Watering Again

Hello, Five mums in pots had blown over by the time we got to church this morning. We righted them, tried to level the ground a little, watered them and hoped the water would add enough weight to hold them up. We have doubled the amount of water we bring upstairs. Some in the pots get a second drink to stave off the hot dry conditions around them. Here is a picture of the flowers at church.

I went to a walk-in clinic. I can say that one walks in, but one does not walk out quickly. The wait was about 30 minutes so Leroy walked home and left me the car keys. I came home about an hour later, but I got care. So, all is good. Leroy has packed a bit for our trip, but I am just packing in my head. Ideas are floating around. This is requiring more thinking because it is a longer trip, hence how many clothes do I need? Tomorrow packing will become more serious. Paula

Potatoes From Where?

Two potato plants appeared in our front garden this year. We had planted some small purple potatoes last year, but they did not produce. When two plants sprouted this year, we let them grow. Today Leroy went out and harvested one plant which has died on top. The other is still green so we understand it is not time to dig it up. That will wait until we get back from our trip west. We were quite pleased to see the size and the number of potatoes. Especially since the rest of the front garden has not done very well this year. I suspect it was not watered enough. At least we know these potatoes are organic. The skin is rather bumpy and it looks darker than usual. It was good it is ready today since we ate the last potato that was in the house.

We walked to church to water the flowers there. We took a water bottle along and were glad that we had it. We drank at church several times and then sat by the community garden and drank the bottle empty. It was so refreshing. It is quite warm here as it was yesterday. I do not handle the heat as well as I used to. It was perhaps easier when we did not have air conditioning in our home. I remember people complaining about the temperature and I thought it was ok. Now I live in air-conditioned comfort and have become a wimp. Leroy did not have to count money this morning at church and he is not going to work so he is a bit unsettled. Paula

Cicadas

Hello, There were great predictions for a serious number of cicadas this year. One of those17 year phenomenon. Apparently, there were a lot, but not just in our neighborhood. Now finally, cicadas can be head singing or rasping their song. Mostly, it is necessary to be outside to hear them. On our walks, we find some are lying on the sidewalk as they have died. There are few fireflies. Too many street lights interfere with their ability to see their own flashing lights and they are not surviving so well in the city. They are missed. And how does that lack of insects change our world? I suspect it is important. This morning, I got 9000 steps before eleven am. I will admit to being tired. I had walk to my physical therapy appointment which is probably about half a mile away. Came home and then set off on the mile to church to water those flowers one more. Someone was also needed to debone chicken, but I did not volunteer as I felt rather tired already. When I was ready to leave church, I met a delivery man struggling to haul boxes up the stairs. “There is an elevator,” I said. “Oh no one has ever told me.” he said, “Where is it?” “I will take you there.” I assured him. He was impressed with the size as he said, “This is a big elevator.” For him that meant he could get his cart and all the boxes inside. Paula

Parking Lot Full

Hello, On my walk to church this morning, the college parking lots were full. Students are back. There are a few who are out and about. It brings new energy to the area. There are some out of state license plates: Texas, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, and Virginia. I have to confess that I never really thought about the people in town when I went to college. The campus was my world. In those days there were very few students who had cars. People talk about needing more money, but some of the truth is that the need box has gotten larger than the want box. How did we manage without a car? Mostly stayed on campus and when off, walked where we needed to be. There were no TVs in rooms that I knew about and computers were in their infancy. Now, it seems that a computer is needed to a successful time at college, so perhaps that slides into the need territory. We did not have phones in our rooms, but only one or possibly two on each floor in the hall. That too has slipped over into the need column of life. Even now it is hard to imagine life without this instrument with me when I go out. How did we find our way? Paula

How long to walk

Hello, I walked to church this morning to water flowers. After a short break sitting a little and getting some water to drink, I set off with Leroy to the library to return a DVD. Leroy had been at church counting the Sunday offering. It is a good thing he is doing that and not me since I switch numbers around from time to time. At the library we simply returned the DVD and started back home. I will admit to being a little tired by the time we got home. I had also hung out laundry before I left the house and then took it in after a snack. Then we compared step totals. It seemed I should have a lot more steps than Leroy, however that was not true. I was ahead in the game, but not by so very much. How does that happen since he was sitting so much of the time while I was moving around? I am more ahead now because I went to the store and got some more food. Leroy took a nap instead. It would not surprise me if he got steps while he was sleeping. We had watched the DVD before, but I had forgotten. I just wanted a comedy so I could laugh. I liked this movie, but did not really laugh much but it is rather ironic. It is Moving On. Now if I could just remember what I have already seen. I find comedy rather illusive. Some other people might think it is funny and I do not. Paula

How Many Books to Carry?

