Where's Fall?

After a week of nice temperatures, we are back into the 90s until Sunday.  I've been trying to update our web page so I've not been updating my blog.  It was down due to something with the servers for about a week.  Tripod has done a really great job resolving issues I've had as I've gotten back into both the blog and the web page.  

I am doing the photo album buy years and the closer to present I get, the more digital suff I have available.  I shared some of the photos on FB and didn't have to wory about naming protocol.  To put them on the web page using Cute FTP, I have to make sure I am following protocol exactly or the photos won't transfer.  When I was learning all this, we had to use protocols but eventually, windows made it mostly unnecessary.  Spaces, dashes, etc. were OK.  Glad I remember the old-school way of doing everything, even html coding, because some of it still applies! 

Our neighbors across the street, Shana and Jeff, are going home to Wisconsin this month.  She accepted a job with the University of Wisconsin and while I am so happy for her, I am sad for us.  On the other hand, we want to take an extended trip to Wisconsin, so we will see them again pretty soon!

After 36 years of hand watering, we are finally installing a drip irrigation system.  I think it will be a good improvement.  The past several years, we've had stone walls and steps installed at the sides and across the back of our yard to terrace the steep slope.  I can now easily walk to the bottom of the yard.  The terrace gives us more opportunity for flower beds and borders.  The result has been an influx of bird, butterflies, and a plethora of honey bees.  We haven't had that many bees in years!

I am so happy with the many choices we've made over the years.  We actively planned for retirement for many years.  We have some minor health issues, but hey, we're old!  There's little else we really worry about.  We are doing a lot more together now that we are both retired.  We are doing things that we hadn't considered previously because they fall on a weekend and we had too much "work" to do at home.  I plan to sign up for classes in the Spring and reserve Summer and Fall for having fun.

I really want to pinch myself sometimes because this seems like such a dream after so many years of working.

 

Retirement

I retired on July 7, 2017.  Lots of family, friends, co-workers and tenants came to wish me well.  So far, it has been wonderful.  I have time to sit outside and enjoy relaxing, taking time to do things I've always had to put off, and just enjoying life.

Friday
I'm glad it's Friday so I can spend time with Stan this weekend.  He is getting his "workshop" set up and every day he goes to one or another hardware store and picks up another something.  He's building work benches, putting up stuff to hold stuff, assembling tools he got for Christmas and generally is like a kid with a new playhouse.  I'm glad he's enjoying retirement.  Life is good.

Thoughts

Love really is the answer to everything.  Hate is self-consuming.  Haters, bullies, fake Christians spiral down into an abyss of their own creation - lonely even in a crowd.  We are, after all, the person we create. 

Happy New Year

Hope the new year finds my friends well.  I am planning my retirement for the last week of December this year.  I love my job but want to spend quality time with the hubbs.  We have been so blessed for so many years. 

Stan's foot issues are finally behind us.  He did about two months of casts in November and December to keep him from flexing his foot and at the same time did  hyperbaric treatment every day.  He is now released from restrictions and is celebrating his full recovery.  We started the ordeal in September of 2014 and finished in December 2015.  He is well worth the effort!

We addressed the back yard slope with rock walls this fall.  I can now get to the bottom of the yard on very large rock steps (about 5 x 5) and am so happy with the added safety and beauty. 

We lost Trixy this fall.  She was partially paralyzed and used a cart to get around when we weren't carrying her.  She was a brave and sweet little Boston but the nerve damage apparently started causing seizures.  It is hard to be without a dog but we don't plan on pets for a while. 

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  Christmas Eve was at Mother's with friends and family.  Christmas Day was very special, getting to spend it with two very special young ladies we hadn't seen for a while.  New Year's Day, Walter came over for ham and black eyed peas. 

Again, Happy New Year.  May it bring all the joys life can hold. 

Wonder If I Can Get Back to This

It has been such a busy weekend for me.  Stan isn't allowed much time on his feet so that he will heal faster.  My surgery for a small skin cancer on my shin went well last week and is gradually becoming less of a bother.

 I have everything either in the fridge or in the crock post for the week.  I made meat loaf, beef vegetable soup, Beef stroganoff, and slow-cooked three huge chicken breasts.  We are having roast this evening, soup tomorrow, stroganoff Wednesday, salmon croquettes Thursday, trout on Friday, and chicken & dumplings on Saturday.  I made a breakfast pizza this morning - sausage, egg, pepper-jack cheese, and jalapenos.  It makes 8 servings so we will be seeing it later.

Stan has been making dinner since he is retired, but with the new restrictions, I thought it best to get as much done as possible.  I really want him to get past this final small hurdle so we can get back to doing things.

We tried last weekend to go to the Leonard's museum.  Because of the slide thing, the restaurant that operates the museum was closed so they could set up a booth at the slide.  It would have been nice if they'd put a notice on their web page.  I'd have found something else with very little walking for us to do rather than waste the only entertainment time we had for the week on a closed event.  We had lunch at Lucille's and that was nice.  We haven't been able to do things along the Camp Bowie corridor for a while.  I love that area of Fort Worth, but then, I love most areas west of 161.

