Nothing Special

Hello,

Leroy and I have felt busy almost all of the time, but we have done nothing special although a lot of steps have been recorded. some of the time has been spent playing games, taking children to school and walking in the morning with Nora. Last night we "played" soccer in the back yard. I did more running than I thought I might. it was great although it made it more difficult for me to fall asleep. Leroy is not bothered by anything like that so he was out almost instantly.

We picked up the neighbor girls at their school as no one else was free at that time. Leroy drove their new car and the google lady and I navigated. We two females worked quite well. Leroy had trouble hearing either of us. I turned up the volume on my phone, turned off the car radio, and turned up the temperature since I could not figure out how to turn down the fan before Leroy could hear that calm voice telling him when to turn. I merely turned my head toward him and started speaking clearly in full sentences so he could figure out what I meant.

We really had no trouble finding the school. We were a bit early so turned off the car to wait in line. When it was time to move on the car did not start as Leroy went through the steps. on the second try it worked. I was happy to spot these two girls almost immediately. I had seen them briefly the night before which helped as growth changes appearance. After they got in the car there was again difficulty getting the vehicle to start. It is one of the push button type and I wonder if Leroy did not push the button firmly enough.

Always there is new learning just to make life interesting.

Paula

Picking Peaches

Picking Peaches
September 5, 2018

Hello,

We arrived at about midnight which is very late for us since we changed our watches in Denver. Andy was there to greet us. It is so nice to get a ride, especially at that hour since most public transportation is not running. It was good to slip into bed almost immediately upon getting to the house. However sleep did not come immediately. We woke at six their time, a bit groggy, but awake. My Fitbit says that I slept four hours and 53 minutes. I knew it was a short time. As usual Nora was quite eager to take a walk with us in the early morning coolness.

On the way back in the house, Leroy went to the peach tree and found a couple that had fallen. We had them on our oatmeal. I went out later, touched a good looking big peach, it came off in my hand. We ate that one for lunch. It was the best, sweet and juicy. I have told people that we were going to Utah to pick peaches and it was a good choice.

We have gone with each girl as she was delivered to school, did a little weeding, went to the library, worked on why Leroy's phone battery runs down so quickly, trimmed a fern, went to a store, and picked some more peaches. Leroy did take some time for a nap. He is also starting to read his library book. He brought back two and he will probably finish both of them.

Some of the peaches have unnecessary visitors so we are treating them to a white vinegar and water bath. Hopefully that will solve that problem. It seems there is something to look forward to all of the time.

I did find many clothes here, but most of them are for the winter. However, I have enough to manage.

Paula

Waiting to Travel

Hello,

Waiting to travel is not part of my style. Usually we have to wake at some early hour, rush around, and get on the road. Today we are not leaving until in the evening. I have the entire day to figure out what to do.

Although one back pack does not hold much it is a quandary as to what should go in there. There are always more things that I would like to take. Two pair of sandals will fit so they are going in along with a change of shirt and one pair of shorts. I am also taking my pjs. Leroy who packed last night has no other shoes, but the ones he will be wearing. He has left at least one pair at Miriam’s. His bag is full, but I am not sure with what. Both of us packed some spare underwear. It is nice to know that there are enough people at Miriam’s house that filling a load of clothes is quite easy. Can you believe that Leroy and I would go for a weekend with just what we could carry on our backs? There would be no laundry facilities available so we just kept it simple.

Where do we get the idea that we need so much stuff and so much space in our lives? There is something seductive about it. This makes me realize that we should look at what we have accumulated in the last six years and consider what can be eliminated. Our church is having a coat drive. We did contribute to the last coat drive, but I can think of one coat that I seldom wear. Should I get out all my coats and consider the use of each? There are certainly favorites for a couple different temperatures. Now if the weather could just hold steady we could get rid of a coat for sure.

Paula

Passwords

Hello,

I am gathering a few passwords or rather tips to remember them so I can use them if I need to when I am in SLC. Because of taking only a backpack, I am not taking my tablet even though it is slim, it still would take room and weight. A few magazines and puzzles which are going to be packed are important to keep us entertained. I suppose I could also download some book or other on my phone, but it does not excite me to think of reading a book on that small screen. Instead we will use the neighborhood library. After being at their home that is our first stop. Yeah for libraries all over!

This morning my Fitbit had two lights flashing alternatively. The home website did not seem to have a help area so a general search was next. The proffered solution seemed possible, but I was unable to make it work. Another easier suggestion worked its magic and all is as it should be. How often do we go for the difficult challenging solutions and find that simple is best?

