Anticipating the first freeze

 

Monday

I got up around 7:30, having slept just ok. I got up to start the morning list. I was doing Sudoku when Chris left for work. I went through the list and did a few other small errands. I posted for band. I entered hours in the VMIS system, but the fields went blank after each posting.

The old computer was still doing Startup Repair. I looked it up and one advice was to restart the computer from a bootable device. However it never gave me the chance to hit F12. So it went to Windows, but never completed that start. I had to restart again.  I made up supplements for the week.

I made and ate breakfast and read e-mail. I walked to the post office for the mail. Someone left a chair in front of the swap shop, but I didn't have my keys to open the door. I chose hymns, then went to the library to return the books on CD and to make a large copy of a hymn. Afterward, I went to the garden and pulled up two onions – one had been chewed on.

I made onion soup in the toaster oven. I blew and raked leaves in the side yard, then ate supper. I researched candidates and filled out ballot.  Chris opened my watch and I dug out the battery.

I went to the chapel. Sophia was waiting. We set up the bells, sort of. I texted Jenni, then started playing with Sophia. Keli had to work at the commissary. We played till Jenni came, then continued playing until and after Andrea arrived. Finally I said we should do bells just the three of us, and that's when Michele and John arrived.

I gave John my ballot to take to town tomorrow. Then we all went to the fellowship hall and got the bells situated where people wanted them. I played the same bells as Jenni, only an octave higher. We went through both songs, several times. We called it quits around 8 and packed up. We agreed to meet at 2:15 on Sunday to practice. They left and Jenni and I followed a bit later, making sure all the lights were off and the door locked.

When I got home, Chris had the tower garden levels scattered on the dining room floor. He apologized for the tomato that did not survive the trip. We stacked it back together and put it in front of the window. I checked the old computer. It had only completed one percent of whatever it has been doing all afternoon and evening.

I worked on my blog. I made tea and we watched an episode of Blue Bloods. The DVD was a little messed up but we got through it. I took the evening supplements and read online. Then I got ready for bed.

All Saints Day

 

Sunday

I got up late after having slept really well. How late, you ask? Before or after the time change? Both my laptop and my old 4g phone (in airplane mode) agreed it was close to 9. The stove and the microwave thought it was close to 10.

It was raining heavily. I went through my morning list. I got my cleaning hours tracker up to date.

I practiced some Christmas music. I scrubbed 4 burner bowls and put them in the dishwasher. I washed a ton of spoons, then made a bowl of yogurts and ate it. I worked on the old computer, then made and ate breakfast.

I got dressed for church. I took cheese squares and a zucchini with me. I arrived at the chapel and put the cheese squares in the back. I greeted the guest pastor, then assembled my trombone and warmed up in the sewing room.

Soon after I got back, the service started with three praise songs. Then Pastor Jeff gave his sermon. Then Keli and Jenni and I played two Reformation hymns. And the service was over. I spoke to a young man who came with the pastor. I gave the zucchini to Keli. I spoke with Bryce at length. Then I took the cheese squares and my trombone and went home.

I brought in the pomegranates and cranberries from last night. I cleaned the produce drawer and put them in it. I made a batch of liquid laundry soap. Michelle called and invited me over for a potato casserole. So I finished up the soap and washed the rice container from last week. I took it with me to Michelle's house.

When I got there, I gave her $20 for the fruit. We sat down with bowls of potato casserole, then prayed and ate. When I mentioned how well I slept last night, she gave me the bottle of mushroom drops that she had me sample yesterday.

We talked of writing a song for the swap shop. So she turned to ChatGPT and got it to write lyrics to several well known tunes. I found it difficult to imagine those words to those tunes. The verses were sometimes dumb, sometimes spot on and sometimes funny. It was interesting that she never mentioned Dugway in the prompts but the AI put it in the song.

