Food Thoughts

 Notice that this is not food for thought but thoughts about food. 

This afternoon Winona IT, who Grace Village has used for a few years now, brought a little freezer of Igloo ice cream as a free treat for the Grace Village residents and staff. They did this last year as well.

They had about a dozen flavors. Usually, I would go with chocolate, but the name of this ice cream intrigued me: This Just Got Serious.

It was good, but the chocolate flavor was not very strong. Since we have a hot spell right now with temps in the 80s, the ice cream was a welcome snack.

After going to the bank, I stopped at Martin's to pick up a few things. I used to buy a slice of strawberry pie this time of year from Richard's restaurant, but they closed down a few years ago. I saw in their ad that Martin's had strawberry pie. Pretty pricey, but it will just be a one-time splurge to enjoy strawberry pie again.

I placed a Home Chef order which arrived today. I plan to eat the salmon tonight, the stuffed meatloaf tomorrow. I do not always see things on the weekly menu that interest me, but these two did.

This week has been super busy. Once the choir concert is over on the 20th, things will slow down a bit. I am looking forward to a less-busy schedule.

Pleasantries of the Day

 I did my grocery pick up this afternoon because rain was forecast for this morning. We got a few drops on the windshield, but the pavement didn't even look wet. We could really use rain. Our grass has turned brown. The sprinkler system was never repaired/replaced all summer. 

The condo that burned in February is being worked on some. The predicted date of completion keeps being moved out. Now it is end of November or mid-December. Apparently, no effort was made to fix the irrigation system controls that were burned though we were told they would fix it. 

My neighbor across the street is a Master Gardener, i.e., he has taken the courses/training to earn that title. He is now being employed on a contractor basis at Grace Village. He stopped by this afternoon to ask if he could remove my rose bush and plant a fall mum in its place. He will also plant some bulbs for spring (tulips, maybe hyacinths). Then he will plant something with color for summer. I told him I don't know anything about caring for a mum in the ground. (I always bought one in a pot and discarded at the end of fall). He said he would take care of it. He is going to do similar planting at the unit at the other end of my 4-unit condo building. He wants to keep an eye on how these plants do to inform him if doing something like this at other condos is feasible. That was a pleasant surprise. As I have said before, I do not have a green thumb. 

This afternoon before heading to pick up my groceries, I stopped at the lobby of the Grace Village independent living building. Winona IT, the company that is currently managing the IT at Grace Village, wanted to treat the apartment and condo residents to ice cream. There was a little freezer chest with Igloo ice cream. The Igloo is an ice cream fast food shop in Silver Lake that I have mentioned in a previous post. I chose a cup of Brownie Cascade, chocolate ice cream with bits of brownie. Yum.

My husband is having a medical procedure tomorrow morning that will require me to accompany him. I have loaded a series of books by Nancy Mehl to read on my Galaxy tablet. I started reading number 1 on Monday and because it is a suspenseful book, I kept reading. Now I started on number 2 of the series last night. I think I will download on Hoopla number 3 in case I finish number 2 before he is ready to come home. Mrs. Mehl is a Christian writer. 

I love autumn and am looking forward to my new mum. I may still buy 1-2 small mums in pots to replace my potted geraniums on the front porch.

Neighborhood Update

 Mostly I dislike blue jays with their raucous voices and domineering ways. It is 92 degrees this afternoon. There is little activity in our neighborhood. Just before I started typing, the bright blue of a jay accented the nearby pine tree. Among all the green and brown, he was a bright spot. The cheddar pinks and my neighbor's peonies are fading from bright pink to dusty rose in this heat. 

Maintenance discovered at the beginning of this week that the panel that controls the west side of Robin Hood sprinklers was the one burned up in the February fire. Apparently, the purpose of that panel was unknown by the current crew. My husband commented recently that with the layoffs and resignations in the last few years, Grace Village is losing historical knowledge of the evolving structures/systems that were put in place over the years. I guess how the sprinkler system is wired and works was one of those losses. Since none of us have hoses to set up manual sprinklers, the grass is yellowing fast. The insurance company is using its clout to get a repair made to the control panel, but so far no operating sprinklers for a week. We may cool down a bit mid-week, but no sign of significant rain in the forecast.

