Canned Tomatoes

Hello, Because of a gift of tomatoes, there are six jars in the canner cooling down. It is a challenge to remember how to do something that was done last year or the year before that. Leroy is working so it was just my memory that needed to work. My plan was to deliver neighborhood newsletters yesterday and today. Yesterday, the light sprinkle changed that plan and today, the canning and the return of warm outdoors has changed that plan. Maybe this evening I will get some more done when it is cooler. We were also gifted with some green beans and cucumbers. Perhaps tomorrow, the pickles will be canned. Not sure when I last did that. A recipe will definitely be perused. We ca easily eat the green beans. It just amazes me how much we are given. Blessed above and beyond expectations. Paula

How Many Books to Read At once

Hello, Leroy and I are both reading more than one book. I frequently do that when I read nonfiction. I like to have something in hand that is much lighter. One of my books is the Genius of Birds. I like it but there are a lot of words. The next is the Secrets We Kept. It is about women spies during the cold war. It is good, but not much of a break from serious as this historical fiction has its own kind of serious. A Miss Julia book by Ann B. Ross is the light stuff of the day. Love Without Limits is also good, but not light reading. It is a book that will be discussed when, in September, we go to Holden Village. Leroy is reading some fantasy book that is part of a series as his go to reading. The second book that he is reading is The Planet You Inherit. He is not so thrilled about it for two reasons, he does not often read nonfiction and he has not read anything he does not know or heard discussed some other place. This is another book in preparation for our trip in September. Paula

Handing out Produce

Hello, Yesterday, Leroy and I stopped at the garden on the way home from watering at church. I found the cucumber that I had missed before and a few more besides. We picked green beans as well as a few tomatoes. We hoped to give away some of this bounty on the way home. As we walked along, someone yelled, “Left!” I looked back saw this bicycle bearing down on us, dashed to the side, and realized he was coming at me. I almost got a foot from the sidewalk, thinking I would get behind one of the legs of the swing set since he was still coming. He managed to stop without hitting either of us. I apologized saying I had trouble with left and right. Much later I realized I did go right. The usual protocol around here is for bikes to keep left and you announce, “On your left.” As you go around. However, on a quiet street such as this the bike should be riding in the street. We talked a little, and I asked, “Would you like a cucumber?” “I would like a fourth. Do you have a knife?” he wondered. We ended up breaking one of them and he promptly ate it. He did not want anything else. We gave away two to a neighbor on a porch. Another man was walking towards us. He was glad to take some cucumbers. I fished around the broken one and told why it was broken. His response to that was, “Who would do that? Just take a small amount of one?” We had a good laugh about that. The larger tomato had blossom end rot, but he said he would take that too. He knew what to do with it because in his country he had gardened with his mom. Leroy asked, “What country is that?” “Zimbabwe.” He replied. We chatted some more. He certainly seemed like a nice guy. Paula

Leroy Shoe Shopping

Hello, Because there is a tax-free holiday on certain items this weekend, Leroy wanted to buy “tennis” shoes. He planned to check deals at three different stores in town. One of the stores was by the grocery so I said I would go too. While backing out of the garage, I asked, “What store first?” He thought for a while and decided on an agenda. The first two stores are fairly close together and close to the grocery. It is quite hot today so we did not loiter outside but went quickly in the first store. He was looking at the shelves of regular priced shoes so I suggested he try the clearance racks. He found two pair that he wanted to try on. The clerk came to help. He tried on one shoe, but it was too tight, one down and one to go. The next one felt good so she went to the back to find the mate. He got on both shoes, walked around a bit, sat down, and said, “I will get these.” Wow! One and done! That has almost never happened. The no tax rule did not apply here because it has to be on items that cost less than one hundred dollars. The clerk said, “We are not participating in that because almost nothing applies, but we are taking seven percent off the price because that would equal the tax and you will actually come out a bit better off.” So, it was a good deal that did not require much driving and Leroy feels quite confident about these shoes and did not dither around. All sales are final on marked down shoes, but he is quite satisfied. I am not used to such quick shoe purchase decisions from Leroy. Paula

Leroy Came Home

Hello, Leroy came home from work unexpectedly. He will work on Saturday because his boss wants that day off. He was feeling full of pep and energy so he helped wash the kitchen floor, got some things out of the garage, and took pictures of my old bike so we could try to sell it. It had become harder to walk around out there. We made a trip to the Restore with some of the boards that he had. They did not take the smaller ones, but did take the larger. It is great to get them out of there. As he said, “Now I can walk around in front of the car.” That will be especially true when the bike goes. I did take advantage of the car and things being out of the way to sweep up a bit. That felt good too. The Restore is close to the library so we made a stop there as well. I picked up a book that a friend recommended called, The Genius of Birds. When I asked for the location, the person working the desk commented, “That sounds interesting.” Paula

Nap or Not

Hello, I have started to take naps. I wonder is something wrong, but I feel fine, however I do seem to wake up several times a night. I would like to sleep for a longer stretch of time, but have not figured out how to do that at night. Yesterday, we had our neighborhood gathering. It was disappointing that only three people came, but glad someone did. In the past when we hosted, quite a few more people attended. Our neighbors are mostly newer now, perhaps that makes the difference. It was quite comfortable to sit outside and we had a nice visit with those who were here. Leroy said it was more effort to ride his bike to work and then to come home was hard because it was so hot. Hopefully, today was better. At least it is a nice temperature outside. I saw a nice cucumber in the community garden on my walk to church. I did not want to carry it around that much, but planned to get it on the way home. I searched high and low among those leaves, but could not find that cucumber. Hoping someone came and picked it otherwise it will be quite large. Leroy does not eat so many sweets. Someone at work handed out a dessert that was quite rich. He felt quite awful when he came home. Paula

Full Days

Hello, Not sure how it happened, but my days feel full. With tai chi, watering church plants, bringing chairs home from church, making granola, and getting things ready for the neighborhood night out, there is a little time to read, but not much. Leroy came home and announced, “It is hot outside.” He also told, “There was a kid riding his skate board in the parking garage. I told him he cannot do that. He just packed up and left on his bike.” Sometimes they have a lot of trouble with kids on their boards in the garages downtown. They could use a park. I do not measure the vanilla when I make granola. Just dumping a little works fine. Today I forgot that there is not a little opening on the bottle. It was a copious amount in the honey and oil mixture. The granola tastes just fine, but now we need to buy more vanilla. Gas prices went up. Yesterday we got gas in my car and it was 45 cents less per gallon than it is today. Sometimes we are ahead of the price moves. Some of Leroy’s coworkers are joining in tai chi. They can follow the moves ahead of the form by watching on zoom, but after that is finished, Leroy is doing a bit of in person teaching. He has had to check his moves. Nothing like being a teacher to being up the standard. Paula