Hours later, I went home. I rebooted the old computer again. I read messages and e-mail. I changed into my nightgown, then realized I had forgotten the mushroom drops. I called her and she said she would bring them over after her workout. Oddly enough, she arrived at the same time as Chris did. So they spoke briefly, then she left.

Chris set his laptop back up and changed the clocks.  I made tea and we watched an episode of Blue Bloods. Then Chris went to bed while I worked on my blog.

Hot chocolate for Halloween

 

Saturday

It was a long long night. I had a hard time getting to sleep, worrying about Isadora. Then, as I lay on my side, something happened in my hip – like it went out of joint. I could no longer lay on my side – either side. Fearing it would swell and prevent me from getting out of bed in the morning, I went to the bathroom to get my walker and I went to the kitchen to get the curcumin capsules and my phone. I swallowed the capsules and put the phone by my bed, just in case. I'm not sure I slept after that.

I got up after 8:30. I worked a Sudoku puzzle, then brushed my teeth and walked to the kitchen without the walker. The hip still hurt, but was not swollen. I started my morning list, not sure how far I would get.

I got through all of it, surprisingly. I told myself I had a free day, but my mind came up with things to do. I emptied my vacuums and gathered up all the sponges. They went into a bucket of hot water, soap, and bleach. I put all the cleaning cloths and mop heads and dusting pads in the washer. It wasn't a full load, so I added some fabric and a pillow case. I emptied my purse and wallet and neck pouch. Those went in as well. Then I ran the washer. I folded the king-size sheets already in the dryer, and put them away.

I made and ate breakfast. I turned on the old computer. I cleaned the laundry room. I folded the cleaning cloths when they came out of the dryer. I rebooted the old computer and this time hit F12 at the right time. It booted from the CD. But I could not find the programs that John suggested I run.

I raked all the gopher mounds so I will be able to identify new activity. I looked high and low for the Halloween toys from last year, but I could not find them.

I went to 607 to check that garden. I came away with a spaghetti squash, a zucchini, and a small lemon cucumber. Then I went to pick my garden. I got lots of cherry tomatoes. The squash were not big enough to pick. I set a gopher trap. Casey was working in his garden and came over to chat and see if I was coming over later.

When I got home, I put the cherry tomatoes and squash in the window to fully ripen. I made and ate supper. I updated my list of cleaning jobs. I took a shower. I put on some garb. I called Michelle to see if she had any blue eye shadow, but she didn't. She told me to call Isadora. So I did. She offered me gold eye shadow and that went with my outfit.

I had a few last things to do. Then I went over to Michelle's house. She had tables set up in front of her house. She was warming chocolate milk on a portable gas stove. Chairs and a firepit were off to one side. Isadora painted a gold crescent moon on my forehead.

I joined Michelle in handing out cups of hot chocolate. She sent her husband off for more milk. After adding milk, she added Mexican chocolate discs, which dissolved in the milk over time.

Lots of kids came, as did their parents. Finally the crowd thinned out. Saronna walked over and we sat around the fire and talked. Eventually Casey put all the chocolate, syrups, and whipped cream cans away. He took down the tables, too. Saronna left and the rest of us went inside.

Michelle called up the game for me. We talked a bit and she went to bed, as did the kids. Casey stayed up on his computer. I loaded the game and tried the exit again. That brought up the screen where Indy can buy more ammo. But the game was not cooperating. Casey helped, and we got through it. Then Indy was in a new place. But he was agonizingly slow. I got the block moved, but he could not jump from it to a ledge. I was going to save it and exit, but the last keystroke kept repeating over and over. Casey had to shut the computer down to stop it. Then we had a time getting the game back at a point AFTER buying ammo. I played then, for some time, following the notes I had from last night.

Around 10:30, I saved and shut it down. I thanked Casey and headed to my car. He had left pomegranates and cranberries on my trunk. I would have paid him then but I had taken all the money out of my purse earlier. I put them in my front seat and headed home. I worked on my blog, then got ready for bed.

