Hello.........

 I  hope everyone is well and safe.  Les and I are trying. 

We've had some cooler days recently and I broke down and bought a large potted yellow mum for the porch.  It's been a long time since I've gotten one, and have said I wouldn't again, but it was just so pretty and it made me smile.  With our weather here, the mums are often all done blooming and are drying up before Halloween.  But I am enjoying it now.  And in case you are wondering, I was at the outdoor garden shop at the produce place, all masked up and had hand sanitizer along.  Got the nice pumpkin, too!

Here are the back yard decorations I can see from the living room.

And while getting into the spirit of things and thinking of things that make me smile, I finished putting out the Halloween decorations.  They are just small things I set out around inside the house.  And then I got the pillow covers out that Pam made for us a few years ago.

The appointment for my EMG testing was cancelled.  Evidently in all of Riverside Neurology, there is one person to do the testing and that person is sick.  And the appointment person said there was no telling when or if they were coming back.  So I am starting over with that and nothing happening so far.

"Something" got up under our grill cover and took out the grease drip pan.  And then took out the tin liner and chewed it up and put it out in the yard.  Have no idea what or who did this, but that was a greasy meal they had!  I have cleaned it all up now.

I have started our Christmas shopping and so far deliveries have been okay.  The reports on the holidays and shopping did not sound promising, so figured I'd better get started.

I have my annual eye appointment tomorrow morning.  Les has a doctor's appointment this week, too.  

So, life remains good, although different. Take care and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Hey, All!

 I hope you are all safe and well.  Les and I are doing our best to stay that way.

It is starting to feel just a little like Fall here.  Has been in the 50's at night a couple nights and a couple days it was only in the 60's.  I opened the windows for a little bit yesterday. Today is cool and breezy.

Les is playing golf today.  He missed a few days because he tweaked his back somehow.  But he's been taking care and alternating heat and ice on it and is feeling better, so he went out to the course this morning.

And that meant it was a Starbucks morning!  Honestly, every day is a Starbucks morning since that's what we brew here at home.  But on golf days during the week, he gets his and heads to the course.  I get mine and come home and watch some news and read the paper.  And the reason for giving you this information is this picture.  I was at a stop sign and just had to take this picture this morning.  You know I like sunrise pictures.

I've been keeping up with things around the house.  Did some cleaning, did a little outside work.  We actually geared up and went to the Commissary "in person" last week to get our groceries.  It was nice to pick out our own meat!  Everyone was wearing masks and it was not too crowded.  Only glitch was the opening time on two places I checked was wrong and we had to wait a few minutes.  Now we know.

So, life remains good, even if different.  Stay safe and be careful.  God Bless America!

A Trip to the Swamp

 Les and I recently discussed getting safely out of the house and taking some little drives during the day.  So today was the first.  I got out one of our coolers and packed us a lunch.  Of course it's gray and raining today, but that did not stop us.  We headed for the Dismal Swamp.  We've lived here a lot of years and have never been.  It's an interesting area.  There are multiple entrances to the Dismal Swamp area and it took two tries to get the one we wanted so we could do the Wildlife Drive.

I was surprised by all the trees that were broken and/or blown over by obvious storm damage.  It looked recent based on the raw looking wood.

It cost $5 for the drive on a packed gravel, pretty much one lane, road.  The whole time we were there we were never around any other people and only saw one other car as we were leaving.  The drive took us back to Lake Drummond.  It was so peaceful and quiet.  The rain stopped as we got there long enough for us to get out and walk on the dock.

So here are some pictures.

I will add that I saw signs warning of ticks, chiggers, venomous snakes, and bears.  Since we were in the car almost all of the time and not on the hiking trail, the bugs were not an issue.  The only other wildlife we saw were two cute deer and some birds.

Take care, stay safe, and God Bless America!  Life is good!

Hey!

The meteorologists have been talking about it now being meteorological Fall now.  Is that not a mouth full of word?!!  And really isn't Labor Day usually considered the end of Summer?  So it all fits.  This morning when we got up it was 62 degrees..... a slight hint of Fall weather!  It's supposed to get to upper 80's today, but still, it felt good this morning.

Les is doing okay.  We are now allowed on the bases everyday, so he is getting back into his regular golf routine.  Played on a Saturday for the first time in months this past weekend.