We grew lettuce in a container this spring and had our first salad from the garden last weekend.  Home-grown leaf lettuce is so delicate - not like the commercial stuff you buy at the grocery stores.  Even the organic stuff isn't as delicate.  We may try to get several similar containers and keep a crop in rotation all year.  The peas are pretty well done for the year and the beans are just about dormant for now.  I am going to try to get out and pull up the stalks and send them to the composter so I can get a okra and corn in the beds. 

Stan planted 100 gladiolas for me after the rain had slowed down some.  They are all about 2' tall now and we should have flowers all over the house before long.  The yellow and red roses out front are on their second round of blooms as is the pink honeysuckle.  I wintered over most of the potted flowers and they are all out front and glorious.  I rooted four mock strawberries from an existing plant and it is almost as big as it's parent plant.  They are amazing if you like foliage. 

I hope I can find a few minutes every week to blog.  It is so relaxing!  Sometimes you just need to sit down and make a list of what you got done so you don't feel like you aren't accomplishing much.  I work at a job I love and come home to a life I love.   I don't always feel like  I'm keepin up with everything though.  I'm pretty much a type A person with not quite enough energy.

Hope your week goes well to anyone reading this. 

New Year's Eve

We will be staying in for New Year's Eve.  Stan is fixing "hobo dinners" for us - it's a hamburger patty, potatos and onion wrapped in foil with seasonings and baked in the oven for a couple of hours. 

Although Stan is well enough to go out tonight, I don't want to leave Trixy alone.  She knows she is helpless and if she wakes up while we are gone, I'm afraid she will be scared. 

We had a wonderful Christmas.  The best present this year was that Stan was released to drive and do do more walking, but only in a limited way.  He did not need a skin graft when he went in on the 22nd.  He doesn't go back to see the doctor until January 19.  He's been going in every week, so that is a real improvement.

We are so blessed.  The ten days I was off around Christmas were so much fun.  We love being together and doing things together.  We have great neighbors so it was fun being outside on the nicer days.  One neighbor baked us a pecan pie using pecans from her tree.  It was truly the best pecan pie we've ever had.  MUST get the recipe.

Saturday, December 20, 2014
Now Playing: 12-20-14

I've had a productive day so far.  The laundry is done.  My meal plans for next week are done.  I've downloaded my grocery list and am ready to go to the store.

I just took Trix out and she seems very happy to be somewhat independent.  She isn't a master of her wheelchair yet, but she manages pretty well for only having had it about 24 hours.

I talked to Donna yesterday afternoon and I will be going over to help her with groceries.  I'll probably take her some soup, too.

Stan and I went to see Dr. Reddy yesterday and he had blood work done to check his A1c.  She told him to follow the doctor's orders regarding his foot because it is quite serious and needs to heal completely before he is totally out of the woods.

I need to get a couple more gift cards and my shopping is done.  I made one gift and purchased a couple of others but haven't really had the time to do any shopping because I have so much to do here.  I leave the house at 6:45 every morning and get home at 5:45-6:00 in the evening.  That's 11 hours "at work."  I try to plan easy meals or have them ready in the freezer and that's worked well.  I make two kinds of soup every weekend and Stan is pretty happy having that for lunch.  He seems to really like the chicken noodle and chicken pot pie soups.  I keep shaved honey ham (yuck-nitrates) for him.  Mostly we have nitrate free everything but he really likes the stuff in the little packages.  It may not have nitrates - I didn't check. 

Everything I had planned for fall got cancelled because he wasn't supposed to be walking much.  After the surgery, he wasn't supposed to be up except to go to the bathroom.  I let him sit on the deck out front with me on Halloween and pass out candy.   We told everyone we were dressed up as two old people sitting on the porch.

For Thanksgiving, we went to the cafeteria.  I put Stan in a wheelchair and although it bruised his manhood, he did well.  He even went to Big Lots with me (something he wanted me to find) and used their wheelchair.  He had adjusted to being wheeld around by that time and was happy not to have to walk.

He will see his doctor Monday and may be told he is pretty much healed.  I have already been told he will have to wear custome shoes and custom inserts the rest of his life.  I'm not going to let him abuse his foot even if the doctor says he can walk more.

 I'm off all next week and will be able to spend much appreciated time with my guy and our puppy.  Before all this happened, Stan was able to be a big help.  Now, I won't let him do anything.  My decision, but I feel like there is so much to do and not enough time.  I'm only blogging now because I needed a rest from standing up. 

Summer's Final Weeks

I am looking forward to fall with great enthusiasm this year.  We will be going to the pumpkin patch and maze again this year.  I have mapped out some other activities to celebrate the cooler weather. 

 

We took the boat out to watch the fireworks from the water a couple of times this year.   Both times we went out with good friends.  Former neighbors came to town for a visit then a friend from work and grad school came with us to watch the season finale.  Keeping the boat at a marina was a great idea.  I love going fishing in the fall.  I’m not one of those people that think that a tan is worth the damage to the skin.  I avoid the summer sun as much as possible.

 

We’re about half way there on converting the sun room into an herb green house.  It should be complete by the time the plants come in for winter.  I like having fresh herbs.  They are so cheerful  - and tasty!  Stan used to complain when I brought home parsley from the grocery store because you seldom use it all before it is green slime.  A plant just keeps on giving so the effort of keeping it alive is its own reward.

 

It's been a while!
I've been so busy, I forgot I had a blog. :)  All is well.