Retirement Diaries 2024: Garden Time

I can’t believe it is already mid-May!  The sun is out, the temps are getting into the high 60s, and it’s gardening time! 

I have been working out in the yard and garden, clearing up the fallen sticks from the oak trees, clearing away the dead leaves and pulling the lush grass from the beds.  Things are green!  The trees are budding out and the lilacs will be blooming soon.  It’s beautiful! 

I also started my garden with some frost tolerant crops.  Last weekend I planted radishes, beets, turnips and snow peas in the ground.  Nothing has sprouted yet, but I’m sure it is just a matter of days!  I also put up the mini greenhouse in the house, and have a lot starting in it!  Cabbage, bell pepper, cantaloupe, and green and colored bush beans.  I have six tomato plants that were already started, and am starting ten more from seeds (I have never started tomatoes from seeds, so we will see how that goes).  The cabbage sprouts are going crazy, the tomato plants are growing, and I even have one lonely cantaloupe start.  I’m sure its friends will be arriving soon. 

I marked everything on a calendar, with planting dates, and expected date of harvest.  There will be more going in the ground in the next week or two as well!  The big experiment begins! 

I also started volunteering for our town’s library, and the library book sale begins today.  It has been a flurry of activity getting ready, moving all the donated books up from the basement of City Hall, and arranging them all on tables.  It helps to be a big reader, so I can help figure out which genres the books belong in.  Hopefully we get lots of sales for funding library activities! 

I went for a hike at a new-to-me park last week.  Crow Wing State Park is right at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi Rivers, and is the site of a Native American village, and later a white settlement.  There isn’t much left now, but signs explain where things were, and there is an old cemetery.  It is fun to imagine what a tough life it would have been to live here hundreds of years ago. 

Yellow and Cora both had a vet appointment on Tuesday.  Yellow was getting his kidney bloodwork to check how he’s doing and Cora had a vaccine she needed in case I need to board her later in the spring for a few trips mom and I are going on.  Yellow is doing well!  His kidney values are just slightly outside of the normal range, but much better than they were 6 months ago.  It is such a relief!  He’s responding well to his fluids and he’s happy.  Cora’s vaccine had her feeling under the weather until this morning (she even slept through a couple of meals, which is unlike her!), but she seems to be back to normal today. 

It’s been a busy spring so far, but I’m having lots of fun!  I can’t wait to see the results of my handiwork!

 

Retirement Diaries 2024: Back in Minnesota

After three weeks in Washington and Oregon, I’m back in Minnesota.  I had so much fun, seeing friends, visiting my favorite places, and getting in plenty of beach time. 

The weather is so much better than when I left!  Instead of lows of 7 degrees and snow on the ground, the weather has been mostly sunny and in the 50s and 60s since I got back.  Until today at least; it’s raining now and it is supposed to rain off and on until Monday.  There are worse things in life.

The grass is green from the recent rains, and once the rain stops I’m going to be getting out into the yard to work on pruning and trimming back the dead foliage.  The lilac bushes are starting to leaf out, so there will soon be the sweet smell of lilacs blooming!

Cora and Yellow were of course happy to see me, and have forgiven me for being away.  It is so nice to see how bonded they are; they regularly snuggle and sleep in the same puff, even though they have lots of options.  At the moment, I can hear Yellow snoring in the other room; they really have a good life!

Mom was kind enough to think of me when she went to the library book sale for the next town up the road, and she got me some books on the Civil War.  She’s always so thoughtful!  There is also an upcoming book sale at our town library, so I’ll be helping move books from storage next week to get ready for it.  I’ll be considered the young person with the strong back among the other volunteers I’m sure.  It reminds me of helping mom to purge her books before the move last year.  That was a lot of boxes of books!

On my way home from Washington, I spent a couple of days on the Oregon coast, camping, looking for agates and just enjoying the beach.  I did get rained on a little, but it was pretty good weather for the most part!  After I left the coast, I spent a few days getting home, doing a little bit of sightseeing on the way.  A winery along the Columbia River Gorge, and a few museums in Montana and North Dakota.  After leaving Oregon, it got too cold for camping, so I splurged on a few nights of hotels.

