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.

Week 23 - Funeral and Home

The week started off with a chilly day, which seemed appropriate for Auntie Margaret's funeral. We'd be busy all day on Monday and then start back the next day. It was going to be a long week.

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed to St. Luke's - the church we grew up in and where the funeral would be. We got there at 9:30. The visitation was at 10:00 and the funeral at 11:00. Auntie Margaret looked nothing like herself and there were fewer people there than I thought there'd be but it was a very nice service that Aunt Margaret had planned herself. The new priest, who was new to St. Luke's and new as a priest too, was great. We went directly to the cemetary for a small service in their chapel and then we found Nana and Papa's grave to take a pic for ancestry. The funeral lunch was at a nice Italian restaurant, where I got to visit with my cousins, which was lovely, and the food was delicious. We said our goodbyes and headed out.

Dottie and I went to East Greenwich and did the obligatory drive through the old neighborhood on the way to my oldest friend's mother's house. She has cancer so I wanted to make sure I paid her a visit. We then went to Deanne's so I could see her new house, which was lovely, and we chatted for a bit. We had made plans to meet Janice at The Newport Creamery for ice cream and closed it down, with more chatting. I had only been in Rhode Island for mere hours but I'd managed to fit lots in besides the funeral. We'd be leaving first thing the next morning so went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

After another hotel breakfast, we started driving. Having enjoyed Budd Lake Diner, we stopped at another fave place of Dottie's in Mt. Arlington - Davey's Dogs. I love a good hotdog so was happy with it. We drove around her old neighborhood and found her condo before getting back on the road. We drove through Pennsylvania all day, stopping at an Applebee's somewhere for supper and staying in Youngstown, Ohio, found with an app my friend Ana recommended - hoteltonight. It was a much better experience than on our way to Rhode Island.

The hotel breakfast was pretty lackluster so we went to Starbuck's across the street and hit the road. Our goal was to not take the toll road but smaller highways and hit some thrifts along the way in Indiana. It took us a few hours to get through Ohio and we found a great mom & pop restaurant for lunch and had time to hit 2 MCC (Menonite Central Committee) thrifts and found some treasures at both. We ran out of time for the last thrift but got back to Dottie's in time for pizza for supper. We then went out for soft serve followed by porch time. I went to bed happy to know it was my last night not sleeping in my own bed.

My intent was to leave at 9:00 to miss Chicago traffic but I woke up at 4:30 when my nephew, who gets up early for work, was yelling at the dog outside my room. I read until 5:15 but when it was clear I wasn't going to fall back asleep, I got up, ate breakfast and headed out. I didn't want my brother-in-law to wake my sister up (I'd just spent 5 days 24/7 with her after all) but he didn't listen and did. Oh well. I was so early that I not only missed Chicago traffic but the construction workers weren't at work yet so I sailed through Illinois. I stopped for a break in Grinnell, Iowa and was almost to Nebraska before it started raining. It was an easy ride and it felt great to be home. I unpacked, sorted laundry and went to bed early.

I spent the next 2 days doing laundry and cooking. It was wonderful to have healthy, homemade food after eating on the road for a week. My cats were happy I was home, although not so happy when I put on the Bravecto flea stuff, and I was happy to see that all my plants and newly planted things all looked great. I planted my dahlias, which I'd already potted up a month ago, into window boxes and called my flowers done. 

By Sunday, things were back to normal. I did the cats and was sad to see that my favorite cat, Gracie, who was a skinny old girl, had died the day before. I showered and headed to Lincoln, dropping off some donations at Stuff Creative Reuse before meeting Anne and Rene for lunch to hear all about Rene's 2 months in Europe. We all went to Sam's together and then split up. I scored some super cheap yarn grab bags and went to 2 supermarkets to restock from being gone. I made French toast and bacon for supper and called myself recovered.

What a week! Spending 6 of the 7 days I was gone driving all day was tiring. I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought I would despite being the passenger for 4 long days (chalk that up to my sister's driving style, which stressed me out). It was wonderful to get home afterwards but I'm glad we went. Auntie Margaret was the last of that generation and I loved her so much. Totally worth it. Here's a rose that was growing outside the church to remember her by.

Week 22 - Rhode Island Bound

Well, I'd be leaving on Friday for the drive to Rhode Island so I had things to do and plans to make. Otherwise it was a lot of waiting and then a lot of driving.

I had some decisions to make about veggies. To plant or not to plant, knowing I wouldn't be there to take care of them for a week. I decided to throw caution to the wind and planted potatoes and some flowers in one of the veg beds and green and wax beans along my neighbor's chain link by my driveway. I also transplanted all my tiny veg seedlings and set them up in a tray that could be easily watered and tucked them under the deck bench where they'd be shaded. Gardening done.

