A trip to the store

Hello,

 

Leroy and I went off to the store this morning with the idea to buy potatoes, eggs, and chickpea flour. Well, dried apricots were on sale with more than half off; four containers went into the cart. Brown rice was on a good sale so three packages went into the cart. Millet and barley were also on sale, but we do not eat as much of those so it was only one bag each. Organic fair trade bananas were half off. We were low on bananas some of them went in the cart too.  A yogurt Leroy likes was also on sale and two packages found their way into the cart. By the time we were done shopping we had quite a few impulse buys, but happy for them. We especially like those apricots.

 

It seemed that there could be some more color at the back door of the church. On the way home the store that we pass still had some plants. We got three pots at 75% off. What a great deal.

 

We dropped the plants at the church, went home, put away the groceries, ate a snack, packed up what we needed and walked back to the church, me with a back pack and Leroy with a three foot spade. At church we discussed where to put the plants. Another member also put in some advice. Leroy got water while I dug the first hole. Even though they were hanging baskets we took the plants out and put them in the ground. We patted ourselves on the back and walked home.

 

This added a lot of steps to our totals and gave us a good feeling for giving some beauty.

 

Paula

 

Little Free Library

June 29, 2021

 

Hello,

 

There are elves that come in the middle of the night to put books in the library. At least we think that is what is happening. Since I have put up pictures on social media we are getting a lot of books. Many cook books are “hot” items as they only seem to stay a day or two. Some of the neighbor boys, when going by said that is what they would like. Cooking and kids! Who knew?

 

Yesterday morning when the checking on the little library, it was not full with all titles able to be observed. This morning was a totally new look with many books in both the adult and children sector. What a change. Do books get added in the middle of the night?  We must fix the door as it does not close properly, but Leroy’s rubber band (bike inner tube) is helping.

 

I am surprised at myself because every day I have to check on this facility to see what has changed. Some days nothing and some days many changes have happened. We knew that there was quite a lot of foot traffic past our place, and this confirms it. It is so nice to live in a place where people walk a lot. We also see a number of runners, but not usually on our street, but a few streets over.

 

We have gone from dry to moist. We have had a number of days with just a little rain. Even though I cannot control it I would like to have a bigger rain and then a few sunny days. But it is so green now and we are grateful.

 

I am trying to give away some shoots of the fall sedum, but so far no one has been interested.

 

Paula

Up and Out Early

Hello,

 

Leroy and I planned to be in the garden by 6:00 am to beat the heat! Leroy woke at 5:15 and hopped out of bed. “You are so early?” I questioned.

 

“Yes I am ready to go,” he replied, “You do not have to come yet, but just help me move the cart out of the garage.”

 

“No, I will come now,” I grudgingly stated, as I started getting ready.

 

It was fine and nice when I got outside, especially after the almost half mile walk to the garden.

 

We got right to work with me pulling some weeds and putting down newspapers in that spot while Leroy filled the cart from the woodchip pile. We covered a nice amount of space and also managed to plant some Swiss Chard. Leroy is skeptical about this planting time, but I am all for it, so I just did it without his permission.

 

We got to the garden at 5:45 and came home at about 6:15 with a sense of accomplishment. Leroy is going to go back again Tuesday evening. Usually others help, but no one else was there this morning. I believe someone else is planning to come on Tuesday which is nice since I cannot help then with my work schedule.

 

Paula

Walking

Hello,

 

We enjoyed our walk to church this morning with a light breeze and cool air. It was warmer on the trip home, but still nice. We made plans to walk with some friends this afternoon. It was much warmer and rather humid, but we still got a big walk in. I just checked my steps now and it registers, 14,338 which logs in as over 6 miles. I will add more before the day is over, but no more big walks. Oops I forgot, we are going to pick black raspberries after we eat. So it will be a longer walk.

 

We are so grateful to live so close to the bike/walking trail. We certainly have gotten much use from it. Today we walked up to a place where a tunnel is going under a four lane busy street. We had to see the state of progress. Hopefully soon, it will open. I suspect it will be busy, busy at first. This will connect some other trails in the city. Someday it would be nice to take a bike trip to see how far we can go around the city without using the streets. I would like to be impressed.