Along the way I had a few lovely chats with people I met on the beach, at the winery, or in the restaurant bars – I like sitting at the bar when I’m dining alone, it just invites more social interaction.

Of course, now that I’m back I’ll be able to write more regularly again.  Not much driving to interfere with my downtime!

I hope everyone is well – and enjoying spring!

Retirement Diaries 2024: Packing Up…

Last Friday, Mom and I headed over to a garden nursery for a planting event!  You could choose to plant a container garden or a hanging basket.  Then you pick your plants, plant them in the dirt and you are done!  The nursery takes care of your baby until Mother’s Day weekend, when you go pick up your plant and see how much it has grown!  The cold weather in Minnesota makes greenhouses a necessity.  In Washington your little container gardens would already be out soaking up the sunshine and the rain! It was a fun drive over; we saw farmed elk and bison on the way, and a wild Bald Eagle. 

Early Sunday morning, it started to snow.  And it pretty much continued non-stop until Tuesday evening.  It came down relatively slowly, but I would guess overall there was 8-10 inches.  Today the skies are back to being blue and sunny! 

Sunday Morning

 

Monday Evening

Sunday morning was also the Agate Swap!  Mom hadn’t been to one before, so we braved the snow and checked it out.  It is basically a rock show, with lots of vendors selling their wares.  You can bring in agates to trade or sell, but mostly the Lake Superior Agates I have found are small and not very impressive, so no trading for me.  I did buy a few agates and an antique agate marble that caught my eye.  I’m slowly filling up my house with rocks! 

I’m glad the weather system has now passed through, because I’ve been packing up the car to get on the road!  It’s spring, and I’m ready for a trip!  It was strange yesterday hauling things out to the car in my snow boots.  It will be too cold to camp on the way out to Washington, where I will spend a few weeks with friends, catching up with everybody and seeing the sights.  Hopefully I will be able to camp on the way back though, so I’m putting all my gear in the car just in case.  I haven’t been to Washington in almost seven months, so I’m beyond excited!

I’m sure the kitties will miss me, but Yellow is doing well with his new food and daily fluids, so I don’t have to worry about him as much as I was.  Cora is doing great!

On the way back, I haven’t decided my route yet.  I suppose it will probably depend on the weather.  Stay north and go back through Montana, or cut down through Oregon again and maybe do some of Highway 20?  There are so many choices – and so much to see!   

Retirement Diaries: It’s Spring!

It’s spring!  We made it to spring! 

After a relatively mild winter, now that it is spring, the snow is forecast.  It will probably only be a couple inches on Thursday and Friday, so I suppose I can deal with it.  It was only 14 degrees outside when I got up today, so hopefully it warms up soon!  At least it is sunny though; Cora and Yellow enjoy sleeping in the sun on the teacup chair. 

Everything around here is still pretty dormant though, since it has been so dry.  No snow, and no rain makes for brown grass and no sign of spring flowers yet.  I’m looking forward to seeing some color! 

In other news, I’m heading out to Washington soon to see my friends.  It’s been over six months since I have been out there – far too long!  I’m starting to get excited! Socializing!  Great conversations!  Beachcombing and looking for agates!  Going to all my favorite restaurants, breweries and cideries!  Sightseeing!  I’ll be driving over, so pray that this weekend’s little snow event stays just that.  Little.

I hope you are all well, and enjoying the first day of spring! 

Retirement Diaries 2024: Almost Spring

We have almost made it to spring!  The weather was fabulously warm for a few days last week, with the temperature Sunday almost reaching 60!  I planned to work on chinking both weekend days and make some progress on getting this log home in peak insulated shape.  Saturday was a great day for it, and I made some good progress on the back side of the house.  Sadly, it was pretty windy Sunday and the wind interfered with chinking.  Best laid plans…  This weekend I know what I’m doing Sunday!

The robins are back!  And I have heard the Sandhill Cranes are already in Southern Minnesota, so they should be here soon!  I took Cora to the vet for her checkup and rabies vaccine yesterday and saw a pheasant by the side of the road!  Cora is doing well; she had some bloodwork done to check for common issues in older cats, and catch it early if anything is going on.  She’s happy and isn’t showing any symptoms that there are any issues though!  I should have results early next week.

