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....