Out of Our Rut

 As the summer moves along, we decided we needed to change our routine a bit, a vacation of sorts.

Friday we went to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend. The weather was beautiful. Everybody and his cousin decided to enjoy the nice day at the zoo. The main parking lot was full. My husband found a spot about two blocks away next to the adjacent park but not near the zoo entrance. He said there were only two other parking places and that people that came after him were parking in front of houses on the streets in the neighborhood next to the zoo. He had dropped me off at the entrance. I have a handicap parking placard now, but all of the designated places were full already. 

The zoo is relatively small. It has been upgraded in recent years.

It is laid out by continent, with South and North America combined. There is no Europe. 

One of the reasons I picked this zoo is because they have electric carts that you can rent.

You can feed the giraffes lettuce for a $3 fee, but they have other feeding options so that they sometimes ignore the people wanting to feed them.

Helen accommodated them. I overheard her name spoken by the zookeeper. I did not feed her, but they allowed folks like me to come closer to take photos. 

The lines were long for the train, feeding the giraffes, and especially for people buying lunch at the Lodge. 

The leopard was awake and alert unlike the lions. We only got a glimpse of the tiger as he chose to enter his "den" shortly after we arrived. 

We spent about 3 hours there (waited about 20 minutes to get food). 

Saturday we drove to nearby Columbia City and had breakfast at Pickles Cafe. The decor is garage sale hodgepodge.

Since Pickles sits right on the courthouse square, we walked around the Farmers' Market a bit. I was not feeling up to much shopping.

I bought a bouquet of flowers put together by 2-year-old twin boys re their father who owned the booth. He showed me video on his phone. They were not giggling nor bickering. They were quite serious about their job with colorful results.

With our lovely weather continuing today, we attended the boat-in worship at Oakwood Resort on Lake Wawasee. Attendance was down compared to past summers. We had to take a round-about route through the farm fields and country because Highway 13 has construction between North Webster and Syracuse. I wonder if that affected the turnout. 

We also did a jigsaw puzzle this weekend. My husband's sister has loads of puzzles and gave us some. 

Now we are heading out to Texas Roadhouse. I especially like their pork chops and tossed salad and rolls. Makes me hungry just thinking about them. It has been a while since we ate there.

Back to our routines next week except also a few medical appointments in Fort Wayne. It is going to warm up more next week, too. Glad we enjoyed the beautiful weather while we could. The freedom of retirement.

Ollie's in Warsaw

 We stopped by our new Ollie's store in Warsaw yesterday. It seems brighter and roomier than the one in Fort Wayne. I really like that they have 99-cent greeting cards with a pretty good assortment. I do not remember ever seeing cards in the Fort Wayne store. 

I bought an adult coloring book for $2.99. I picked out this one because the cover illustration showed flowers with gradations of hue. I want to try my new colored pencils in that way. Besides flowers, it has butterflies and birds. When I had a limited number of pencils, making choices was pretty easy. I suspect having 180 pencils will slow things down but be more interesting.

We also bought a jigsaw puzzle for $4.99. Not a large assortment available. Ollie's is an overstock merchandise store so the goods for sale change fairly frequently. The puzzle is titled Paris Impressions. I would have preferred fewer pieces, but the puzzles with less pieces were mostly geared toward juveniles. We do not want to add lots of puzzles to the shelves we thinned out last summer. At this price, we can enjoy a new puzzle every few months and donate it to the retirement community. 

It is predicted to get to 75 degrees this afternoon. A front with rain and wind will come through early tomorrow. Then on Sunday a high of 39 degrees. Definitely March weather in northern Indiana. I now have 9 daffodil sprouts; my neighbor's daffodils are about 6 inches high. Mine obviously are not going to be early bloomers. The bulbs were planted last fall; I have no idea what to expect in terms of timing. At least there are signs that spring is on its way.

Brought the Cushions Inside

Today is one that folks probably wish we were still on daylight savings. 73 degrees this afternoon, but after sitting on the porch an hour the sun was sinking lower. This morning I had my husband put my geraniums and the wax begonia next to the trash bag. This afternoon I brought in the porch rocker cushions.

 After I spot clean them (bug poop?), I will try to find room in my cedar chest for them so they are out of the way. Tomorrow will start out in the low 50's then fall all day. Saturday thru next Saturday, our projected highs are in the 30's. No more sitting on the porch. Even some rain and snow Saturday. 

I set out a puzzle from a garage sale in the den. Looks like tomorrow will be a cozy stay-inside day. I have two hot chocolate packets I picked up from the give-and-take table last spring, a brand unfamiliar to me. I have a streusel coffee cake mix which is sure to be baked up this weekend. 

The ornamental pear trees on my street still have leaves, though greatly thinned after the windy days last week. We drove to Fort Wayne this morning; the trees in sight were bare. 