Cleaning a day early

 

Friday

I got up at 8. I went through the morning list. I got dressed, took cheese squares from the fridge and went to the chapel for Math Morning.

The Clarks were waiting for me. Saronna had math cards. She separated them into piles of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. She placed the piles on a table. We adults sat around another table with veggies, fruit, mushrooms and cheese squares. Each child picked up one card from each pile and brought them to an adult. The kids would give their answers and the adult verified them. Then the kid could pick something from the food table. It was a little tough for Jedediah who is only 5.

At 10, we packed up. We chatted a little more, then went home. I made a grocery list, then stopped by the post office on my way to the commissary. I shopped for a few groceries and went to Shelly and got my hair cut.

I went home and put away the groceries. I made and ate breakfast, read e-mail.

The rain came down hard and the winds were strong. But eventually it died down to a dull rain. I packed bathroom cleaners in my car, along with a jar of yogurt andwent to Tina's house. This was in lieu of Saturday. I cleaned her bathrooms and dusted some shelves. We chatted and she gave me a shot of an Irish whiskey. It wasn't Bailey's but it was very good.

On my way home, I stopped and locked the swap shop. At home, I ate fiber gel and pulled up the gopher traps. I got one gopher. I did several Sudoku puzzles. I made supper from leftovers and a zucchini. I listened to a podcast on the benefits of laetrile. I prepared for Game Night. I worked on my blog. I posted Matthew's pics of furniture he wanted to sell.

I put some cheese squares in a baggie and went to Michelle's house for Game Night. They were not having a good night because Isadora was furious with them. However, I played the game while Michelle watched. I eventually finished the level and was given the opportunity to buy more ammo for the next level. I guess I did it wrong and the whole thing froze. Casey had to restart the computer. Since I hadn't saved it, I had to start over from the last save from last week.

Michelle and I talked about how the therapist at school left because it was only a part time position and now none of the kids have her to talk to when they have personal problems.

I re-played the game to the next level. I saved it just before walking Indy through the exit. Then the game froze up again, but now I think I know what keystroke the game is expecting. It was 11pm, so I thanked them and went home.

Halloween party at the senior center

 

Thursday

I awoke early and could not get comfortable or go back to sleep. Finally I took a Moon Drop and then went to sleep. But when the alarm went off at 7:30 I was not ready to get up. I made myself get up at 8. I went through the morning list. I added milk to my yogurts, and made a quart for Tina.

I went to Bible Study and we read through part of the book Water from the Well. We chatted and prayed. Jenni talked me into agreeing to go to Tooele Senior Center with her. I went home to pack a lunch. Then she came to pick me up.

She was dressed up like Sally from The Nightmare before Christmas. Other people at the Senior Center were dressed up too, but many were not. I had to fill out a paper in order to attend. We sat down for lunch and talked to our table mates until they brought out plates of food. I did not partake. I had brought hardboiled eggs, cashews and cherry tomatoes. After eating, we went to look at the tables of wares for sale. There was some cool stuff. All I bought was a crocheted scrubbie for my sink. I had a nice chat with the gentleman that made butterflies out of stone.  I also asked about quilting or sewing groups, but they didn't have any.

Later we went to Melanie's. They still didnt have chamomile flowers. I bought something from the outdated pile. We went to a station to add air to Jenni's tire. I feel like I did it right, but the tire did not fill. Then we went to the pharmacy to pick up salve. We chatted on the way back to base.

Passing Headquarters, we saw nothing was set up for the event this afternoon. She dropped me off at home. I checked e-mail quickly. Then I went to Housing to turn in the key to 203. Jack gave me some small pumpkins and a butternut squash. I told him his carrots were magic and netted me two gophers.

I went to my garden, picked some cherry tomatoes, turned the water back on, and dumped bad water down some gopher holes. I went to the post office for mail, then to the gym to give Davis his share.