The rest was getting ready to travel. I ran to Lincoln for gas, a few groceries, kitty litter and got my tires checked. I was madly working on a complicated pair of socks for the Supersock World Championship in hopes that I could get them done before I left and I'm happy to report I got them done. I bought my plane tickets for my beach week and started piling things I'd take, including loading all the yarn for Dottie into the car. I was also taking a tote of things I'd need this summer for the beach week and leaving that at Carolyn's so packed sheets, towels and a few clothes too.

Thursday was a busy day. I made banana bread, did laundry and finished packing that morning and then the rest of the day was jam packed. I had a dentist appointment at 2:00, online training for the American Conversation Project (something for the library) at 3:30, went to dinner with my friend Anna, who was in town for a couple of weeks and would be leaving while I was gone at 5:00. I went straight to the library from there for book club. I set up extra cat boxes and with that was ready to leave.

I had originally thought I'd leave at 9:00 to miss Omaha traffic but that would put me in Chicago traffic at the end of the day so when I woke up early, I left at 7:30 instead. I took a break in Iowa City, which is the halfway point between Wahoo and Dottie's, to hit the MCC thrift shop Dottie and I had discovered when we met there 2 years ago. I also stopped at the yarn shop that had been closed that day and scored a skein of West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas yarn that I'd looked for locally and failed to find. Yay! Unfortunately, there was so much construction on I-80 in Illinois that I was smack in the middle of rush hour traffic outside Chicago so the trip took 11 hours instead of the usual 8.5. Dottie had made one of my favorite dinners - smothered steak - and after enjoying sitting on the porch and chatting, it was time for bed.

We ate a hearty breakfast and headed out for the long drive. We chatted all day and stopped for a late lunch in Mercer, Pennsylvania. We drove all the way through Pennsylvania (if you've ever done it, you know it feels endless) and stayed in a pretty skanky yet expensive hotel in Delaware Water Gap, which is in the Poconos, and almost to New Jersey. We'd eaten lunch so late that we just ate snacks in the room and called it supper.

Dottie suggested we get McDonald's and hit the road but since we were so close to where she used to live in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, I asked if there wasn't somewhere she'd like to eat near there. She was thrilled with the idea and we went to Budd Lake Diner and had a delicious breakfast. And then we were off to a cemetery just over the New York line where Dottie wanted to look for a grave from my mom's father's side of the family. We lucked out that the president of the cemetery was working on a Sunday because he was headed out for summer vacation the next day. He was very helpful but the grave she was looking for wasn't in the database yet (they're working backwards and are 10 years away yet) but we took some pics of other Seeley graves and then headed to Rhode Island.

We arrive at 3:30, which was too early for supper so we went to Job Lot and did some obligatory shopping. Since we had the car, I was hoping to find something big but only managed a welcome mat. I didn't think to load up the truck with my favorite Polar Diet Orange Dry soda, which is only available in New England. I got one box but missed the opportunity to buy lots. Oh well. We met Carolyn and Matt at The Crow's Nest for an early supper and I thoroughly enjoyed fried belly clams and an in person chat. We drove from there to the hotel we'd booked near the airport, checked in and went to bed early after a long couple of days of driving.

The next day would be the funeral. It was a long drive to get there and would be a long way back but it was good that we came. I was hoping it wouldn't be super sad but only time would tell.

Week 21 - Goodbye Auntie Margaret

It was a weird week with storms, cancellations, clinic runs and some fun but ended with the death of my dear Auntie Margaret. Here we go.

My cousin Richard's grandaughter had died from a horrible disease and the visitation was on Monday night. They recently moved to Omaha and I felt like I should go because they have no other local family besides their daughter's. But the weather did not cooperate. There were huge storms with hail forecast for exactly when I'd need to drive so I didn't go. knitting was cancelled too so I stayed home and made a nice dinner while the rain poured down.

It was chilly Tuesday morning, which was perfect because I was making a strawberry/rhubarb pie for dessert since -Lori was coming for lunch. She lives in Omaha now but comes for lunch when she has appointments in town. She was due ~12:30. When it hit 1:15, I texted her only to find out I'd screwed up the date and she'd be coming next month. Sheesh! Totally my fault so I made a quick lunch and went through a cabinet that afternoon. There was knitting too, of course.

Wednesday was the long awaited cinnamon bun trip with Darla. She had seen a reel of a truck driver who does routes in eastern Nebraska who raved about the cinnamon buns in the tiny town of Pilger, which was about 80 miles north of Wahoo, and we were going to get some. Darla picked me up early and we were there by 9:00. Luckily I'd called ahead and had 4 buns put aside because they were already gone. We shared one and then headed out to thrift our way home. Pender had one of the best thrift stores I'd ever been in and we found another great one in Scribner, where we ate lunch in Mel's Bar (delish burger and my favorite tots). We stopped in Hooper for ice cream and then hit the Goodwill in Fremont. It was a totally fun day and ended with the Surivor finale. Here's a pic of some of my favorite thrift scores from the day.

