Museum Day

Hello,

Rainy mist was in the air when we left to do some museum touring. First stop was the Czech-Slovak museum to check out the new exhibit on the protests in the Czech Republic during the communist era. It was interesting, but not quite finished yet as there was not signage and I really only read English. I might have to return at a later date. There is also a display on the history of beer. Even though I do not drink beer I did find that quite interesting and informative. It is certainly an historic drink. Andy Warhol is the next exhibit coming in the spring. That should be good. We did go to a Warhol exhibit when we lived in Slovakia. I certainly learned a lot about him. All I had before that was name recognition.

The next stop was the African-American museum where we saw their new exhibit of African-American inventors. There were certainly a lot of them and many of these inventions and innovations affect and improve our lives today. Unfortunately their names are not in most history books. I did know three of the names that were featured, plus I knew about two of the inventions were by African-Americans, but not the names of the people. It was interesting to me that several of them had an Iowa connection; often that was because of attending school in the state.

In the afternoon Leroy and I made another batch of applesauce. I am now out of jars even though there are still two buckets in the garage. I will make more apple crisp from time to time and we eat them each day on our oatmeal and in our lunches. That should use quite a few, plus I will have to give some away.

Paula

Car Sold!

Hello,

After I had talked about buying extended car insurance, Leroy came home and said that someone wanted to look at the car Friday morning. It was easy to convince Leroy that we should get extended insurance even though the original would last through Friday. The agent has assured me that if we sold it on the weekend the new policy would be cancelled.

I guess the price was finally right because we had two more inquiries. A young couple came and got it this morning. It went fast as they knew they wanted it. The woman said that her car had just died and fixing was much too expensive. I asked if she could drive a shift and the answer was affirmative. I feel good about it. Leroy says, “The next time we get a new car we are trading it in to a dealer.”

I disagree as I think we learned some things, but Leroy did not like the process. It seems to hang around his mind and cause discomfort.

Last night we crossed another thing off our list. We are both happy to have finished with taking the picture for the church directory. We did buy a few prints. We did not buy the touch up or whatever they call it. It will be the real us. Hair, eyes, and wrinkles and all growth evidence included. Leroy asked, “Will you give me hair?”

The response was laughing and handing him a black magic marker. For some irony you should know that my hair looks perfect as it can look this morning, last night was a bit of a different story. Some curls had other ideas than I had.

Leroy walked six miles on Sunday. Plus he walked to church at least once during the week. I have walked there twice with him. He is getting that exercise in and church is providing it.

The way our calendar looks now life should be easy and without stress for a while!

Paula

My Phone Number

Hello,

My cell phone rang this morning. It was a person calling about my doctor appointment. She thought I had not gotten the message that the nurse practitioner had had a baby and could not see me. True, I had not gotten the message, but how did she know? About an hour later the phone rang again. This time the person said, “You called, this is Ruth?”

I had not called anyone because I was deep in the process of making applesauce. Apparently she had gotten a call from my number just fifteen minutes earlier and was calling back. How to explain that when I do not know her?

It is hard to know what to do about this and the wrong number calls that I frequently receive. It is also a process when I want to add time to my phone. I always dread that. Leroy can just do it on line, but I have to talk to a live person who must spend many minutes sorting it all out. Sometimes they even have to have a person with more skills attend to this task.

The old car has not sold even though Leroy has dropped the price several times. Today the insurance company called. The insurance runs out tomorrow. I, not sure why, but I want to extend the time. We have talked about giving the car to an organization, but for some reason I am not quite there yet. It is quite a small bill to get minimal insurance coverage for two months, can’t get just one month. Is this one of those times when there is a still small voice as I keep praying that the right person will come for this car? It is hard to know. Leroy and I will discuss it tonight.

I canned another seven quarts of applesauce today, tiring, but satisfying work.

Paula

Style

Hello,

Leroy wore his new pants to church yesterday. This pair was one he had not even tried on, but assumed that it would fit just like the first. I personally do not trust that as I have had some clothing items be mismarked or some such. The pants looked good on him, not so in style that anyone would notice, but at least not large enough to fit two of his legs in one side. He wishes they had had a pair in grey and he would have bought that too. I am just happy not to be ashamed to be seen with him.

