First Day Down

Not much to write about tonight--just a long day on the road.  We arrived in Beloit, WI after driving for ten hours.  John and I took a five minute break from the car, stopped at a local familly restaurant for some supper, and then took a stroll through the local Wal Mart to stretch our legs.  The weather here is very warm and humid which takes some getting use to after our cool temps at home.  Tomorrow we hope to reach the eastern side of Ohio once we navagate the perils of Chicago at rush hour.

Packed and Ready To Go

John got up early and headed into town for a last round of golf before we leave on our trip.  While he was gone, I took care of a final load of laundry and got most of the packing finished.  

The other day John picked a five gallon bucket of green peppers so this afternoon we chopped all of them in our new food processor,  measured them out in four cup incriments, put that amount in baggies, and then stuck them in the freezer to be made into relish when we return from our trip.  We also blanched and froze several more bags of green beans.  We'll have to wait and see how the garden holds up while we gone and if the cucumbers will be okay to use.

We'll be heading out bright and early tomorrow morning and will be spending the first night in Beloit, WI.  I'm not sure if we'll have internet while we're gone, so this might be the last posting for a week or two.

Getting Ready to Travel

Our weather continues to be just about perfect for this time of year--daytime temps in the low 70's and cool enough at night for good sleeping.  John and I have been busy getting ready to leave for the east coast on Thursday morning.  He has continued to play golf in the mornings, but I still haven't played as I am uncertain as to how my foot will react to walking the hills and uneven terrain of the course.

Our trip preparations were put on hold for a bit with a phone call from our daughter Susie.  Mike's dad passed away after battling lukemia for the past year.  She and Mike flew into Grand Forks on Saturday and will be there until flying out on Sunday to return to Sacramento.  John and I went to the visitation and prayer service last night and then back to the house for a late supper and to spend some time visiting.  Mike's dad left a hunting rifle to his grandson and since Mike couldn't take it with him on the flight home, asked if we would hold it at our place until someone is heading to CA again.  Mike and Susie are planning to come to Sam's football game here in Clearbrook on Friday evening which will give them some time to visit with Matt and JD.  John and I, unfortunately, won't be here as we'll be on the road east.

This morning we left the house bright and early as I had an eye doctor's appointment for 8:30 a.m.  The eyes checked out just fine, so I'm good to go for another year.  This afternoon John finished mowing the lawn and just has a little weeding left to do in the garden.  The laundry is all done and just needs to be packed.  After supper we headed up to the school to watch Rachel play volleyball.  The Bears lost 2 games to 1, but the games were close and the girls played good.

 

 

Pretty Quiet

Our weather has been cloudy and on the cool side for August with the temps dropping into the low 40's at night and only hitting the upper 60's during the day.  It sure makes it hard for the many tomatoes in our garden to ripen.  The peppers and cucumbers are doing great, but those tomatoes are driving us crazy.

John has been playing golf every morning and seems to be improving his game.  The injection I received at the doctor's earlier in the week has really helped my foot, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to walk nine holes on the course.

We have been busy getting things around the house under control before we leave on our trip next Thursday.  John mowed the lawn again today and has been working on getting the garden weed free.  I'm trying to keep the laundry current and working on sorting through what we need to take.  This evening Matt, Hanna, and Rachel stopped at the local drive-in, picked up some supper, and then came down to our place to eat it.  Since Sam was on a date and Sara was working at the hospital, they decided to visit with us for a while.  

Pickles and Golf

John went off bright and early to play a round of golf.  He is determined to get the most out the dues we payed back in May.  Right now a round of golf is costing him about $4.50.  I opted out once again as I am having trouble with my right foot.  Arthritis has settled into the big toe joint causing a good sized bunion.  I had called the podietrist last week, but couldn't get an appointment until the end of September.  On Monday I had tripped on the golf course and stepped right on the foot that was giving me pain--after that dumb move, the pain was off the charts and I couldn't walk without it, let alone wear shoes for very long.  Since we will start our trip east next week and will be gone for a while, I called the podietrist's office to see if they could fit me in and maybe get a steroid injection.  The receptionist was so friendly and helpful and found a cancellation for 11:30 this morning.  She told me to come at 11:00 since the doctor wanted an x-ray of my foot before seeing me in the office.  After looking over the x-rays, the doctor said the bones in my foot were pushed out of place and, since it will only get worse, he recommended foot surgery, so I'm scheduled for September 25 as that will give me enough time to get healed up before leaving for Texas.  Before I left, he gave me a steroid injection in the hopes that would help ease the pain over the next several weeks.  We got all the pre-op appointments set up before we left the clinic and then headed to BK for a quick lunch before stopping at Target for a few groceries.

When we returned home, we got busy getting cucumbers washed, cut up, and put into jars along with some hot brine.  After processing, we have seven jars of dill strips.  Once the pickles were done, we attacked the green beans and got them blanched, bagged, and into the freezer.  We're all caught up with the garden produce for now.

A Pretty Cool Morning

John was up early to play golf, but one look at the thermometer told him he needed to wear long pants.  The temperature was 41 degrees at the start of our day with high's only reaching into the low 60's by the afternoon.  I opted out of golfing and stayed home to get more of the Legos sorted and ready for ebay.

We found the food processor we ordered last week sitting on the porch when we got home last night, so we gave it a tryout this afternoon by chopping up cucumbers.  It did a great job and we ended up making a batch of sweet relish.  The entire process was much faster and easier with this new appliance, so it's definitely a keeper.  This evening following supper, I headed up to Sara's for a haircut while John stayed busy at home watering the garden.  It seems most of the heavier rains have bypassed our area, so things have gotten pretty dry.

Fall Day

The high humidity continued yesterday, so after church I hung out around the house working on sorting our old Legos and getting them photographed and ready to put on ebay after we return from the East Coast.  I'm hoping folks will be thinking of possible Christmas gifts and might be looking for some vintage Legos.  While I was busy with the Legos, John headed up to JD's place and helped John and Joanne erect a trellis for their grape vines.  John had given them a couple of shoots in the spring and they have taken root and growing quickly.

A cold front went through last night and the humidty finally moved out.  In its wake came much cooler temps (highs in the low 60's) and strong winds.  It really felt like a fall day, but perfect for playing golf.  Once we were back home, I packaged up the items I sold on ebay last week.  I dropped them off on my way to Bemidji for a doctor's appointment--it was my turn for my annual physical.  As soon as I was finished, I drove back home where an hour and a half later John and I returned to Bemidji for some quick grocery shopping, supper at BK, and then on to Blackduck for Rachel's first volleyball game of the season.  The eighth grade Bears were winners tonight--two games to one.  We stayed and watched the varsity play a couple of games, but decided to head home as it was getting late and we both had a busy day.

 Rachel returning vollies