There was good news at the start of the week, however. The roof trusses needed before any other restoration can be started on the two burned condos are finished and should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.

Of course, things will not be the same. One of the condo occupants moved to Florida. The couple who temporarily moved to a vacant condo do plan to move back. Now my back-door neighbor died on Memorial Day in hospice in Fort Wayne. I attended his funeral today. Big changes to the quadplex.

I normally have been going to bed around 11 p.m. Now the sun wakes me up around 6 a.m. I doze a bit more, but really I am not going to get 8 hours of sleep unless I go to bed earlier. Pretty soon, it won't be dark outside until 10 p.m. which won't promote an earlier bedtime. I guess I can do what I did today: take an afternoon nap.

Neighborhood Calamity

 Yesterday about 1 p.m. we encountered a fire engine heading down our cul-de-sac as we were heading out. It realized it could not get through our street so backed up and went one block south. As we drove past the end of our quadplex we could see smoke pouring out of the roof of the building behind ours. We were gone less than an hour; when we returned, we could see fire engines (maybe 5?) from surrounding communities besides the Winona Lake Engine.

From our angle looking at the rear of the condo two doors down, it didn't look too bad, but when we saw images from the front we could see there was lots of damage.

The lady in the purple coat and the man with the cap are the residents of the condo where the flames are leaping out. 

The two photos above are what we could see. There were all kinds of people walking through our backyard so they could observe the damage. We did see maintenance employees working with the firefighters to keep things under control.

The condo where the elderly lady who is legally blind lives is a total loss. The couple's condo is not habitable. They may be able to salvage some things though there was smoke and water damage. The eastern end unit was vacant, the resident having died several months ago. We learned today that our friends who live directly behind us in the western end unit have some smoke damage. They are meeting with an insurance adjuster today. We have not talked with the other 3 people.

Grace Village put 4 victims in guest rooms in the main building last night, with the blind lady in a rehab room they had vacant so somebody could help her get around. None of the residents were injured.

The majority of the folks here know each other and interact in events and activities. It is not just a collection of condos, but a real community. In the 11 1/2 years that we have lived here, there has never been a fire in Robin Hood. 

What will these people who lost their homes do? There may be a few empty units to put them in, but I am guessing the blind lady will end up in an apartment or more likely in Assisted Living. Lots of major decisions and challenges ahead. 

Grace Village ArtCare

 For several years now, Grace Village has offered ArtCare, scheduled times to color, paint, do crafty things on Wednesdays. People from health care, assisted living, and independent living (including a few from the condos) are involved. There is an instructor/helper with an art background to encourage those creating.

 Today we attended an ArtCare Open House with items for sale as well as art works on the walls displayed but not for sale. The hallway outside the activity room has photos of the residents involved; I would guess maybe 30-40.

Today's offerings were mostly note cards featuring the pictures created by the resident artists. There were a few handcrafts, too.

I bought a magnet.

Many people color printed pictures, but some draw and paint their own compositions.

It is a good way for residents to socialize and be creative. The socialization aspect was on hold when COVID was most virulent. People with dementia do well coloring printed pictures provided for them. It seems to soothe them. 

In the spring there will be another sale which will include some wooden baskets my husband made and donated to ArtCare. They are going to paint/decorate these. 

If I lived in one of the apartments, I might join in. Right now, I am busy on Wednesdays with literary club twice a month, and with singing with the choir in chapel once a month. It would make a nice activity during cold months when being outside is difficult. Something to think about for the future.

What's New in the 'Hood

 My daffodils are open! I see them throughout my neighborhood as well.