We stopped at a Skechers Outlet store. My husband was looking for shoes. They had a "Black Friday" deal, buy 1 and get the 2nd pair half off. I tried on a pair of lined booties, but since my husband couldn't find a pair that fit him, I didn't buy the booties as the regular price was not what I would pay for them. I don't really need them. I was surprised to see slippers made by Skechers. 

My husband had some credit from a return at the Warsaw Kohl's. We stopped at Kohl's in Northcrest in Fort Wayne. I was going to apply the remaining amount to a brassiere. I felt totally disoriented in the store. They have made Sephora the centerpiece and moved everything else around. I couldn't even find the lingerie department. When I asked, I was told it was upstairs now. Much smaller than before and poorly stocked. I couldn't even find my size in the Bali bras I usually buy. I really liked the Chaps clothing line at Kohl's. It disappeared from Warsaw a few years ago, and now from Fort Wayne. The Chaps space is taken up with athleisure and sports items. If Kohl's wonders why they are doing poorly, I would be glad to give them an earful. 

We ate lunch at Casa Grill, one of our Fort Wayne favorites. At Costco we looked at TVs a bit. We are thinking maybe we should replace our 12-year-old TV for a smart TV. It would be our Christmas present to ourselves. Haven't done enough looking to make a decision, but we did decide we should *not* get an 85-inch one as it would be overwhelming in our small living room.

I bought a jar of the fancy mixed nuts to use on November 30th when I co-host literary club. We also bought a 2023 calendar. We already have dental appointments, etc. to mark down next year. As I look at the calendar, I realize people today use their cell phones as calendars. Oh, well, I like the old-fashioned wall calendar. Yes, there have been times at medical offices that I wish I had my calendar information before me, but I still don't even turn on my cell phone every day. 

On our way home, we stopped at the Kroger's in Columbia City. The Warsaw store has been out of Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa for weeks, and my husband ate up the last bit this morning. Hooray. He found and bought two jars. I am not a salsa fan, but I like this pineapple salsa on my microwaved breakfast burritos. 

Simple day, simple pleasures, simple life. Just the way I like it.

Single White Bloom

 When I first had moss roses in my patio plot there was a variety of colors including white. After the standing water one wet spring, none of the sprouts appeared. A few years ago I purchased a plant and tried again.

In the past several years I have had no white moss roses. Last week a single white bloom appeared. Maybe it will have time to go to seed, and I will see a few more. Lots of the blooms seem more ruffly this year rather than cup-like.

The Knockout rose bush is getting flowers again after a dormant period. Fortunately, several of these seem to have longer stems and not in clumps of 3 or 4. I should be able to fill my budvase again.

We went to our friends' yard/garage sale Friday morning. This was supposedly a first sale in decades. There was junk, but not many attractive items. I bought a DVD movie, a jigsaw puzzle, and a travel version of Qwirkle. In the past I have packed the Qwirkle bag of tiles, but it took up a lot of space in my suitcase. This should pack easily, but of course the trade-off is the tiles are quite small.

I am ready for autumn. A few trees have some slight color, but mostly the trees and plants just seem faded and tired. The grass is still lush and green though.

 I ordered a set of 4 plates with forest creatures in fall settings for my plate rack. These are canape plates rather than dessert plates so smaller. The sales price on Macy's website was enticing. Now my news feed has photos of bowls and plates and cups from the bigger set. The canape plates are projected to arrive Wednesday. I will probably wait until the 17th to put them out along with my autumn pillow covers. Close enough to the autumnal equinox.

Starting to see football games on the TV. Notre Dame didn't win against Ohio, but they did better than I expected. 

We have had pleasant days; cool enough in the mornings to go walking, but of course I can't walk more than a few blocks. I did sit on my front porch reading a Hoopla ebook yesterday. It is book 2 in a 3-book series: Orphan Train series by Jody Hedlund. I had book 1 in softcover (purchased months ago at a book sale) and was pleased to see I can finish the series without a trip to the library.

Pleasant Days

 After a front that brought rain on Tuesday, our weather has become delightful. Low humidity and now for the next 7-8 days temperatures in the 70's. A slight chance of rain this weekend and the next.

I am ready to start a new book. I will sit on the front porch this afternoon and begin reading. 

I spent the last two days working on a jigsaw puzzle. It is 500 pieces, and I did it all by myself; my husband did not help. 

My Syracuse market bouquet held up well until yesterday. That is 5 days of beauty. I have downsized it using the few blooms that still look good.

I took advantage of the nicer weather to clean up my patio plot. I staked up and trimmed some of the Veronica (Speedwell).

 The moss roses are plentiful now. They used to close up around noon, but now they open later in the morning and close around 3 p.m. 

I have spinal injections scheduled on August 23rd. This time I am having them done in a physical medicine clinic in Fort Wayne rather than at Kosciusko Hospital. I will take a mild sedative but not have conscious sedation. I hope that being alert during and shortly after the injections, I will be able to give better feedback to the orthopedist on September 5th.

