for supper. I'm sure we streamed something but couldn't tell you what. It was a fun day and I'm sure it took Dee's mind off her mother.

So, another beach week in the books - our 7th. While I didn't so much as dip my toe in salt water, I wasn't bothered by that. It's about being AT the beach not ON the beach and mostly spending time with friends relaxing and catching up. I got lots of knitting done, of course, and even had tan stripes on my feet where the evening sun got under the awning. Life is good!

Week 33 - To the Beach

Another beach week was here. I was flying on Thursday and had things to get done before then, of course.

I was still dealing with leftover yarn from the sale but moved it all the front room so it was all in one place and took empty totes (yay!) to the basement. I'll deal with the rest later. I had decided to enter things in the state fair and went big, prepping 12 items and getting them entered online, printed tags Tuesday night when I was the library for a board meeting and all attached and packed to drop in Omaha on the way to the airport on Thursday. There was packing too and getting the cats ready to be inside for 13 days, which meant there was no point in doing any cleaning.

Of course I had a jam packed Wednesday. I was having lunch with Dana, Lana and Cindy to start then had the slow leak in my tire fixed so I wouldn't come home to a flat tire in the airport parking lot. Then it was Zesto with Anne for the first peanut butter soft serve of the season (it's their fall flavor) and then I dropped donations at Stuff. I did the final laundry and finished packing and was pretty much ready to go.

I was worried about the Southwest flight, which would be my last since they no longer do free luggage so what's the point? Anyway, I had seen posts about their passenger of size policy and was worried they'd give me grief. I lost sleep over this. At least I had an assigned seat on the flights there (I used almost all my points for a free ticket but didn't have enough to get an assigned seat on the way home.) It wasn't an issue but my first flight was delayed enough that I wouldn't make my connection in DC so my only option to get there on Thursday was to rebook through Midway with a 3.5 hour layover. They were asking for volunteers to check their luggage for free because the flight was full and I jumped at the chance. Nice.

I was fine with hanging at Midway and found a nice table to sit at in a food court where I could see the flight board. I streamed and knitted then walked to the big food court for a Chicago hotdog for supper. Then the gate fiasco began. I was back and forth between the A and B terminals 3 times as they changed gates. I was a hot mess by the time I got on the plane but had a row to myself. Good thing I wasn't dragging my suitcase that whole time. I got in after 9:30 and stayed up chatting with Carolyn until midnight. I had made it to RI and was ready for fun.

Carolyn and I hung out chatting in her dining room on Friday morning. Matt was out and about so after he got back home, we went to a bakery near Carolyn's for croissants. I treated and $20 didn't cover 3 pain au chocolats! RI is super expensive compared to Nebraska. Anyway, from there we went to a burger place in East Greenwich (the town I grew up in) and got the best fries I've ever eaten. Carolyn agreed. The burger was tasty too but those fries were amazing. We went back home and hung out all for the rest of the day, having our pastries late afternoon, mine with tea, of course. Much to Matt's dismay, we weren't hungry so skipped dinner then streamed something and went to bed. It's been a long time since I've had face time with Carolyn so it was a great day.

Carolyn makes the best scrambled eggs and knows I love them so made them for breakfast on Saturday. We hung out until John picked me up at noon then we headed right to The Crow's Nest for my favorite fried clams. Delish! With full bellies, the next stop was Trader Joe's for some groceries then it was time to check in a the cottage. By the time we unloaded the car of luggage and groceries, unpacked it all and made beds, it was time for supper. Good thing John had some Thai leftovers because we hadn't bought anything at TJ's that would work for supper. Ha!

We remedied that Sunday morning with our first stop at the farmers market across the pond near Galilee. We got some fresh produce then hit Stop & Shop to fill in all the gaps in our groceries. The remote for the awning over the deck wasn't working so John drove back to town for a battery, which didn't solve it but he googled how to reset it and got it going again. The deck knitting with tea and hermits (a New England molasses cookie with raisins) began then we played scrabble on the deck (John smoked me, as usual) and had steak and date/celery salad for supper.

We were all settled in and it was time to start planning for the week ahead. The weather was going to be perfect and I was looking forward to seeing all my RI friends. Let the visiting begin!

