Window watching

 We have gotten really warm... currently 84 degrees. Wind advisory in effect. Tigger got really involved with the wind noise so Bob opened the window in our office so Tigger  could watch the leaves and branches and listen to the noise!

The early "no excuse" voting sites are still having 2-4 hour lines... We have driven by several times ... saw all the people and headed back home. We will take another look tomorrow... and take along my seated walker . I can't stand that long!! And some bottled water.

Hamfest in Raytown

Bob and I sat all morning at a church in Raytown.  A local ham group was holding its hamfest... ham equipment both old and new, antennas and so on for sale. Bob had been sorting through at his stuff and we brought a table's worth of things he didn't want any more.

He has been a ham since 1958... while he was still in high school. His interest led him to become an electrical engineer!

I kept him company when he wasn't talking to other hams - both young and old! A girl, about 9, went home with a free crystal radio kit! A poor father or maybe a grandfather has a teaching opportunity!

Our table was just about empty  when we went home!! Cash in Bob's pocket!! Plus another decluttering !!

Trying again

 We tried again to vote today... this time we went around 2 hoping there would be less people on line. But no, there were more - my estimate. Bob says less. Who knows which of us is right  but too many to want to stand and wait.

As we were driving to the Fleming Town Hall to vote an emergency vehicle passed us.. lights on etc. I jokingly said that maybe someone on line had fainted. Bob said  he has thought the same thing. As we got close to the voting place... there was the emergency vehicle... than a fire truck showed up with its lights on too! Everybody was looking ( but not leaving their spot online) and as things were brought out of the ambulance.  BTW the temp was 81... hard to stand on line in that heat for a LONG time!

We drove further on and turned around. As we headed back home the fire chief's car pulled up next to the ambulance!

Think we may try another voting place next week...probably the Board of Elections place on Independence's Square.. Bob has suggested lunch at one of the restaurants whether or not we vote!!

Meant to post this  yesterday but we had a huge thunderstorm and turned off the computers!

Today my daughter and son-in-law had the day off so they came over to help bring down more stuff in the attic. Lots more empty boxes and things too heavy for Bob to manage on his own. Plus boxes of china from my deceased mother-in-law... things no one really wants but probably shouldn't go to the thrift store. Two floor fans went home with our helpers.. one still in the attic for next summer.

The attic is a lot emptier now...

no excuse voting

 Missouri's "no excuse" early voting started  yesterday ( or the day before lol). Bob and I decided to go to one of the sites this morning around 10 hoping to miss those who were before work voters. The line surrounded the site building... Bob says 100 , I say more. The fields surrounding the building contained LOADS of parked cars.

We decided to try again tomorrow...though Bob doesn't think tomorrow will be any better.

 

 

better...

Today has been better... We went to the gym and did machines, treadmill and laps! Then off  to the Disabled Vets Thrift Store (Red Racks) drop to leave the latest car load!

When we arrived home we discovered, much to our delight, that the trash guys had taken all our stuff! Including a huge box full of more disassembled boxes. More next week! This is part of our de-cluttering!

Our daughter's first graders had a great day... one of them had chosen to have a birthday celebration with her gifted classmates rather than her regular classroom. So there was pizza, gift bags and all sorts of stuff including the parents! Our daughter said she had never had a birthday celebration before... so  she enjoyed it as much as the first graders and the parents!

Bob and I both had a recliner nap after our gym time!!

so far... not a great day

 Woke up this morning and got going on my usual tasks -- empty the dishwasher and settle down to have a cup of coffee and read the paper ... a paper one thrown to the end of the driveway!  Ever since covid , we text each other  and do a check in. The first text ( from my younger daughter) said my grandson-in-law had an accident on the highway on his way to work. He's fine... the car is totaled. Another text from the same daughter said her husband's work had received a bomb threat and it had closed down. His work subcontracts for the federal gov't..

so... made coffee.... and relaxed for a bit.. read the paper

Then off to Aldi's... nothing bad there thank goodness...

Put everything away and organized things for dinner when our daughter called to talk about the accident and what our grand daughter and her husband needed to do.... not too long later and our grand daughter herself called to talk to Grandpa about what she and her husband needed to do.

How did we get to all this...?