I had nothing beyond taking care of my neighbor's cats on Thursday's calendar. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I took a perfectly normal step, something twisted just above my ankle like something I'd never felt before and I was instantly in pain. I limped to take care of the cats and it hurt so much that I called the clinic and got an appointment for 10:00 with a doctor I'd never seen before. She sent me for an x-ray and nothing was broken, which was a big relief. She put a brace on and told me to go home to ice and elevate so that's what I did. I spent the day knitting and started watching a Great Course on the Pacific theatre in WW2. That evening when I took the brace off to take a shower, I had zero pain. It's like it had never happened. What????

There was still no pain Friday morning but I put the brace on anyway and got busy. I had to do the shelter cats that morning and ran some errands in town then spent the afternoon planting containers. Then the phone rang. My dear Auntie Margaret, who was 104, was near death. She's recently fallen and was failing fast. I talked to my sister about whether we would go to the funeral and we decided to go. We got the call Saturday morning that she had died.

I loved my aunt so much. We grew up with Auntie Margaret and my cousins Bette and David at every holiday, event - we even vacationed together. She was always there and such a hoot. After I moved to Nebraska, I would fly into Rhode Island on Thursday mornings so I could crash my dad's weekly lunch with her. She was there for every milestone in my life. She had been housebound for the past few years and couldn't hear to talk on the phone so I feel like I lost her a few years ago. I definitely needed to go to the funeral.

We didn't know when the service would be but I started making calls to make sure I had cats and plants covered. I also had to make decisions on my garden. I planted the rest of my containers but decided to wait on planting my veg beds. There was lots of waiting to hear so the weekend dragged. I finished the WW2 thing, which was also a drag, and we finally heard that the funeral would be a week out on June 1st so we booked a room in Rhode Island. I'd be driving to Dottie's in northern Indiana and then we'd drive to RI from there, which would take a couple of days.

So, what a week, huh? Auntie Margaret was the last of her generation, outliving them all, and the sweetest, funniest aunt I could ever have wished for. Rest in peace, Auntie Margaret.

Week 20 - My Civic Duty

When I retired, one of the things I wanted to do was work at the polls and this week was my first time. Besides that 13 hour day, I had several other full ones too. All good.

Tuesday was going to be a long day and since I was working in Yutan, I needed to take all the food I'd eat all day with me. I prepped that on Monday afternoon and made a pan of blondies to split between knitting and the polls. Unfortunately something had reset on my phone so my texts were messed up and not getting through. I was alone at the library so messaged Andrea only to hear that all the knitters were at the school for the year end concert and I'd missed the texts. I went home and went to bed early.

I got up at 5:30 Tuesday morning and made an omelet for breakfast figuring protein would last longer. I packed up my lunch and dinner plus many craft projects and headed to Yutan. There were 5 of us there and I spent the entire 13 hours writing voters' names in the book after they signed in. I instantly hit it off with the woman doing the sign in book and we chatted the hours away. We only had 128 voters all day and none in the last hour. By then I had my temperature blanket spread across my knees and was weaving in ends. We started packing up early and I was out of there by 8:15 and home by 8:30. It was a long day but didn't drag and I made a new friend, Lori, who is going to start coming to Monday Night Knitting.

I needed 000some recharge time on Wednesday but did get out in the afternoon to plant my driveway containers. I found Goodie's hidey hole in the shade under the wheel barrow while I was planting. I also cleaned up the kitchen, finished a charity hat and talked to both of my sisters plus had tea on the deck. I was recovered and ready for more.

I was going to Helen's on Thursday and decided I'd get bbq ribs for supper so scrambled to put together potato salad before I left. As usual, Helen, Debbie and I chatted the day away and I left in time to get to the library commission before they closed to drop off book club books then hit Stuff (found some sock yarn - yay!), pick up the ribs and get gas at Sam's before heading home. Shortly after I got home, Andrea stopped by to drop off some cookies for me and helped me hook up my hoses too. They snake under the deck so it's much easier with 2 people. It's good to have friends.

It was 95 degrees on Friday so I spent the day inside. I cleared the coffee table and bar (I'd cleared the desk earlier in the week) and cleaned the bathroom and floors before settling down to weave in more ends on my temp blanket. Since the house was clean and I had ribs and potato salad, I called Ana and she came over for supper. She's back in town for a couple of weeks so it was nice to catch up.

Saturday was spinning but not until the afternoon so I had a long chat with Carolyn and another with Dee before picking Andrea up for the usual run. We hit the Restore before spinning then the Estate Dispersal Store, Goodwill and Aldi afterwards. We got a soft serve at Zesto on our way out of town - lemon sherbet, which was way more lemony than the Zesto in Lincoln has. I started Outlander, having waited until all the episodes were out. We had a storm that evening and got 2" of much needed rain. Nice.

