Weekly Chat Thread Oct. 2nd - 8th

[chapeaunoir]

jesmelric - That happened to my grandfather - he retired and then just kind of sat in his chair or followed grandma around the house and got underfoot - it used to drive her nuts. He was good at small appliance repair and used to tinker with it, and we encouraged him to start up just a little side gig, as he enjoyed it and could get plenty of business, but nope: "I'm retired". I think it may have been a cultural mindset for generations of men who were not encouraged to pursue hobbies, etc., or see life outside of work, particularly if it's something they really enjoy. It's *really* easy to just 'roost' because life isn't cracking the whip anymore to make a deadline, earn a living, etc.  

Anyway, you don't want to "let the old man in" (Clint Eastwood). 

[denise15601]

It's nice here too...kind of. We had 6 days in the 80's and now it is cooler and raining. But we do need rain.

My dad passed away shortly after he retired at 67. So he didn't get to do all that he wanted to do.

I can't imagine just sitting around and doing nothing. That is why I enjoy selling online. It sure does keep me busy. Gardening is hard for me, but is another enjoyment.

Looking forward to my lung biopsy which will probably be before the end of the month. So that outcome will present new challenges, depending on what chemo I will have to be on. I keep thinking though, that I will finally be able to eat foods with folic acid...spinach, broccoli, oranges, etc. Of course, I might be bald...lol. And very sick... Challenges and another bump in the road, for sure.
Life is good.

[val2525]

My dad retired young - late 40's. He did 30 years in the Marine Corps but joined really young so he was young when he retired. He tried the play golf country club life my mom wanted but it just wasn't his cup of tea. He wanted to travel, she didn't. After they divorced, he bought a cargo van and modified it for on the road travel, volunteered at the Food Bank and ended up a Vista Volunteer there and managed the warehouse distribution side for several years. He loved it. After doing that for years, he didn't renew and he and his GF traveled about half of the year. My mom also worked and retired, but she didn't do so well. She had "hobbies", but it was mostly stuff she'd been expected to do and not necessarily what SHE wanted to do. I tried to get her to invest more in the hobbies she liked, but she wouldn't do it. She'd been raised a "proper" southern belle and apparently doing what your parents wanted and not what you wanted was the only way to go.

Partly cloudy and 83 here today. Then the mid-70's over the weekend. And lows in the 60s. Woo hoo! I will be firing up the crock pot big time!

I'm deciding on my final order for Christmas lights. Now that I know what first place looked like last year, I bet I can beat them. I think I might "cheat" too. I may wait to put out the final pièce de résistance the day of the contest, so my next door neighbors won't be able to top it It's more for outside views than my view from inside, so it's no great loss of enjoyment for me if I wait until then to put it out.  All's fair in love, war and Christmas decorating contests with cash prizes, right?

[kritter]

My Walmart has their Christmas stuff out and I love it. Might get a couple of their trees for year round use. One of the foster kittens bit through the cord on my white willow tree so will definitely replace that one.

[val2525]

I lucked out and scored a bunch of nice Christmas decorations from WM on clearance last month. And I got the newest edition to the World Market mid century modern village houses. I figured out where I can place them so they won't be a temptation to the cats

[sunsetpainter]

We went from around 90 degrees on Wednesday to lower 50's here today. Our rain gauge said we got 2-1/4" of rain yesterday! We really needed it too. It hasn't really rained here in almost 3 weeks. and this was a good steady soaking rain. Still off and on rain today. Closed all the windows because it was getting chilly in the house! I miss when we used to actually have FALL (instead of going from A/C to heater in 2 days!)!

[labbypaws]

I spent today cleaning the high traffic areas of carpet. Even though it is going to rain tomorrow I couldn’t stand it anymore. Last time I moved all the furniture. That was late April or early May before we got the 3 dogs. They track in so much mud. It is ground-in in some spots. We still plan on LVP but can’t afford it right now.

Will grab 2 more bags from the attic tomorrow. (Stuff is in tubs or boxes. Putting the stuff in bags and breaking down the boxes.)

[pyrexandpearls]

Hi all! Its been a while since I posted. My life has just been chaos it seems for the last few months. Unfortunately, we had two deaths in the family within 2 months of each other, both requiring me to make last minute, across the country travel. Very thankful to have a job that was understanding and let me leave twice with very little warning. Sadly, my grandfather passed away after a very short bout with cancer. You may recall a few years ago I posted a photo of his "cat condo" that he made for all the outdoor/barn kitties. He loved his kitties and used his truly extraordinary woodworking skills to build them the condo of their dreams! LOL. They had one cat in particular that was mainly a house cat and was his buddy, spending nearly every day curled up in his lap. It was truly heartbreaking to watch the way that cat mourned for him as well - roaming the house, loud meowing, etc. He never acted that way when my grandfather had been hospitalized previously so it was clear he understood what had happened.

