Happy 45th Anniversary

 Today is our 45th wedding anniversary. A bit after lunch we went to Kelainey's in Winona for some ice cream. I had chocoholic ice cream in a cone and my husband had raspberry sherbet in a cup. We sat on the screened-in porch enjoying the nice weather.

We drove down Park Avenue around the curve to Hamilton and passed by Cherry Avenue where my husband's parents lived previously after they retired. Took a few jogs to drive up the hill on Chestnut turning on 13th Street where the church in which we were married sits. It has been greatly enlarged and remodeled since 1977.

We spent some time on our front porch in our new rockers reading and playing some of the New York Times games on my tablet and his phone. 

This evening we ate at the Boat House Restaurant on the shore of Winona Lake. Finished off a nice steak dinner with a shared piece of ice cream pie.

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.

Sheltered

When the weather radio alert went off around 5 a.m. I turned it off and went back to sleep. I had heard the thunder and seen the lightning. I worried a bit about the new hanging basket I bought yesterday and the other two pots on the porch, but really what could I do about them. If I knew a big storm was coming through, I would have put them in the corner of the porch to protect them from wind; but though I knew rain was predicted, I had no idea the storm would be so severe.

When I got up around 7:15, I immediately went to the front door and peeked out. My plants were just as I had left them. I noticed my across-the-street neighbor's two pots had blown over. Otherwise everything seemed peaceful.

It turns out Grace Village is an exception in the town of Winona Lake. I went to Martin's to pick up a few grocery specials, driving on Highway 30. I guess I didn't notice the roof damage to the Economy Inn. Coming home from Owens was a different story. As I drove King's Highway in Winona, I noticed the side streets were blocked off with cones. The streets were full of limbs. Grace College also had a crew out gathering up branches and fallen limbs.

 I see on the internet news that the downtown of Warsaw has no power and the library and city offices are closed. The Warsaw school district also cancelled classes today because of power outages. The area across from the lake of Winona where there is a green space and park also has lots of limbs down and some trees snapped in two. God was gracious to our home and retirement community in light of what happened to others.

Solar Eclipse Prep

Last week I picked up a pair of free solar eclipse viewing glasses from my public library. Many libraries in the U.S. are giving them out or holding eclipse parties where they will be used.

It's hard to believe I will be able to see anything through what looks like foil. Maybe I will give it a test run in a few days. Today it is cloudy. That is the big if on August 21st, the weather.

In Winona Lake, Indiana where I live the coverage of the sun should be around 88%. That is enough that it should seem like twilight, and the temperature could drop as much as 10 degrees. It would be interesting to be in a place of totality, but the full coverage only lasts about 2 minutes, not worth a trip of hundreds of miles for me. Since I am retired, I will be able to pop outside from time to time until the peak here occurs at 2:23 p.m.

Time has an interesting interactive feature on its web. You can input your zip code and see the peak time where you live and watch an animation of what the coverage will be.

So fun that the United States is the path this time around. Don't forget safety. You must have special glasses (available for purchase online or free from some libraries and museums and astronomy clubs). Do not look at the sun with the naked eye or regular sunglasses; you will risk permanent vision loss.

Soggy

Last Friday we received maybe 3 inches of rain between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. It kept falling with wave after wave of thunder and lightning. I was going to grocery shop Friday morning, but I put it off because of the torrential rain. Around 2:30 as I arrived at the grocery store, it had slacked off to a mist.
My husband had added some topsoil to our patio planting area and then some mulch to keep the weeds down. Most of the mulch floated over the concrete patio slab, stopped only by the grass on the west edge. There were several roads closed in our area Friday evening due to flooding; one even washed completely away in a spot.

At 9 a.m. Friday when the weather radio alert sounded about the impending storm, I hurried out to the west side of my house and snipped off this hydrangea. I have less than half a dozen of these flowers in bloom (first season for these bushes), but I wanted a centerpiece for dinner.

We had relatives from Michigan coming, joined by 2 local family members, to eat pizza. My nephew, his 2-year-old daughter E, and the nephew's father (my husband's brother) over-nighted with us. The Grace Village guest rooms were all booked up. The decision to visit was made about 10 days before arrival. The toddler had a portable bed brought from home, my burley nephew made do with the twin bed, and my brother-in-law slept on an air mattress in our den. Since my husband set up his own bedroom a year ago, we no longer have a guest bedroom per se. Hubby slept with me in the queen bed. We all survived. :-)

Saturday was a beautiful day with low humidity and sunshine. We walked part of the Winona trail with our guests. The toddler E was so excited; we saw rabbits, bikers, runners and dogs. One of the dog owners let E pet her canine Lady. E's grandfather held her hand while she walked close to rushing Cherry Creek to throw in a stick. We walked to the Winona Lake park playground. E had a ball climbing on the equipment and coming down the slides. The swings off in their own area were too muddy to use. E would vocalize her joy with shouts as she ran from the slide to the steps onto the playground equipment for another round. This is a really nice setup with rubberized "flooring" and the stations elevated and joined together which meant no puddles to deal with. E was in kid heaven, and we adults enjoyed watching her.

We ate lunch at M's apartment; then the Michiganders headed for home. We will see them in about a month when they come for a family reunion August 4-5. Over 40 expected at that event held in our retirement community's meeting building in the condo neighborhood.

Tonight we have more rain. The Kosciusko County Fair had a nice evening Sunday for the opening parade, but the next few days look soggy. Friday should be cooler and dry. I am hoping to pick blueberries that day before the hot weather returns.

A man from the flooring store came today to take measurements. Looks like we will soon replace the flood-damaged bathroom laminate and then also redo the other bathroom whose laminate has not held up well in the 15 years and then the kitchen. We have to wait for the estimate to go through the administrative channels. We will probably have to pay for the kitchen flooring.