I did the cats on Sunday morning and spent extra time with Frito, the cat who was being bullied so is now in the quarantine room. I had been hemming and hawing about getting the new Runza burger and finally caved, spending $12 and it ended up being not worth it. Oh well. I miss BK, which closed recently. I finished Outlander and called it a day. We had a bit more rain - .2" this time. Every little bit helps.

So working the polls was new and fun. I got some things done in the house, planted more containers, had fun with Helen and Debbie and had fun in Fremont. I'll call that a full and nice week.

Week 19 - Started My Containers

It was another week of temperatures swings, starting with heat followed by soup weather with the heat on and ending with high 70's - perfect spring weather. I went with the flow and got all kinds of things done.

It was pretty toasty on Monday so I potted up dahlias and then dyed some yarn to take advantage of the sun and heat for quick drying then made rhubarb sugar cookies to take to knitting, knowing a front was coming through that would cool the house down. Alas, as much as I love all things rhubarg, this facebook recipe was not worth making again. : (

The high on Tuesday was 61 and so I made a big pot of lentil soup, which I've been wanting for awhile. Delish! I also made a nice dinner of asparagus goat cheese pasta. So much yumminess! Otherwise I stayed inside knitting to keep warm. I went through my food cupboards on Wednesday to pull donations for the boy scouts but it really needed doing. I did get outside that afternoon and tried to pull up some of the clay from the backyard dirt pile. I didn't have it seeded so am trying to break through to the grass underneath. Time will tell.

Thursday was the beginning of actual spring weather so I took advantage of being outside. I ran errands in Wahoo before lunch and totally scored at the senior center thrift shop. I don't usually find much there but got a few super fun things - a new placemat for under the cats' water bowl, some bias tape for knitting bag strings, some Paris notecards to gift to Cindy and a vintage tablecloth. Not only is it gorgeous but zero stains. And get this - they were having discount sale and I pulled 50% so all of this was $2.41. Gotta love it. I went outside after lunch and potted up the shade planters for along the garage. My containers make me so happy so it was great to get started.

I had zero motivation on Friday and spent the morning feeling guilty for getting nothing done, especially when I got a text saying they needed someone to take care of the cats at the shelter. I didn't respond. I was going to Lincoln later and had the great idea to call Cindy and see if she'd be up for hanging out and she was. I took fake Aldi frapuccino packets and headed out. We had a lovely time sitting on her back deck and then I headed to Lincoln. Dodie and I were going to Suffs at The Lied Center and meeting for supper at Salty's Lodge beforehand. It is the restaurant that replaced Red Fox, which Layton and I ate at almost every Friday pre-pandemic. They changed nothing inside but the menu was different. Dinner was great and so was Suffs, which I knew nothing about but thoroughly enjoyed.

Saturday was a busy day. For a retiree anyway. I started the day doing the cats at the shelter then threw a rhubarb upside down cake in the oven because I was going to Nancy's husband's 70th birthday party, which was also a goodbye party because they're moving back to California. Lorri and Bob picked me up and we had a wonderful time. Pretty much a friend of Nancy's is a friend I haven't met yet so I had a great time talking the afternoon away. All 3 of their daughters had flown in for the party and I hadn't seen them in years so that was fun too. It was a good time and Nancy and I will be getting together for lunch before they head west in mid-June. I ended the day talking to Dottie well past my bedtime.

That left Sunday for chores. It was gorgeous weather so I hung my laundry on the line and did some raking of the back patch until my rake came apart. It just needs a screw to reattach the head to the pole. I went out to my garden bench and started listening to the audio book for book club, knitting a charity hat while I listened. I ended the week with my tetrazzini that I pulled from the freezer. Yum!

So it was a good week. I started my containers (yay!), had some thrifting fun, did enough to feel productive and had lots of socializing. Even some culture with Dodie! Hopefully the spring temps will stick around for awhile because I have plenty more gardening to get done. Here's hoping.

Week 18 - A Good Mix

Well, the week started with me finding water in my basement where the new wall met the old one after only .3" of rain on the weekend. The contractor was responsive and the week went up from there.

After texting a pic of the wet floor, I called Chris first thing Monday and he said it was normal but he'd come the next day to check. I worked for 45 minutes that morning with Cindy and then made strawberry/rhubarb pie to take to knitting. I also made a small one for Tim, my one time contractor who had checked out the wall and expressed concern with the grading. When I dropped it off he read me the riot act calling BS on water being "normal".

Chris came on Tuesday morning and said he'd extend the wall to the house where there's only a crawl space under the addition. He came on Friday morning and got it all done except for a small piece of a capstone because he ran out. He's also be coming back to paint the outside trim around the egress window. With zero rain in the forecast and drought conditions, it'll be awhile before it's tested but I'm happy with his willingness to extend the wall.

