Personal Best

 11,362 steps today, and I’m not in bed yet!

We walked a bit over a mile, I did 3 loads of laundry plus a load of towels, cleaned the master bathroom which involved several trips from one end of the house to the other end getting supplies and equipment, and prepared three meals.  All the time I was thinking about how I wanted to be in the recliner reading.

Also I did Wordle in 2 tries!  First time ever.

Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket.

First Rain of the Season

 The PG&E guy came by on Thursday to light the pilot in our gas fireplace.  We turned it on that afternoon  to get rid of the initial dusty smell but haven’t needed it since.

However I expect we will be using it frequently this week.  7/100ths of an inch of rain this evening, with more predicted.

Our gutters hadn’t been cleaned since late 2019 so we had them done Saturday.  Talk about just in time!

Now I need to schedule the window cleaner.

While PG&E was here I mentioned that there was a funny smell in the garage when I use the dryer.  He suggested that I might need to clean the dryer vent.  So I pulled the dryer out and found that the vent hose was completely detached from the machine.  I reattached it, hope it stays when I do the laundry tomorrow.

Summer is Over '

 Our nights have been getting cooler and we haven’t lit the fireplace pilot light.  I remember last year we had some trouble lighting it, so I’m reluctant to try it by myself.  I did notice when I was paying my PG&E bill on line that you can schedule it, so I may try doing that.

Meanwhile we need the heat so yesterday I cleaned the furnace filters and turned it on.  The house was warm enough that the heater did not come on before the thermostat went to its overnight setting,  but this morning at 8am it started up.  Not for long, as today was a warm one, high of 81°.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler, with high wind warnings from 5am till 5pm on Tuesday. 

Tomorrow is also a federal holiday, not sure what will be open and what closed.  But I do have a dental appointment, confirmed, so I know they are open.

Merry Christmas to All

CHRISTMAS DINNER 2020

Baked Spiral-Cut Ham

Scalloped Potatoes 

Steamed Broccoli

Cabbage Salad

Sourdough Bread

Hot Mulled Cider

Pumpkin Pie with Eggnog

First Figs

 

Brown Turkey Fig

When I went out to throw something in the trash can, I scared a bird out of the  near end of the fig tree.  So I investigated and found half a dozen ripe, or nearly ripe, figs.  This is the ripest and was delicious.  I need to check the rest of the tree and hope I will find more before the birds get them.

This “tree” is espaliered along the fence on the east side of our property.  So it extends for maybe 20 feet but is only 8-10 feet high. This makes it easier to pick the fruit plus it doesn’t cast shade the way a regular tree would.

Another Twitter-Free Thursday

 I was successful last Thursday, so decided to try it again. In fact, I’m tempted to stop looking at news completely. It just seems that things get worse every day.  It’s possible that Europe is entering the second phase of COVID-19, our sitting president is suggesting that he won’t leave office if he loses (his rationale being that, if Biden wins, the democrats must have cheated), wildfires continue in the western states, and there is unrest in our cities. I can’t change anything by reading about it and reading about it just upsets me, so maybe I should just opt out, cast my vote as soon as possible, and hope for the best.

Last Thursday Mr B had an early afternoon appointment so, on the way home, we decided to be brave and stop at Smashburger to but lunch.  First fast food we've had in over 6 months and the first time we have been to this place.  Mr B says his burger was excellent, as was my chicken sandwich.  However the fries, both regular and the Smash fries, left a lot to be desired.  We didn’t get drinks as we were planning to eat it at home.

Another 1 pm appointment today, so I think we will try Chipotle this time.  One of my favorites and only recently opened here.

Twitter-Free Thursday

 I’m going to try.  Usually I look at Twitter while I’m eating breakfast but this morning I got interested in an article on HuffPost about OAN TV, the conservative news channel.  Then I needed to get moving because I have an eye doctor appointment this morning.  I’m hoping for a new prescription because I have not been happy with the one I had last year.

Anyway while I was in the shower I realized that I hadn’t checked Twitter and that I was still alive, so maybe Twitter isn’t so necessary.  Then I came up with the alliteration, so there it is.  I’m sure my family will be happy not to get the occasional forwarded Tweet from me.

Watch this space for a further report as to success or failure.  I’m not betting either way.

A Walk in the Park

Last Saturday afternoon we decided to brave the heat and smoke to drive to a small park a few miles from our house.  The temperature was in the upper 90s but we thought we needed to get out of the house.  As we had hoped there were no other people there and we were able to manage about 15 minutes before we wilted.  Rusty was so happy, he stopped every few feet to smell and mark. 

This may be why there was no one else around:

But, on the plus side, there was this. 

Some of the cans looked a bit elderly but the intention is a good one.

