The end of June--kind of sad post...

My dog has been haunting me lately.  I found unused heartworm pills that I brought back to the vet today in hopes that they can donate them.  Everywhere I go I seem to find a ball.  When I went outside tonight he wasn't here to turn the light on for me (trigger the motion sensor).  When I visit people with pets I gravitate towards them.  Yesterday I even got my cousin's little Maltese (?) dog to sit in my lap.  Last weekend it was a HUGE dog that wanted to sit on my lap.  I don't know why I didn't just sit on the floor and let him, I thought about it.  And no, I don't want another dog right now.  There are parts of the Appalachian Trail that pets aren't allowed so it would be unfair to get a pet and then have to leave it behind for 6 months.

On a more happier note, Gideon told me this morning that he was looking forward to coming along on my AT adventure.  I'm pretty sure he meant following along and being part of the support team but I told him he should start training more with me.  Once this house thing is behind me maybe he and I can go climb something.

Roses in my yard.

Today I got much closer to getting the plumbing fixed.  Unfortunately, I am not quite strong enough to get all the fittings as tight as they need to be and there are some drips that we need to take car of.  I think that is it though.  It should be working sometime tomorrow.  I am so happy that I did so much of this myself.  I learned a bunch.  Maybe after the trail I will go to school to be a plumber.  😜

June 29th--kind of short

It was a long day.  I woke up a little after 5 AM and I got home just before midnight.  Mostly work, but I did take a long lunch to spend time with family.  Once a month some of my father's side of the family get together and do lunch and catch up with each other.  It is usually a fun afternoon and I try to get to it when I can.  There were 12 of us today.  I was the youngest, and my Aunt Gert the oldest there today.  Aunt Gert will turn 104 in August.  When that happens she will be twice my age until my birthday in December.  

Trees

Getting to spend time with family is today's happy.

The 28th of June-Vlog

Last night I spent at my house and I didn't sleep well.  I am back at my daughter's place tonight and I am hoping for much better.  Most of the day was either plumbing or sorting/packing.  My daughter's family and a cousin of mine came to help with everything. It was a fairly productive day.  Now I am exhausted.

My tired self is so grateful for the help I received today and the promises from friends and family to help this weekend.  This, and going out for frozen yogurt with Gideon are my happy things for today.  :)

Here are the links I remember... Luna Petunia  The Muppet Show & Jimmy Neutron.

The 27th of June

Yesterday was an even day and I worked late so Gideon and I didn't get to do a Vlog together.  Instead he made a quick one with his mom for me to post.  That link was added to yesterday's blog.  Check it out!

Today I got a late start but I did get a 3 mile walk in and a phone meeting with my boss before I got delayed by the internet.  Eventually I made it out of my daughter's house and on to Home Depot for parts to finish fixing the water system.  A nice gentleman named Dennis helped me find everything I need.  At least that is my hope.  Then, since he couldn't get me one of the parts before next week, he sent me to Lowes.  The part would have been $5 less at Home Depot, but it wouldn't be in until July 3rd.  If all goes well, I will have water tomorrow.

When I got back to my house I spoke with my neighbor.  I am pretty sure we came to an agreement and he will be renting from me as soon as I can get the place empty.  That said, I am trying to get as many people as I can to my place this weekend to clear it out.  This scares me.  I am in denial.  At the same time, the neighbor moving in is pretty much an answer to my prayers.  He will be paying my mortgage and fixing up my house and he may decide to buy it from me.  And that is why this happening is my happy for today.

A plant

Oh my gosh the sky!!

June 26th--Edited to include a short Gideon Vlog!

Gideon and his mom made a Vlog for me to add!  Check it out here.

What a let down today was after all the excitement over the weekend.   It was a back to the grind kind of day.   I didn't sleep well so I didn't get up well and was tired all day.   In the morning I took a nice walk.   I went very briefly to my house in the afternoon, to the chiropractor and then to work. 

I pulled over to take a picture of the lake through the trees.

My happy for today is this morning's walk.   I decided to take a different road because it went up.  I followed it until I had walked a little over a mile, where the sidewalk ended, and I turned around.  There was one house I passed that was built with random flagstone maybe?  Gorgeous.  

June 25th-Sunday

What a day!  I got up early enough to take a short walk before getting ready to go and see my friend with the bees.  Then I found that I had made an error in a work email so I had to fix it before I could leave.  It only made me about 5 minutes late for the bees.

The bees... When I got there my friend Steve helped me get into the safety outfit.  My splint was a bit of a problem, the long gloves didn't go over it well.  After the first 2 hives, I took it off and just tried to be careful with the arm.  There would be a total of 8 hives to visit this morning and the first 2 were in his yard.  The frames get removed, examined and then returned to the hive.  They are looking to be certain that the hives are healthy.  Making sure the queen and the rest of the bees are doing what they should be.   I spotted the first queen.  They mark her with a dot. In one the the other hives I found the unmarked bee and Steve marked it.   All the hives but one had some kind of cage around it to protect them from bears.   The one that was not protected by a cage is the one that I took most of the bee pictures at.  The glove needed to come off to take the pictures.