He took one of his old pairs, which is getting frayed on the hem edge, to work with him to leave at the museum for when he wears shorts riding the bike and needs to change. I personally did not think it was very noticeable, maybe because I seldom look at the hem of man’s pants. I have no idea how much clothing he has at the museum, but I think it is a bit. He is prepared for any variation.

The other pair is more frayed, but the rest of it looks quite good. I am, unsuccessfully, thinking of ways to make them look better. I suppose I should just get rid of them as Leroy is set to do. I pinned them up, but then as was expected, they were too short. I just put them on the give-away pile! Pays to tell you about it!

I am reading, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Even though I have not read much, I sense that the real deal for us is that we need to move to keep the stuff under control. It has been long enough now to start accumulating. I am not sure I can get rid of when I do not have to lug it around. Hiding it away keeps it from my mind. I do know that there is a wonderful feeling of lightness when I eliminate things that I do not use or particularly like.

If I were paying for a class with this woman, I would surely do it because I paid for it. I never want to waste money!

Paula

Sunday, work day

Hello,

We went to church for reformation celebration and confirmation. That was not work, but worship as neither of us had any duties. It was cool in the morning so I wore a new coat. I am almost embarrassed to say that I have purchased three coats since we have lived here. But then I have eliminated three so perhaps it comes out okay. The others were more than ten years old, probably closer to 15 years old.

Leroy helped me make an apple crisp from one small bucket of apples that we picked yesterday. Leroy did not get to taste it yet, but I can tell you that it is delicious. Those apples are just the best. I swept the deck because I do not like to track leaves into the porch where I have to clean them out. I believe in the ounce of prevention stuff.  Next on the docket was fixing and eating lunch. As soon as he stopped chewing, Leroy immediately headed off to do a nursing home service. He toted the camera so he could talk pictures for the church directory. “Did you let them know that you would be taking their picture?” I wanted to know.

“I will ask them if they want to have their picture taken,” he replied and at my skeptical look, added, “I will offer to come back at another time.” Guess that will be ok!

When Leroy gets home we will head off to help with “trunk or treat” in our neighborhood. In the evening we will lead a group training session for some Lenten small group experiences. Rather Leroy will lead this training as I am a bit in the dark as to what is going to happen, but I will be there for moral support since my name is on the leader list.

After that the rest of the time is for relaxing and getting ready for Monday.

Paula

Leroy's Day Off

Hello,

Leroy does not usually work more than 40-45 hours per week, but he has few full days off. Today was one of those days. We went shopping in the misty morning because I had seen some black pants on sale in his size. However you never know if they will fit or not. They fit and he even bought two pair, with the additional one a dark blue. They had the adjustable waist that he likes, cost under $10 for the total and were a brand that he likes. On the way out to the car he did comment, “They were a bit big in the legs, but I am sure I will like them anyway.”

I groaned a little in my mind. Leroy has little legs. I have been so happy for the slim styles that do not look so baggy on him. But surely if he is happy, I should be happy too.

In the afternoon when the rain cleared we went to the country to pick apples. We picked three five gallon buckets full plus three smaller buckets. Leroy had not really wanted to go when I talked about it, but as we were going home he said, “It was so nice to be out in the country and to get all of these apples is just a bonus.”

He suggested we make pizza which we did after I finished a batch of granola. I had been hoping to make some applesauce, but ran out of steam for that idea.

He is watching a movie that I believe I am not interested in. I usually bring home movies from the library. Some of them he likes and many he does not.

I finished a book for book club, The Rosie Project. It was one of the lightest books we have read and great for a laugh here and there.

Paula

Nice Fall Day

Hello,

I did my usual shopping trip rain free until my last stop. That was a treat. Later I did go out and wrestle with the spent tomato vines. The frost may have zapped them, but they were still strongly attached to the cages in several places. I should have gotten clippers, but thought I could do it or perhaps I just enjoyed the struggle that I knew I would eventually win.