Since the weekend our temperatures have been moving back towards normal.  Late yesterday afternoon I even thought about wearing a sweater when I went out to pull an onion for dinner.  Nighttime temperatures are back in the low to mid-fifties, which is our normal.  We still have hazy skies and the occasional smell of smoke, probably from the Monterey County fires, but could be from the Santa Cruz or the Santa Clara fires.  I can’t remember that we have ever been surrounded this way.

Second Hottest Day of the Year

 Maybe the century.  Yesterday we topped out at 113° and today 109°.  Our county tweeted a warning that this heatwave is expected to last until Friday 8/21.  We are hunkered down indoors, with all the windows closed. No TV since Thursday because our big screen plasma just pours out the heat.  Nice in the winter but deadly right now.  We sat on the patio after dinner last evening and watched the Giants' game on my iPad.

                           Even Rusty is too hot to perform his usual guard dog duties.

One Month Later

We are still living under stay-at-home orders, seems like there is no end in sight.  On the bright side, we are both still healthy.
Mr. B walks Rusty most days, even though April has been cold and gray, with some rainy days in the early part of the month.
I had thought I would be spending a lot of time in the sewing room but that hasn’t happened.  I seem to be planning meals and cooking a lot more.  I’m also being careful about not wasting food.  I’ve always kept a pretty well-stocked pantry and the freezer is full,  but I can’t help worrying about running out.
The first weekend of the lockdown our son drove down here to get the pickup truck running (needed a new battery) and did some shopping for me at Safeway.  No eggs except for duck eggs at $1 each in a carton of six.

One duck egg is equal to 1.5 large chicken eggs but I couldn’t tell any difference in taste.  We usually have two eggs each for Sunday breakfast but I tried cooking only one each, since two in the pan would have been too crowded.  Not quite enough, so the following week I cooked two each which was really a little too much.
Son did not come in the house when he was here.  He put the groceries on a table in the garage and then stood in the driveway and talked to Mr B who was sitting in the garage.
Nob Hill market does not deliver in our area so I had placed an online pick up order.  The earliest available time slot is ten days away.

Life from inside the 2020 pandemic

It’s Day 3 of the Shelter-in-Place order in our county.
On Monday Mr B and I drove to our local Nob Hill supermarket because we needed bread and eggs plus corned beef and cabbage for St Patrick’s Day dinner.  The bread selection was skimpy and the egg shelves were totally empty.  We expected the toilet paper and hand sanitizer shortages but eggs?
The meat shelves were spotty but fresh vegetables seemed to be in good supply. And our check-out line was fairly short, although the store was much busier than is usual on a Monday, lots of elderly folks as well.
Our county has had 5 confirmed cases of the Corona virus with one death, a person in his sixties with underlying health conditions who had recently traveled to Thailand.  Apparently 911 was called but the first responders could not revive him.  So now three firefighters and two ambulance people are in isolation for the next two weeks.
Mr B still walks Rusty most days but I’ve been content to stay in the house.  I’d like to be in the garden pulling weeds so I can plant veggies but it has been rainy and cold lately.  I seem to be feeling the cold a lot more this winter.  I guess old age has finally caught up with me.

This was our dinner last night.  I cooked the corned beef in the oven but boiled the vegetables on top of the stove.  The Irish soda bread is mostly whole wheat and I used raisins because I don’t have any currants.  That I could locate, anyway.

For Pi day on Saturday I baked a lime meringue pie using a lemon recipe.  We have a bumper crop of limes this year.  I thought it had a slight off-taste but Mr B and our daughter didn’t seem to notice it.  Could have been the cornstarch in the filling or the shortening in the crust.  Both have been around a while and should probably be replaced.
Cold and gray again today, makes me want to cuddle up on the couch and read my Bosch novel.  Thank goodness I can borrow kindle books online through the Santa Clara County library.  Our local library also has this capability but not such a big selection.

Test Post

Apparently the Blogger app doesn’t work anymore so we'll see if we can do it the old fashioned way.

My new Cuisinart with the two lids. 

 I use the smaller lid for everything except slicing and grating.  A lot easier to clean.

Strange Winds in the Night

The other night, about 3am or so, my bedroom door started rattling, enough to wake me up.  I realized that it was very windy, something that never happens at night around here unless we are having a winter storm.  And in that case I would have all the windows closed.  Still too warm in the house to close windows, so I propped the door open and went back to sleep.  The next day I mentioned it to the son and he sent me this link explaining the phenomenon:

Middle of the night

The last couple of weeks have been unusual, weatherwise.  First we had several days of near-100 degree heat with fairly warm nights.  I even took to washing dishes by hand because I didn't want to heat up the kitchen with the dishwasher.  Then it cooled off somewhat but the humidity was 40 to 50% which is really high for us.  Then we had predictions for a couple of days of thunder and lightning and maybe some rain.  No rain here but we did hear a bit of thunder one afternoon.  That was supposed to be over day before yesterday but this morning we had enough rain to wet the patio and sidewalks, again unusual for us in September. Today is mild and the wind came up about mid-day which is the norm.

