Last day of July 2020

We went to Panera for bagels and our free coffee.  Then to HyVee for groceries.  Both places had very few costumers.

After hanging around the house in the afternoon we went to a new place, at least new to this area, Pancheros.  When we spent summers in Rapid City, South Dakota we ate at a Pancheros often.  This one still had the same good food - burritos.  They grill their tortillas fresh for each burrito, then you tell them what you want on your burrito.  We always have steak, rice, black beans, salsa, etc.

Watched more Downton Abby in the evening.

Nice weather week!

Beautiful weather today!  I worked on the new computer some more, what a pain.  Made no progress in getting an email app up and running.

We did stuff around the house, read and Sudoku's. 

For dinner we got grilled steak from HyVee and had the fresh green beans Brenda gave us.  They were very good.

Potato pancakes and vegetables

We had potato pancakes at Perkins today.  We saw a man come in without a mask, he was approached by an employee then he turned around and left.  First time we have see someone refuse to wear a mask.  It is now a state law so there is nowhere he can go, needs to get a life.

Then we went to Walmart for a few things.  Nice day to be out and about.

We had leftover spaghetti salad for dinner.

In the evening Sheila came over with vegetables:  corn-on-the-cob, beans, cucumber, green pepper and cantaloupe.  We will enjoy!!!

Spaghetti and grout

We were slow go this morning but I did get my spaghetti salad put together, it has to sit for a few hours to be really good.  Has spaghetti, pepperoni, cucumber, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and marinated artichoke hearts (my favorite).  And a dressing made with the with the artichoke marinate, vinegar and some spices.

Don cleaned the tile grout in the front entry way.  The last of the grout cleaning for which he is happy!

We had the spaghetti salad for dinner and have enough left for another meal.

More Geek time

Clean house for another week.  And it appears we will have a nice weather week.  I know, something always changes the weather - and only predict what is outside the window!

In the afternoon I went for a second visit with the Best Buy "Geeks".  I had two Geeks this time and also had an idea of what might be the problem.  Between us we got it figured out and a way around that was acceptable to me.  Now on to getting my email on the new computer!

I felt I had earned a iced coffee so stopped in Panera where I am currently getting them for free!

We had leftovers from three meals for dinner - Chinese food, prime rib and ham.  Plenty of food!  The best part the refrigerator has some room.

Breakfast at Cracker Barrow

We decided to venture out 20 miles to Cracker Barrow for breakfast.  Their web site indicated 0 wait time so we registered on-line.  When we got there we were told it was a 10 - 15 minute wait.  We were waiting by the restaurant entrance when a woman came and told us we couldn't stand there (it was not blocked off), we asked where we could stand, she said the other side of the store in not so polite of a tone.  We looked around the store some and they called our name in about 15 minutes.  They put us two at a big table, but from there everything was good.  Love their food, but probably will not go back for awhile.  (When we came out people WERE standing by the door.)

Our daughters came for a visit in the afternoon.  Always fun to catch up on their activities, at least someone has a life!

It rained on and off in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon and finally clearing in the evening.

Miracle, we got our Sunday newspaper after letting our subscription run out and then resubscribing at a lower rate.  Not only did we get the paper (delivered at the end of our drive) but it was double bagged so dry.

We grilled some ham for dinner and had corn-on-the-cob and a huge salad with cucumber and green pepper.

Slow, rainy day

Got up late, how did that happen???  Sat round drinking coffee and then finally getting some stuff done.  Don cleaned the grout in the hall bathroom floor.  He just has the entrance floor yet to do.

It was cloudy all day, some sprinkles early in the afternoon. 

I keep getting called to by the Democrats to see for whom I am voting.  I wasn't too polite to today's caller, they need to stop the repeat calls now.

We got prime rib meals from Casper's for dinner.  So good!  Too much food but we ate it all!

Might as well move to HyVee store.