A friend requested a recipe for sauerkraut soup. I scanned it then spent some time figuring out how to find it on my computer and how to get it to her. All of the programs have been updated since I scanned and sent something. My old knowledge was not helping me as much as I would have liked. Then you must know that the recipe has no amounts. I did email another friend who, I recall has a recipe with amounts attached to the ingredients. At the school, they were making this soup for at least 30 people, probably more. So the amounts would not have been good if they had been there.

Leroy came home early because he worked until 8:30 at the museum last night. He was quite perky both last night and this morning. He so enjoyed having many people from the genealogical society do so many searches in the library collection. It made for a great library work experience.

Someone donated a number of books to my library. There were some coloring books in there. My boss recommended I recycle them as they do not sell at the book sale. Instead I brought them home, made a free sign, and placed them on the front sidewalk steps. They were claimed in about an hour. I am pleased. I suspected that someone would be able to give them a bit more life. Plants and coloring books, do you suppose people will start to look for more free things? Maybe I should clean out some more things.

We had popcorn for snack time, delicious!

Paula

The Ride Home

Hello,

Just so you know that not everything goes smoothly with us, I should tell about our trip home. I drove so Leroy could sleep if he wanted to do so. The GPS and my memory got us out of town even if I did pull out in front of car on a side street. It was not so close, but normally I would have waited.

Leroy started trying to use the internet on his none smart phone. It looks similar to a smart phone, but that is just for appearance sake. He grumbled from time to time, breathed hard, and sighed filling the car with his tension. We were going through the next small town when the GPS lady spoke up about taking a right turn. Because I do not totally trust her and I was right on the turn when she said it, I did not turn. I asked Leroy, “Should I have turned?”

He was so deep in his struggles that he could not connect easily. I pulled off in a safe place, and asked, “Would you look at the map?”

He replied, “I cannot figure out how to get off the internet and I do not want to use all my phone minutes.”

I sputtered a bit and decided to follow the highway I was on then. This lady kept telling me to turn. After the third time I realized I should have trusted her. I was really following the route I used to take when I went to Luther as a student. In the end we only went about seven miles out of our way, but I did not want to be ticked at myself so I was annoyed at Leroy for not checking the map a head of time. I did not tell him this and said, “I should have checked the route ahead of time.”

I will have to learn to trust this woman that I cannot see and is so small she can fit in a tiny box. Otherwise it was a nice drive home. For some reason Leroy slept only when we were close to home. That lady woke him up. At that point we knew what to do so we could have turned her off.

Paula

Homecoming experience

Hello,

Did I find anyone to talk to? I talked so much and in a crowded room so loudly to get over the other talkers that my voice was a bit stressed by the time it was over. If people noticed how old I looked, no one commented on it, all were polite and a few of them had aged a bit too. Some people even told me I looked the same, unbelievable, but nice. The mirror tells a different tale. All of my classmates looked slightly different, some more changed and some less. Forty-five years does make a difference on all. It was good to see people after such a long hiatus.

Leroy even found some people to talk to. One of my classmates had been in one of the interim churches Leroy served. Plus we saw about 7-10 people from our current church. It almost felt as if we had to leave town to meet and greet. Also one of my classmates was his resident assistant one year.

One person in my class sat across the table from us. I had just spoken to her the previous Sunday, at church, for the first time. Neither of us knew that we had been in the same school for college. She had transferred so maybe that is why we did not make the connection, also what college we attended did not come up.

Many of my classmates have retired, making me consider it more. However then I think about my job and how much I like it. Part time is great and I enjoy the people I see on a regular basis. I am not ready to be home a lot more, except when I want to go visit or help my children.

Paula

Fall Chores

Hello,

Our house smells of basil and Cuban oregano, or some people might say it reeks instead of smells. Luxury abounds. We went to the community garden to get things that might freeze tonight or tomorrow night. Leroy even came home from work two hours early to help me. He was a great help and motivator.  Someone had told us there were a lot of tomatoes that needed to be picked. I was happy to see that someone had picked most of them. We still got enough tomatoes to last for several days. We also picked small egg plant, small zucchini, and small peppers wondering if they would be any good. The egg plant are just blooming their little hearts out many of the plants have more than five blossoms. Broccoli was also picked because some of it was blooming. It can take quite a lot colder temps, so I was not truly concerned about it. The arugula looked quite good and I will enjoy that in my lunches next week. Then there was basil, parsley, and celery to pick. Lovely! This garden trip will feed us for a week or so.

