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