I had some fun with friends this week. On Tuesday, I went to Project Hail Mary in Omaha with Lori. Great movie and I did a much needed Aldi run on the way home before a Ripples zoom at 6:00. Lovely day. I went to campus on Thursday, planning to hit the Hort Club plant sale before meeting with the Emeriti-Retirees membership committee. Alas, when I got there at 9:15, the line to pay was already so long that there was no way I'd make my 10:00 meeting so I grabbed Darla and we went to the Union Starbuck's. After the meeting, I went to lunch with Dana and Cindy at Fattoush for yummy middle eastern food. I ended the week with an Omaha run with Andrea. I didn't need to go but did anyway. We hit Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and the library book sale. It was past lunch so we went to Brazen Head where we both ordered "chowder", which was just soup. $9 fail in my book. Oh well.

I did get some gardening done too. I put up the new fence I bought on Temu this winter, which took longer than I thought to put together, and then loaded it up with the forsythia branches I'd cut to give access to my backyard from the alley for the dirt removal. I was home early enough on Saturday that I prepped the raised bed where I plant early veg, which was late but the weather hadn't cooperated so it is what it is. I cleaned up the hog panels and the driveway sunflowers to get ready for planting pole beans there later. I planted the veg bed on Sunday, put all my overwintered plants outside and then grabbed my friend Lorri to do a flower buying run to Bomgaar's, which was fun.

In other things, I did the cats twice - Friday and my usual Sunday. I went to poll worker training on Wednesday night, which was honestly horribly done with no agenda and no direction on which of the many packets they were following. At least I met 2 women I'd be working with and they're poll working veterans so I can rely on them having learned very little that night.

The weather was all over the board - from high 80's to low 60's for the daily high temps. Also no rain so I was relying on sprinkling the dirt piles front and back plus my newly planted veg bed every single day. This became a problem when I did 3 loads of laundry on Saturday morning and hung most of it outside. Get a load of my birks when I was done.

I'd call that a good week. It had a nice mix of socializing,  getting things done and a better retaining wall which I hope will fix the seepage problem. Starting to garden is always fun. Now to see if I keep up with it this summer. Send good vibes please.

Week 17 - A Spring Cold

The week started well with a nice lunch in the park with my friend Lorri on Monday but then I woke up with a full blown cold on Tuesday. Claritin D rescued me from the crazy congestion and it's a good thing because I had lots to do.

A big front loader and dump truck arrived on Monday and got rid of the rest of both the front and back dirt piles. They made quick work of it but left a layer of packed clay that a power rake couldn't get through, which had been the contractor's plan. He was going to rent a power rake and charge me big bucks for the raking so I told him to skip it and called my lawn guy. Tim confirmed that the packed clay needed to be broken up by hand so despite feeling pretty crappy, I got out there first thing on Tuesday and raked the back myself. That involved swinging a rake over my head to get it to break through the crust and then yanking it back. I couldn't wait because I wanted the workers, who were busy building my retaining wall, to move the chunks I got up. I did the back on Tuesday and the front on Wednesday. They moved the dirt to the alley and it was ready for power raking.

Cam, who mows my lawn, came on Saturday and power raked then came back later right before it rained and seeded the front lawn. The back lawn had lots of grass coming through but the front didn't. Maybe that pile was there longer? No clue but I saved >$300 by having Cam do the work instead of the contrator. Nice.

After the two days of heavy labor while fighting a cold, I spent a lot of time knitting (finished another sock WIP) and streaming over the rest of the week, talked to my sister and my friend one afternoon and did some baking and cooking. On Sunday I was up and out early to take care of the cats at the shelter and water my friend Lorri's seedlings so that I could cross that off and relax for the rest of the day. Then I got a text from my cousin asking if I'd seen her invite. I hadn't gotten a text (turns out she had texted my old cell) but she had invited me for supper. I hemmed and hawed but ended up going. Of course it was fun with great company and yummy food so a nice way to end the week.

Things were looking up for sure. The basement project was finally finished with the retaining wall done and the yard on the mend from the dirt piles. I was off the Claritin D by the weekend and was doing OK. I also had crew free mornings to look foward to. Or so I thought....

Week 16 - Heat and Workers

The weather was crazy again with 89 for the high on Monday, 80's on a few other days and finally a storm that dropped the temps to more normal spring highs. Between hunkering down in the house to avoid the ridiculous heat and the crews coming almost every day to do work in the yard, I wasn't outside much. 

I did some baking for the crews - banana bread one day, which one guy seemed to love, and chocolate chip cookies another day which no one ate. What? I gave them to the contractor when he stopped by at the end of the day.

Anne and I booked another river cruise trip for the fall, enticed by a free airfare deal. It was still pretty pricey so we've sworn off booking ahead and will look for last minute cheap trips going forward. This trip is mostly in Germany, which Anne has never been to. It'll be wonderful, I'm sure.