Leroy and I had an overnight guest last night. She is from the Czech Republic. She is an archivist and giving advice about what to keep in the library collection. When considering having company, especially people I do not know, I always get myself worked up in a bit of a tizzy, but it was just easy so I do not know what all the fuss was about. Yesterday at work I was so busy so that helped as I did not think about it until on the way home.

Leroy reported that today at work, she found a book that she can use as she is working on her doctorate. It is a very old book and not found elsewhere. I am not sure how she will gather and retain the information, but I am sure that she will figure it out. This young woman has been here for two weeks and needed to go to different lodging for the last two weeks, but there was one night unaccounted for. That Leroy helps move me to do the right thing. Her English was clear, but I had to listen carefully because of the accent from time to time. I think Leroy will miss her when she goes back home. He often comes home and talks about things they have done.

Paula

Exciting Day

Hello,

In the night I decided I would put out the duplicate plants and one that seems not to thrive with me. I made a free plants sign, found a stick to put it on, put out three plants, and went back for more. Two of the pots were some that I wanted to keep so I transferred the plants. When I came back with more offerings, the first three were gone. One of them was the third of the fern that I had split earlier in the spring. One third went to Miriam’s were she reports it looks good even though she mostly ignores it, not even watering it regularly. I thought it might have a hard time in the dry Utah air. I water mine regularly and even make sure to spray the water on the leaves. Both of my plants looked good, but I kept the best. I moved the plants, found two more to put out. In short order, two more were gone. When Leroy came home after work all but one had been taken. The one plant that is left is a mandevilla. I had kept it over the winter last year. While it bloomed again it never filled in with many leaves. I suspect its scraggly appearance keeps it from being adopted.

All this gives me such a satisfied feeling to know that my neighbors wanted all these plants. They have gone to good homes, I am sure. My home will not be so crowded for the winter.

Yesterday I came in all excited and ready to tell you all about it. When I turned on the laptop it was very strange with black almost all over, text was in green. I went to settings and tried to change it without luck. The high contrast was on and it could be set to white as well as black, but I could not get it to stay. I said a swear word, turned off the machine, left a note for Leroy because he had used it last, and proceeded to sulk before I went to work. Leroy did fix it. Somehow I could not see the apply button to make my commands hold.

Negative emotions do not help me find solutions!

Paula

Who Knew?

Hello,

Leroy was in the room with the desk in it when he said, “Come look at this!”

A squirrel had jumped onto the screen showing us its lovely belly. In a little bit it hopped off onto the overhang above the front steps. I had no idea the animal would do such a thing or that the screen could hold its weight. The squirrels certainly feel at home around here with no danger except from ineffective humans.

We had company last night. Leroy had asked if there were any foods that they did not like. The answer was onions and mushrooms. I remember erroneously onions and garlic. But we did not serve onions either. I decided to do a meatless meal and serve kushari minus the onions with a side salad. We learned that the woman who came has an enzyme deficiency. She is unable to eat any raw foods. She mostly eats a lot of meat as many vegetables are not good for her. She did drink some apple cider, but no salad. Apparently something in the meal did bother her a little, but she was alright. Had I known about the importance of meat I could have done it. We had a nice visit otherwise. They have a girl who is less than two years old and it was fun to get to know her. I did “This little piggy went to market…”  She had to help by tugging off her socks. We still have some toys around here. It was nice to have something for her. And we cleaned before they came, how is that for preparation? Leroy even came home early and used the vacuum. Nice to have the help! I thought I was ahead of schedule, but that turned out not to be, on time, but not early.

Paula

New Car

Hello,

I have only driven the new car a couple times. Leroy has a few more. People ask me how I like the new car. I can only say that I do like it since I have not had much experience with it. Last night I asked Leroy, “Do you like the new car?”

He thought a bit, as is his usual practice before answering any question, “Yes, I realized today how nice it is not to shift!”

