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. : )

Week 26 - Last Cool Weather?

The cooler weather was still here and even cooler than last week. I made the most of it while it lasted.

As usual, Monday was laundry day and it dried super fast outside. I also ran local errands and my new friend Lori, who I met when working the polls, came to Monday Night Knitting. I'm glad I had a nice day at home to start the week because the rest of the week was busy.

As a new and reluctant member of the Emeriti and Retirees Association board, I had a 4 hour stategic planning session on Tuesday at East Campus. At least they were providing lunch, which was protein free unfortunately, and it wasn't too painful. I had made an appointment to pick up my laptop from Philippe on city campus for an excuse to leave early but it didn't go the full 4 hours so I didn't need to ditch early. I picked up my laptop, found bunches of marked down yarn grab bags at Goodwill, which with the senior discount were only $.80 each (score!), and then did a big Aldi shopping before heading home. I finished a super complicated pair of socks that night. I'll call that a productive day.

I had some online training for the American Conversation Project Wednesday morning then headed outside to garden. I edged a couple of beds and then went to the farm store to buy yet more annuals. I put impatiens around the birds nest spruce and more pinks around the clothesline pole. Now when the heat sets back in and I'm stuck inside, I'll have some color on the 2 beds I can see when I'm sitting in my favorite chair. The first actual discussion of Common Sense went well that night. Just one more session to go.

Thursday started off well. I put a loaf of banana bread in the oven and then found a bunch of bedroom furniture on an online auction that was perfect for my friend Darla, who was redoing her spare room for her mother-in-law's visit in August. She was interested so I big on it for her and left for Lincoln. I drove by a yard sale on the way to the ATM and scored some fabulous vintage tablecloths, which made it tight to meet Dodie for lunch but I made it. We had a great lunch at our favorite Bison Witches and while we were eating, I got an email that I'd won all the auctions, which was $46 for a double bed with new mattress, 2 nightstands and a dresser. Score for Darla! Then I was off to Anne's because we were going to her friend's house, who is a full time reseller on ebay, so I could pick her brain and see her set up. I gave her the banana bread as a thank you and got all her best tips. I had already decided not to swim because it was only 71 degrees and overcast so headed home. I went out at dusk to water at my friend Lorri's on the way. Another good day in the books.

Friday was a day at home, which I was happy with. It was city-wide garage sales so I spent the morning shopping them but didn't find much. That's OK. I did some gardening - weeding and planting some veggies Lorri gave me and more flowers plus I replanted zucchini since the old seeds I'd planted didn't germinate. I enjoyed tea on my bench and made sheet pan pasta for supper. It was time for the weekend.

Saturday was the last cool day but I spent most of it inside, only venturing out to water at Lorri's and hit The Warehouse. I started The Other Bennet Sister on Britbox and knitted. Totally enjoyable day. 

Sunday was our annual lunch with Jessica, our old water aerobics instuctor, and her family. She is now a professor at St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York but comes back every summer and makes time for lunch with her Campus Rec gang. Her partner and their twins plus her mom, who lives in South Sioux City, Nebraska, were there. It was a great time and her girls are so cute. I had planned to hang in Lincoln all afternoon but after hitting every single thrift, dropping donations at Stuff Creative Reuse, failing to find a movie worth seeing and even attempting to hang with kittens at the Humane Society, which was closed for some reason, I still had 2.5 hours to kill. I had brought a book and knitting but the thought of sitting in a coffee shop for hours just so I could swim sounded dismal so I gave up and drove home. Bummer to miss swiming but still a good decision. Did I mention that it was 98 degrees? Yeah, I stand behind not swimming.

This was a good week with a nice mix of socializing and productivity but the gorgeous weather was the icing on the cake. It could be a long time before we have highs in the 70's. I hate summer heat and it's even worse with the estrogen blocker taking me back to hot flashes. Just a couple of months. I can make it, spending time knitting and streaming in the AC, which isn't all bad.

Week 25 - Absolutely Perfect Weather

The weather was absolutely gorgeous all week - low 80's and no humidity. I finally was able to get some gardening done and enjoyed every minute of it. If only it would last.

My friend Lori had a meeting in Wahoo on Tuesday so brought Chinese food and we ate on the deck and chatted for hours. Again, perfect weather. I made a nice dinner that night of steak, potatoes and green beans but puked it all up before bed. I instantly felt better and was fine the next day. Must be something going around.