Yellow has gained some weight and the subcutaneous fluids are a big help.  He’s so funny.  He’s always so skittish if he’s on the floor and anyone tries to walk up to him.  However, he will happily lay on the floor right behind my office chair with wheels when I’m working on the computer.  Don’t worry, I’m careful when he’s there!

The chickens are certainly noticing the warmer weather and the longer days, and laying more eggs again for spring.  I am going to need to find some recipes again that use lots of eggs!  I also waterglassed my first batch of eggs this weekend.  If you don’t know, waterglassing is a traditional method of preserving raw eggs; you place them in a container with filtered water and pickling lime, and the solution preserves the eggs up to 18 months!  They won’t taste pickled; they are supposed to taste just like fresh eggs when you wash off the pickling lime solution.  The catch is that you have to use farm fresh eggs; store bought eggs have been washed and had the protective “bloom” removed.  I have been saving the cleanest eggs for my next batch to waterglass, and I’m curious to see how they turn out.

Tuesday night was a delicious lobster and shrimp dinner at home!  I haven’t had whole lobster since I celebrated my birthday in 2018.  This one was frozen, so it wasn’t quite as good, but it was a treat!  We ground up the lobster shells and fed them to the chickens; the girls enjoyed the extra calcium!

This week was very social!  I had book club on Wednesday and Trivia night on Thursday.  We got second to last at trivia night, but we had fun, and I was happy with our performance.  One of the categories was cartoon turtles, and it is clear that I’m lacking in cartoon turtle knowledge.  We managed to pull off 6 out of 10 turtles with a team effort though!

Other than that, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading, and writing.  I took an online writer’s workshop last week, and it re-inspired me to keep writing a book.  I dusted off the document that I started on several years ago, and have been refreshing my memory on what I wrote back then.  I’m excited to get back to it!

Hopefully, with the coming of spring, I’ll get back on the road and do some more traveling.  Yellow is doing pretty good, so I should be able to leave him for short periods.  The calendar is starting to fill up with some trip options.  Yay!

Retirement Diaries 2024: Wind Chill

After having several months of “unseasonably warm” temperatures, we are finally feeling the first true blast of Midwest winter.  The coldest temperature this morning was -10, with a wind chill of -30.  Yuck.  That is an improvement from the -39 wind chill they were originally predicting though.  It is supposed to be warming up a teensy bit over the next few days, before returning to acceptable winter temps.

Needless to say, I have had several “indoor” days lately, with my only time outside running errands, checking on the chickens, or taking out the trash.  I’m not silly enough to be out in that for long!

Mom and I checked out a new-to-us store this weekend.  They have home decor, vintage items and a few antiques.  I got a vintage milk bottle with a cream top for my collection, and I couldn’t resist a gnome since they were 70% off!  Being outside from the car to the store was enough for me.

I also started a new puzzle on New Years’ Eve, but it was very slow going to start.  I finished it last night!  The next one I do will be something a little easier.

 

 

The only real excitement lately was finding a little bat in the house last week!  EEK!  There was a bit of panic as I scooped up the cats and put them in my room so there would be no interactions.  I haven’t seen them so excited in a long time!  Luckily Burnie (I named him Burnie in case I needed to burn the house down) settled in for a nap on the wall, so I could calm down, and he didn’t move until he was scooped up and deposited back outside.  He was pretty cute, but definitely not cute enough to live in my house.  NOPE!  If you are a bat lover, don’t worry, he wasn’t left in the snow.  After he didn’t fly away right away, he was put on the wood pile where he promptly moved deeper into the pile. 

Yellow and Cora are appreciating having so much time with me at home.  Yellow has settled into a routine of pre-breakfast, breakfast, second breakfast, third breakfast, dinner, second dinner, and third dinner and a midnight snack.  I’m trying to encourage him to eat, so anytime he wants some food, I’m happy to give it to him.  Unfortunately I can’t just free-feed him, as Cora is already so portly and she would eat whatever was sitting out.

And since the chickens haven’t featured very highly on the blog lately, here’s a picture of Winter.  She decided she was going to stay in the outdoor coop after dark, so she was collected and deposited back inside; but not before I took the opportunity to take her picture.  Silly girl! 

