Catching Up

Today's post is all about catching up on the latest from our household since I was a slacker for the last three weeks. 

On August 12 we both got a shot of the Recombinant Zoster (Shingles) Vaccine which is apparently superior to the original Shingles shot we had several years ago. Even with insurance, our cost was $100 each. This is the first of a two-dose series that we need to repeat in 5-6 months. Our arms were tender by the end of the day and the next morning I wasn't feeling the best while making breakfast. We read the information sheet and discovered that 1 out of 6 people experience side effects that prevent them from doing regular activities. I went back to bed after breakfast to rest; by the afternoon I was feeling much better. Next February we'll be getting the 2nd dose at the same cost but I'll probably choose my left arm instead of the right and hope the side effect is minimal.

We're still in the process of settling in. We've had the shelf pictured below for quite a few years but when living at Copper Chase it was stored in a closet. I cleaned off dust and fingerprints and then we decided on a spot to hang it. It's a mathematical challenge because there's no wiggle room for placing the nails to hang it. But we got it right on the first try!

It's hard to take a photo looking into a mirror 

On a recent afternoon, we used our back lawn for several games of corn hole. I haven't played in a long time but surprised myself with some great shots. But I couldn't take advantage of a 5-point lead that Ray offered on the last game of the day. Ray has great skills and he's hard to beat.

Last Sunday was a rare opportunity to watch the Indy 500 live broadcast. It is usually blacked out for central Indiana. The race was broadcast locally to the joy of many Hoosiers. The yellow flag with five laps left in the race was the only downer in my opinion. I'm hoping that we'll have a regular month of May with all its festivities in 2021. 

Both Ray and I were involved in a garage sale sponsored by one of his former co-workers from many years ago. Kathy is disabled and also happens to be a member of Concordia. Kathy has been storing her parents' household items and needed to clear space in her small house. Another Concordia member who has helped Kathy many times in the past offered to set up the sale and Ray and I helped as much as we could over four days. Several other church members also helped. Kathy's dad is no longer living but her mother at age 97 is in assisted living in Ohio. 

We came home with several new acquisitions found at the garage sale. A floor lamp is now adding much-needed lighting to our office area. I had no idea the lamp was versatile until we plugged it in. The off-on switch can also control the brightness from dim to bright. A lovely find and basically free due to Kathy's generous spirit. We also came home with chairs and an umbrella for our patio but no umbrella stand. We visited four stores and none of them had an umbrella base--one store said they sold the last one that morning. Ray has ordered a base from an online store but we don't expect it to arrive for another week (or maybe even longer depending on shipping delays which are common these days).

That's all for now folks! Enjoy the last day of August and I hope to see you again in September.

Enjoying August

After the first week of August, I'd say this was a beautiful start to the month. We have had cooler and less humid days and our lawns are green and beautiful just like early spring. We've had a few rain showers that turned brown lawns into green ones. 

The Nissan's AC wasn't pumping much cold air and I finally convinced Ray that we should have it checked. I think car repair shops are very busy. When I stopped in to have the AC checked on July 24 they weren't able to take any more customers and so I made an appointment for the following Wednesday. The refrigerant was low and they also added a dye to see if they could locate any leaks in the system. We now have an appointment this week for that check-up but the good news is the AC is working fine though we haven't had any 90 degree days since adding the refrigerant.

I read somewhere about a strawberry festival in Franklin IN and thought it would be a nice change of pace for the last day of July. As we neared the city we came across a road closed sign and had to take a detour. We chose the south detour and soon were surrounded by beautiful cornfields with no sign of the city. We weren't sure whether to continue further south or was the city north? We almost gave up but a few landmarks seemed familiar and, eventually, we made our way to the drive-through festival (masks required) and picked up our strawberry shortcakes. We enjoyed the tasty treat on a bench in a nearby park.

Delicious and yummy!

Last Tuesday we were able to sit on our sun-drenched patio thanks to the mild temperature and sometimes overcast sky.  Most often it's too hot to enjoy the patio since there is no shade. 

We have a huge lawn area in our backyard and
apartments just beyond the property line.

Enjoying an afternoon snack on the patio.

View of our house taken from the
apartments that we see from the patio. 

Our neighbors to the left in the photo have a beautiful patio setting compared to ours. We plan to have some type of covering -- maybe an umbrella and a small table by next summer -- but we're not going to compete with our neighbor; you can be assured of that. 

Some good news. Our washer and dryer were delivered and installed on Thursday. We've waited since late June for delivery and I used the rest of the day catching up on laundry.

Google's Blogger has a new interface that sometimes is counter-intuitive especially after using the old interface for a very long time. Something new is that I'm able to see a preview for three options: computer, tablet, or phone. If you're reading on a phone I'm guessing that the width of this post is wider than your window.