The Week in Review

October 24th Sunday - Cloudy 45 degrees

Another week of October has passed in a flurry of activities. We always know when we return from a SMART Muster it will be a busy week and Monday came with a bang. I was able to get the ironing and the rest of the laundry finished and made a huge pot of home made potato and ham soup for dinner along with a new recipe of Date and Walnut muffins.

That made a nice dinner before heading out to Jim and Pat's house to meet up with other square dance friends, Jerry and Joanne and we were all off in Jim's van for Troy, PA. We ended up with nine couples from our club in addition to the folks that always dance in Troy. Our dance floor was full most of the evening. It amazes me how whenever, we visit another club, I always find someone I knew from years ago and Monday night was not an exception. Lou and I were dancing in a square of our folks plus a couple from the Troy group, when all of a sudden I realized I knew the man I was dancing with. He turned out to be Wayne Strange, a gentleman that we purchased a garage kit from over thirty years ago. He and his wife remembered me, so we were able to catch up on thirty years during our breaks. This made the evening even more enjoyable.

When we returned to Jim and Pat's house they were gracious to give us a guided tour of their beautiful, spacious home. We were very impressed with their lot and their home. Pat collects dolls and has them displayed in many different places throughout their home. Jim loves wood working and despite losing his fingers to a saw, he had made some beautiful items for their home, from dressers, shelves, chairs, cupboards and cabinets. Pat quilts and sews, so with both of their talents, you can imagine their home. Jim also grows orchids, and some of them are displayed on their window sills.

Tuesday brought a decent day weather wise, so Lou was off to winterize the motor home and get the awnings dried out for storage. I was off to the grocery store and washed the car. When we pull it behind the RV it gets filthy, so it didn't get it's weekly bath prior to going, so thought this was a good time to get it cleaned up inside and out. I wanted to get it waxed, but ran out of time. Tuesday nights we try to eat on time, so we can be all finished up in the kitchen and be able to sit down in the living room and enjoy NCIS. Our very favorite television show. After that was over we enjoyed a Netflex movie. Neither of us are huge television fans, the news in the morning for Lou and again in the early evening and then it is just movies.

Wednesday and Thursday Lou and I spent the days at Broad Acres as they hosted the 55 Alive class. It had been three years since Lou had taken the class and many years for me. When we arrived, we found that our friends Lou and Joanne had also signed up and were their also. Broad Acres served us a snack in the morning with coffee and or tea and at lunch time a lovely lunch with dessert. When we finished the class on Wednesday, Lou and I made a quick trip to his house to get the RV taken to the barn for the winter, so that is taken care of. We had asked Allyn to reinforce the barn floor to ensure the new RV would be safely secured and we found that he had already accomplished that. What a pleasure to ask someone to do something for you and find it done with no reminders.

I had put a chuck roast in the crock pot before leaving for class and what a good idea, when we returned home from the cold and wind at the barn, the house smelled so good, and Lou quickly turned on the potatoes while I changed my clothes and we had dinner ready in no time. We even took time to enjoy a movie together in the evening.

Thursday I awoke with a migraine again, something that seems to be almost a daily occurrance. I took my medication and laid back down while Lou tried to think of something to help me. We did go on to our class and we finished a little early, so thought I would use that extra time to get the car waxed. That is one fall job off of our list. Lou packed up the Buick with things that needed to go back to his house and took Estee with him to accomplish a few things there. We met back here for dinner and a movie with Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies. It was wonderful, highly recommend it to any of you that haven't seen it. We had to research Mr. Duvall after the movie to see more about him. I had only seen him once before in Lonesome Dove.

Friday morning we were off to get our flu injections, something we both do faithfully each fall. We needed to pick up a couple items from the grocery and get gas for the car. Gasoline here is 289.9, seems to keep going up!!

After we got home, Lou tackled the garden pulling up the beans and picking the shell beans. He worked at that until it was time to go to his house to meet Preston. While Lou was gone I set about dinner, I baked a chicken, squash, stuffing and made an apple pie,fixed cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I knew Preston would be here for dinner and he is a diabetic and loves his veggies.

Susie called while I was fixing dinner, so had a chance to really get caught up on the family news with her, both of us have busy lives and to find a time when we can just chat is rare, so really enjoyed talking with her. They have just completed the task of putting a new roof on their house and getting ready to rebuilt their sun porch. It is great to have members of the family that are eager to share their talents when needed.

Sue and Tim are looking forward to a weekend of baby sitting with Wyatt in Philadelphia. His mommy and daddy are going to be attending the Marine Ball, which is a special night for Travis and Noell. Travis is working long hours as a recruiting officer and thankfully Noell has just started up a new Blog to keep us informed on their life. Lou and I had missed the daily or weekly contacts with them. I am in hopes I can have their Christmas presents all ready so Sue and Tim can take them with them.

Lou told me when he came home from his house, he was cold, so fixed him a hot cup of tea and turned up the heat in the house, wondering if he was having a reaction to the flu injection. After dinner, he started with chills and ended up vomiting with shaking chills. Gave him some Tylenol and he sat with Preston and I watching a new show that Preston and us like with Tom Selleck. After the show was over, Preston went back to the house and Lou continued being sick, so got him ready for bed and into bed. He complained of being sore all over, took his temp and it was also elevated, he did sleep well, and awoke in the AM thinking he was going to "set the world on fire". He knew Preston was up to tackle some jobs at the homestead and also that Sandra was coming to help, so he felt like he had to be there, I was able to talk him into waiting until afternoon when it was warmer, he was able to eat a little soup and some crackers and left for his place. He returned about 4:00 pm and looked like something the dog had hauled home. His temp was 100.2, chills, it was hard to talk him into a nap, he slept until 6:30 and had a hot shower, a little dinner, a hallmark movie on television he wanted to see, then bed. He still has a temp this morning, and he thought he would go to church and I said "no", he is back in bed and if he still has the temp tomorrow, he will see Dr. N. Thankfully, the vomiting and diarrhea have ceased, so think we are making progress.

A special thank you to Preston and Sandra for their work at the homestead. They were able to get the shrubbery trimmed and some leaves rakes up. The weather was not very cooperative for them. Preston was able to help his dad in the cemetery, as Lou was very concerned about two new graves that needed attention prior to bad weather. Thankfully, this will be the last year that this responsibility is going to be Lou's. We are trying to make several changes in our lives to allow time with this new motor home. With the expense of the new RV we want to be able to use it as much as possible, so we need to make some drastic changes and we are praying for the correct changes.

You will note the squash that we collected from the garden, we had purchased both kinds of squash from the PX in North Carolina last year and saved the seeds and planted them. They are wonderful to eat and so easy to prepare. I just do not know what their names are.

We also had good news from Camping World about our new RV, it will be shipped on the 22nd of November and should arrive in Syracuse 10 to 14 days thereafter. When speaking with Bob at Camping World, I asked him if we had to have the RV completely cleaned out, and he said "no", that will save a huge amount of work. He stated they would pull the new one right up next to the old one and we can transfer the items. Even though it will probably be cold that day, it will be much easier. Lou and Preston said it will be right during hunting season, "oh well, thems the breaks".

My girl friend from Louisiana is in town this weekend and we were supposed to take her to dinner today; however, due to Lou's condition, we opted for perhaps a luncheon and a day of looking at property, when he is feeling better.

Hopefully, this week we can finish up our fall jobs, although rain is forecasted. I do have some sewing I want to get accomplished, I purchased some square dancing dresses and they need to be shortened and it is a long way around one of those skirts.