I went to a Emeriti/Retirees lunch on Tuesday and then went to Helen's to hang out. There was much laughter while we crafted, as usual, and this time I left earlier so I wasn't rushing to get to the library board meeting that night.

I had lab work and an appointment with my oncologist on Friday morning and so scheduled lunch with Dodie. I was hankering for a burger so we went to Ollie and Hobbes, which had a wonderful mini meal feature that had a small burger (who needs 6-8 ounces, which seems to be the norm here), fries and a drink for $9.50. It was delish and we chatted a long time after we finished. I then went to my friend Becky's for tea before I dropped some yarn at Stuff and picked up some groceries before heading home for the weekend.

The best thing about the weekend is no one would be working in my yard. Having to be dressed and presentable early every morning was getting old. Having a lovely morning sitting in my nightie on Saturday felt great. I did go to spinning Saturday afternoon but didn't make any other stops before heading back home. I was gifted a dozen eggs, which I didn't really need so boiled some up when I got home. But the best part of the weekend was putting my clothesline back up on Sunday and doing 3 loads of laundry, hanging most of it out. Otherwise I did some streaming and knitting, working on WIP (works in progress) socks since I'd finished these Keukenhof Gardens socks on Thursday. Can you see the tulips in the lace? I also made a cozy meal of chuck roast with tons of mushrooms, parsnips and carrots plus mashed potatoes and gravy. Good thing it was yummy because I'd be eating it several more times.

I have high hopes that the outside work will be done soon so I can get back to real life, which will include not getting dressed first thing in the mornings and being able to work outside in my yard without dodging work crews. I'm ready to get back to my normal life - the life of a retiree that is. : )

Week 15 - Heading Back Home

The cruise was over on Monday and we'd made what seemed like a good decision at the time to stay an extra day in Amsterdam afterwards. All we wanted was to get home but lesson learned for next time.

We had to be out of our cabins by 8:00 so after an early breakfast, we put our luggage out and went up to the lounge to wait until our 10:00 transfer to the airport. Our airport hotel ended up being a 15 minute uber ride from the terminal we were dropped off at. Considering that, we were not up for going back into Amsterdam. Luckily the Amsterdam Forest was right by the hotel so we headed over there for the day. It was Easter Monday so a holiday and there were lots of people and families enjoying the weather. We got lost getting back to the hotel so got many, many steps in before we found our way back. We ate sandwiches we'd made on the ship and watched some TV. We were both done and just wanted to get home.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and took the shuttle to the airport. Only when we were ready to board did we see that we were not sitting together, probably because we booked our tickets separately so United didn't know we were traveling together. I sat next to a lovely woman from Chicago and we talked on and off for the whole flight on everything from politics to what we buy at Trader Joe's. I watched The Housemaid, which was very good. The chatting helped pass the time and our layover wasn't long in Chicago so it was a good day of flying. Darla picked me up and took me right home. We checked out the basement work and the dirt piles then she left. I let the cats out and started unpacking. I had to deal with the 3 litter boxes in the shower before I could take a shower and get to bed. It felt great to be in my own bed freshly showered and in and clean nightie with my cats all around me.

I'd been up almost 24 hours by the time I went to bed but still woke up at 3:30 and couldn't fall back asleep so got up at 5:00. I had taken some frozen milk out of the freezer so thoroughly enjoyed mini wheats and coffee for breakfast then started doing laundry. My contractor came and mentioned that they didn't have access to my backyard from the alley but I told him I was fine with cutting down some of the forsythia. He left and I got busy with the loppers. When that was done, so was I. I spent the afternoon cleaning up my 2 email accounts and waiting for bedtime.

There was a talk at the lake about mussels and crayfish on Thursday morning. Not the most interesting topic but the donut was yummy. I left for Lincoln afterwards to do some food shopping and take Darla to lunch to thank her for the airport taxi service. I started on my catch up to do list when I got home. I stayed up later and slept later on Friday so was pretty much over the jet lag. 

It was a good thing I wasn't up super early because I had to do a fasting blood draw Friday morning for my welcome to medicare physcial. I was at the lab at 7:30, went home for breakfast and was back for my appointment at 8:40. My lab results were the best I've had in years, which I credit all the walking and healthy food on the cruise for my LDL being normal. Yay! I stopped at the courthouse on the way home to pay my house taxes and fill out a poll worker form. When I got home, Chris was there to finish the last inside work - reattaching the electricals and removing the beams that he'd put up for the jacks that supported the house. I made more progress on my list and cooked tuna casserole and broccoli for supper. Normal food but not as healthy as I'd eaten on vacation. 

I had a low key weekend with lots of chatting on the phone, knitting, streaming adn doing a few more things from my to do list. I enjoyed doing some cooking and just being home. No matter how good vacation is, and this one was fabulous, it's always good to be home. Back to reality is a good thing. Now to get the basement project finished. Here's a pic of one of the dirt piles and the tarped trench on the east side. Hopefully it'll be done soon.