There are 3 condos vacant on my block. The one directly across from me has no sign, but the others have "For Lease".

We have some critters on the loose: a black bear and a white rabbit.

The Winona Literary Club meets in the community center; the condo residents have a monthly lunch together there, too. Our family has rented it for reunions. A local church group has Bible studies. It is booked up most months.

These hellebores bloom at the corner plot of the community center.

As long as I am showing you my neighborhood, I will include the workshop where my husband does woodworking and other projects; two other men are there regularly doing stained glass and furniture refinishing.

This is the type of mailboxes we have. The acrylic holder has the weekly announcement sheets and event circulars from the retirement facility. The wooden boxes are for newspapers, but the local newspaper has switched to mail delivery rather than by carrier. We still get a weekly free paper, mostly ads.

My irises are starting to emerge. They won't bloom until mid or late May, just about the time of my surgery. 

When I started my walk this afternoon, it was sunny and mild. I joined a neighbor on her porch and before I knew it 90 minutes had gone by. We had quite a chat. It was cloudy and a cold wind arose. Now at 8:30 tonight it is raining and I hear rumbles of thunder. The cold front will mean temps in the 40's tomorrow compared to 66 today. I will have to bundle up in my winter coat to go to church. Yes, we are going to attend in person for the first time since March a year ago.

 The pandemic seems far away, but I see that the cases are starting to rise in our county again. Indiana has opened the COVID shots to anyone 16 and older; yet only about 12 per cent of the county population is fully inoculated. Hope they hurry up. I am starting to get used to a new normal of visiting folks, going to a birthday party, singing in the choir. It could come to a halt. 

Pretty Summer Day

This has been a fairly relaxed happy day. I slipped my shoes off while typing up this post after walking around the neighborhood. The air conditioner is off; we have windows and doors open and ceiling fans turning instead. 

It has been a picturesque day with blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

The flags that were installed around the Grace Village campus for Memorial Day have remained up for Flag Day and I assume for Independence Day.

I decided to walk down the grassy slope after taking the flag picture rather than back around to the paved sidewalk to get to the main campus. I saw these little flowers scattered around; certainly not purposely planted.

We have 3 residents with Covid-19 now. Though the employees were all tested last week, there doesn't seem to be much testing of the residents. The comment made to us was that the state does not mandate it. I certainly don't know all of the details, but if my loved one was living in a facility with residents with Covid-19 I think I would want everybody tested to isolate those that are contagious.

 My Stella d'Oro lilies are just now getting spikes with buds. Lots of  plants already are blooming. I don't know why mine are so slow as they have plenty of sun.

 This tree at the front of the campus looks like something you would see in autumn.

 The neighborhood has lots of pretty landscaping. We could use a bit more rain to green things up though. There is some forecasted over the weekend.

I saw my family doctor yesterday for the deferred check-up from April 2nd. It is time for a colonoscopy according to my schedule. Ugh. The general surgeon's office called today. I will have the consult July 7th. At first the scheduler said she had an appointment on June 30th at 4 p.m. I told her I wasn't in a hurry. She just laughed. I do feel a bit anxious about being in a hospital out-patient facility during a time of pandemic, but things could get worse the way the cases are mounting so I may as well get it over with sooner than later.

Our new CEO starts July 20th. He will work with the current one, though the current one will go to part-time August 31st and phase out much of his involvement until the end of the year. I suspect he will be relieved to see an end in sight for a very stressful winding down of his career.

Horses and Tulips

Over the weekend I mentioned in red above my post that the Google Album Archive was not working right. My photos had gray ovals with a line through them instead of the photos. Several of my blog posts had "missing" pictures, and the entire album displayed that way. They are mysteriously back.

Today Magical Meadows a therapeutic horse organization brought some of their horses to Grace Village and walked from window to window. A few residents came outside to pet the horses.

The tulips in front of a GV building are now in full bloom; and the pear trees in the condo neighborhood are also open.

  

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.