The queen has the dot.

Other than the bees, my happy for today was getting to spend most of the day with the guys in the picture.   I know them because of the SCA and I met them all before having children.  It was wonderful being able to catch up today. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Saturday the 24th of June

Greetings!  It has been a nice Saturday for me spent alternating between doing nothing and the Market Days festivities in town.  My daughter has a writing group she goes to and so I got to watch Gideon this afternoon.  We walked along looking at booths and finding places in the shade to sit.  It was a hot humid day. He got a balloon turtle made for him and he climbed into some big tow trucks.  If there hadn't been a line of kids all wanting to get up there I would have climbed up too.  His dad met up with us when he got out of work and eventually I went home and let them have some father/son time.  I charged my phone up, rested a bit, had dinner and then went out walking to get my step count for the day.  Most of the shops had closed up and the rest were getting ready to.  There was still live music in a few different places around the area.  Depending on which side of the parking garage roof I stood on, I could listen to 2 different bands.  There were at least 2 others that I walked by down on the street.

Truckin' in his new LuLaRoe leggings.

Tractor type machine-I am not a truck person-but this could dig stuff and push things.  ;)  

Anybody coming up behind me? 

 Evening sky

 So pretty

There goes the wall! 

Today was eventful with happy things (as noted above).  One thing I didn't mention is really for tomorrow.  I was invited to a friend's birthday get together and it will just be a few of us.  When I talked with him today he invited me to come early to visit the bee hives with him.  This has me filled with anticipation.  At first, I admit I wasn't sure if it was something that I wanted to do.  Then I just started getting excited about it and feeling like I would seriously regret it if I chose not to go.  Now I don't even know why I hesitated in the first place!  So tomorrow is an early day for me and I will get to have an adventure in the morning and then get to visit with people, most that I haven't seen in years.  I can't wait!  

The 23rd of June-short

This morning my walk totaled a little more than 5 miles!  I have managed to get out there 5 days in a row.  When I get home from walking I have been stretching and doing some crunches for at least the last 3 days.  Other than being extremely tired by evening, I think I have been feeling pretty well.  Today I have a total of 20,226 steps on my Fitbit.  There shouldn't be many more steps to count for today.

Pre-Market Day

Climbing Wall

Random

Today's happy things are walking 5 miles, getting over 20,000 steps on my Fitbit and that we worked on the plumbing today.

June 22nd-vlog

Quick Vlog, Gideon walked away to show his mom what he did for today's Google Doodle.  

This morning I made it out for another longish walk-4.27 miles.  I walked through the city looking at some of the lovely yards that people keep.  There are roses and clematis and iris and so many things that I have no name for.  Because these are in random people's yards, I don't photograph them.  I did take a few pictures of the park I walked though.

And some of the Market Days setup that is going on downtown.

Sundial outside the capital building.

Reproduction of the liberty bell.

Market Days Setting up

Later on, after I finished work; I came across a field with cows.  For some reason it made me happy to see the cows and so they are my happy for today.

Happy Summer Solstice!!

For some unknown reason (maybe the sun coming through the window?) Gideon was awake before 5 AM.  Eventually he went back to sleep and I went for a walk.  I ended up walking over 4 miles this morning.  When I got back I did some stretches and a few other exercises and 30 crunches.  This was a great start to my day!

I also worked at my house for a bit and my son-in-law came by after he got out of work and helped.me with the plumbing.  It is almost there.  This is the first chance we have had to work on it in an few weeks.

Horseshoe Island

The Pierce Manse

Which was apparently moved from Montgomery St.

Most of what is left of Montgomery St is over my shoulder.

And this part here.  There were no signs indicating that the Pierce Manse had once resided on this street.  I feel that further investigation might reveal that the street has undergone a bunch of changes over the years.

My daughter has been practicing her illumination and I finally remembered to take a picture!  That shadow is my phone.  😜

Exploring on my walk is my happy for today.   I walked down roads that I didn't realize existed this morning.  I found places I didn't expect and ended up finding a place (Horseshoe Island) that I had been trying to get to in the past.

June 20th Vlog

Gideon wanted links to Pirates of the Caribbean and Schoolhouse Rock.

My walk this afternoon is today's Happy.  I worked near the Minute Man National Park today and decided to take a bit of a walk along the trails after.  It was so nice to be close to woods again and not walking in the city.

I believe this is the Hartwell Tavern.

Samuel Brooks House.

A tad anachronistic.  ;)