Well.. we are both "collectors". Bob collects antique radios, ham radio stuff, trains,slide rules, and so on. I collect antique bears and stuff for "The Glass Dragon"'s bears - accessories, fabric and sewing machines - dolls..

On top of all this, is stuff my kids left behind and stuff that came back when my son died. And then one adds stuff from both parents and grandparents. It seemed like every visit my sister-in-law made included a car trunk full of stuff from her Mother and Father's estate and Bob could never say no.

We seem to be the depository of stuff.  When the kids left we had a large mostly empty house... but stuff came wandering back...

I've started a new "pile" of stuff to go to the thrift store!

De-cluttering... hooray

 Bob and I spent time after my quilting group discussing the future route we should be taking... Our house has loads of stairs plus the entry stairs. Time will come when this really becomes a problem. One of my quilting friends.. a widow in her 90's is already coping with this problem... her telling of a new facility near home got Bob and I thinking

What do we want next? I don't think we know and discussions show that our wants/wishes/needs aren't always the same.

One hindrance is how we manage to leave this house...40 plus years of stuff!

So we decided to make some small inroads today ... and we did. We started up in the attic. We now have a car trunk of stuff ready to go. Loads of cardboard boxes that held computers, monitors, woodworking machines etc. Some boxes we took apart for the next garbage pickup... maybe we can find a cardboard recycling place for the rest..

Plus plans were made for another trip up to the attic. The attic has pull down stairs and we will need a "younger" person for some stuff  Bob can't manage.  We were much younger and more agile when we put things there...lol !  Our younger daughter has agreed to give us a hand... hooray!

Busy today

 I am hosting my "quilting" group this evening and so went off to the grocery store for drinks and dessert. The couple in front of me in the only checkout lane had an enormous cart full of everything under the sun!! The bagger kept piling on bag after bag into their cart...I swear the pile topped more than a foot over the cart!  Boy am I glad I don't have to put all that away!!

Off to the cardiologist for a check up this afternoon.... 

Everything fine.. quilting was fun....

Adopt-a-senior

 Hard to imagine except for the cooler weather but non-profits are beginning to set up their "adopt" programs for the holidays.

Bob and I have been adopting seniors for quite a few years... one of each sex.. and have signed up again.

Thank you Phoenix Family for running this.... Bob and I have helped our daughter shop for families that have signed up. I am always amazed at how organized this is... print outs of each family member, ages, sizes , wants and wishes for the kids. We go out late at night to shop so the stores aren't busy and fill cart after cart.... carefully organizing the bags after check out so the right family gets the right things. Then there is a big "wrap party"!!

Our senior adoptees also come with "wants and needs" sheets, sizes etc. We shop and wrap and deliver to Phoenix Family offices for delivery to the seniors. Last year one of our seniors wanted "learn to read" books...

cold...

 Woke up cold this morning... needed an additional quilt!! And it hasn't gotten warm today either! There are frost warnings for tomorrow morning.

I am baking a quiche for dinner tonight... we will enjoy having the oven on!!  It has sharp cheddar, Parmesan cheese, chopped ham, onions and red peppers .

We went to the gym this morning... I am managing to increase my laps ( a bit) and  the number of  leg strengthening machine reps. Means I am exhausted when we get  home... especially since we hit the grocery store afterwards. Thanks to Silver Sneakers... the gym membership is free!!

 The quiche turned out well... I swear Bob ate almost half of a 9 inch pie pan of quiche!! There is enough for a cold leftover dinner...

Forgot to publish last night

 

today??

 When I noticed today's date ... October 12th... I immediately thought Columbus Day !  But no.. President Biden has declared this year's Columbus Day is Monday Oct. 14th...  Oh well... no mail and other federal things.

Actually I am sort of surprised that there still is a Columbus Day... there has been lots of talk about others arriving to the Western Hemisphere earlier..

It's going to be a much warmer day... 90 degrees as a high. Bob has switched the a/c/ furnace to heat but haven't needed it. 

Later... it did get hot and I turned on a little fan to get the air moving...helped.

little of this and that

We ( the family here in KC) watched and worried about family down in Florida. It looked like our brother-in-law in N Ft. Myers and our niece and her family in Jacksonville were right in Milton's path. No news is good news so we are assuming everything is ok.