Week 32 - A Recharge Week

This was not a super productive week for me. I was out and about a bit but also spent lots of time recharging after last week's yarn sale. And that's OK.

I woke up at 4:30 on Monday and there was no falling back asleep so I got up and made pancaekes. I was heading to Helen's to hang out, which is always fun, and stayed so long that I didn't have time to cook so ordered a pizza for supper. I then grabbed yarn and headed to knitting, taking the yarn that I'd decided to donate so my knitting friends could have first dibs, of course. They took a few, which made me happy.

Tuesday was a catch up day. I cleaned out the fridge (long overdue) and cleaned up the kitchen. That done, I always want to cook so made chicken and rice for supper. I had time in there to read and was enjoying Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng that Carolyn had recommended.

I had driving duty on Wednesday morning taking Anne to get a cortizone shot. It took longer than I thought but I was knitting in the waiting room so it didn't matter. Anne was loopy and almost fell off the curb but I got her settled at home and then met Dodie for lunch. I made a beeline home afterwards without doing any stops and spent the afternoon reading, finishing Our Missing Hearts. I highly recommend it.

Thursday was a social day. I talked to both Carolyn and Deanne then went to pick up a couple of book club books that needed returning (long story) and ended up talking to Jackie, a new member of the book club, for 1.5 hours. I went to the shelter to love on Louie since I was out then went home and finished all the work with the yarn, ending with even more to donate. It won't count until it's out of my house but at least it's sorted.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Friday dealing with an attempted hack of my Fidelity retirement account. I had gotten a text saying I'd requested a dual authentication code and I hadn't so I called Fidelity. But they wanted my account number, which I didn't have because everything is electronic and I couldn't sign in. I finally got authenticated and they confirmed that nothing was gone and reset my account and locked it. They wanted me to call Verizon and have them figure out who called and to block that account. Verizon had no way to figure that out but I still spent an hour on the phone with them. Then I called Huskertech because Fidelity wanted my phone "cleaned", which made no sense because I've never logged into Fidelity from my phone. They were super nice and helpful - gotta love the UNL phone gurus. I was on and off the phone all day and figured it was 4.5 hours total. I did go out to do the cats at the shelter and moved all the yarn totes to the basement but what a day! The good news is no one got to my money.

I ran Wahoo errands Saturday morning, picking up The Correspondent at the library to prepare for the rainy afternoon. We got .6" (every bit of rain is a gift this summer after it was so dry for so long) and I enjoyed reading the afternoon away. The zinnias in my garden are loving the rain too and they're attracting some nice butterflies. I'll take it.

My neighbor a few doors down was working on my next door neighbor's yard on Sunday and had a chainsaw for the weed trees. I asked if he'd be willing to cut a limb off my crapapple that was hitting my roof and blocking light from my front room. He did it in 5 minutes and then took the limbs away. I made some banana bread as a thank you and delivered it while it was still warm. Goodwill towards neighbors is important. I finished The Correspondent that evening. Another fabulous book that I read in 2 days.

So a busy enough week with the yarn all sorted and mostly put away so the sale work is done. I had some socializing and got lots of reading done, which I'm enjoying this summer. I think of reading in the afternoon as a winter thing and look forward to that this winter but it also works when it's blazing hot outside so I'm hiding inside in the AC. Fall cannot come soon enough for me this year.

Week 31 - Fair and Sale

The week started out with blazing heat and humidity but a storm came through on Wednesday with 1" of rain and a temperature drop. Not that I got to enjoy the cooler temps because it was all about the county fair and prepping for another yarn sale on Saturday.

I spent Monday morning prepping my entries for the county fair. I had lots of socks, of course, but also my temperature blanket and my huge crocheted granny's daughter afghan. I had room for one more entry on my sheet so decided to make a peach crumb pie since they only need 1/4 of the pie so I took the rest to knitting, where it was a big hit. Heidi was fresh from her trip to Alaska via Canada so brought the President's Choice mac & cheese boxes that I'd requested and had OMG's to share, which are my fave Canadian candy. Yum! Then Andrea offered to take my fair entries so I didn't have to leave early. It was a good day.

