Wild Farm Critters August 18-24

 Retired Life. Sunday.

The stupid alarm went off while we were still sleeping (this should never happen while you are retired) so we could make it to church on time. We looked at the below Jesus Picture, remembered why church makes us happy, and made it up and off to church.

Sacrament Meeting. Sunday School. And then we ran back home, had lunch, packed a few things, and drove up to what our family calls the Stewart Highlands. 20 acres on top of a mountain east of Tensed, next to the forest.

Instead of being overrun by the Elk Family, like I had figured, it was overrun by hords of nasty yellowjackets! All the traps were 100% full and more were swarming. We made the best of it. Relaxed, Read. Watched Frivvy run free off leash. And had a quick dinner (we had to fight the yellowjackets over it.) At sunset, we packed up and came back home.

RETIRED LIFE DILEMNA! This weekend, I watched a bit while one of the neighbors down the street churned hay over on his land, by hand. He purchased the lot next to his home which included an old barn. They tore the barn down and scattered a bunch of really old hay bales over the lot. He was out there with a pitch fork churning it. I figured the only reason he would do such a thing is because he ran out of stuff to do and was trying to be useful.

I asked Hanna about this and asked her how it is that this guy has time to churn his old hay bales while I can't even find the time to mow my lawn. She is smart. "I'm guessing his wife does all the cooking, shopping, cleaning, etc. so he has a lot of time on his hands." I suggested that perhaps we should live that way too and she didn't think it was a good idea. But she is right. All the housekeeping does take time. And we split it all up. Always have, since we both worked. I cook breakfasts. She fixes lunches. We take turns on dinner. We shop together. And try to eat each one of those meals out every week so we get a break. And we cook from scratch. Fresh food. These are things folks get to decide how to manage when they retire. I think we're doing it right, even though it cuts into my time to do projects.

And because we do it that way, Hanna has more time to work outside. Our gardens look amazing. See the photos below.

Retired Life. Monday.

It was "stay at home and wait for FedEx dude" day. Day of deliverance of Hanna's poisonous, expensive Chemotherapy Drugs. So, we stayed home. Which is always nice.

I spent a bit of time updating the family bookkeeping and paying bills. Then I created an itinerary for our next trip (to Oregon Coast). Hanna's brother dropped by for a short visit. I fixed a batch of Chicken Sweet Potato Stew for dinner. (Breakfast was leftover steak and eggs. I don't usually look forward to leftovers, but when I do, it's steak.)

In the evening, we watched a prerecorded football game. The Farmaggedon Game, Iowa St vs Kansas St. In the snow. Great game. 4 TDs for over 70 yards each by Iowa St. Just about done with last season's prerecorded games. Hoping for some close games this weekend. But probably not. Nor the weekend after.

And finally, here, have a picture of the creatures up at the Highland's yesterday.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

Old people must have food to eat, so we dedicate one day a week to go get food. Plan week. Create Menus. Put together shopping list. Drive to Plummer. Buy cheap Idaho gas. Eat delicious food at the Gateway. Buy the groceries. Drive home. Unload. Put away.

We tied 1-1 today as for who won the Gin Rummy Games. And Hanna was excited about finding squeezable peanut butter in the store.

Finally, I included a picture of the Super Blue Moon just in case you didn't get to see it. Taken at about 5:30am when I was inexplicably up and not able to sleep. (But I'm retired. So once I did get sleepy a bit later, I went back to bed. Kind of like a long nap...)

Retired Life. Wednesday.

The huge deal today was taking both of our domestic critters, yes, at the same time, to the vet. No worries, they're not sick at all. Just time for annual checkups and shots.

Annie was horribly annoyed. She hates leaving her bedroom.

Frivvy, of course, is always up for an adventure and had the time of his life!

(There has to be some sort of life lesson there somewhere...)

In the evening, Hanna went to a church lady's party. I found lodging for our two-week trip to Mayo Clinic. And ate a TV dinner. I used to love those. Meh. My own fresh-cooked food is much better.

Retired Life. Thursday.

We declared it officially "Old People Go To Breakfast" day and went over to eat at Red Tail. Steak and Eggs and Cottage Cheese and a buttery English Muffin for me, Bacon and Eggs and Tomatoes and a GF Toast for Hanna. Yum!

Once back home, I did my duty to represent old people well and took a nap. A long one. That just happens sometimes.

In the afternoon, I worked on our Mayo trip more, this time researching fun Geocaches we can stop and find on the trip there and back.

Pictures below include a line-up of huge grain trucks at Fairfield's Grain Silos and tonight's harvest sunset. This little town is a busy, yet beautiful place during harvest.

Retirement Life. Friday.

I don't always eat ice cream in my John Deere hat, but when I do, I'm at the fair!

We spent most of today at the Lincoln County Fair and Rodeo in Davenport. The weather was nasty at first, but it passed about the time the rodeo started. Hanna enjoyed the Floral House. I found a Bengal someone made out of Leggos. We both enjoyed a ton of fair food. And the rodeo is always good. Great all American patriotic family-oriented time!

Retired Life. Saturday.

We actually stayed over from the Rodeo at Davenport. We stayed at the Davenport Motel. Not the nice once in downtown Spokane, but the roadside version in downtown Davenport. It was nice enough and within walking distance of the fairgrounds.

So today consisted of running back home, getting cleaned up and having lunch, then running back to town to worship in the temple and then to go out to dinner with Del, Ella, and Justin. Italian this time.