I know I have a lot way to go, but I’m ready for spring! 

 

Retirement Diaries 2024: Kicking Off January

Happy New Year!

2024 has quietly entered the building.  The holiday itself was low-key; mom came over for dinner and we spent a little bit of time working on a puzzle.  I haven’t finished it yet – it is a hard one!

It seems we may finally get some truly cold temperatures in the next week, with lows currently forecast down to -7.  Not my favorite time of year.  Of course, from the looks of it, the whole country is in for a deep freeze!

Mom and I had a Thursday Funday last week.  We went to see the Festival of Trees at the Wright County Heritage Society, about an hour from home.  They had 80 decorated Christmas trees, done by local residents and businesses, and you could have fun by voting for your favorite trees.  After seeing all the pretty trees, we found a couple of antique and vintage shops and perused to our hearts’ content.  I got some cute rubber duckie earrings but otherwise didn’t buy anything; they had some really cute items though that were tempting!  We stopped off at the Goodwill on the way home and each found a few things too.  Chinese takeout rounded out a fun day!  It was nice that the weather held off – it was cold with temps in the 20s, but the few flurries of snow didn’t ever get serious…

Yellow has been doing a bit better.  He’s eating a bit more and eating his latest wet food that was recommended by the vet.  Which means he’s been eating a bit more of the phosphorous binder that I sprinkle on the wet food.  Supplemental fluids each day are helping a lot and he’s not fussy about getting stabbed in the scruff of the neck each night with the needle.  He has another recheck on his blood work in late January, so we will see how things are.  Cora has been trying to rough house with him again, so maybe that means he is feeling better!  Ah, the things we do for our babies.

Yesterday I went over to a friend’s house for the Taylor Swift Eras Concert watch party that she was hosting.  There were about 10 of us there, and we had a potluck lunch and then settled in for the 3.5 hour concert.  I like Taylor Swift’s music, and the fact that she is a smart, savvy businesswoman who stands up for herself.  It was fun, and nice to be making some friends in Minnesota.

I didn’t make any resolutions, although at some point soon I want to start planning out my 2024 travel.  I’m not sure yet what will be on the agenda, but I’m looking forward to some time on the road, where ever it ends up being.  One of these days I’ll sit down with my maps and make a wish list!

Otherwise, my world has been pretty relaxed.  Reading, writing and puttering around the house.  It’s nice to be able to have the down time.  How is your New Year starting out?

 

Retirement Diaries 2023: Frigid

Now that I’m feeling better from my cold, the weather has gotten frigidly cold.  It’s 16 degrees now, with a high of 24 today, and a high “real feel” of 16 because of the wind chill.  Yuck.  I’m getting used to having to check the temperature before I get dressed in the morning, because that beautiful sunshine outside is deceiving!  We still only have a sprinkle of snow on the ground, but I didn’t sleep well last night because of the high winds.  I never sleep well when it is windy.

This morning I got up and chopped veggies, made gravy and tossed it all into the crock pot with seasonings, a splash of white wine and a roast.  I’m driving mom to the doctor today – about an hour and 15 minute drive each way – and I’m excited to have dinner already made and waiting for us when we get home.  I haven’t tried this recipe before, so it counts as recipe night too!  Now I just have to stay awake for the drive!

I’m not ready for Christmas.  Being sick set me back on being able to do anything, but fortunately it will be low key anyway.  I have done some things, so I suppose I’m ahead of some people, although I’m not sure who those some people are.  I still dream of just traveling for Christmas, and spending the day hiking in some warm, sunny climate.  Sigh…

Of course, being sick means that I haven’t really been anywhere, or done anything, so you will have to settle for this recycled photo of my adorable kitties!

Yellow has decided he doesn’t really like his kidney food, after liking it at first.  Cats really are like toddlers.  He does still like Cora’s weight management food, so I guess that’s better than nothing, but I ordered him some wet kidney food to see if that seems like more of a treat.  He’s not all that excited about wet food in general, so we will see.  It would be nice if you could reason with cats (I’m sure people with toddlers agree wholeheartedly) and get them to do the things that are for their own good.