Tuesday was another scorcher but I was busy inside. I finished sorting the yarn I'd already pulled and moved it to the front room, all ready for the sale. But I wasn't done so pulled sock yarn from my Ikea to sell. Yes, selling indie dyed sock yarn since I have more than I can ever knit. There was more pulling, pricing and packing on Wednesday, which was a rainy day. 1 inch! It was done raining by the end of the day when it was time to check my ribbons. At long last, I won best in county! My temperature blanket won! I was pretty happy to have finally won after 2 years of getting runner up best in county. My thrown together peach pie also won best of division, which means best baked good in the county. That was a surprise.

Thursday was a full day. I had a scheduled phone call about the Emeriti/Retirees Association membership data then met Lorri at Chip's for the BOGO burger special, after which I hit the bakery and The Warehouse. I always go to the bakery so close to closing that there's very little left but I got a handpie and had it with tea before heading to Lincoln. Anne wasn't swimming but had given me some cone yarn she didn't want so I added some of mine and dropped it at Stuff before going to the pool. Of course I found more sock yarn there. Good thing I'd been culling my stash for the sale, right?

I loaded the car in the cooler weather on Friday, worried that all the totes wouldn't fit. Well, not only did they fit but I had more room. Of course I pulled more yarn and still could have fit more but I was done. I got pizza for supper and made blueberry/chicken salad to take for lunch at the sale. I went to bed confident that I was ready for the sale.

Andrea was going with me again so I picked her up at 7:00 and we headed to The Bagel Bin to get breakfast and were unloaded and set up with time to spare. Based on the many requests I had for acrylic when I did this sale in February, I had brought pretty much all the acrylic in my house, which is bigger and sells for cheaper, so I wasn't expecting to make as much money (I made $900 before). Well, I broke $700 in profit so was pretty darn pleased with that. I dropped a bagel at my friend Lorri's before getting home and collapsing. It was well worth the effort because as I always say, gone is good and the kind of gone where you make money is even better.

After chatting with my friend Dee Sunday morning, I ran to the fair to pick up my entries and then went to scoop poop at the shelter. Then it was time to unload the car and decide what to do with all the yarn that didn't sell. I had to figure out what sold and mark it as such in my Ravelry stash but I also went through everything that didn't sell and marked lots of it as gone and put it in the donate bag for Stuff. I figured that if it didn't sell at two sales (mostly single skeins of very nice yarn), it was time for it to go. I talked to my sister on the way to Lincoln and swam for the last time this summer.

So, what a great week! I finally got my best in county rosette and the sale was a big success. The fact that the ridiculous heat had broken was icing on the cake. Now to deal with the yarn that didn't sell or get donated and get ready for my next adventure - my annual Rhode Island beach week. Life is good!

Week 30 - Dehydration for Yarn

I was looking forward to this week because my calendar was relatively clear and the heat was going to break. I hate the unrelenting heat of Nebraska summers so any reprieve is wonderful.

It was 101 on Monday. Ick! It was wonderful to start the day with a zoom catch up with Cindy and then I got busy in my bedroom, which was the only room I didn't clean in preparation for Connie's visit. I went through lots of clothes and loaded up some donation bags. That felt good. Andrea brought lemon meringue pie to knitting - a nice end to the day.

Tuesday was the day Kinetic was supposed to come fix my internet but when I checked the app, it showed them coming Wednesday instead. I called to confirm and they assured me they would not be coming on Tuesday. I had passed on two fun things thinking I'd be waiting at home for the tech but was able to reschedule one at the last minute. Lori and I were going to The Odyssey in Omaha. Did I love it? No but it was worth seeing. I went to Imagiknit on the way home because they were having their inside sidewalk sale. I only bought 2 skeins and neither was sock yarn so I called that a win. I got home to find that my internet was back on at half speed. They were going to send a line tech on Thursday to get it up to full speed but at least I didn't have to use the hotspot on my phone anymore.

The Thrifty Artist Garage Sale where I'd be selling yarn again was a week from Saturday and it was about time I started sorting the piles of yarn in the front room. I ran some Wahoo errands in the morning, stopping at the shelter to love on the kittens (one of them - Louie - is just the sweetest thing) before picking up a personal pan pizza for lunch. All that done, I started sorting but got distracted after not very long. I have had a box on the bar for ages of letters I wrote home during my junior year abroad. I'm not sure what got me going on that but I went through them all and sorted then in date order, which took some time. I was looking for a letter about my time in Devon at Christmas time but didn't find one. I made a nice dinner and called it a day.