Shaping up to be a busy summer. Saturday I will go to the local farmers' market. Hope to find tomatoes and sweet corn. Not sure how tomatoes have done in all of the rain though. Sogginess may not be compatible with tomatoes.

Strange Weather

When I saw the forecast for today, I knew I needed to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and low humidity to get outdoors. About 9 a.m. I parked my car in the shade of the lot closest to the trail start at Grace College. After 2 decades of living in hot Texas, I am programmed to look for shade.

There were a few stretches that were tranquil. I was alone and surrounded by bird song. From time to time, walkers or a bike would approach me. However, there is a section that runs almost parallel to Pierceton Road. The sound of cars on the road is quite noticeable. Over near the Boys City Drive, some kind of machinery was stirring up dust and banging along. Maybe they are increasing the parking lot? That would be nice as often the spots are full.

I took along my camera. Most of the vegetation is what you would expect to find along a roadside/trailside that had disrupted the soil.

Some kind of thistle?

 Clover

 Daisy family?

Huge swaths of milk thistle which the bees were liking.

Cherry Creek had running though not gushing water.

There are houses right along the trail. Often the backyard but sometimes the whole house right next to where you walk.

Because of the construction, I chose to head toward the Chestnut Street entrance to the trail. I exited there, and since I wasn't too far from where my in-laws once lived, I headed toward Cherry Avenue. On the way, I spotted Winona Lake down an alley type of extension, so headed to Park Avenue via this lane.

I had noticed something bright yellow. It was some kind of seaplane. Unfortunately, my photo did not turn out.

I continued on Park until I was closer to my intended destination. The house my husband's folks lived in has been entirely remodeled with the entrance changed to where the backdoor was.

The garage has been made into a storage/display area for the interior decorator that bought the property.

She had some comfy chairs in the shade and a cute planter at the edge of the driveway.

My father-in-law used to keep a fishing boat at the dock about half a block from his house.

After arriving home about 10:40 I showered, and we ate lunch in the sunroom. At 2:45 we had a brief but hard rain shower. Since then we have had 5 rounds of showers (now 5:40 p.m.), two of which had grape and pea sized hail. The temperature dropped from 76 to 58. It has warmed up a bit, but it is back down to 60. I had planned to grill pork chops; looks like handy George Foreman grill will do instead. We have had bits of sunshine interspersed in the showers. Tomorrow is supposed to be comfortable. I think I will bake some zucchini bread.

I did make a pair of earrings from the purple beads I got free from the yard sale on Saturday. I combined a round and a cone with a smoky bead left from one of my earliest beading projects. I like them.

Subdued Autumn

 

I finally did my walk on the Winona Trails. Lots of people out there today walking, biking, running, walking dogs, even one lady in a wheelchair.

 Though there are yellow, red, some orange leaves, the colors seem subdued this year. At the church potluck today someone mentioned the foliage seemed to be falling off quickly as well. It was mostly the golden yellow standing out on this afternoon.

I took the tripod that my sister-in-law no longer wanted on the walk. It isn’t very heavy, but it is kind of awkward to carry around and put the camera on and take off. I would say the scene of the creek and the berries would have been blurry without the tripod.

If I were going to a flower show or botanical garden where close-ups would be quite likely, the tripod would be a must. Otherwise, probably not.

The Heritage Trail/Greenway has several art installations.

The fences add color.

Not a lot of interest to photograph really, but it was a pleasant day with wind rustling the leaves.  I didn’t walk the trail section from the Miller Athletic Complex to Grace College Campus. Maybe another time yet this fall though I guess the window is getting narrow for leaf peeping.

New Winona Lake Trails and Splash Pad

Previously I described some shops, landmarks, and buildings of Winona Lake. Today I walked the new sections of paved trails, starting near the Beta dormitory of Grace College, crossing Pierceton Road, then instead of going left toward the older Heritage Trail, I turned right at the bridge and walked to Winona Lake Park. Parking at the Grace athletic complex, one could make a short walk to campus or a slightly longer walk to the park and village which is most likely what I will do the next time. Today’s walk was a little long for me so I did not continue to the village.

Lots of shady woods to walk through. Quite a few walkers, joggers, cyclists, people pushing baby strollers and walking dogs on a Wednesday morning. It is a gorgeous day to be outside.

Past the Grace College athletic complex there is a button to activate flashing yellow lights to alert drivers there are pedestrians/bikers ready to cross Pierceton Road.

The new section of trail has a bridge to cross Cherry Creek.

At the end of the bridge, you have to decide left or right. Left goes to the Heritage Trail which dead ends at Roy Street. Right goes to Chestnut Street; at that intersection, continuing straight leads right into Winona Lake Park.

The new splash pad operates between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. We were too early to activate it.

There is a playground, basketball court, tennis courts, and senior/community center. I did not walk over to them.

About 1/4 mile from the park is the village and the ice cream shop. Sadly, Master Works music program has moved to Ohio. No more summer concerts from them to attend.

 

A Sunday Stroll

Such a warm pretty day; I decided to take a walk over to the pond. Now I am having a sneezing attack from the pollen, but it was worth it.

I saw and heard geese; spied a frog and a fish in the water.

The grape hyacinth on the bank was prettier than where the frog was hiding.

Most of the daffodil blooms are gone, but the tulips are starting. I hope to make my annual trip to Peabody Retirement Community this week to see their beautiful tulips.

I wish I had a way to convey smell to you. I don’t know what this bush with white flowers is in front of Grace Village, but I noticed its sweet smell right away.

Some of the blossoms on trees emitted a lovely scent, too.

A house across from the pond.

The house on Wooster Road in front of some of the Grace Village condos is vacant, but that doesn’t mean there was no sign of spring life. The phlox is there.