fini

 I mowed today

    I did not start until 4:30, then paused for supper, and finished about 8.

    That seems like a long time....but when you consider supper, bathroom breaks, water breaks and everything, it wasn't bad.

    Looking at the garden, the tomato plants. are huge...but there e are few tomatoes!  Kind of disappointing.

    And I am wondering if I should cut back some of the cucumber runners....they are really going everywhere.

    I had my second PT session today.  Working on stretches, next target will be building up muscles.  Today I did some stretches that really stretched me out!  I am skipping stretches tonight becuse I did them in the morning and in the afternoon. 

    I have read a couple of articles on Lollapalooza in Chicago over the weekend.

    I honestly did not know any of the names of those performing with 1 exception.  I knew Smashing Pumpkins.  But one of the kids at Lolla said they performed on the "grandpa stage." 

    Good grief.

    I saw a video of people leaving the show at the end of the night.  The description was something about how do 115,000 people leave Grant Park.

It showed all these people, holding their phones in flashlight mode,  walking  on Wacker next to the river.

    Now, I man not the most aware person, but if you are leaving Grant Park I don't think you would walk the half mile or so down to Wacker to go home.

    So I am guessing it was an AI generated image.  

    That's my opinion, unless someone can prove me wrong.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

almost

 Today was an almost day

    I made lemon cookies and they almost came out right.  They are crisp, and they are supposed to be soft.  I followed the directions.  It said to bake until the edges turn light brown, so I did.  But they are crisp, not soft.

    I almost made it through the day without major leg pains.  Afternoons seem to be better than mornings but I still have tines when I hurt.

    My eye almost looks normal.  I just have to remember not to rub it so hard next time.

    I almost contacted my nephew and his family in Switzerland, but before I knew it, it was almost 10 at night there.  Gotta do that early!

    I almost changed the batteries in my trail cam......but I can't get the old batteries out.  There has to be a trick.

    I almost went the entire day without using a swear word, but the trail can broke the spell.

    And I almost done with my chores.  Hopefully they will be finished by the time I go to bed.

    Have a great first week of August.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

rattlesnake master

Cup plant seems to be taking over the native plot

Royal catchfly....I love the red!

riddle

I have a riddle for you 

    Here is the question:  What's a 7 letter word that starts out egg and ends in soup?

    This was kind of a blah day.

    Gray skies, misty, no nap.

    Sometimes I wonder how I am going to get it all done.

    Taking care of Jackie, laundry, cooking, dishes, lawn care and who knows what else.  I complain about it, but I get it done.  Sometimes it takes a while, but I get it done.

    I know there are couples worse off than me, and I am thankful that we are not in a terrible situation.  But it gets mentally and physically tiring with the same day after day after day routine.

    We had a couple of visitors in our back yard today.  It looked like a doe and her fawn.  They were browsing around the bird feeder and then went over to neighbor john's yard.  I lost track of them after that.

    I did not go out to check the garden today.  I should have.  

    Next year I am going with 1 cucumber plant.  This year I have four or 5 of 2 varieties and they have spread like crazy!  But my tomatoes look sick.  I am not optimistic about them.

    Beans and carrots will be good crops.  I can tell by looking at all the flowers on the beans and all the carrots in the planters.  

    That is good.  I cooked the last of the beans the other night.  Well, no actually cooked.  I put the frozen beans in a pan, turned the heat on and went and grilled hamburgers.  Unfortunately I did not put water in the pan and they burned.

    Oh well.

    I guess that is all I have.

    Oh,  the answer t the riddle:  chicken.  I know!  It's not funny!!  But you will tell someone, won't you?

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

    

A little Lasso help

The new season of Ted Lasso starts next week 

     We watched the final  episode of the last season, and I got confused.

    Maybe I missed something.  The feed cut off during he credits, but what I saw got me.

    Coach and Jane were getting married at Stonehenge.  I honestly don't remember that.

    What I do remember is a scene where Keely is with Roy, somebody is getting married, and they look like they are on a beach or estate.

    Help me.... am I dreaming again?  Did I miss the last minute or 2?  Did they reshoot the ending?  Curious minds want to know.

    Anyway...doing my stretches and tonight my legs hurt like heck.  I know!  One day is too soon and it will get better.  I just wish it would be soon.

    We filmed a podcast at the museum today.  I won't tell you much about except I had a lot of fun doing it.  I also stumbled a lot on my words.  I tried to speak too fast and hopefully creative editing will smooth it all out.

    Last week the furnace made a strange noise.  A repair guy came out and thought it was a motor, that a bearing was going bad.

    We opted to replace it now rather than having it go on a day when it is too hot or too cold.  The noise never came back after the first time.....but we were playing is safe.

    Now it is all fixed and I can't wait to get the bill.

    Stopped at Cypress House for a coffee and  was talking about seeing the Savannah Bananas.  Another customer in the store joined the conversation.  She drove to Savannah to watch them!  I think she had a sister there, not quite sure about that part.  But she said it was a great experience.

