Stinky Morning

We used to shop at the Amish-run Rentown Country Store in Bremen from time to time, but it has been several years since our last visit. We knew they had a new building. The old building has been turned into a restaurant, The Dutchmaid Eatery. It is not very far south of Highway Indiana 6, but my husband chose to go north on 331 so we approached from the west. This meant narrow two-laned rural roads.

I could see a small black mound in the road. Since it wasn't moving, I assumed it was a dead animal. My husband drove right over it and as soon as we heard the thump against the car he said I hope that wasn't a skunk. About 10 seconds later we said in unison, "It was a skunk!" as the smell entered through the car ventilation system. Yikes! We joked maybe we should park in a far corner of the restaurant parking lot. We had a nice breakfast. My husband especially enjoyed the homemade sausage gravy over his eggs and hash browns. 

When we arrived home, we debated whether to park in the garage. We did pull in. As I entered the garage later to drive to the grocery store, there was a definite skunky smell, though not overpowering. This afternoon it finally dissipated. 

The store is known for its huge selection of cheeses, bulk dry goods (flours, grains, spices, nuts, etc.), and enormous candy section which went down a whole side of a 20-foot? aisle and around the corner. The gummies don't appeal to me, but I bought a baggie of small patties of butter pecan clusters to try. Also, kitchen gadgets, games, jams, and baked goods are worth the trip. 
By the time I was ready to check out, I had the small bag of a dozen clusters, a small jar of strawberry rhubarb jam, and a little chunk of Swiss cheese. 

On the way home we chose Highway 6 and stopped at Vintage Haus consignment store in Nappanee. Since it was a little before 10 a.m., we didn't think it would be open, but it was. My husband has several wooden boxes and his wooden jigsaw puzzles for sale there. The store had sold two of his puzzles (which also came in wooden boxes). The owner gave my husband a check. We could "smell money" all the way home which is decidedly better than skunk. 

P.S. At the grocery store the bagger pointed to a small group of holiday balloons and said help yourself. They are free. The stinky day was getting better all the time.

Balmy December 26th

With partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 60's, I headed out for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon with my new Sony camera in my pocket. I am still getting familiar with the camera.

We have outdoor Christmas decorations throughout the Grace Village campus. Some are lights like at the entrance to Assisted Living. The open area between buildings B, C,  and upper entrance to Assisted Living had these ornaments on the trees.

Even though we are "old", some of us still like bright colors, though most of our cars are not this sporty.

I tried to observe what was happening in the natural world around me. You can see we had no snow for Christmas this year.

The pond had a skin of ice; the center was open water in places.

This mailbox caught my eye as I headed home. I will probably pack up my Christmas decorations Monday afternoon. I try to be back in "normal mode" by the 31st for my husband's birthday. Sometimes I don't get the undecorating all done until January 1st though.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My RMD Starts Later

Congress just passed the new SECURE act which makes changes in retirement requirements. I already received a reminder from Fidelity that next year I need to take RMD from my funds. But not so now. I expect I may receive another email explaining the change. Now retirees don't have to take a required distribution until they turn 72. Since my husband and I are living off of his pension and our Social Security monthly checks, unlike people needing that money for living expenses, I can delay taking money and paying taxes on it until 2022. That will simplify my tax calculations next year. 
You can read about the other changes in this article. I had pretty much given up on this RMD change taking place in time to benefit me, but it was tacked onto the new spending bill which passed. 

Discharged

Yesterday when I attended my pelvic floor rehab session, the therapist and I discussed whether to schedule another session. I told her I didn't relish the idea of driving in winter weather road conditions. She reassured me that I knew what to do and could just do it at home. I filled out a one-sheet evaluation; then I was discharged. 

I do not feel like I have to pee all the time anymore. Tonight we went to a movie that lasted a little over 2 hours, and I didn't feel any need to use the toilet during the movie. 

The last few therapy sessions we have been concentrating on reducing pelvic pain. I probably won't eliminate the pain totally, but I can help it subside through exercises and using a heating pad. I still need to work on postural awareness as that can feed into the pain. 

I feel with the bladder problem resolved, I have my life back. I can sit through the entire church service, attend concerts and movies, and even drive for a few hours without a bathroom stop. Things are much better.

In the Bleak Pre-Winter

Yesterday (Sunday) my neighbor's great-grandchildren rode the concrete walkway on bikes. I could hear their little voices, but only glanced out once to see an elementary-aged child on a blue bike. It was cold (20's) with a slight wind making it feel chillier, but they were bundled up and having a good time.

We had been predicted to have a dusting of snow overnight. When I got up this morning (Monday) there was at least an inch of snow covering everything, including this little tricycle left behind.

Since May, we have a lady that cleans our house every two weeks. Last time she was here her father was in the hospital in Fort Wayne with aspirated pneumonia. Today I asked her if her father had been able to come home. He died though he came home for 3 days. A very hard Christmas for her and her family. 

Wednesday I will attend Grace Village chapel to hear the chime choir Christmas concert. This will be the last concert for the director. The terms of her agreement with Grace Village for leading the group were changed, and she decided she could not continue under the new circumstances. Supposedly a new director is being sought. 

One of my Robin Hood neighbors who has been on hospice died either last night or early this morning. He was in his 90's, but his family will miss him. 

It is always hard to lose a loved one, but for it to happen around Christmas emphasizes the hole left in a family. My own father died in early December in 1997, but I still remember how bleak that time seemed that year. 

Christmas Details

I have been enjoying my Christmas decorations. This holly runner was given to me last year by sister-in-law B. It fits perfectly on my china cabinet. I took these photos without a tripod using my new camera. The close-ups did not blur the way my old camera would have done. Notice the little buttons and wooden holly leaf detail on each end of the runner. I love it.
The little house was a gift several years ago from my sister K. The trees and snowmen were created by my husband. I enjoy seeing the whole scene during these weeks leading up to Christmas.

This little nativity I bought at Frankenmuth, Michigan, decades ago. The coaster is one of 6, four different birds represented. It is sitting in the den on the mesquite table my husband built.

The camera has distorted the color of the poinsettia some. It is more pinkish. I bought the tablecloth on Etsy a few years ago. The seller measured the distance from the middle to the candles. It works perfectly on my glass "patio" table in the sunroom. Yes, that white on the grass is snow. We have had flurries throughout the day and at around 20 degrees they have stuck.

Except for a door wreath and more recently the red ribbon on the pedestal for the green ball, we haven't done outdoor decorating. This year my husband decided to wrap red ribbon around the pillars. Our dear neighbor on the other end of the quadplex did this every year we lived in the condo. He went to heaven in May.

Not only did I use my new camera, but I am using my Photopad image editor that I loaded on to this computer after our old computer died. First time I tried a collage. Still much to explore and learn on the camera and the software.

Classic Blue

I just saw on a blog that I regularly read that the Pantone color of the year for 2020 will be Classic Blue. Blue is my favorite color. I will have to do some store browsing to see if there is anything special I can add to my home or wardrobe.

I have a very busy week ahead. I so much want to "play" with my new Sony Cybershot camera; it takes a great effort to keep from spending much time with it. This has two point-and-shoot settings, but you can tweak some of the features even within those settings. However, it can also be used as a manual camera. I don't know enough about cameras to use that now, but maybe some day. I ordered the camera online, and it wasn't supposed to arrive until December 10th, but it arrived a week early. I should probably put it back in the box rather than have it sitting on the lamp table next to me.

I will have to share more about this camera after December 15th when my Christmas activities and concerts, etc. are over.