My sister-in-law gave us some sweet little tomatoes. I would like to go to the Warsaw Farmers market this Saturday. I know I will have to sit several times. I hope the light rain forecasted will not be in the morning while the market is open.

Schools in our area are starting up again this week and next. People's thoughts are turning to autumn already. It is nice that the football players won't have to practice in hot weather.

Hope you are enjoying these August days as well.

Finds

Last Friday we went to a church rummage sale. We bought a jigsaw puzzle for $1. After tomorrow choir will be done for the summer and I should have time to do puzzles.

This morning I went to an open house at one of the independent apartments. The family was offering items from their deceased mother's household. I picked up the knee highs and the little Amish figurines. This lady's husband pastored in Pennsylvania; she is now buried there next to her husband. I suspect the boy and girl were something she acquired while living in that state.

Her death is a sad tale. I knew her through Winona Literary Club and choir. On the morning that choir was singing in chapel I saw her limping in. I thought she must have sprained her ankle or hurt her foot. In hindsight I realize that she must have been in shock yet came to sing. The lady who stood next to her told me later that the injured lady did not sing, just mouthed the words because she found trying to sing was painful.

 She had tripped in her apartment and fell against a piece of furniture. I don't know if she called her son and he called an ambulance, but somehow she was transported to the hospital. The ankle was broken plus several ribs plus she had lacerated her spleen. It was later discovered that she had internal bleeding, and the doctors could only find the source with a risky surgery. She decided to go on hospice. She grew weaker and weaker; after about 10 days she died. She was 90 years old, but you would never know it from looking at her. She was well and strong and active in vocal choir and chime choir. Life circumstances can change in an instant. Treasure each day.

Has All The Pieces

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with 5 family members at the dining room of our retirement community. Afterwards they came to our condo to converse, watch football games, and work on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, and eat some evening snacks.

The puzzle is one that I bought at a Goodwill store in Illinois when we went to Starved Rock. You take a chance that it will be complete. This one was!

 We went to bed last night with snow on our rooftops. This puzzle set the tone for Christmas. My husband and I had to finish it this morning by ourselves. Next week I will get out my Christmas decorations and tree and transition to the next holiday.

Counting Down

 In 13 days I will have my cervical spine surgery. There is a wrinkle. My pre-op EKG was abnormal. They were able to find one from 7 years ago for comparison. There is an obvious difference. I thought I was to hear back yesterday whether they wanted me to see a cardiologist, but I did not. So I am moving forward as though everything is going on as scheduled. All of the results of the pre-op testing and procedures were to be sent to my family doctor who is doing the required pre-op physical on December 16th. I guess I will be able to find out more about the EKG on that day. Obviously that will probably be too close to the surgery day to see anybody about it. I wait.

Today I am getting everything out of my small chest freezer in the garage. I will reorganize so that things are easier to find. Toss out or plan to use up things that have been in there a long time. My husband will be doing some kitchen duty the first few days, maybe longer depending on how my recovery progresses. I will not be allowed to bend over and crane my neck to find stuff. So even if I feel well enough to cook, he will be the one to fetch things out of the depths.

We did one of our new jigsaw puzzles last week. The box said larger pieces easy to grasp or something like that. This 1000 piece puzzle barely fit on the "board" that my husband made to extend our card table. We had some on a TV tray when we first started, the overflow.

The flower bouquet I bought at Trader Joe's shrinks as I remove spent blooms. Maybe another few days before I throw it out.

Both of my sisters sent Moose Munch as gifts. It is going to be a Merry Moose Munch Christmas.

Autumn Features

 I set out yesterday afternoon under cloudy skies. I wish I had waited about 30 minutes because the sun did come out when the breeze chased them away. My early photos had no sunshine.

I went to the pond to find some bittersweet. I also clipped some little red "berries" which I think because of the thorns on the stems are actually rose hips. 

Here is how I used the bittersweet and rose hips with some artificial leaves.

As I walked home I noticed these zinnias in a yard. I can't believe I didn't see them earlier this year.

Some leaves are already on the ground.

As I rounded the corner at Sunset and Elder to walk towards my condo, I saw this burning bush near Grace Village Assisted Living.

Then as I came to Camelot I saw my backdoor neighbors starting out on a walk of their own. I asked if I could take a picture of her pumpkin in a birdbath. As I knelt to frame the photo, I saw their little dog Bandit chowing down on the front porch. He didn't let out a yip or bark. Not a very good guard dog.

Finally, as I crossed the grass toward my condo, I snapped this tree. That is my home in the background.

Other changes around my house are the fothergilla. On the west side of my condo I was surprised to see some hydrangea blooms still in decent shape.

We finished another jigsaw puzzle. Probably the last one for another 10 days as next week is very busy.

How are you spending your autumn days?