    Incidentally, her ticket cost $30 and included a hot dog, drink, and fries.  

    It's hard to believe the guy started this in 2018 and almost went broke.  But now it is a million dollar business, entertaining fans around the country.

    If you get a chance to see them.....go.  You will enjoy it.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Follow ups

Not much to say tonight 

    I just have a couple of followups to previous posts.

    I have done my first day of exercises as prescribed by the PT folks.  Boy, does that hurt!

    Also, I had my first mojito of the summer.  I know!  It's almost August and I have only had 1.  I guess my tastes have changed.  But it was good.  Sat on the back patio, had a hamburger and my mojito and did my last News-Leader crossword puzzle.

    Why my last?  $143 a year.  This issue had 2 pages on the Rockford Peaches.  That may be interesting, but it is not really Rochelle news.  So until something better comes along, I will rely on hearsay and Facebook for coverage of the local community.

    Friend Dianne asked about the value of my old house.

    My mother sold it in 1978 or  so for $57,000.  Zillow has the estimated price at $975,000.  House has 3,400 square feet.

      That got me curious about the apartment building my grandmother owned.  I was always under the impression my father's dad built the building.  But I don't know. It was built in 1925, according to Zillow.  

    Anyway, units inn the condo building are between $ $516,800 and $631,000 with a smaller unit at $387,00.  The smaller one may also be a garden apartment.  There should be 6 units in the building.

    And the HOA fees are a tad over $400  month

    And if you are a curious person, or just nosey, check out the Zillow linfo for 915 N. Dearborn in Chicago.

    A few of us could all chip in and buy it.

    Funny, eh?

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

first day

 I had my first physical therapy day today

    Nice young man.  He gave me some exercises to strengthen and stretch my hamstrings.  

    I just hope they work.

    Of course, I have to do them, which is another story. I usually don't follow through on a lot of stuff.  

    I opted to wait until tomorrow to start mowing.  Then Jackie looked at the forecast, which calls for rain for the next 40 days.........so now I am going to build an arc.

    Had a nice visit from friend Laurie today.  We spent a lot of time catching up on life.  We tried not to discuss politics, but that is hard.

    The past few weeks there have been  a couple of fawns hanging around the neighborhood.  The only adult deer I have seen was a bloated carcass down the road.  I had hoped that was not heir mother.

    Well, my fears were answered today when the 2 fawns had 2 adult deer with them as they grazed on the grass in the subdivision's green space.

    I was able to get Jackie to a window so she could watch.

    So that's my day.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

memories

 I grew up in Chicago

    I lived on Belle Plaine, just a block from Lake View High School.

    Initially we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment on Greenview and Belle Plaine. My 2 brothers and I slept in the bedroom while my folks had a Murphy bed in the living room.  My grandmother and aunt lived in the apartment behind us, on the third floor.

    The neighborhood had a mix of apartment building and single family residences.  I remember an apartment building on Belle Plaine that had a terrible smell of urine in the front entry.  The next street over was a little dicey, the neighborhood was generally well kept.  As you moved north, I remember the houses being nicer.

    About the time I was in seventh grade, my parents bought a house,  It was right across the street from the apartment building. 

    After the Banana game Sunday, we had 2 options:  walk to a corner and have John pick us up or walk to the car, which was parked near my old house.

    I opted for the walk, so we walked.

    Yes, I realize that was not a good choice considering my legs hurt, but I only had to stop and rest once.

    Curious about the walk, I used Google maps and they said it was a 1.7 mile walk.  

    I also used AI, which said it was 1.2 miles.  AI is pretty smart.  The directions they gave were to walk west on Waveland to Broadway and go right to Belle Plaine.  The only problem is, that is wrong.  Broadway is a couple of blocks east of the ball park.  The only 2 options for getting to my house were Clark or Southport.

    Anyway, walking along the route I took many times as a kid I flashed back to the people and events that formed my life.  

    The neighbor hood is beautiful.  

    There are so many why places with outdoor seating, where you can get a meal or coffee.  I would love to live there for that reason.  But getting around?  Forget it.  Living out in the country has its advantages.

    Anyway, I snapped some pictures along the way.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Sidewalks used to have stamps from the company pouring  them.  I don't think that happens anymore, but it is neat to see them

The doorway trim is impressive

The older homes have a lot of character and detail

This was a front yard...my kind of people!

My old apartment building....now it is a condo complex

Our apartment was on the third floor on the left.  The rounded area was the front room and the window under the small arch was our bedroom.  There were 12 apartments when se lived there, but I think now there are just 6 condo units.

The house my parents bought 

There are 3 houses the same.  All were built abbot 1890.  Our house was in the middle of the three.  The house on the west of us was the same style, but reversed.  Notice the rounded windows.  My dad always was telling me not to throw things near the windows because they were expensive to replace.
They just don't build them like that anymore.