On Wednesday night, I was doing the first session of the library's book club on Common Sense by Thomas Paine. This was loosely affiliated with the American Conversation Project. Carrie, the librarian who was taking care of it, had prepped a presentation and we'd be handing out the books and planning for the next 2 sessions. Well, she had a family emergency and had to jump in the car to Colorado that morning so I had nothing. I asked the people who came if they'd be willing to do the program for the actual American Conversation Project, which is a set of questions to spark conversation that is recorded. They were in and I stumbled through it. Now to figure out how to upload it and make it official.

I was in Lincoln on Thursday to take my work laptop in for a software upgrade and ended up leaving it there. I went upstairs to see who was in and chatted with Lana and then Layton, talking so long that I had to bolt to get to swimming on time. Considering we had lunch every Friday for decades and now rarely see each other, it was great. Swimming was almost chilly but was better than roasting.

I was supposed to hang with my cousin on Friday but she'd been up all night being sick so cancelled. Same bug I had maybe? Anyway, we talked for almost 3 hours instead. I was supposed to have lunch with Darla but she graciously allowed me to cancel. I still went to Lincoln that evening for the pottery class Anne, Rene and I had rescheduled from a winter snow day. It was lots of fun and I made 3 pots, which the instructor will glaze and fire so we can pick them up after the 4th. We all want to take another class.

I decided to skip spinning on Saturday and had a nice, relaxing weekend. I did some weeding, cooking, reading and knitting. It was a wonderful week with gorgeous weather, which was inspiring after awful heat. I know the blazing heat will be back but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Week 24 - Fun Being Home

It was my first full week home and since I was totally recovered from the road trip to Rhode Island, I was ready for some fun and this week delivered.

The week started out hot with 3 days in the 90's so the AC was on and I'd be staying inside as much as I could. I started with cleaning up the kitchen and took down the baker's rack that lives in front of my slider during the winter to hold plants, which lets in so much more light. I made bread pudding to take to knitting. I find that I'm willing to put the oven on when the AC is on to take care of the heat. Is that just me? I did plant eggplants and peppers in pots on the driveway and started working on the spare room, which lead to sorting yarn and casting on a pair of cotton blend, scrappy, shortie socks. Not surprising. I also knitted a couple of charity hats. I had a library board meeting but otherwise hadn't left the house on Tuesday.

I was venturing out on Wednesday to have lunch with my friend Nancy, who is moving to California in July. We sat and chatted for 3 hours, past the lunch crowd and only left because Nancy had a load of donations for the thrift store in town and they close at 4:00. We had such a great time! I should have been seeing Nancy more these past few years. I will miss her for sure.

I woke up to find .8" of rain in my gauge on Thursday morning but more importantly, the storm had broken the heat. Yay! I was up and out early for a talk at the lake on wetlands and after lunch, I pulled all the dead roses out of one of my veg beds and was happy to see that one of them had survived. They all came from the east side garden and I had dug them up in November but had trouble getting much root since they came with the house so were decades old and had been planted right against the foundation. So one living made me happy and it may end up back in the new east bed below the new retaining wall. Anyway, I planted tomatoes, which had grown in their little pots while I was gone, then went to the salon for a haircut then to Lincoln. I had books to return at the library commission then was meeting Darla for nachos at Tico's before swimming. Way to pack it in, right?

Friday was a super fun day. My friend Becky had told me she wanted to antique in Wahoo but there's only one shop that has any antiques so I suggested we go to Fremont for the Estate Dispersal Store weekend. I've only ever done lunch or tea with Becky and didn't know what she looked for when antiquing and how she felt about thrifting so I took a chance and made our first stop the Habitat Restore, which is more thrift store than antiques. She LOVED it! She found all kinds of goodies and took photos of all the granny rockers. Her entire box was $14 so she was thrilled. From there we went to Mel's Diner (recommended by the cashier at the Restore) for lunch and both of us ate yummy food from the senior menu for $13 total! We did go to the Estate Dispersal Store and an antique mall downtown but bought nothing. We ended our Fremont day with soft serve at Zesto - yummy pineapple sherbet for me. Becky may be my new thrifting buddy.

Saturday was World Wide Knit it Public Day and Found & Flora, the florist/gift shop in Wahoo, was hosting. I took some show and tell and spent the morning knitting with friends and a new person, who we invited to come to Monday Night Knitting. We went to Mocha C's for lunch and I got my favorite chicken salad croissant from my grab and go Tuesdays while I was still working. I went home to plant yet more tomatoes.

After so many days out and about, Sunday was finally a day at home. I made - French toast and bacon for breakfast, talked to Carolyn, did the shelter cats and  planted squash and cukes. I also started listening to Common Sense for the book club at the library. I put on my suit, ate PB&J in the car and went to water aerobics in Lincoln. It was pretty chilly but I'm glad I went.

So much fun in one week! To me this was a perfect retirement week so I hope this summer brings a few more like this one.