Blue Springs has been having "trick or treat" events for the past week.. Main Street for the city's part... restaurants, churches, nursing homes etc. Whoever.. wherever...
So tonight after days of rain and cold weather only a few young teens showed up at our door for candy! Guess we'll be eating some candy ourselves when we return from San Diego!!
The wedding is over...wasn't sure my grand daughter would make it down the aisle.... she was so nervous and stressed! Looking wonderful though as was the groom in his tux. My son-in-law walked Lili down the aisle...when all was said and done Lili was in smiles.
We are looking forward to all the pictures... the photographer took millions.
Everything was quiet Sunday.. people were recuperating!!
Today would have been our son's 55th birthday....our younger daughter left a loaf of banana bread tied to our screen door early this morning before either Bob or I were up. She came back later and we added a candle, had coffee and talked about him. There is still a huge hole in our family.
Older daughter, Bob and I head off to San Diego early Wednesday morning. A non-profit development convention for daughter... sight seeing for Bob and me!
I bet the Spire techie was glad he was done with our meter before the rain started. We have had two days of rain rain rain with fog .. we have rivers in the road gutters and swimming pools in the backyard.
Going anywhere on the Interstate meant drivers who weren't happy with the wet roads... going 20 miles BELOW the speed limit and having trouble staying in their lanes!
I went downtown to my hair stylist... had to have a trim for Lili's ( grand daughter) wedding Saturday ! She came over with her Mother to fetch her wedding dress which has been hanging in one of our closets safe from her cats at her apartment and safe from ours here!!
The groom had his final tux fitting and things are getting into ready mode!!
Spire Energy set us up with an appointment to replace our gas meter and make any adjustments if necessary. It had emailed us providing a link to their appointment "book".
The technician arrived on time and set to work... turning all off all gas appliances:furnace, kitchen stove, gas fireplace and hot water heater . I could hear all sorts of bangs from outside where the meter is/was.
When putting in the new meter he found he was missing a part and had to call another technician to bring one.
When done he had to restart everything and check with our "smart" thermostat that all was a-ok!
This was "free".. but Spire wanted to make sure all the readings were accurate and so that they got their money...lol
Sunday meant putting some of the deck back together ( at our daughter's house) ... the contractor put back the gazebo which had been on the old deck ...we added chairs and the table and had a celebration dinner!! The dinner included lentil stew with croutons which our daughter had learned from local Moroccans when she was there with the Peace Corps and wonderful fresh apple bars with whipped cream!
Lots of talking and watching the dogs enjoy the new deck which is "oh so much bigger" than the old one!!
My daughter's new deck is coming along. It is bigger than she expected and the floor and steps are done enough for the dogs to come home. They don't mind no railings... but my daughter does. No going down a full flight of stairs from the deck floor to the ground without them!!
Today the railings are being built and new steps from the kitchen door to the deck!! It looks like my daughter's celebration dinner on Sunday is on!!
BTW a neighbor asked in he could have lumber from the old deck. He didn't say what for but my daughter agreed and he took quite a bit. Less for the deck contractor to load into his "bin" !!
The deck is done..It looks great... .and so we are waiting for the paint to dry ... then the chairs, table, storage chest and grill can be put back. Sunday tasks and then a celebration dinner!!
We got together again yesterday to work on on filling the dog holes in our daughter's backyard... much easier without the dogs or the old deck!
But it was cold and wet... not quite rain but definitely not dry. Our grandson did a great job of wheeling wagon loads of dirt from the driveway where Home Depot left the bags of dirt to the back yard!
Another BUT... this weekend of "work" plus the cold and wet weather has left all of us sick... just colds but we all feel yucky. Since the younger daughter is a teacher she took a Covid test...NEGATIVE ! Yay!!
Bob went to check on the new deck... nothing done!! But the lumber had been delivered! Fingers crossed that work will start tomorrow. ( If I was my daughter I would be really angry that they hadn't started work today!! The dogs are being boarded ... expensive... since without the deck and its stairs the dogs can't get to the yard for potty breaks. They are supposed to come home Wed. and the contractor promised the dogs would have stairs by then!)
It was a cold damp cloudy day so no "ring of fire" could be seen... but that didn't stop our work. Our daughter's deck is down and boy did things look different!
My other daughter and her husband helped fill in the dog holes... much easier without the deck and without the dogs. My s-i-l wheeled loads of dirt from the driveway to the backyard!! Bob dug up concrete patio blocks. My two daughters "weezeled" old dirt and raked new dirt into the dog holes. I was told to sit !
I guess the old deck was more "stuff" than the contractor expected... there was a huge pile of boards etc. alongside the garage. Hopefully he will take them when he is back on Monday to start building!
After we called it quits it was off to a Mexican/bbq restaurant ... which is next to the vet's office. One could here Harper baying in the kennel ( that is where the two dogs are being boarded!)