So there you have it was worth it to get the automatic. I do know Leroy is not into shifting as much as I am. We are having a lengthy discussion of who should drive which car. I do not want to take the new car. I think it seems more efficient for me to use the old car because I drive the most. Therefore we would be wearing out the old one more. Leroy, however, thinks that because this one has more safety features on it I should drive it most because of protecting me on the road. As with many issues there are things to be said for both sides of the argument. At least Leroy and I can understand the other’s position and half way agree with it. Decisions are harder to make this way, but we will live with whatever we decide and perhaps change our minds down the road.

I notice that much of our country barely tolerates our political representatives changing their minds. Or at least that is the impression I get in my brief looks at the governmental scene. Mostly I guess I have my head in the sand because I do not know how to deal with any of it. How terrible if there is no room for a second look at a situation. Does that mean there is really no point in letting our elected leaders know what our opinion is?

Paula

Community Garden

Hello,

The community garden, like other gardens, is slowing down for the cold to come. Leroy had obligations on his usual garden working night so he went the next night. He commented, “There was not much to do. Oh I could have found weeds if I had looked hard enough, but I did not really want to. It gets dark so early that I could not do much anyway.”

Instead he picked things. Celery, parsley and broccoli we have had home, but the broccoli needed to be picked. Leroy also commented re the celery, “I don’t think anyone else is using it.”

I do understand that feeling. I find the green very seductive and often bring home more than I need at the moment. He also brought home some basil which just adds its delightful aroma to the kitchen. Tonight I will find something that will taste good with some of these things.

Soon the day will come when I will have to decide what leaves; broccoli, brussel sprouts, or collards, I would like to freeze and have a good supply later. We did that last year and enjoyed them for a long time. Then I will wish I have a larger freezer. I suppose I could look into what would be involved in canning them. Would we like that?

We were invited to pick some apples. They are quite delicious. I will stop buying apples for a while. They are a staple at our house. We share one for breakfast and then we each eat one later in the day. It is a serious matter when there are no apples in the house.

I did use some of the apples to make a crisp. I am grateful for the gift. The occasional worm sighting tells me that the apples have not been sprayed. At least I have a knife and can cut them out.

I delivered some neighborhood newsletters today. One house has an apple tree that I walk under to get to the front door. Looking at all the apples on the ground, I picked one off the tree and found it to have a nice mild flavor. What a shame to see them just rot.

Paula

Plants and wind turbines

Hello,

Yesterday I got my plants ready to move indoors. I decided not to move in the spider plant that I have had since we lived in Chariton five years ago. My neighbor across the street generously had given it to me. I had taken it to the school for the past three years as it is now much too large for this apartment. I cleaned it up, put a free sign on it as well as telling that they could take some babies if that is what they wanted, set it on the front sidewalk steps, checked this morning, and it is gone! I am so pleased that someone wanted it. I did save some of the babies for myself. I figure I can grow another large plant in about five years. I have a couple other plants that are duplicates and I may put out one of them too. I just hate to throw plants away when they can brighten someone’s living space. For some reason Leroy thinks he needs a little space in there too.

This morning on my way home from Tai Chi, a large truck carrying a wind turbine blade came beside me as I entered the interstate. The road is three lanes wide here. As we started towards the downtown s curve I dropped back because I thought they might need more than one lane to make the corner and I did not want to fight for my share of the earth with something that is so much larger than I am. Before they got to the turn the flashing light truck that follows which let people know of the hazard, moved over into the outside lane. So they did essentially take two lanes, but not my lane, all the way through this curve. Slowed down a lot of people, but I was happy to see them get through it in fine shape without damaging anyone else. Also glad to know that they check out the routes ahead of time so they do not get into any tight spots. Nice to know someone considers the possibilities.

Leroy has put away all his US stamps as he has them organized into envelops so he can deal with them later. You can just see the pleasure radiate when he works on the stamps.

Paula

Life Organized

Hello,

Leroy has posted the car for sale. He even got it washed. As near as we can remember this car has not been washed since we moved here in 2012. Leroy is not into washing cars often. Guess I am not either, although I was the one who had the other one washed, but only three times. Not excessive! When I came in the garage after the trip home with the new car, Leroy wondered about washing it because I had run into a few bugs that left their remains splashed about. Now is that an excessive idea to wash this vehicle after every 50 mile trip?