I was going to Lincoln on Thursday to take Dodie to a belated birthday lunch at Green Gateau so had a list of many, many stops to make both before and after lunch in the order I needed to do them. We had a lovely lunch and finished with our favorite lemon cream cake. I dropped Dodie back on campus and proceeded to go through the stops, ending at Stuff dropping donations and, of course, finding some yarn to buy. I was nearly home when I realized that I'd forgotten to pick up the book club books and book club was that night. It was on my before lunch list but I'd run out of time and only did the after lunch list. Damn! I was 25 miles away from Lincoln and turned around to go back when I remembered that someone from Wahoo works at the Library Commission. I called them and they tracked Gabe down. He was willing to bring them to the library, which saved me 2 gallons of gas and an hour. Yay! At book club, we had a good discussion about The Forgotten Home Child, which I'd thoroughly enjoyed. It was another good day.

The weather had been mild since storms broke the heat wave Monday night and I'd happily opened my windows. It was only 76 on Friday but the humidity was crazy and since I was sorting yarn, I gave up and turned on the AC. It was going to have to go on on Saturday anyway because the heat was coming back. I got lots of sorting done in comfort and joined an AARP movie night after supper. The movie was called Lonely and was a total downer. Enough of that!

Earlier in the week, Andrea had sent an email about an auction in Fremont that had lots of cone yarn. I forwarded it to Anne and she wanted to go so I went along. We got there just after 9:00 for the 9:30 auction start. I should have taken pictures because there were insane amounts of yarn, fabric, knitting machines, sewing machines... anything you could think of to craft. It was blazing hot (101 but felt closer to 120 with the humidity) but luckily the craft stuff was under the shade of a huge sycamore so we were out of the sun. Still, the facecloth I took to mop my head was soaked through within a couple of hours.

Most of the people were quilters bidding on the fabric so the yarn wasn't going. There wasn't much sock yarn there and I'd consolidated some of it when I found stray skeins in other boxes. I won all 4 boxes. Anne was bidding on cone yarn and when the high bid was $1, I scored several boxes of Brown Sheep yarn. 28 skeins that retail for >$400 plus a tote for $1. Can't beat that. It would go right to the yarn sale next week. Anne scored a tall storage rack for cone yarn, also $1, and not a single knitting machine sold. Her CR-V was loaded to the roof and between us we'd only spent $66! We left just after noon and were super hot and dehydrated. We got an ice cream cone at Zesto on the way out of town. We unloaded my stuff into my front room and I immediately drank 3 huge glasses of water and kept drinking. I was super dehydrated and felt like crap for the rest of the day. Anne did too. Was it worth it? I'd say yes and Anne would agree.

The actual temp on Sunday was 103 again with the feel like temp near 120. I went to do the cats before lunch and was there longer than usual because the kitten cages, which are in the quarantine room, needed cleaning so I did those too and then loved on Louie, who was doing better but now has ringworm. Poor baby. I sorted yarn all afternoon and blocked all the socks I'd be entering in the county fair on Monday. With the blazing heat they dried quickly at least. I drove to Lincoln to swim that night and it felt great.

So much for my quiet week! I was out and about a lot and was sorting yarn whenever I was home. The dehydation was a drag but all the yarn was great. The cooler weather was nice while it lasted. Just a couple more weeks until I'll be at the beach in Rhode Island, where it will hopefully be cooler. I can make it.

Week 29 - Hanging with Connie

This week was all about Connie's visit. She was coming for her daughter's 50th birthday party, which was a catered affair at Robber's Cave and I was her plus one. She would arrive Monday night and leave Friday morning to drive to Toronto to see her daughter and family. That's a shorter trip than her usual.

Despite having cleaned like a banshee for days, I still had more to do on Monday. Vacuuming and bathroom I think plus it was laundry day, which I hung outside as usual. Connie left her house super early so arrived at 5:00 despite losing an hour between mountain and central time. I had made tetrazzini for supper and she brought all the produce from her fridge so I made brocolli to go with it. Yum and great chat over supper. Connie wanted to go for a walk since she'd been in the car all day and I thought the path from the park to the lake would have more shade. It was hot but OK in the shade but even at 8:30 at night, it was too hot when we were in the sun. We walked for maybe 30 mins and gave up. 