Banana Update

Last week, the bananas were still green so I took them back to Costco.  The clerk did not seem at all surprised.  Apparently they see this problem a lot with the organic bananas.

The banana that just won't get ripe.

Bought a bunch of bananas almost two weeks ago at Costco and they are still green!

Last Saturday my daughter suggested I put one with other fruit to see if that helped, but this is the result...

Road Trip 2015 Day 15

Henderson, NV to Home 

 Highway 95 south out of Henderson is a quiet, mostly 2 lane road through deceptively flat desert.  A good part of the road looks flat but is a series of gentle roller coaster bumps.  At one point we had to wait at a level crossing for a very long freight train to pass.  We never did see where Nevada became California and there was no CA Inspection Station. 

We stopped in Needles to retrieve Mr. B's briefcase and then were on our way west and north, through Tehachapi, where we saw some lightning but no rain, and Bakersfield.  We ran into a major construction delay not long after we reached I-5.  That ate up a good hour.

We decided on one last really good meal before the trip ended, so we stopped at Harris Ranch.

Mr. B's choice

My choice.

I would have taken pictures of the actual food but we couldn't wait to dig in.

We ran into one more setback after we left I-5.  Because of a fire on the west side of Pacheco Pass, there were bomber planes dropping retardant, a helicopter with a water bucket, and dozens of fire trucks.  But there was still one lane open so we were able to get through.

It had been a hot day here but we were really happy to be home.

Road Trip 2015 Day 14

Glenwood Springs, CO to Henderson, NV

 Another early start.  Stopped for breakfast at Denny's in Grand Junction, CO.  My eye has started to hurt again so I called the Doctor and was told to increase the frequency of the drops.

Utah has really nice rest areas.  Frequent, clean, and usually located at a particularly scenic spot.  Though, I've got to admit, it's hard to find a spot in Utah that isn't scenic.  At least along I-70.

But we finally came to the end of the road at I-15 and, from there to Las Vegas, it was pretty much just  desert.  As we were coming in to Las Vegas, in the usual rush hour traffic, I noticed a column of smoke to the west.  Later we saw on TV that a British Airways 777 had caught fire while getting ready for take off from Las Vegas Airport.  Sounds like the pilot narrowly averted a real disaster.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus in Henderson.  Lovely room but no restaurant.  Not wanting to drive anymore, we walked a few blocks to a small casino.  Bad call.  The food was not good, nor was the service.
Oh, well, tomorrow we should be home.  And my eye is no longer hurting.

Road Trip 2015 Day 13

Topeka, KS to Glenwood Springs, CO

It rained during the night and was still raining as we loaded up the car.  But then it stopped and was mostly cloudy as we drove west through Kansas on Interstate 70.  Kansas is very generous with rest areas - one about every 50 miles.  Kansas is also one of the flattest places I've ever seen. In the western part of the state we saw a lot of the same kind of crop, with a red seed stalk.  Made the fields look like a sea of red.  I think it is called Milo, a grain sorghum good for low rainfall areas.

Colorado Welcome Center

This is Labor Day so we thought driving through Denver in the early afternoon would be a piece of cake.  But we didn't factor in the surprise rainstorm.  Holy cow!  It sure can rain in Denver.

About the time we hit the western suburbs, the rain was gone and it was a beautiful sunny day again.  But the eastbound lanes of I-70 were stop and go for the next 40 miles.  We stopped at Georgetown for a rest break and the elevation of 8530' hit me as soon as I got out of the car.  I was woozy and it felt like I was on a boat in a rough sea.  Walking to the bathrooms was pretty scary and I held on to Mr. B for dear life.  We decided not to spend the night there and continued driving through beautiful Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs which is about 5000'.


We had a really good meal at Vic's Route 66 Grillhouse.  I ordered the Jager Schnitzel with spaetzle. Yummy.

Our motel had the most amazing view.

Road Trip 2015 Day 12

Centerville, IA to Kirksville, MO to Topeka, KS

This morning was supposed to be more coffee and conversation at the High School but we decided to hit the road instead.  We drove east on IA 2 so that we could stop at Mt. Ararat Cemetery, where Mr. B's grandparents and one great grandmother are buried.

Howard and Fanny Ashby

Deborah Fowler Bills Stevens

 After that, it was on to Kirksville where an old friend and classmate of Mr. B now lives with his wife.  They were celebrating the friend's 80th birthday in the common room of their apartment building.  More good food and good company.  We met their daughters and families for the first time.  Such nice people.  The son-in-law and a granddaughter even taught us to play Shanghai, a rummy-type card game that is lots of fun, especially for a big group.