Week 14 - All Around Holland

We spent the entire week in The Netherlands, specifically South and North Holland. It was a week of "What pretty town are we in today?" I loved it.

We were in Veere on Monday. It had a cute little downtown and we did a bit of shopping, picking up their local pastry called bolus before heading back to the ship for lunch. I think there was an extra excursion that afternoon so two of the tour leaders took the people who didn't go on that on a nature walk. There was a windmill, of course, and beautiful flowers but there was also a cool dock thing to cross a creek that had to be pulled across with ropes. We had a talk on sea salt before dinner and sailed at 7:00 to the next stop.

Tuesday was windmills first thing in Kinderdijk. It has 17 windmills around a series of canals and is such an attraction that each boat can only stay 2 hours at their dock. We toured a windmill then did a boat trip around the canals and learned all about them. Foolish me thought they were for grinding grain when in fact they're actually for pumping water. Go figure. When our 2 hours was up, we sailed away to our next stop - Schoonhoven. After lunch, Rene took us on a walk around town. Not a tour with info just showing what was around. We found a wonderful yarn shop and had fun chatting with the owner and clerk. The owner bregrudgingly sold me a mini skein that she'd dyed and I bought yarn to match it so will make souvenir socks. We also bought yarn at a Bernina sewing store that I noticed had a bin of yarn on the sidewalk as we walked by. Anne found licorice in a grocery store too. It was a fun town and we enjoying the shopping. Then, you guessed it, it was back to the boat to hang in the lounge and then eat dinner.

We were in Gronchem on Wednesday, which was the day you could take a trip to Rotterdam, which had been the plan in the tour documents but the leaders dissuaded us from going, saying that it was just a big modern city. Only a few people went. Anne and I enjoyed the walking tour in the morning and then there was a last minute mini excursion that afternoon to do a cheese tasting and tour another windmill. We did the cheese but skipped the windmill in favor of shopping. We found a small craft store that had some yarn (I pity purchased a single skein of 6 ply sock yarn) and I found my favorite Lion Bars at a discount store so was happy to add these to my cereal purchase. With my 2 European food faves found, I was thrilled. We had passed a cat on our morning walk so headed that way and found a bench to knit on. Anne left to go biking and I mosied towards the cat, who was still outside and came right to me for pets. Loved that. Hanging in the lounge and dinner followed. I was loving this trip!

Enkhuizen was Thursday's town and it was a chilly, dreary day. We did a walking tour, as usual, in the morning and after lunch, we took a ferry to a museum of Dutch life that was on a nearby peninsula. It was brutally cold out there with windy whipping around. Siri said it was 46 but when I asked for the feels like, it was 32. Yikes! We walked around a bit but it was just too cold to deal so we practically ran to the ferry and went back to the ship. Much better. Chatting in the lounge and some knitting warmed us up.

Grand Circle Tours and Overseas Adventure Travel are all about learning and discovery so Friday was our home visit. We broke up into groups of 6 and we went to a woman named Julie's house. She was lovely and gave us her take on life in The Netherlands while serving us coffee and Easter chocolates. She ended with a Dutch thing - alcoholic pudding served with whipped cream and fruit. We walked back to the ship and headed out.

We were sailing during the day so we could see the Naviduct. It's a lock that raises boats above a highway. Yes, you read that right. It was hard to get a picture that shows it but here's the best I could do, taking it from the top deck of the ship as we sailed over the highway. We sailed for the rest of the afternoon so there was an interesting tour of the galley and plenty of time in the lounge. With a beer most afternoons, I'd drunk more in a week than I normally drink in 6 months. There was wine with dinner most nights too. We docked near Amsterdam in Haarlem and had a talk about the Dutch royal family before dinner. 

Saturday was tulip day and there aren't sufficient words to describe it. We started at Annemieke's to hear about her youth program based around tulip farming and to pick some tulips of our own. Next stop was Keukenhof, which is an enormous tulip garden that is something to see. It was Easter weekend and so a mob scene but the flowers were worth it. The colors were breathtaking and absolutely everywhere. We spent the whole afternoon there and it was amazing. Here are a few pics. Because Sunday was Easter, we had the Captain's farewell dinner when we got back. It was a magical day.

We started Easter Sunday with a canal cruise in Amsterdam. I had expected most stores to be closed but that wasn't the case. The one I cared most about was Stephen & Penelope - Stephen West's yarn store. It was buzzing with customers and had lots of gorgeous yarn. I showed some restaint and only bought 3 skeins, 1 of which was a gift. We grabbed lunch in a cafe and then headed to the meeting point for the bus back to the ship. We had packing to do and had a lovely Easter lamb dinner and lots of chocolate everywhere. We had to say goodbyes to some of our friends who would be leaving for the airport in the wee hours. It was hard to believe the cruise was already over.