We had registered for an election event in Omaha on Tuesday with Pete Buttigieg stumping for Denise Powell, who is the Democrat running for Congress in Nebraska's second district. The doors opened at 11:15 so we headed to Omaha and waited in line in the blazing sun, only to see a sign at the entrance that there was a clear bag policy. We went back to my car to drop Connie's huge purse and my wallet and by the time we got back, the line was gone. It was standing room only but they had some seats saved and they asked us if we wanted to sit. Yes please! The event was great. We knew Pete was a great speaker but so was Denise. I will be voting for her and hope she wins. We were in southeast Omaha so headed further south to hit a thrift I used to love when I was buying Corelle, hoping we'd find somewhere for lunch on the way. We didn't so headed further south, which put us in Bellevue and I know nothing of that area. We ended up at Applebee's for lunch and it wasn't bad. We went home from there because Connie was going to Lincoln for dinner with her daughter while I'd be at a library board meeting.

Rachele's party was Wednesday night and Connie's car was loaded with decorations, which meant we'd be on the set up crew. With nothing else planned for the day, we went and got pedicures at the nail place in Wahoo. After a tea break at home, we headed to Lincoln. There were others on set up duty and we had fun putting up bunting, posters, balloons (had to blow those up) and such. Rachele has a diverse bunch of friends, some of whom came from far and wide. We hadn't planned to stay until the end but we had so much fun that we did, which meant we were on take down duty too. It was a great time.

Connie had committed to meeting in Lincoln for breakfast so we were up and out first thing on Thursday. I sat next to someone I'd enjoyed chatting with at the party and had breakfast nachos, which was a huge portion, even half was too much but I took it home to eat again. We went straight back to Wahoo and in an attempt to entertain Connie, who doesn't seem to be able to just veg, we did the stores in downtown Wahoo. I even took her to pet the kittens at the shelter, which she didn't seem to enjoy. We went back home and she made salmon for supper, which we had with all the salads I'd made that we hadn't eaten much of all. Connie tried to take a walk in the neighborhood after supper but was back almost immediately because it was just too damn hot. We watched a movie that night and of course I had troubles with my hotspot because I was still 6 days out from the service call to fix my internet. Ridiculous. We didn't stay up late because Connie was leaving the next morning to drive halfway to Toronto.

I made bacon (yummy cherrywood smoke maple bacon from the Wahoo Locker) and eggs for breakfast on Friday so Connie would have some protein to start her travel day. She set off and I got busy stipping beds, organizing the fridge, which was full of half eaten salads and such, etc. Then I sat down to enjoy some alone time in my house without worrying about entertaining anyone. Nice.

Saturday was Christmas in July for spinning group, which had been moved from a park to Nan's house because of the blazing heat. I made some tortilla roll ups, using up various things from the week, then wrapped my present for the gift exchange - a yarn bowl filled with unspun fiber from the Brown Sheep factory. I got a lovely skein of Malabrigo, which will make a beautiful hat. There was lots of leftover chicken so I grabbed a couple of pieces for later and hit Aldi before heading home. It was a fun day.

On Sunday, I had cat duty at the shelter in the morning and drove to Lincoln to swim in the evening and did not much else in between. I did chat with a couple of friends and knitted, of course, and I'm sure there was streaming too. I was happy to have a normal week coming up and after one more blazing hot day on Monday, the forecast for the upcoming week was much cooler with highs in the 70's. Can't wait for that.

Week 28 - Finished Temperature Blanket

I didn't have much on my calendar this week, which was a good thing because my focus was doing major cleaning in preparation for Connie's arrival next week. I also managed to finally finish my temp blanket, which was huge.

First thing on Monday, I cleared the table my laptop sits on and ended up with lots of admin from it - paying bills, making calls, etc. That done, I ran Wahoo errands and potted up what I hope are the last plants for the season. I pulled out my 2025 temperature blanket and took it to Monday Night Knitting to weave in ends, which is easier on the big table there. I got about half of what was left done at the library and decided to stay up late to finish. It was way past my bedtime but I did it! Now for the border.