After eating we split up and each of us went home for a nap !
Well... the temperatures will be lower again with possible rain...
Our daughter's deck is being demolished...the dogs are being boarded. There is no way for the dogs to reach the backyard for poo and pee without the deck and its stairs.
So this weekend will mean more hole filling..and tired daughters , Bob and myself. Monday the new deck goes up.
If the deck is done and its stairs, the dogs return. Wonder if they will be surprised??
I finally was brave enough to try making a new ( to me) shrimp recipe for dinner tonight.
After thawing and peeling a bag of raw shrimp I followed the recipe ! First was a wine and melted butter for the bottom of the baking dish. Then the shrimp was coated with melted butter, garlic and lemon juice and this was topped with panko crumbs, grated cheese and melted butter. Into the oven till the shrimp turned pink and the crumb mixture topping browned.
It was good... Bob even had seconds!!
Yesterday... it was split pea soup with carrots, celery, potatoes and a can of chopped ham. Soup means fall doesn't it??
Next soup will be a new recipe - chicken and rice ( a blend of white and wild). Kind of looking forward to that one... lots of veggies and spices!!
Bob, elder daughter and I spent the weekend doing work!! She is having a new deck next weekend and wanted to repair the "dog dug holes" along the house's back wall. ( More to do next weekend when the old deck is gone!).....
so we removed old plant roots, moved bags of new dirt from her trunk into the back yard and generally cleaned up. None of us can manage long spurts of labor!
I'd say we accomplished quite a bit! The weather was great... at the end of the day we treated ourselves to Chinese on Saturday and Mexican on Sunday. No cooking to cleaning up!!
More holes next weekend when we won't have to be underneath the old deck!!
My daughter and I also made a trip to the Vet's thrift store to leave a trunkful !
Our daughter has a Bradford pear in the back yard. This year it has loads of little "berries" - pears?? The dogs love them and will stand on the hind legs to pick them.
It is also where a squirrel loves to sit ... on the very highest branches. The dogs watch it avidly... hoping to catch it as it jumps down onto the fence and escapes.
I slept for 9 plus hours last night...Never do that!! But I feel much better today. I even went to a craft show in Lee's Summit which is a 20 minute drive.and found some little things for our Christmas gift exchange
Today Bob turned on the furnace! When he woke up this morning the temperature was in the 40's and there was a frost alert. Now it is 56!
Guess we won't be needing the air conditioner till next year!!
Spent way too much time sorting through all my jewelry for an opal pin... which was my grandmothers. Lili and her mother wanted to for Lili's wedding... something borrowed. At one point I was afraid it was lost but just as I was about to give up I found it in a little jewelry box! Big sigh of relief... partly because I found it and partly because I didn't want to disappoint both my daughter and grand daughter.
Tomorrow we have a "dirt moving" planned... filling the holes that my grand dogs ( Harper and Scout) have made. I can't decide whether it will be too cold or whether to be glad it will be cold. Oh well... at least it shouldn't be raining!!
The covid booster shot made my night absolutely rotten.. including nightmares .Bob's was just an achy arm.. lucky him. Today hasn't been too bad though I am prone to go to sleep at the drop of a hat. No more temp!!
Our CVS seems to have plenty of vaccine...just a drop in and fill out some paperwork.
RSV takes one's doctor sending in a prescription.
Think it's back to snoozing on the recliner
While we were at Target's pharmacy to pick up Jack's ( the striped gray cat) pills we checked into the availability of the new COVID booster and the RSV vaccine.
The COVID booster with or without a flu shot was available right then... the RSV has to be prescribed by one's doctor. I am allergic to the flu vaccine.... so after filling out paperwork I received the COVID booster.. Bob filled out the paperwork and received both.
We both felt that a little more protection for COVID was a good idea since we are headed out to San Diego the beginning of November.
BTW I started feeling a little wonky right away...so am taking it easy this afternoon.
Taking it easy wasn't enough... ended up with a temperature , goose bumps, shivers and felt rotten. A short nap helped ... food didn't!
Think I will wait before getting the RSV vaccine
We went to the "handmade market " even though the temps reached the low 90's. Only a couple of food trucks so it was a good thing that I had planned something for dinner on a "what if" basis!!
There were lots of crafts etc vendors.. spread out in the BS movie theater parking lot.. under the theater's entrance over hang and in the lobby. Those inside and in the shade were the lucky ones!
We came home with wonderful "specialty" flavored cinnamon popcorn, local honey. local red raspberry jam and a tasty banana, craisin and pecan loaf ( which we had with our dinner!). I also picked up a few things for Christmas exchange presents.. won't say what since who knows who will read my blog!!
There were several young booth vendors... one offering salsas etc .. one making jewelry... two manning the popcorn booth. Good for them!! Nice stuff too!
Hearing fireworks outside .. checked the Chiefs score. They won !!