I surpassed my annual goal for number of books read!  I’m now at 41, and with two more weeks of the month, I’m sure I will finish at least one more!

 

Retirement Diaries 2023: Oh the Weather…

This is a week with not much news…

The weather here in Minnesota has been a bit… erratic.  A week ago there was a little bit of snow, and then we had a couple of days where we beat the record for the warmest day on record (almost 50 degrees!).  Unsurprisingly, the snow melted.  There was even an afternoon of chinking on the house, which I didn’t think would be happening again until spring.  Now it is back to snow, and some ice.  The snow at this point isn’t particularly impressive, maybe about 1/2 inch, but it is probably just the start of the winter layer that lasts until spring.  I don’t think I’ll get lucky enough to have more days close to 50 degrees for awhile (although there is a 44 on the 10 day forecast).

Thursday I went to the library book sale!  The local library has a pretty good sale, with amazing prices.  Fifty cents for paperbacks, $1.00 for hardbacks, $2.00 for CD audiobooks and $1.00 for puzzles.  I spent $6 for 9 books and a puzzle.  What a good deal and so much cheaper than Washington!  Combined with the books I got at the church rummage sale last weekend, I feel like I’m set for a winter of reading!

Unfortunately, I also managed to pick up a cold.  It’s not too terrible; it started with just feeling tired and achy, and now I have a little bit of a runny nose and a cough.  So for the last few days I’ve been laying low and doing a lot of sleeping and reading.  I finished my 39th book last night, and it was sooo good!  My annual reading goal has been met!  I read Hester, by Laurie Lico Albanese; a novel inspired by the character Hester Prynne, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter.  I’m having a book hangover now, as it was so well written!  It was the January pick for the book club I belong to through the library, and it was a book I hadn’t heard of before.

Cora and Yellow always appreciate any time I’m taking naps or vegging on the couch, so they are enjoying themselves!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just a couple of weeks away.  I’m not ready for it.  I keep saying that someday I’m just going to travel for Christmas, and I still like the idea.  Not this year, but one day soon!

 

 

 

Retirement Diaries 2023: Countdown to Christmas

Thanksgiving was a quiet day here.  It is nice to spend time with my mom, although having her so close means I get to spend a lot more time with her now.  I made cranberry sauce, which I love, and a glazed carrot and sweet potato dish, which didn’t wow me as much as I wanted it to.  I will try it again though, maybe with a different glaze.  Mom did the rest of the cooking. 

I didn’t really do any Black Friday shopping, except for a trip to the thrift shop where I got a big Pyrex mixing bowl, and of course, a book.  Everything was 25% off, so the mixing bowl cost $6.38 and the book cost me 38 cents.  Can’t beat that!  I’ll probably be in trouble with my mom because it wasn’t planned much ahead of time and I didn’t see if she wanted to go with me!  Sorry mom.

My family is still doing our annual handmade ornament exchange, although the numbers of participants have dwindled a little over the years.  I had to make five ornaments this year, and I finished them up a few days ago.  I always get the best ideas after I start on my ornaments, and then by next year, I have forgotten them.  I need to have a better system for filing away ideas. 

Yellow seems to be doing a lot better.  The accidents have stopped, and his appetite is better.  He never really eats a lot at one time, so I put the food bowl down for him whenever he seems interested.  Which means he is having three or four breakfasts and dinners each day, which are really more like snacks.  Whatever it takes for the furbabies.  I would love to just leave food out for him all the time, but Cora would eat it and she’s already a pudge.

I have almost met my book goal for the year.  It is 39 books, and I’m currently at 37.  With one month left to go, I feel like it’s doable!  I finished 7 books in November, which is a lot for me.  I’ve definitely been on a reading kick lately, and I’m enjoying it.  I also decided that in 2024 I’m going to do an A to Z challenge; I’ll read one book starting with each letter for the alphabet, which is a total of 26 books.  Plus, I’ll still do my reading challenge of reading one more than the number of books I completed the previous year.  Depending on how many I finish in December, my challenge will be somewhere in the low 40s. 

Last night I got a good chunk of my tree decorated and I put out my nativities.  It certainly adds a pop of festive atmosphere in the house! I can’t believe that we only have one month left in the year!