Leroy did pick up all of those stamps that were on the small desk. The table, however, is still loaded. I can handle that much clutter for a few days. I do better with a layer of dust than clutter or too many things around me. Even at work I sometimes have to pick up before I can get anything done. It bothers my mind.

I have brought in most of my houseplants. The only ones still out are the ones that are going to school, two ferns and a Christmas cactus. Oops! There are also three amaryllis and a poinsettia that need to come out of the ground. I thought I would leave the poinsettia because I have never been able to make them turn red again. Leroy thinks it looks so nice that we should bring it in. Who knows this might be the magic time that it all works.

I am impressed with myself because I cleaned up some random dead leaves from the iris and winter onions. Those onions have consistently been growing and growing. Before most meals I just dash out and pull a few. They are the green type of onion so I use the entire small bulb and stem. What a gift from my Ukraine neighbor in Chariton. She gave me four onions the first spring we were there. We ate three of them and kept one. They have just been a wonderful gift that keeps on giving. I have certainly passed out a lot of the bulbs, hoping that others benefit as well.

Paula

Stamp Heaven

Hello,

Someone sent Leroy a box of various stamps. He is spreading them out on the dining room table and the one small desk in the computer room. He is enjoying this tremendously. Quiet Leroy has to give me finding reports which he shouts out from that room he is in, hoping to catch my ear so he does not have to leave his treasures. “Oh there are so many from so many countries,” he moans with happiness.

He is missing all the space he had in the last two houses we lived in. There he could have his stamp room, set up a table and be totally out of my way. Here he talked about putting them away, but I assured him that I could handle it for about a week. I suspect the entire week will be taken. We are having company on Friday evening. A small child will be here too so, even though they might have trouble getting up so high all of this will be put away.

I had gotten Leroy some current US stamps because we needed some to mail a letter. I only got three different types. It seemed like a lot until this box came.

One positive about collecting stamps for Leroy is that he has learned a lot of geography because of it, certainly more than I know.

Don’t know what will happen with Leroy’s stamps when he can no longer deal with them. He hopes that some day one of his grandchildren might develop an interest. But he is quite content to just enjoy them himself for now.

Paula

New Car Observations

Hello,

I heard Leroy tell someone our car still had that new car smell and sure enough it does even though it is almost two years old. Must be those miles that take away that smell. We will just have to drive it more.

I drove that car to work today. Saturday seemed like a nice time since the traffic is not so heavy. It was nice to have much of the road freed up. I did find that I tended to speed. I try not to speed. Back in the old days I used to drive five miles over the speed limit and figure that was my privilege and right. I then took a class for renewing my teaching certificate. Part of that was about doing what is right. After much thought I decided that the speed limit is a law and I was breaking the law. I think the speeding today is because there was not as much noise as I am used. I did not realize I was going as fast as I was until I glanced at the speedometer. On the way to work I do not use cruise control because with the ordinary volume of traffic I want to be more in charge. Also this car seemed more responsive to both the gas pedal and the brake.

When reversing, I did pay attention to the back camera, but still looked over my shoulder, especially if the sun was shining on the screen I needed to see more clearly what was possible.

It was quite nice to have a working car radio once again. The radio on the oldest car has not worked for several years. We did not fix it because we really do not need that in order to drive.

We are selling the old car. I just saw an article about the disparity between rich and poor and traffic fatalities. One of the reasons is, of course, because poorer people cannot afford to buy many of the latest safety features. Leroy struggles some with selling something that is not the best for others, although I suspect even at a junk dealer they might sell it to someone to drive because it still works. Also when talking to someone else about what to accept from someone for this car they stated, “Cash only. If they cannot get together that small amount of cash, they are not a serious car buyer.”

I think about some of the people in my neighborhood. I suspect that small amount of cash would be a lot to them. I do not think they could scrape it together. It is possible to survive in this country without a car, but here it is harder than in some larger cities with more frequent public transportation. We could give it away, but just who could use it, who can drive a manual shift, and how would we give it away without insulting them?

Paula