Pricklies and Smoothies

This has been one of those weeks where my puny human perspective about what fills my bowl has been tested.
Prickly: Monday I spent several hours in the library trying to set up the touch-screen Telikin computer. After dismantling the computer and peripherals to be replaced, I followed the directions in the Telikin manual. I soon had a web page displayed and even checked my gmail. I stopped to answer a question and when I returned to the Telikin not only was it unable to access the internet but to my dismay the other computer had the same problem and the wireless access was also not available. I set up the old equipment which did not solve the problem and notified the person who oversees the electronic equipment. He sent me an email informing me that he had replaced the modem and router with a newer combo router and modem before clocking out for the day.
Smoothie: I returned to the library Tuesday to try again. Dismantled the old setup, hooked up the Telikin and it was instantly on the internet. While attending the monthly birthday/anniversary party, one of my “students” who had given up learning how to use a computer because of unsteady hands making it almost impossible to use the mouse saw this new computer. When I returned, he had already figured out how to get on the web. He was having a great time.
Prickly: Because I spent so much time in the library Monday, I put off doing my laundry until Tuesday. About 9:30 a.m. we discovered we had no water. The maintenance man checked it out and said it probably was the water softener as the well showed plenty of pressure. He went across the street to the water building. He didn’t return, but the water came back. I put my white sheets and 2 white blouses and a few other items in the washing machine with the detergent. To my horror, when the cycle was thru and I went to get the items  to put in the dryer, the sheets were tea colored and the blouses streaked with rust. I learned that the central water softener had broken, and they had bypassed it so we were now getting untreated water. Why didn’t they tell me this?
Smoothie: A product from the grocery store removed the rust from the white items. The softener wasn’t fixed until about noon Wednesday and I was gone all day so the clothes were not “rescued” until last night. It took 2 washings, but they are OK.
Prickly: My plan for Wednesday was to go to Fort Wayne to pick up some AAA tour books, then drive an hour south to an herb garden where I wanted to see the lavender fields. I was almost to Fort Wayne when I realized the printed address and directions to the garden near Hartford City had been left behind.
Smoothie: The nice lady at AAA looked up the address and printed a Triptik for me.
Prickly: Because of our strange spring weather, the lavender was mostly already harvested.

Smoothie: Though disappointed with the garden, I had combined the trip with errands in Fort Wayne so at least part of the mileage wasn’t wasted. I also bought this cute plate in the garden gift shop.


We get the thorns with the roses. The bowl of life has its pricklies and its smoothies.
Rose given to us at the monthly party by GV in honor of our anniversary.

Saturday Surprise

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from Lisa Mundinger of Cookin Cute. She wanted to make a delivery to my home. Since I hadn’t ordered anything from her, I suspected this involved my sister. When my sister visited us here in Winona Lake, we browsed the shops of the Village at Winona. I had commented in Whetstone Woodenware about the cute aprons they were now selling. I was informed they were on consignment from Lisa. My sister is now back home in California, but apparently she returned to the shop and found the apron sold so special ordered one from Lisa, even enclosing a thank you card for our hospitality.
                                                             

I was totally surprised by this gift.
Last night we followed up the Masterworks concert with a scoop of Killer Chocolate ice cream at Kelaineys. We just beat the crowd of hungry musicians by 5 minutes.
Sweet apron, sweet sister, sweet ice cream. A great combination.

From My Front Porch

The last few days have been cooler, nice enough to sit on the porch again. I try to water my plants each day if the soil feels dry. Despite the recent heat, even the pansies seem to be doing OK. The unit next door is vacant, but even those plants are putting on a colorful display for me to view.
            
Yesterday morning my husband and I drove the country roads to Teel's restaurant in Mentone. If you visit there, keep in mind that the bacon that comes with your breakfast is a huge pile. I ate 4 pieces from my husband’s order, he ate at least 6 pieces, and we still have about that much left over that we will eat in BLT sandwiches today. We learned from our first visit, only one person needs to order bacon.
This morning I went to two farmers’ markets in search of some early tomatoes for today’s sandwiches: the one at the fairgrounds that has a few holdouts unwilling to relocate, and the new one downtown. No luck with tomatoes so had to stop at the grocery store. While crossing the road from the downtown farmers’ market, a car full of ladies asked me if this was Winona Lake. Somehow they had missed the turnoff and proceeded to Warsaw where they were forced to make a decision as Center Street is closed for the market sellers. I instructed them how to get to The Village at Winona, but today is less than ideal as a big triathlon is in progress this morning.
Last night we attended the symphony concert of the Masterworks Festival which is also held in Winona Lake. Excellent as usual. We plan to go tonight to another concert if my husband isn’t wiped out from helping with the triathlon.
Winona Lake is a great place to live and to visit.

Fixed-income-friendly Pleated Shade

The condos in my retirement neighborhood have identical arch windows at the front and back. The windows with southern exposure can be problematic. We found that at certain times of the year when the arc of the sun is low in the sky, we had lunchtime glare on our dining table and sun in our eyes. Those with southern front windows may not have as much trouble since the overhanging roof of the front porch shields some of the glare.
Not wanting to invest hundreds of dollars for custom shades or drapes, we learned from our neighbors at the other end of our quadplex that they had solved the problem inexpensively with a product from Lowes. The trim-to-fit pleated shade costs about $20 and is in-stock at the local store.
You measure the bottom width of your window, trim off a few inches of the thin long rectangle (like a paper fan folded up) to match your window, peel the adhesive protector off the bottom, press on your sill, then open like an accordion fan. The shade lets light in, but cuts down the glare. I do miss not seeing the moon thru the window like I did when we first moved in, but the trade-off was worth it.