I had put the chicken bones and bits in the crockpot overnight so picked that Tuesday morning and made tetrazzini that night. Delish! I also did laundry and hung it out, finished cleaning the spare bedroom and started the border on the temp blanket. That's a good day in my retirement life.

It was blazing hot on Wednesday so I stayed inside, cleaning the kitchen after my cooking then neatizing the spare room bureau so the room was ready for Connie. I started the book for book club and was instantly sucked in so knitted and read for a chunk of the day, which is always nice. I finished the socks I'd cast on for the drive to Rhode Island for Auntie Margaret's funeral. Another productive day with some chiling too.

I finished my temperature blanket on Thursday while watching my favorite knitting YouTubers. Isn't it fun? It's now ready for the county fair. Yay! I also started the actual cleaning in the rest of the house, starting with cobwebs, chunky dust on the fan blades and I organized the front room. Then I was off to Stuff and swimming. Stuff is only a mile from the pool so it's easy to stop and donate on the way to water aerobics. Of course I found a skein of Lazy Bee sock yarn that's self-striping for $4 (retail is $38). Score!

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday so of course I loaded up the day, starting with breakfast at Cook's with my new(ish) friend Mary, who is the sister of my friend Kate who died. Someday I won't feel the need to explain the connection. Promise. We chatted for hours and then I headed to the cancer center for yet another appointment with my oncologist. Afterwards, I picked Anne up and we went to a thrift shop I've heard great things about that's in an old doctor's office in Syracuse. It was lovely but I didn't find much, which was OK. We hit a couple more thrifts out that way and I had Anne home for soccer by 2:00. I stopped at the market for produce and got home to no internet. I called Kinetic and they couldn't get anyone out to fix it for 12 days! Ridiculous and I'd be using the hotspot on my phone. Not cool.

After that full day, I was home for the weekend. There was more knitting and cleaning plus some cooking so we'd have easy meals the next week - sloppy joes and potato salad. I did the cats at the shelter on Sunday and spent extra time loving on the 2 kittens. 

I was ready for Connie, who would arrive Monday evening. It was a good week of productivity (mostly long overdue cleaning), cooking, knitting, reading.... all good. Now for some fun with  Connie.

Week 27 - Neighborhood War Zone

It was another blazing hot week. So hot that all the knitters cancelled for Monday Night Knitting. Welcome to summer in Nebraska. At least it meant the house was shut up to limit the noise from the war zone that was my neighborhood. So many fireworks. Hate them. I got out of town as much as I could. 

I went to Omaha on Tuesday to see Disclosure Day with Lori. Loved it! Tuesday is $6 movie day and you get free popcorn so I hope this is the first of many movies. When I left the theatre, I drove across Omaha to get a rotisserie chicken at Sam's. I've been wanting one for ages so it was worth the trip. It's a lot of chicken for one person though.

Wednesday was a Lincoln day. I had lunch at Cultiva with Lana, Dana, Cindy and Philippe (the computer guy). It was great to catch up and I went to Buresh Meats then Dairy Sweet for a lemon soft serve to kill the time until a talk on US/Iran relations, which was very interesting. After supper, my last book club on Common Sense went well and we talked way past closing time. Unfortunately Tot was spooked by all the fireworks and didn't come in that night. I worry less about her than the young ones but it still made for a bad night of sleep.

I had lunch with Lorri at Chip's in Wahoo on Thursday and other than swimming, the only other thing I did was water at my neighbor's. She always goes away for the 4th. Other than continuing to water there, and a bit of weeding by the retaining wall, I spent the weekend holed up, knitting, streaming, talking with friends and reading while trying to ignore the noise.

I was thrilled when the 4th was over but there were still stray fireworks on Sunday. Have I mentioned how much I hate fireworks? I hate the noise and trash of it (I will be picking up fireworks debris in my yard for months) and can't help but think of how much money is being spent that could be feeding hungry children. Rant over. And so are the fireworks. Until next year.... As usual, I swam Sunday night in Lincoln, which is my favorite way to end a summer week. Enjoy a picture of Goodie on the deck during the day, which was the only time it was quiet. : )