TheCapeBlog

It rained a little this morning, and for the last two days, I stopped the sprinkler system. We’re going to owe enough to the Water District as it is.

I’m shedding the couple of extra pounds put on since my lowest. The last five is the hardest is a cliche but it’s true. It’s more difficult than the first 25 put together. Hungry all the time.

Gastric blowout this morning but we have the technology to deal: indoor plumbing, hot water and laundry machines.

We did a short walk at Ryder Conservation Area to Wakeby Pond. Met some nice people and two very good dogs.

Picked up produce at Pariah Dog and gave Robert a ride home. Small shop at Roche.

I managed to lose or misplace a credit card and a debit card. Got both closed, no charges, will be replaced.

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It’s been raining all day and cool this evening.

Except for checking harvest-able produce and dumping scraps into the compost bucket, I’ve been in all day, mostly cooking, although we also did laundry, changed sheets and binge watched “Marseille”.

I made a pizza from scratch without yeast, and it turned out nicely. Also roasted summer squash and tomatoes as well as spaghetti squash and put together a salad.

I also cleaned the bottom of the refrigerator and the bins.

Something with teeth destroyed one of our beautiful big tomatoes.

I’ve been stuffing myself recently, and it’s not good. Instead of losing, I’m now gaining.

Today I made a zucchini casserole and cold cucumber soup out of giant vegetables from our gardens. I topped that off with several handfuls of peanuts: ouch.

Yesterday I bought over $20 of pastry and have already eaten my share.

Robert gave us a couple of jigsaw puzzles and I decided to try the bigger of the two, but it’s not proving enough of a distraction to keep me away from food.

I haven’t been sleeping well.

Did a transfer station run with trash, recyclables and the remaining pine branches first thing.

I stopped at Washashore for treats.

We were going to walk when I got back but by the time I got organized and Ron (kindly) finished watering the potted plants, it was just too hot.

We got our Misfits box, and it was a really good one this week.

Finished the windows! Ron helped with the second bedroom, mostly by washing down the outside frame on the side and pruning the front so we could put up the step ladder.

I mowed the front and back, collected enough to about half fill the collection bag, so it was worth the effort.

Made a salad with one of our big tomatoes and the last of G’s crudites. Unfortunately, a lot of the cucumber slices went soggy and ended up in the compost, but the rest of the veggies from Sunday held up well.

Weed Man called and I gave them the okay to start rehabilitating our poor lawn.

Picked a gigantic zucchini yesterday. Ron is proud that his compost is doing such a great job!

Robert gave us a couple of puzzles yesterday with pictures that accurately reflect our interests. One has 1,000 pieces! He’s expressed concern in the past about our exposure to Covid, suggesting for example that we mail in our ballots. I think he is looking to keep us off the street and out of trouble!

The wildflowers that I sowed a while back have started to bloom!

Resigned from the MRTC with assistance from a helpful person at MassGOP.

Got a ride to Falmouth Toyota and brought home the truck. Ron commented I am much less stressed now that it’s back. I was running on fumes (a little over 2 gallons left) but made it to the Shell station for a 15 cents off deal from TMobile.

Brought a load of pine branches to the transfer station and picked up some groceries. Dropped off a thank you note to Kurt.

Ron has finally got himself squared away on his new computer.

I did some minor pruning at the top of the “U” and watered the rhodies. Glad we left the soaker in place. Got reports from Peter on the state of gardens there.

Been eating raw veggies all day. Made a good dent in the crudite platter from G.

We walked down to an art exhibit on Old Barnstable and met a very cool couple. Ron seems pleased. I liked one painting in particular.

We walked about a mile and a half. At least I did.

I’ve been watering the little trees and a couple of the hydrangeas with the hoses.

We did a 2+ mile walk yesterday before Sunday chores. Spent late afternoon/evening with G and Free. She treated us to wine, fruit and crudites; we brought garden flowers and Häagen-Dazs. Free was winsome.

We did a “breaking the ice” exercise which she’s used in other settings, a lot of questions, some easy (“What’s your favorite sport’s team”) and some harder (“What is the thing in your life you’re most proud of”).

G hurt herself as we were headed home and ended up in the hospital, but I didn’t get the message until it was too late to help.

This morning I brought a load of weeds and more pine boughs to the transfer station.

Smokey was here early. As I was leaving for an interview at a local shop for a kitchen help job, I passed him running back to his house with a baby rabbit in his mouth. He recognized the truck, looked, but didn’t stop. He probably figured out that we buried the last one.

Ron drove Robert to work and will be driving him home, too, so I can keep an appointment this afternoon for a safety check of my truck at Falmouth Toyota.

Ron’s had a virtual routine physical with his doctor. That makes no sense to me, but we have some biometric equipment here that he can use if asked, like a thermometer, a blood pressure cuff and an oximeter. That pretty much covers what would be in a doctor’s office, come to think of it. He checked out well and is pleased.

After totaling our food spending for the last two months, we seem to be in USDA’s upper quartile of 2-person grocery budgets, even adjusted for the Cape’s higher COLA.

Our annual income and housing expenses are dead-on with the EPI budget calculator.

Ron did a load of laundry yesterday. I continued to work on hemming his jean shorts. Skipped the hazardous waste pickup at the high school.

I have an appointment on Monday morning to talk about a kitchen job in Mashpee.

I used the remaining coconut milk and veg broth for pumpkin soup seasoned with onion, curry, ginger and cumin.

Did a run to the transfer station with some of the pine branches Ron lopped off earlier this week.

More weeding. I’ve been neglecting the veg gardens, trying to catch up a little. The temperature is moderate today, but it’s still a bit muggy.

I did a bit of tech support today: took Ron’s computer out of the box and plugged it in. He likes it a lot and has been loading music on it for the last several hours.

He did square away the padlock on the little shed and cut off the dead part of the red maple trunk. I trimmed the suckers off the bottom and watered it. It looks better. The front yard does, too, although it’s pretty grim right now with most of the flowers gone by.

Booked an appointment for a safety check at Falmouth Toyota on Monday. Have been checking the oil level; okay so far.

Geri and Free were available to take a ride with me to Harwich so I could pick up a mosaic chair that I bought online yesterday.

Earlier, Ron and I did a walk through FallutinLand. We took a little different route which I liked very much, although it’s much more aerobic.

First bloom on the hibiscus that I transplanted last year!

I made a salad and a broccoli tomato casserole for supper.

Matt and his father came by to turn off one of the sprinkler heads. Turned out to be easy because it happens to be adjustable. We appreciated their visit!