Two nonfiction books are currently interesting to me. One is by Dr. Lucy Jones, with the title, Big Ones: how natural disasters have shaped us (and what we can do about them). The other is by Austin Channing Brown with the title I’m still here: black dignity in a world made for whiteness. Both of them are comfortable for a layperson to read, however I have to spend more time thinking about the ideas presented so it does not go as fast as fiction. I did just finish, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) the cuckoo’s calling which was a good mystery. I will try to remember to read the other two in this series. I cannot imagine a world without books. How would I learn so many new things? My world is not large enough to expose me to so many different ideas.

Paula

Pears Done

Hello,

Even though I try not to work extra on Sunday, I asked Leroy if he would be willing to help for about half an hour. He agreed and we got the job done even though he did not do everything just as I would like it done. There were only four jars of pears left to do consequently it did not take so very long. Most of them were quite ripe, but they probably would have been ok for one more day. I am pleased that all of the jars sealed. I feel myself relax when I hear that little pop as the lid settles into place.

That means I have the entire day tomorrow and I suppose Tuesday  to figure out how to fill it by myself as Leroy will be working. How many walks can I take or perhaps I should go for a good bike ride. Leroy rode early this morning before it was light. I will not go so early.

He did see many small animals as well as thirteen deer. I would have liked to have been there, but I felt I needed to stay at home and make breakfast as well as get ready to walk to church.

I have been looking for my list of the clothes that I have stored at Miriam’s but could not find it. I found Leroy’s list on paper. I suspect mine was on the computer, but we now have a new computer. Even though we saved the documents to a flash drive, I did could not locate it. Perhaps now that I have a smart phone, I will take pictures or make a list on the phone. But there is no guarantee that I would still look in the proper place. I just hope Miriam is prepared to loan clothes. I am going to concentrate on packing toothbrush, underwear, and shoes/sandals. I will probably wear sneakers and pack sandals as they take less room. I also read somewhere that in case of a plane accident it is good to have your feet protected in good shoes.

Paula

Leroy's Schedule

Hello,

Leroy has booked himself quite a schedule.  His boss at the museum is on vacation so he is working there today and then again on the Monday holiday. He is going to church tonight because neither of the other pastors is available. He is taking most of the day off Sunday, but will be there for his grief group Sunday evening. He will also work a good bit of the day Tuesday because we do not leave for Salt Lake until late in the day. We will arrive there at midnight their time which is one a.m. for our body time. I just hope we are awake enough to get off the plane. We are not late night people.

I have done another batch of pears that made six jars. Part of me would like to ask Leroy for just one half hour on Sunday afternoon because I would like the company especially since I selected most of the larger pears to work on first. My guess is that with his help cutting up the pears we could be done in 30 minutes since it takes me an hour when I do it by myself. This will be the last bit of pears to do. A part of me feels guilty even thinking of such a thing since Leroy has not had a full day off in at least two weeks. How he has gotten so booked I am not sure, but LeroyI guess he is just talented.

The only thing about doing all of this canning is that I do not get so many steps covered. I will have to take a walk to add to my total. I do stand while I cut up the pears and get them ready. I remember my mother sitting for many of those tasks. I am not sure why, but I generally like to stand while I cut things.

Just a shot note on the Salt Lake trip. We are each only taking one bag that we can stick under the seats because we do not want to pay for luggage. Do you think we can have ourselves adequately covered? We do have some things stored at Miriam’s, but I remember many of them being for winter rather than the 80 degrees we are expecting. I can always borrow from Miriam, but Leroy might have to go to the second hand store as he and Andy are not quite the same size.

Paula

Pears Canned

Hello,

I canned more pears today. As with those done before they do not look beautiful, but the taste is wonderful. Because there are not so many ripe at a time I have only done 5 or 4 quarts at a time. Now we have a total of 14. I suspect there will be two more batches with four or five quarts in each. I will do one tomorrow and one Monday if they appear to need more time to ripen. It was so nice to cut those today as they were much riper than the precious loads. I miss Leroy’s help, but I can manage by myself. I just get tired and have to keep convincing myself to carry on. We will appreciate these offerings this winter. Does that mean that summers work makes a lazy winter? I do not can nearly as much as my mother did. I remember much labor almost every day once the garden was ready for harvesting. Carolyn and I would help mom and Robert helped daddy. Seems to me we just knew that is what we had to do and there was not much arguing or complaining about it. Perhaps it was helpful that we were, in a sense, isolated on the farm without other children who wanted to play.

I am disgusted with myself because I did not watch one pan of pears close enough and it scorched. Also I guess it could be said that I did not put in enough water and it boiled dry. It just created more work to clean it up. The internet site had some excellent advice which I followed so the pan looks good once again.

Paula