Hello, A friend at church told me she would have books for us, this Sunday, to put in our little free library. At the beginning of church another friend said she had books for us. We had brough our backpack, but would that be enough? Each of them had their books in bags that would hang at the ends of arms and not on a back. We assured them that we could still take them because I would have a car on Tuesday and could pick them up at church. Leroy looked at them and said, “I can carry them as the weight can be about equal in both bags.” We started out with two books in the backpack, but soon stopped and put two more in there. The rest of the way home we switched the load between us. That worked well even if it was a bit heavy. There was a total of 14 books and at least six of them were hardcover. They are all in the little free library except for three Leroy might read and one I might read. One woman even called this her ministry to give away books. I agree as some of our neighbors probably do not buy books or go to the library. It is great to know people who have good, almost new, books to give away. Paula

CSA

Hello, We got our first apple CSA today. Feels exciting to get them so close to our home. Delivery is a bit more than a mile away from the house. The apples look good. We will get them every week. We should be well supplied. We do not get the vegetable CSA because we have enough from the gardens around here. Will the food coop, where we usually buy our apples, notice that we are not getting them from the store? It is good to give this store some business as many of its sources for food are local. It seems there are always choices and the results have more than one effect on the outcome. We did not water plants at church today because we had about 3/4th of an inch of rain or half an inch depending on which rain gauge you consulted. We got more later in the day so it was a good reason to pass up that job. After the new tai chi/meditation class, I feel so relaxed that it is almost hard to drive home. What a good deal except when I get on the interstate with all of the other vehicles speeding by. One thing about not walking to church is I have very few steps recorded. 10000 may be too far for today, but I will add some more. The fifteen pound watermelon that we bought is getting close to the finish line. It is always a sad day when the summer season is over with all of its great produce. But the apples will go on for a while yet. Our neighbor told us that he saw six racoons in our yard early this morning. He also saw a large hawk go after the rooster and hen across the street. The hawk missed. Wildlife in the city. Paula

Tomatoes?

Hello, For some reason the tomatoes in the community garden are very slow. Or perhaps someone is picking them before they are totally ripe. I just want a few to eat. A neighbor showed us the five-galleon bucket’s worth he had picked from his garden. He said, “This is the second time this week.” I am jealous. We do have some peppers at home along with some salad greens that are coming back. I planted some seeds for the fall, but nothing seems to have germinated. Leroy thinks the seed is too old and I think the watering or lack thereof is at fault. As I was leaving the community garden area yesterday, I saw a guy coming by. After hearing about the garden, he sounded like he might be eager to pick some things. Too bad the cucumbers have all died. He would take some of the small tomatoes which are doing quite well. I am always glad to encourage others to harvest some of the produce. Leroy and I think we should go back and check on the beans, but it is raining now. Maybe tomorrow we will have time to get that done. The zucchini has been put down by the bugs. I am still amazed that one year I as able to keep them at bay. It was necessary to get there early in the morning and kill all that I found under the leaves. Paula

Walking and Geese

Hello, This afternoon we checked our step count. Would you believe that Leroy recorded almost 2000 more steps than I did from our walk to and from church? How could that be? He did usher and I mostly sat and stood during the service. I did greet, however, and that involves a small amount of walking around. We also watered the flowers and he did walk to the farther ones. All that must have added up. An afternoon walk was on my agenda to get closer to the 10,000-step goal. Leroy wanted to join so I let him. On our way we went through a park. Leroy commented on the number of geese there. Then we had a titillating conversation about what a group of geese is called. It was enchanting I will not tell you what it was. The only word we could recall was a gaggle of geese. We checked out some street construction before we came back to the park. On the way through, we noticed some geese on the splash pad. I turned the water on, startling them and they moved off a bit. Leroy and I then walked farther away. The geese came back on the pad and some started drinking. Then some of them stood under the part that puts out a mist and not a big spray of water. Soon all the other geese were moving to the water and enjoying it as well.

Paula

Can that be true

Hello, Yesterday my visit with the eye doctor confirmed that my vision is not as good as it was after the cataract surgery. I am looking through scar tissue. For me to get that vision back I will have an additional simple surgery. That will happen in September. I had noticed that Leroy could read a sign farther away that I could, but I had no clue what was happening. Could I have dry eyes, I wondered. I also noticed that I had more trouble reading especially for a long period of time. Guess I am glad to find out the reason and that there is a solution. The procedure should be simple, but I do need a ride. I suppose I will have to be a little careful afterwards. Last evening we finally got the beans stripped so they can produce again. Some of them were a bit mature. Still, we were able to give away three plastic grocery bags to different people on the way home. I was happy about that. We still had one bag and ate some of them at noon today. They were ok, but not my favorite green bean. Today, the humaine society had a pet festival for people who have some trouble getting to a vet. They did a check up and provided some pet supplies. There were a lot of dogs there with just a few cats visible. It was held in the neighborhood next to ours.