I have not noticed any of our new grass seed sprouting yet.  The yard guys aerated and seeded.  No yard work until the new grass is ready to  mow.  I did go out and yank up a couple weeds in the mulched area that were yelling at me when I looked out the window. 😊

Other than migraines, bee stings, and various aches and pains, and getting-back-to-school stress, our girls and families are okay.

In our area some of the private schools have already started.  Tomorrow is the first day for public schools.  Cutie Girl has a new laptop and Chris will be monitoring and keeping her on track.  Jordan's classes at ODU have started.  Many special supplies were needed.  Boxer and Bloomer are getting used to their new alternating class schedules.  So far, so good.

Our credit union sent out a notice saying that tomorrow they are not opening until noon at all locations.  They want to give their employees time to get their children all logged in and set up and classes working.  I thought that was nice.

I've been keeping up with things and doing odd little jobs around the house.  I have a couple bags for the DAV; and a couple bags of books to donate to the library.  As soon as I find out places are taking donations again, those will all come out of the closet!

I mentioned our roof in the last post.  It did get fixed and we have not seen any other problems with it.  Must have been a rogue wind that night.

And Les did get the repaired shed door painted.  It looks nice.

The Military Retirees Golf Classic is still going to be held.  We do not think that is entirely safe and will not be going this time.  As far as playing golf, that is one of the safer activities, and precautions are taken and the players are out in the fresh air.  But.... you have to get there, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, etc. in an area that has had some of the highest numbers of Covid cases.  We have been trying to stay safe and be careful for all this time.  It just does not make sense to risk it by going.  We will miss it and most of all miss seeing our friends.

Before I started this post I was answering emails.  Angus was "helping".

Have a safe and pleasant Labor Day.  Life is great!  And God Bless America!

Hello

I haven't been posting much.  Mostly that is because I like to be a positive person and a lot of days I have not felt that way.  I am working on it though.  Life is still good.  

Our girls and families are doing "okay".  Some days better than others.  Boxer and Bloomer will be starting an alternative class schedule next week at their high school.  They will be in the classroom two days a week and remote/online classes the other days.  I hope this works well for all concerned.  Jordan's classes were delayed, but should be starting soon, all online.  Cutie Girl's school still needs to make a decision.  And Little Miss E's preschool has a projected start date of January 4, 2021.

Covid Cases still going on.  Precautions still be taken, distancing, masks, etc.

Les had to have some surgery and had a week of really taking it easy and recuperating.  He is feeling better and today is his first day back out on the golf course.  I hope he has a good time.  I know he was looking forward to it.

I am doing okay.  Been taking care of him and things around home.  Keeping up with things.  Going to pick-up groceries later this morning.

We had a sudden thunderstorm last evening and this morning I discovered shingles on top of the Liriope out front.  Our "Guy", Steve, said he'd have someone here today.  Hopefully it will be an easy fix and they don't find any other damage.  We are supposed to get heavy rain from Laura this weekend.  I would prefer that does not come inside!

We've been reading some good books and watching some good shows.  One recent discovery is "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel".  We are also enjoying "Schitt's Creek" and working our way through "The Orville".

So, life goes on and it is good, just different.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.

God Bless America!

Pam's artwork from the beach several years ago.  I love this picture!  Keep a happy heart.

Smile

 

Picture from  I Can Haz Cheeseburger site

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

The Rain Has Stopped and Other Updates

We had several more really rainy days.  It finally stopped late yesterday and I got out to check our rain gauge.  It said 4 1/2" this time.  I emptied it and we're ready for the next round.  But today is sunny and around 80.  It is still pretty wet out in the yard and we have some puddles left. 

Early this morning I took a couple pictures.  Like I said, it is still wet.  We saw this guy walking down the street next to our curb out front.  We think he was headed for the storm drain.  Over the years, we have had frogs, toads, and turtles in our yard, but the Crawdad was a first!

The other picture this morning was of the sky.  Remember to always look up!

Our TLX is still in the collision repair shop, so I needed to take Les out to the golf course this morning so I could keep our MDX.  I had a doctor appointment for my annual ear check.  Slight change, and he says not time yet to look into a hearing aid.  He did remove a couple plugs of thick wax, and that seemed to help.  😊 

I got a grocery order placed and will pick up tomorrow morning.  

Other than all this, I've just been keeping up with the usual stuff and taking care of things around the house.

Life is good.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!