What a great week! I am a total convert to river cruising. You unpack once and settle in and then you wake up somewhere new every single day. You get to know people and have a great mix of seeing places (our average steps/day was 12,800) and relaxing. The food is all included and delicious. There's no down side to it and I can't wait to do another. Now to get through the next day when we'd be still here while everyone else was flying home. No extensions next time. : )

Week 13 - Stress then Cruising

Nothing's wrong with a week that ends in Europe. But before I got there, I had some drama to get through.

My basement wall project would be done while I was gone and on Monday morning, I got the estimate for the job and would have fallen over had I not been sitting. When we discussed it last summer, he told me it would be $17-18k but the estimate was >$30k! I called him immediately to express my dismay and he had no recollection of the earlier amount he'd given. He said he'd see what he could cut and with no recourse at this point since I was leaving in 3 days, I spent some time planting seeds and trying to put it out of my mind. I also pulled the final sock yarn to pack and went to knitting, where I vented about the price. 

The Emeriti/Retirees group had a tour of the Innovation Campus greenhouses on Tuesday morning and I had invited my friend Lorri. It was very interesting and then we went to Green Gateau for my very belated birthday lunch. We even split a piece of my favorite cake. Yum! I dropped her home and started loading my piles into my suitcase. I just had one more load of laundry to do on Wednesday and I'd be done packing.

l slept badly so was pretty tired Wednesday morning but only had the single load of laundry to do and the final cat prep - loading up big food/water bowls and setting up many litter boxes (3 in the normal basement spot and 3 in the shower upstairs in case they were too freaked to go downstairs with all the construction noise). When I went down to put the laundry in the dryer, the laundry room was flooded and the storage room where they'd be starting work was too. Apparently my main sewer line was blocked. The local plumber was no help so I called my contractor and he said he'd get his snake to try to clear it. I went to the library to pee and found the plumber who was working on the sink in the new conference room outside in the parking lot rifling through his van. I asked if he could come to my house if the contractor couldn't get it snaked and he said to call the office and request him. Fast forward to the afternoon when my contractor's 25 foot snake hadn't worked and this guy came out with his industrial snake machine and got it cleared. With that, the mega stress that had been ratcheting up with each passing minute evaporated. That done I finished my final trip prep and even had time to knit and watch Survivor. Sheesh! Not what I needed the day before leaving.

There's not much to say about Thursday. Lorri and Bob (same Lorri as Tuesday) came early to take me to the airport and the travel, which was through Chicago, was uneventful except for me tripping on my way up the aisle (idiot man had his elbow into the aisle and it caught my carry on) and being saved by passengers with kleenex and a band aid as my right forearm dripped blood. I barely slept on the flight and we faced 2.5 hours in line at passport control in Brussels then were wisked to the bus for a drive to Antwerp. We boarded the ship and the trip officially began! 

We unpacked then had an orientation of the ship and a bit of the local area before we headed out in search of the first yarn shop of the trip. On the way there we found a grocery store that had my favorite Kellogg's Country Store cereal, which is only available in Europe and hard to find so I was very pleased already. We found the yarn shop and I bought a single skein of pink yarn that they dyed themselves (solid so nothing special) and then it was back to the ship for dinner and early bedtime. Exhaustion had set in but we'd sleep well for sure.

Saturday brought our first green group walking tour with our leader Rene, who was full of info and a lovely man. Anne and I opted to stay in town after the tour and walked around enjoying Antwerp. I bought a cherry beer that Rene had recommended and gave it to the bartender to chill for enjoyment later that day. We set sail at 5:00 for Ghent and had our official welcome dinner, which wasn't over until almost 9:00 so we went right back to the cabin and went to bed early again.

We woke up in Ghent but were docked outside the city so had to take a bus to the city center for our walking tour. It was marathon day so the city was very crowded and we had to dart through runners several times to cross streets. We had a local guide for this tour and when it was done, we stayed in town again, grabbing a pastry and coffee to call lunch. Anne and I then took a canal cruise of the downtown before taking the bus back to the ship. We decided to take out e-bikes, which were available on the ship, to cruise around. Now I haven't been on any bike in years (decades maybe) and it didn't go well. I wiped out on gravel covered cobble stones almost immediately and then shortly after decided it wasn't for me and turned to go back to the ship. Well, when you stop pedaling, the motor kicks in and I ended up driving into a stone bridge by the ship. Fellow passengers helped me up and I walked the bike back. Done with that! I took a shower and changed then went up to the lounge. We had a talk on Belgium today and then another yummy dinner.

While falling off the bike (I had a skinned and bruised right knee and a big welt on the back of the other calf) wasn't the way I would have chosen to end the week, it was still a good one. We had already met some fun people that we'd be eating every meal with for the rest of the trip and was enjoying everything about being onboard. River cruising is wonderful and we had another week of it ahead. Yay!