I went home. I reset the gopher traps and brought in the recycling bin. I put on The Highwire and made tea. It was their 500^th episode so there were lots of flashbacks.

I made breakfast for supper, but it didnt put my day back on track. I listened to a book on CD in the dark bedroom, hoping to fall asleep. I may have dozed for a few minutes.

I watched two episodes of something called Best Medicine on Netflix. I did 10 minutes of red light before bed, then realized I forgot my blog. I did my blog, put the last of the yogurt away, and went to bed.

The Pennsy Dutch case

 

Wednesday

I got up after the second alarm. I rinsed the sprouts, then prepared for Coffee morning. I noted that the old computer had a blank screen instead of the defrag process I was expecting.

After meditation and tapping, I took niacin. I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher, and washed dishes. I read outside for bit, then prepared the sauna. I steamed for 20 minutes, showered, and made vit C face cream and covered my face.

I laid down to listen to a book on CD. The phone rang: a man wanted to get into the swap shop, so I told him 4 because a lady had already booked an appointment for 4.

I listened some more, then got dressed and went to inspection at 203. I passed inspection and we chatted a bit. Then I went home to load a dolly in my car.

I went to the swap shop and unlocked it, but no one came. So I headed home. At the corner, I saw the man drive past me. So I turned around. I parked then unloaded the dolly. He used it to carry bins into the shop. We put most of it on the shelves so he could take the bins home. Then I followed him home to give him a cleaning quote. He mentioned furniture to sell so I took a pic. We chatted, we loaded a table into the back of his car, then returned to the swap shop. After putting the table in the furniture room, I locked the doors. We talked some more – he is Pennsy Dutch – we both went home.

I got home about 5:30. I made and ate yogurt. Chris came home from work. I ran back out to scrub a drain that the inspectors thought was subpar. After I got back, Chris took a suitcase over to John and Michele. I ate some eggs, then went out back to check the gopher traps which I had baited with Jack's smallest carrots. Both contained gophers. I emptied the traps, but it was too dark to reset them.

I worked on my blog. I went to the chapel to help Michelle sew a costume for her son. It took over an hour and I did most of the sewing. Jenni called wanting me to go to the senior center with her tomorrow. I told her I was not in the mood. Partly because the lady never showed up and when I texted her she said 'sorry I forgot.'

When I got home, I made tea and we watched Blue Bloods. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to read messages.

Working on the old computer

 

Tuesday

I got up at 8, having not slept as much as I had hoped. After some Sudoku, I went through the morning list. I listened to part of series on soil health. It contained directions to making a nuruk cake – fermented grain for soil health.

I plugged up the old tower to the power strip, plus the mouse and keyboard and monitor. I looked up a video on Youtube to show me what to do. I downloaded Hirons boot CD and Rufus. I used Rufus to write the Hirons file to a thumbdrive. Then I put the thumbdrive in the old computer and turned it on.

I reset the gopher traps while waiting for it to boot up. I chose Windows from the menu and hit enter, then set the timer for 5 minutes. I jotted notes on my blog. I checked again, and it said it was loading Windows, but that lasted for 10-20 minutes, then the screen went dark.

I made and ate breakfast. I got the computer up and booted from the drive. I walked to the post office and came home with a package. I went to the commissary for kombucha, then to Housing to schedule an inspection for 203.

I went to 607B to pick the garden. But Janet and Molly were sitting outside next door so I stopped to talk to them. Jack rode up and we talked to him as well. I followed Molly to her house to see the flowering plants she inherited. Then I picked the garden at 607 and went to my garden. I picked tomatoes and put water down a gopher hole.

When I got home, I ate fiber gel. I saw the computer was still defragging. When Chris came home, he fixed supper for us both. I ate while listening to a podcast labeled “No - War is not good for the economy”. I jotted notes for my blog. I made tea. We watched an episode of Blue Bloods. Chris and I both went to bed. I got up in the middle of the night to put the house to bed.