Enjoying the final days of summer

About a week ago we entered the season of Autumn but our days have been summer like. The evenings and early morning are quite cool--in the 50s--give or take a little. We have returned to the 80s on some afternoons. This nice weather has given me a chance to do some necessary yard cleanup. I weeded some areas, sprayed other areas and then tackled the Iris bed. It's been neglected way too long and was a challenge to dig up the old plants. I was finally able to divide the plants and replant. I took some extras to church today to give away. I don't know if anyone was interested. Now I have to throw out what is left. It seems a shame but the Iris bed will look better next spring and have better blossoms for the next few years.

Ray seems to be busy repairing equipment, finding parts or talking to service people. He had the motor repaired on the Trac Vac but now the carburetor control valve has failed; the trimmer needs some kind of part as well as the sickle bar mower. Hopefully, they'll all be good as new very soon.

About a week or so ago, I dropped my digital camera and later discovered I could no longer focus any shot I wanted to take. I have a telephoto lens and the auto focus feature worked just fine when I used this lens so I knew that my regular lens needed replacing. After searching online I found two reasonable options and chose the one on eBay. The new lens arrived yesterday and it works beautifully.

Last evening a neighbor across the street hosted their annual hog roast and we enjoyed good food and visiting with other neighbors. Last year's event, their first since moving onto our street, was a disaster--we had a downpour and no one could be outdoors. This year Ray played corn hole almost continuously and only would give up his spot if someone beat him. I took this photo with my new lens.

Ray is playing against Linda Parks who lives directly across the street from us.
If you look above the third car from the right, you might be able to see our rooftop.
Too many trees to see the house from this location.

Late this afternoon the sunshine was splashing on our sassafras trees. Some years the leaves turn yellow but this year they are rewarding us with red leaves!

Across the water, the maple trees are beginning to show color.
The sunshine was very bright and the colors may be a bit washed out.

The Colts won handily this afternoon, but IU did poorly yesterday against Maryland. Only a week ago IU had a huge upset win over Missouri.

My goal this week is to take advantage of the warm weather before the next cool spell and finish some more outdoor chores.

Windy Picnic

The church annual picnic was a windy affair today. Sometimes it's very warm or it's raining on the day of the picnic, but today we had wind as a cold front was coming through. However, the food was delicious. I took a pan of macaroni and cheese and Sweet Potato Pie bars. Didn't get to eat any bars as they were all gone when I went to retrieve my pan.

We were home in time to see the second half of the Colts vs Jacksonville game. Now, we are sort of glued to the TV wondering if the Broncos can beat the Seahawks. The Broncos came from behind and now it's overtime.

Our week began with a picnic last Monday at McCloud Nature Park in northwest Hendricks County, about 20 miles or so from home. As a nature park, we had hoped to walk some of the trails, but after eating lunch we began hearing thunder and then felt raindrops. Maybe we can go back later this year to finish our hike. On the way home we passed through Danville, IN and stopped at the Mayberry Cafe for dessert and more time to visit with Max and Pat who had accompanied us to the park.

Here we are standing on a pedestrian bridge over a creek and ravine
just as the raindrops are beginning to fall

On Wednesday we attended the Senior Social at the Rec Center and enjoyed pizza for lunch and a presentation on hearing health. We also stopped at the new Neighborhood Walmart that had opened just a week before. Since we drive by almost every time we go to the Rec Center, we'll probably be visiting the Walmart occasionally. We still need to consider shopping at the local IGA; at more than 10 miles away, the Walmart might try to influence local shoppers to drive there.

Ray was busy taking down the fencing around our back garden. This was a challenge because of the weeds growing in the fencing. He rolled up the rusty fencing and loaded it and some of the old fence posts on the back of the pickup truck. A stop at the local recycling plant added $12 to his wallet. They paid him!

Yesterday morning we both headed to Mooresville High School for the annual REMC membership meeting. After eating breakfast, I went on to church to help with quilt knotting and Ray stayed for the meeting. In the afternoon, I prepared the food to take to today's church picnic.

Should be a good week for finishing some outdoor projects. I'm think I should be washing windows while the weather is still nice and then checking some areas where I might need to do some weeding. Would also like to spray the lawn for broadleaf weeds this fall.

Jayden celebrates #7

Our calendar didn't have a lot this past week, but it seems like every day is busy with odds and ends and bits and pieces to accomplish. I used some of the last tomatoes from the garden that were edible and made five pints of salsa. With the help of the prepared condiment package, the preparation was pretty simple.

We played bridge one afternoon and later that day I donated blood in Mooresville. Every two months the Blood Center sets up a donation center at the Quaker church. It's convenient and one of the local sororities serves delicious cookies afterwards!!

I picked up a reserved book from the library, "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett, the 2nd book in The Century Trilogy. His books are excellent but extremely long so I have three weeks to finish as I'm almost certain I won't be able to renew it. There are probably other people who have reserved it.

Training continues for the November 1 Half Marathon. A week ago Friday, I struggled to finish a long run because of the heat and humidity. A week later, on Saturday, yesterday, I wore a long sleeve shirt and even was chilly when heading into the wind. The Saturday low was in the 40s, but I delayed my run until nearly 11 a.m. when the temperature had moderated. Yesterday's run was fun because in this park there were lots of little kids playing soccer with moms and dads and siblings all around.