We had thought about spending the night in Kirksville, but the call of home was too strong and we decided to see how far along we could get.  As it turned out, we made it all the way to Topeka, Kansas.  After we checked in to our hotel we wanted to go for a nice dinner but again were too tired to drive anymore.  So we walked to a nearby fast food place. 

Freddy's

 

Road Trip 2015 Days 9-11

Des Moines to Centerville, IA

We had planned to do some sightseeing with Cousin but we woke up still tired and decided to head south early.  Most of the trip, minus about 5 minutes on I-40 in Des Moines, was on good secondary roads through the green Iowa countryside.  After several years of California drought we just can't get enough of this green.

Stopped in Albia, Monroe County, to stretch our legs and because I had seen a sign for a fabric/yarn shop.  The shop turned out to be open only on Saturdays so we started to walk around the square.
When we saw this sign we realized that we really needed something to eat.

The owner told us that she hadn't been open long and was planning to expand beyond pastries into lunches.  It must have been a cafe before because there was a lovely old lunch counter (not being used yet.)
We each had a very large and very good blueberry muffin and a cup of excellent coffee. 

Back in Mr. B's home town we checked into Motel 60, our usual choice, although it is definitely showing its age.  But in its favor, it's just around the corner from our favorite tenderloin sandwich shop.

Waiting for our order.

 Eating a tenderloin

 Friday morning started with a visit to Jenz Trendz, just off the square, for a shampoo.  Such a treat to have someone else give my head a good scrub.  Then we stopped at Morgan's Ice Cream shop on the square for a cup of coffee.  They also serve breakfast pizza so we ordered one of those to share.  Good thing we didn't order two because we only had room for half.  This must be my time for expanding my pizza vocabulary because I had never heard of pizza for breakfast but I'm definitely a big fan now.

After our impromptu breakfast we drove to our favorite laundromat to take care of domestic duties.  I think this may be the only time we need to do this before we get home. I even managed to do a Friday Fling (Yahoo Stashbusters thing) by giving away a container of laundry detergent for top loading machines.  I've been trying to use it up when we travel but finally admitted that's not going to happen.

Friday evening we drove to Unionville for the Unionville High School Class of '54 dinner.  However, my GPS let me down and when we got there we had to call the hostess for directions.  Turns out she lives just a short distance south of the IA/MO state line, so we had to drive almost half way back to Centerville.

But it was worth it.  Mr. B had a wonderful time visiting with old friends and I, though I didn't go to school with any of these people, had a fine time meeting them again as well.  They always make me feel so welcome.  Our hostess did all the cooking herself and everything was delicious - pulled pork, mac & cheese, baked beans, homemade pickled beets, carrot cake, and a big green salad with lots of spinach in it.  It was late by the time we got back to the motel, too late and too tired to try out my new swimsuit in the indoor pool.

Saturday morning we drove the twenty miles back to Unionville for the all-school reunion.  When Mr. B was in high school it was known as UHS, Unionville High.  The gym is the only thing remaining of that school.

The new school is now the only one in the entire county and has a section for elementary school, another for middle school, and another for high school and is named Putnam County R-1.  The elementary school shares the building but is otherwise separate.  I believe the middle and high schools share the common room, the auditorium and the athletic fields.  The mascot is The Midgets which has led to some controversy lately.  However, I don't think they will be changing it anytime soon.

Lunch was served in the Commons and was quite good, as it always is.

 Saturday afternoon we all gathered in the auditorium for a welcome and updates about the school.  The various classes were introduced - there were even some graduates of Class of 1939.  After that, we were entertained by the Imboden family.  They are well known for their religious and old-time music.  Really enjoyed this, especially the sing-alongs.

The evening festivities were due to start in the courthouse square about six pm so we had some time to kill.  Didn't want to drive back to Centerville, so I bullied Mr. B into walking around town.  I didn't tell him, but my plan was to walk to the cemetery.  His great great grandmother and her second husband are buried there.  This time we couldn't find her stone but we did find his.

The cemetery is only a few blocks from the square but the temperature, even in late afternoon, was in the upper 90s and the humidity was way up there too, so we were really dragging by the time we finished.

So we set up our chairs and bought a couple of "walking tacos", another food item new to me.  Very good and easy to eat wherever.  Must try this out on the grandchildren.  Dessert was homemade ice cream.

A little later we joined a group tour of the courthouse clock.  One of the locals, a member of the Rotary Club, has learned how to maintain it and is now passing along his expertise to some younger folks.  So we can expect the clock to continue to run for a long time.

Clock Mechanism Putnam County MO Courthouse

The third floor courtroom is quite impressive.  It is easy to imagine some very serious matters being considered here in past times.  The spectator area has a floor that slopes upwards so that people in the back can see the action.

Bench, Jury area and Counsel table

We had planned to spend the evening listening to the band play and possibly dancing, but once again old age prevailed and we decided to head back to Centerville and a good night's sleep.