Bob has been doing watering duty out at our daughter's house. The dogs are glad to see him and they all sit out on the deck waiting for the time to pass.

I have been puttering around..today's task was to "oil" our front door.. I'd love to paint it some bright eye catching color but Bob won't hear of it. But it had gotten that weathered look and "oil" made it look so much better.

Our two daughters are having a get together tomorrow. They are both so busy that getting together doesn't happen too often. So it's dinner out at the local Chinese buffet and then sitting out on L's deck cocktails in hand... and lots of talk. Happy for the two of them!!

 

quiet day ...errands etc today

Yesterday was a quiet one... everyone rested (!). Bob did go and turn on sprinkler for the allotted 20 plus minutes.

This morning was a gym day... both of us did our thing. Then we came home and changed clothes and will head out on our errands. Pills for me... cat stuff for the cats...return library books. 

 Luckily most of the road work is done and leaving home yesterday was ok

Turning on the sprinklers and giving the dogs some time outside is scheduled for later on.

Forgot to mention that I ended up answering a pollster's questions on the phone last night...The questions were pretty much Missouri ones and abortion ones and a few were Trump but not Biden or Harris. After she was done, she "God Blessed" me.  ??

We don't tend to answer pollsters but ...

totally whipped

We spent the afternoon redoing our elder daughter's grassless front  lawn.. prepped the dirt... reseeded...peat moss and covered things with a "blanket" made especially for lawn work.  Would have been easier if  the lawn was flat!!

Bob will be going daily to water... Fingers crossed that the grass will grow!

All of us are totally whipped...I didn't feel like cooking or going out for dinner so I made a batch of tunafish for sandwiches . We enjoyed  it and so did the cats. Tuna juice ( the liquid in the can) is the cat's meow!!

Tomorrow is the " stay at home" day while they start on the new road asphalt.

Gorgeous outside

 The weather is wonderful... currently 80 F! Doors open... windows open !

After a trip to Aldi's and Price Chopper I am set to make Debby's stuffed green pepper soup :

 (https://lifesfunnylikethat.blogspot.com/ ) I am considering adding some fresh mushrooms too!

My granddaughter chatted on her hands-free phone on her way home from work. She is a treat and full of all sorts of  "topics" . When she gets home she will spend the afternoon on homework so that she and her husband can go to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow ... over in Kansas, but not to far. They will meet up with friends, enjoy the jousting and share a turkey drumstick ( always big enough for two!). Luckily someone brought in free tickets to work!

The soup was great... added the mushrooms and a dollop of sour cream. Nice to have something new to try!

 

Hello October...

 Today starts October... but the weather report says things will be getting warmer on Thursday but today's high 60's is great.. Up and down just like the rest of the past weeks!!

My grandson also had a reaction to the covid test.. managed to make it to two of his required classes but had to email the teachers for the rest...Everyone else didn't have a problem!

I tried a new recipe tonight... good  but not great. The one part that made it worth the try was a batch of polenta. I had never made it before and finding coarse ground cornmeal meant several stores! I ended up with medium ground cornmeal but it worked.

Since I have more cornmeal maybe I will try putting the just cooked polenta in a pan, letting it firm up overnight so it can be sliced and fried. I think I have seen Lydia  on PBS do that.

Tomorrow means a trip downtown KC... haircut time!!

Recuperating??

 Feeling better... the arm still has a large bump, hot to the touch and hurts.. but other symptoms are on the downward turn.

We went out to dinner with our elder daughter yesterday... Moocho in Oak Grove. Bet they thought we were never going to leave...Lots of talking. Then we went back to her house to drop off some political signs ( I wonder whether they will be stolen...Oak Grove is pretty red!) And more talking out on the deck . Scout and Harper were delighted to see us and to have us sit outside while they enjoyed the company and playing.

Today it was back to our routine at the gym! Bob is doing the laundry! He carries the basket down to the machines (?) in the basement , sorts stuff etc. I help with the fresh bedding and folding when he brings the baskets back upstairs. 

I do appreciate it... I cannot manage the baskets etc anymore.

Got involved streaming a New Zealand show... forgot to publish