Joe and Nancy hosted the party for Jayden. Perfect weather and conditions. Not too hot, but warm and sunny. Enjoyed a turkey burger and ice cream and birthday cake.

I think Jayden's a bit embarrassed while we sing Happy Birthday!

Kylie and Jayden
(The geraniums in front of Nancy & Joe's house were outstanding)

Sunday Night Football

The 2014-15 NFL season is underway and the Colts are playing Denver at Mile High Stadium in a few minutes. I don't think anyone expects the Colts to win tonight, but most think the Colts will do well over the long season. They should be interesting to watch.

Not too long ago I read The Hundred-Foot Journey, an Oprah Book Club selection. Soon afterwards I learned that the movie of the same name would be released this summer. When I had an opportunity to purchase a Groupon for a movie pass, I couldn't resist. I hoped the movie would be shown locally and I could use the Groupon but I also realized lately that the Groupon was about to expire. We had decided to go to a different movie, but at the last moment I saw that the Mooresville theater was showing 100 Foot Journey beginning this weekend. Perfect timing! On Friday evening we went to the theater and enjoyed the movie -- beautiful cinema photography and a fun story.

The weather began moderating Saturday morning after a very humid Friday. A bit drizzly and wet until about noon. With the cooler and drier weather I was able to finish digging our sweet potatoes. In the past Ray has always dug them, so it was a learning experience for me but also satisfying. We're now waiting for the potatoes to cure about a week or ten days to develop their sweet flavor. Ray has been busy all summer mowing the grass every week so I was glad to take over the harvest of the potatoes.

After church this morning on our way home we stopped at Pioneer Park to look for several geocaches but came home empty handed. I think we'll have to try again. At least one should have been found. We then drove to Monrovia and had lunch at the Lion's Club Booth at the annual Monrovia Festival. What a beautiful day. The Festival ends with a parade on Sunday afternoon but we've never watched one. Had a large ice cream cone before heading home.

Looking back 14 years

Sometime last spring we found our first geocache and since then have found about seven more. Several times we've been disappointed after diligently searching a site and come away empty handed. I had read about geocaching previously but didn't think I could participate since we don't have a GPS. The descriptions are pretty easy to follow and the maps on the website help a lot. We find geocaching  interesting because we don't have to go far to look for a cache. There are many local ones only a few miles away.

The point of all this is that when I received the Geocaching.com newsletter today I learned that this hobby, if you want to call it that, or outdoor adventure is celebrating its 14th anniversary this month. Here's what I read this morning:

Remember the year 2000? In the United States, a pound of bacon only cost $3 and a gallon of gas set people back $1.26. The iPhone was still 7 years away from being introduced. But on September 2, 2000, some hearty adventurers, tired of being tied to an office cubicle day after day, launched Geocaching.com. The adventure to inspire outdoor play through GPS technology began. 

I was amazed how many things have changed in the short span of 14 years. What does a pound of bacon cost in 2014? I don't now because I never buy any. It seems as if the iPhone has been around forever and gasoline was less than $1.50. Startling! What will happen in the next 14 years? Will I be around to even know or care?

Back to blogging!

My last post was May 28. Little did I know on that date that I wouldn't post for three months. How could this happen? It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Some of the highlights since I last wrote include:

• Dustin graduated from Center Grove High School
• I ran the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon
• Attended the Indiana LWML District Convention in West Lafayette
• Volunteered all week at Vacation Bible School
• Traveled with Bart, Christy & Persephone to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
• Volunteered at SonRise Camp in Anderson, IN (1 day)
• Hosted my sister Judy and spouse, Tom, who arrived on Thursday, July 24
• A day later their son Andrew and spouse, Dora, and children, Katherine & Ethan, arrived from Michigan (everyone left on Sunday morning)
• Volunteered at the church rummage sale
• Helped knot quilts for Lutheran World Relief

In between these activities, we had a huge crop of strawberries and I made lots of jam and froze some berries, too. After strawberry season, the green beans began producing and I froze quite a few packets. Ray helped by trimming and cutting the beans. He also picked berries from our Serviceberry trees (aka as Juneberries) and we should have enough in our freezer to last until next June. Our raspberry plants produced well, too. We planted a different cucumber variety this year and they produced lots of vines with so many cucumbers I was busy canning dill and bread and butter pickles. Ray again helped when the tomato plants started producing and we made sauce for the freezer. I may make some salsa soon. I took extra cucumbers and tomatoes to church. Anyone may take as much as they wish and the produce that is left is taken to a local food pantry.

During the last three months, we have been faithfully visiting the Rec Center in Plainfield. We played bridge with our neighbors, Mike & Jan Rodgers, once a month and had an adventure with Max and Pat Walker each month also: The Screaming Eagle in Mooresville, Mini Golf in Greenwood and just last week we visited the new Orangutan Center at the Indianapolis Zoo.

There are many others things that we've done or that have kept us busy but this overview should sort of catch up on what's happening here on Oak Creek Drive.

Here's a scrapbook layout I made of our ride on The Screaming Eagle:

The journaling box reads:

After lunch at Squealer's in Mooresville, the four of us headed

to Pioneer Park to ride The Screaming Eagle! And scream we did!

The ride isn't exactly a zip line. Only two people ride at a time. The cable lifts the gondola backwards until it's about 90 feet high and a quarter of a mile or so from the starting point. The ride back to the starting point is so fast there is hardly time to scream.