 

I am grateful to be able to walk. I talked to some people at church who are now using walkers or canes. They both sounded upbeat that they can still move on their own. It apparently took a turn of their mind or attitude to be ready to let people see that they needed some assistance. Both of them have come to accept it and I believe that it helps them move forward. May I have as much grace at adapting to more frailty in my life if/when it comes.

 

I am grateful for 73 years to be able to move on my own with ease. Sometimes I even thank my body parts. There was once a woman who led yoga who would say we should thank our feet for all they have done for us. I have included a few more parts that have worked well for all these years.

 

Paula

Stamp Club

Hello,

 

Leroy has become an active member of the local stamp club. They have had zoom meetings for a long time. Now there is some type of show. Tonight, Leroy is going to go help set up. Seems to me he is actually looking forward to that. It certainly harkens back to our past lives that were involved with various things that required set up and take down.

 

Tomorrow he will go to the show and help some way. Since I am not involved with this, I only half listened. I am not particularly interested in going to this. I have the perfect excuse since I am scheduled to work this Saturday.

 

It is great that Leroy has this hobby that still has a few other interested people. Unfortunately most of them are old. When he is ready to get rid of his collection, will it be a hard job?

 

Leroy will be working next Saturday. Then I will work again on Saturday in two weeks. That schedule certainly makes a difference with our leisure time together.

 

We decided we should put some petunias in one of the flower gardens at church since it is a little short of color. It took a bit of a search to find some that were in individual pots. I had been hoping for significant reductions in price, but that was not the situation. Next year we must get this urge sooner so there are more choices.

 

Some of you think we walk in all types of weather. It is raining now. I need about 3,000 steps, but I am not walking. Especially with a wind, walking in the rain is not so much fun.

 

Paula

To Do List?

Hello,

 

I made a partial list of chores that I wanted to do today, my day off. In the morning at least two things were added. But all morning long I kept doing things not on the list. How did that happen?

 

Making and eating breakfast were not on the list nor was mid morning snack. There was nothing about watering house plants. Some papers lying around in the “office” caught the wandering eye. Leroy will have to tend to some of them, but they are in his space no longer in community property areas. A coworker had asked me to change Saturday working in July. The calendar showed it was good, and in looking for that I see I work on Saturday.

 

Making the bed and putting away some clothes that I was too tired to tend to last night when I came home were also not on the list, but they are done.

 

Removed some unwanted facial hair, not on the list, but happy to have seen these offensive objects and eliminated them.

 

What was on the list you ask? From top to bottom, here it is: make rhubarb/mulberry crisp, make bread, pick mulberries, exercise and figure out what to do in yoga tomorrow, read and write email, transplant pansies, and figure up expenses for April and May. All done except pick berries. We might do that this evening or we might go look for a new mattress.

 

Paula

More books and learning

Hello,

 

There are now more books in the little free library with more to come tomorrow. Books are out there and they will find a new home.

 

Pulling weeds this morning for a short time was quite delightful in the cool air. We have had some rain so most of them actually were jerked out by the roots, never to come back.

 

I learned a new thing on zoom this morning. I was hosting the tai chi class through the library account. At the end of tai chi another group would be using it, usually hosted by someone else on the library staff. Both of my co-workers were not able to do that so it was requested that I make someone else the temporary host. I had not done that before so I did not get as focused for the rest of the tai chi class, consequently I missed out on some of the relaxing benefits. As it turned out, it was quite easy to pass off the host job to the person who was going to do it. He was not as prompt in joining the meeting, so the rest of the people looked quite confused when they saw me there. They have never seen me before. Anyway if I can remember it, it was quite easy to do. If it happens in a timely manner, it will be easy to remember. If it is months down the road, I may not remember. I must become more comfortable with just searching around electronically. It seems to me that is a big generation gap. I was taught not to mess with things if I did not know about them. Now it seems one must try things to figure out how they work.

 

Paula