On a different note, fall is certainly here in the midwest! The house was down to 64 this AM when I woke up. I had no plans to turn on the heat but DH insisted the dog was too cold and kicked on the heater LOL. I am not ready to lose my plants yet but was thankfully able to cover my coleus with some groovy 70 bedsheets to protect them form the frost last night. I also had to bring my mums in. Hoping we can eek out a few more weeks of above freezing temps after this cold front moves thru. I love fall but I can't say I love what comes next. I am also not ready to give up my sandals yet!

[staytuned]

My deepest condolences to you and your family for your losses, pyrex.

Woke up this morning to a chilly apartment but haven't turned on heat yet. Only 46 outside at 9am but did go up to a "balmy" 54. I love fall but hate what's coming, too.

[denise15601]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Pyrex. Poor kitty, too.

It went down to 40 last night and now is 53, windy and gray. I hate winter, and hope that it forgets to arrive. My house is still 70, TG. The furnace will have to wait, although I did turn it on a few weeks ago.

[val2525]

(((((pyrex))))) I'm so sorry about your losses.

We were high 60s this morning. For maybe an hour LOL. Still, our forecast is mid 70s. I can live with that.

If anyone here likes apple butter, Musselman's Maple Cinnamon Apple Butter is awesome. I found it here at Walmart. I have a pork roast in the slow cooker covered with the apple butter (and fresh apples, and cranberries LOL). I did manage to save enough to put on my english muffin for breakfast. I've already added 2 jars to my WM cart since I know I will be using it again, probably for pork chops or maybe blondies.

[denise15601]

I forgot about apple butter! I used to eat it way back when. Will put that on my list.

Edit-I just checked the calories and the stuff is pretty low.  I have been eating waffles with almond butter for my evening snack when I take my evening chemo pill.

And the almond butter is pretty high in calories, so the apple butter is a better choice.

[val2525]

Walmart has pumpkin butter out right now too. I think it's limited time though, like most other brands.

[labbypaws]

My brother used to eat the flavored butter back in the early 70’s.

Of course one of the dogs threw up on the clean carpet😩. I still had the rug doctor out so I filled it up a bit and ran it.

Went up in the attic. Threw away my wedding cake topper, and all the other stuff that goes with it. I had tried to list the cake knife and the like on the marketplace yard sale sites but no luck. Just taking up space. No one to pass it on to. Some honeymoon memorabilia too. So two more bags of “stuff” in the trash.

[sunsetpainter]

(((pyrex))) I'm so sorry for your losses.

Cold and windy here today, but sunny. So that made working outside a little better. We had some rocks to move and were waiting for the weather to cool down. Now I'm beat!

I still have my wedding cake topper. DH's aunt bought it for us and it's a beautiful spun glass heart with glass hummingbirds in the middle of the heart. Someone else (probable poor DD) will have to get rid of that when I'm gone.

Our boy GSD Xander is kind of lost since we lost his sister. I'm contemplating getting another dog, but I'm just not quite ready yet. It's kind of nice just having one to take out, especially when it's raining! LOL

There's all kinds of recipes for crock pot apple and pumpkin butter. I need to find one that's sugar free.

[Emerald_Door]

Pyrex, I'm sorry for your losses.

[Emerald_Door]

Our wedding cake was topped with flowers, so there was nothing to store or give away.

[frakinfashion]

((((denise))))

Pyrex, sorry for the tough times you're going through.

All those butters sound delicious. No Walmart here in the city but I guess I could order them online. Enjoy the fall everybody. There's no point in dreading what comes next.

[denise15601]

Ugh-my house was 65 when I woke up so my furnace is on. I have a ton of outside gardening work to do, so I hope it goes to the 70's soon.

[val2525]

I'll swap places with you, Denise. My bedroom was 74 when it should have been 65. For some reason my A/C thermostat decided to flip to permanent hold mode, which sets it at 72 and my bedroom, on the opposite end of the apt, runs 2 degrees higher. No wonder I didn't sleep well last night.

Creamy taco chicken is in the crock pot. This should come out much better than yesterday's fiasco with the pork roast.   I think the recipe I used had way too much liquid for a pork roast. I'll try the other recipe I found next time. It calls for a rub and the applebutter on top but no extra liquid.

[chapeaunoir]

(((Pyrex))) He sounds like he was such a neat guy!

We're east of the mountains- I did the 10-mile run here and PR'd - but lawdy was I pooped at the end! The DH is on a mountain ride. After I finished I headed to the nearby coffee house for coffee and a cinnamon roll. Then gobbled some cold pizza in our room. Next I'll chew on the pillow lol.

[labbypaws]

Pyrex, I am sorry for your loss. Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, as did one grandma.

[jesmelric]

So sorry for your losses, Pyrex. It's hard

[sunsetpainter]

Don't forget the Post Office is closed tomorrow October 9 for Columbus Day.

[labbypaws]

I remembered about the PO but forgot about online banking. Payments weren’t posted and then I looked them up. Paid them. Just not posted to my account.