Paula

Talking to a Neighbor

Hello, On my way home from the delivering more newsletters I saw a neighbor. I greeted him and pointing to a large tent in his yard, I asked, “Having a big celebration?” “Yes, for my youngest daughter who died.” He replied, “Someone gave her fentanyl two years ago and she died.” “That would be so hard,” I said. He went on, “We celebrate on her birthday and try to make it nice.” He got a phone call then so I said, “I will pray for you.” When I walked away, I wondered, just what should a person say in this situation. It also reminded me that we never know what hard things other people are going through. Paula

Cooler?

Hello, It was 60 degrees when I started to church to water the flowers there. The flowers on one side are in the sun when I get there, but it still did not feel hot. After visiting a bit, I headed back with a stop in the community garden. I had announced, “I am going to strip the beans because they have gotten too old. That turned out to be an optimistic statement. I did pick beans, but only about ¼ of them. It felt hot in the sun. Since it was only me, I could not convince myself to keep going after picking a bag and a half. Somehow other people are encouraging just by their presence. I will have to go back sometime soon. I have not done anything with those beans, but I must sort as some of them were ok. I also picked two heads of broccoli. It seems our neighborhood has changed. Seldom do I see people out on their porches so it is hard to share this produce on the way home. I am also not aware of many others using the garden as was the case in the past. This afternoon I went out and delivered some more of the neighborhood newsletters. Leroy had stubbed his toe so he sat at home with his foot elevated. Again, I soon noticed the heat, but it had gotten up to 82 degrees with much sun coming done. To protect my skin, I have on my sun hat as well as a sun shirt. I am well covered. Paula

Grist Mill at Wild Cat Den

Hello, Yesterday, Leroy and I went on a day trip to Iowa’s oldest working grist mill.

We got a tour of the place and learned quite a lot. There is certainly a lot of engineering knowledge that goes into making it work. It reminded me of a Rube Goldberg machine. When I looked that up, I found it did not really apply to this situation as his drawings were of things that got complicated but could be quite simple if done the most direct way.

Each part of the mill is dependent on another part to work smoothly. There were four floors to this building. We could see how the water powered the operation. In times of low water source, a boiler was used to make it work. Wild Cat Den is a state park and we did some hiking there as well as had a picnic lunch. I so enjoyed being out in the woods with the tall trees. Guess it reminds me of growing up on the farm and wondering the woods for entertainment. We did not hike all of the trails because it was quite hot out and I got tired. There was a nice map of the trails which listed the length, degree of difficulty and the expected time to complete. This park also had a camp ground. There were only spots for tents on electricity supplied. It looked quite inviting to us since we are tent campers. The only drawback was that there were no modern toilets. Paula

What a Day

We have a sleep number bed. Last night Leroy wanted to change the number and the batteries in the remote were powerless. He tried some from another device, but they did not work either. He put the batteries in the charger overnight and figured it would work in the morning. No such luck. He called the company. They could not find our account. Apparently, that is needed to fix the remote that only works with our bed. We could not find the proper papers. After much struggle and time on their side and ours, it finally happened. The account is in my name and needed my phone number. We wrote all that down and put in the file so we are ready in the future. The guy who helped us was truly patient. Perhaps he was playing games while he waited for us to search this and that. Or maybe he had other work he could do. I was impressed with his skill with the aged public. This afternoon we went to the shoe store. My knee has been hurting some and the reason is that my shoe soles are worn on the outside rim. At least that is what the physical therapist thinks is a contributing factor. My walking shoes are a year old and I wear them quite a lot. I may clean them up and see if any of the lower income people who come to the church meals would like them since the shoes do not even look worn out. I just realized that except for the dentist and the eye doctor, I have been able to walk to all of my doctor appointments. What a great thing. Healthy for me and for the planet. Paula

Life as Retired people

Hello, Leroy is going to the museum two days a week as a volunteer. He had planned to be there the whole day but got tired so he came home. Guess that is a perk of retirement. The project he is working on is a large donation from one man. This man seemed to think the museum wanted books on all subjects as some of them are in the science area and have nothing to do with the themes of the museum. Now they have to dispose of them. Take note, if you want to donate to a museum your “gift” could be a burden. Last night we went to an hour session on Qigong, meditation and some tai chi. I liked it quite a lot and Leroy said, “That was ok.” Meditation is not his thing. I will go back two more times and Leroy might come also. After that choir starts. I forgot to get the book for book club until Tuesday. It seems I will be able to finish it by Sunday. That would have been much harder when I was working. Today I went to a rheumatologist. I had thought I was done seeing specialists, but, Tuesday, they called to set up the appointment. Apparently, the hematologist/oncologist referred me. Now maybe I am done. He did require another blood draw, but felt he would not need to see me. Some people have an elevated number in the blood work and I might be part of that group. I seem to have no symptoms. Today they only took five vials. is that good sign? Paula