At Brian's House

Hello,
We are at Brian's home doing babysitting duty while they take a long weekend out of town. On the rather uneventful drive here we were privileged to see an eagle fly up out of the road ditch. The word pad on my tablet does not do a good job of spell check. So I am asking you to be kind in your thoughts and give me a break because I am without my spell check crutch.
Once we were close to their home when we do know the way, Leroy decided to take an early exit, thinking it was the way to go. I who almost never swear said, "I don't know where the hell we are." How did that happen? Are those words floating around my head from my childhood? My father used such frequently. Unlike today's favorites, his favorites were hell and damn.
I was going to get the phone directions going, but decided the paper map would be quicker. In a panic, because one must keep moving and one must not get lost, lessons learned from my childhood, I opened the MN map which did not have small streets or roads for the city. When we came to a T in the road, Leory was sure we needed to go right and I really wanted to go left, but he had the wheel so I acquissed to Leroy's control. Eventually, really in a short time, we got to some streets with names we recognized. It did not take long to get to the house. We were both grateful for the quick recovery. As it turned out, from looking at the city map, either right or left would have worked at the point of turning decision.
Paula

Beauty in My Life

Hello,

The violets are blooming. Every time I walk in the office I am pleased just to look at them. I have three plants. Two are blooming beautifully and the third is starting by sending up a bud shoot. I do not need three. If I knew of someone who wanted one, I would give one to them as the original plant was given to me. Sharing is a good thing.

The pink Christmas cactus is becoming loaded with buds. Even though they are still quite small I am anticipating the result in a month or so. This plant was also a shared gift.

Even the plants that remain green all of the time are a treat for my eyes. There is something about the life in it that sooths. Also the plants are so little bother, they never bite or bark.

We are weeding books at the library partly because they have been sitting on the shelf for a long time without being checked out and partly because our space is limited so we are making room for the new.

There were several SC-FI books that I had neglected to bring home to Leroy. He now has books waiting for him to read. He is a happy man. His beauty comes in different ways. His eyes lit up in anticipation of delights to come when he saw what I brought home.

Paula

Here is a link so you can see the plants

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rAewpZYMCuFRhjMKA

Nice Sunday

Hello,

It was cool when we walked to church this morning. We were grateful that there was no wind. As it was my checks felt quite happy to go inside. The trick, as always, is to dress warm enough to walk in the cold, but with enough layers off to be comfortable inside.

Coming home it was much warmer, but there was more wind so not quite as comfortable as we had hoped. In the afternoon when we went to a faculty concert at the local collage the temperature was quite fine. It was so nice when we got home and I only needed 700 more steps that I proceeded to walk around the block and pick up trash. It has been quite a while since I have been picking up, but there was not much to find. The strong winds yesterday might have blown much of it away or the leaves were hiding all sorts of things that I did not see. Some leaves did not come down in the wind yesterday, but succumbed to the frost. One tree across the street lost many leaves very recently and they were quite a dark green. I did not know such a thing would happen.

Leroy and I played boggle this afternoon and he beat me on the first game. The score was eight to one. I was amazed. Leroy had all but one word that I had found. Obviously he found more to make that winning score.

Paula

Windy Day

Hello,

Leroy had a list of chores that he made up all by himself. I did not add to it. The first was removing and replacing the broken slat on the blinds in the living room. The rethreading task is best for two people. We must be gaining skill as it only took us a bit more than half an hour to get the job done. One of the others needs help, but neither of us felt that today was the day to work on it. We could see the wind outside, but it did not bother us.

He cleaned up some of the stove grating and that was a nice fix. We also went to the garden to pull up some of the plants that did not survive the frost. When the compost bin, which the city picks up, was full we pulled it back home. The wind was quite noticeable in the garden. Luckily we did not have to chase many things. Leroy’s hands got quite cold as his gloves were summer garden gloves.

The house next door is getting some new roof shingles. I do wonder what the wind feels like up there. The house is quite tall. All three workers have on a safety belt. Wow, I just saw one of them slip. That rope was a life save, helping him stop before he went over the edge.

Leroy is picking up some walnuts for the winter. The nuts from our tree taste quite fine. I wish they were not so work intensive to get out of the shell. The squirrels have eaten or buried piles of them. In a few days there will not be so many to be found.

Our wind monitor is somewhat sheltered, but today it frequently recorded speeds of 16 mph even though the official report is for speeds up to 25 mph.

The sun is bright today and the leaves are beautiful, but many are falling. I do like fall. In order to get enough steps, I will go out for a brisk walk.

Paula

Clothes Drying

Hello,

I was happy to wash rags this morning. With the sun already shining it predicted a drying day. I like to use rags instead of paper towels. I have a rag bag in which I put the dirty rags while we all wait for a bigger load of laundry so I can do them all at once. With Leroy’s nose bleeding on the floor our usage increased. With the help of rags, the floor now looks good, no stains. Today was the day when the bag was full and overflowing. Some of the rags are old towels. I figured my hands would not become too cold hanging them up. The smaller things seemed like they would go on the racks in the house when my fingers protested too much. Somehow I just kept going and hung them all outside.

I also did a load of two of my jackets. Those jackets were an addition to a load of two bolsters that I got at a second hand store. Leroy and I use “knee pillows” for sleeping. Ours are quite tired and needed to be retired. These new pillows were a good deal and seemed clean, but I am more comfortable after washing them. Because I got my haircut today, one of the jackets needed washing. I am always a bit concerned about hair falling on my collars. Now I am more comfortable with that. The jacket wrists also look much brighter.

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck is the book I just finished. It was thought provoking about Germany after and some during WWII. The straight path is not always easy to find. It sounds good to try to do the right thing, but even knowing or discerning can be difficult. There are many forces pulling a response from a person.

Paula

That Leroy

Hello,

Leroy found out this morning that his appointment on Thursday is to see the Dr. rather than get a colonoscopy. Both of us are sure that we heard one of the people talking about this appointment in the hospital say that it was for a colonoscopy. Leroy moved some of his responsibilities to accommodate the preparation process. It is nice not to have to do that but he is not going to change things back. I will work the full day Thursday and not come home to take Leroy to his phantom procedure.

It is probably good to have a visit with this Dr. and get his take on the colon inflammation that was spotted in the scan.

Leroy looks and acts so good that it is hard to believe that this happened just a few days ago. He has not even gotten black eyes. Many people wonder if his nose is really broken because it looks fairly normal. They told us it was broken and it is still quite sore and tender, other than that we do not know the inside story.

My violets, that I had thought were never going to bloom again, are blooming. Two are in full deep purple color and the third is sending up a bud stem. I feel blessed to see this beauty. When I have more time I will post some pictures.

Paula

Cool Morning

Hello,

It was cool this morning, but Leroy still rode his bike the three miles to work. First he checked to make sure that his helmet did not put pressure on his glasses which might hurt his nose. All was good so he went on with his riding plan.

Because it was so cool out, I finally unscrewed our hoses and pulled them over the porch railing to force the water out. It was still dripping when finished so I left it hanging there. Maybe Leroy can help curl it up and put it away.

I also took three tomato cages out of the front garden and pulled the unproductive tomato plants. I am not sure why, but the front gardens were vigorous producers of beautiful marigolds and not many veggies this year. We were both quite disappointed. The brussel sprouts are still out there. They do not mind the cold, but growth might not happen much. It seems that pea size is their goal. We are sad. I bought some and they were wonderful size with good flavor.

Leroy is even planning to go the community garden tonight, if he feels peppy enough. He was talking about gathering the green tomatoes that are left on the vine.

Paula