Breakfast at HyVee.  They were severely understaffed but tried their best to keep up.  We weren't in any hurry so nothing to complain about.  Then we shopped for groceries, lots of stuff was on sale so we spent more than usual.

In the afternoon I took my new computer into Best Buy for the Geeks to have a look at it, my Geek was as stumped as I am as to what was wrong.  He finally got on the right track but my appointment time ran out so I have to return on Monday.

It was a hot and humid day, the air conditioner felt good.

In the evening it was back to HyVee for Chinese food.  We have leftovers for another meal!

House work

Washed our bed comforter, it "just" fit in our washing machine.  The comforter looks nice and the machine survived!

Don cleaned the grout in the ceramic floor in the master bedroom bath.  It looks good.

A nice day, started out cool so we had the windows open.   We had the same idea for dinner - Waffles.

Sheila came over in the evening with vegetables and a visit.

Panera and Walmart

Panera for bagels again today.  Then we went to Walmart for a few things.  It was a nice cool day, had the windows open all day.  Good to get fresh air in the house.

We had Orange Chicken with fresh green beans for dinner.  The beans were very good!  Then watched some more of Downton Abby.

Hair, rain and sun

We got hair cuts this morning.  There were no costumers at the shop when we got there, they said business has been very slow.  They think people learned how to cut their hair to make the cuts last longer.

We had some rain in the morning and the about 10 minutes of sunshine before clouds moved back.  Then more rain and finally some lasting sun.

For dinner we got chicken form KFC.

Newspaper challenges

Clean house day again.  The only good thing is that it is done for a week!

Last week we canceled our Saturday/Sunday newspaper delivery.  It was time to pay again, it was costing $3+ a paper to be delivered - our delivery person dropped the paper in the street next to our driveway.  It was sometimes wet from rain and we would ask for a new one to be redelivered but never got one.  So decided we could stop by a gas station and pick up a paper for $2 and know it was not wet or torn or whatever.  Then today we got a call from the newspaper company offering us the Sunday paper for $1.25 so we decided to give it another try!

We had bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwiches and purchased "spring salad" for dinner.  We watched a couple episodes of Downton Abby, we had forgotten we started the show last December.

Sunday in Apple Valley

Today we went for breakfast at HyVee (it's like we live there, good thing it is only a few blocks away).  Came home to read the Sunday Newspaper and watch Meet the Press.

Daughter Sheila came for a visit in the afternoon, they had been on vacation so we heard and saw pictures of their trip.

For dinner we had some pork chops, they were way too big - should have made two meals of them.  We also had some zucchini cooked in the air fryer which was good as always.  Cucumbers in sour cream and small new potatoes.  Too much food.

Mini Donuts!

Don wanted to go to Harbor Freight (tools, etc) so I went along for the ride.  Then being a big Menards Home Store was in the area he wanted to stop there.  I went in for a little walking, only picked up some chocolate/caramel covered nuts!!!  As we were leaving Menards Don saw a Mini Donuts State Fair style stand in the parking lot, being that is one of his favorite things we had to make a stop and purchase. 

McDonald's was across the street so we picked up lunch to take home.  It was hot - mid 90's and humid today.  Hard to even be outside!

We had a short storm in the night, heavy winds and rain.  It blew down Don's tomato plant, but it survived - just lost some green tomatoes.

For dinner we got sandwiches and salads from Panera.

Late Lasagna

We had bagels for breakfast at Panera and our free coffee.  Then to HyVee for groceries.  I don't know how it happened but we forgot three important items!  So Don went later to pick them up as we didn't want to miss out on a good sale.

For dinner we had lasagna that we had picked up from the fresh take home meals at HyVee.  I thought it was microwaveable but when I opened it I discovered it was not baked at all and in a metal pan.  I looked it up on the internet and found it needed to be baked an hour.  So dinner was somewhat late but the lasagna was good.

Busy

Don continued to clean the grout on our kitchen floor.  Big and difficult job.  What he cleaned on Tuesday looks nice, a big difference.  It has been a couple years.  Later he installed the new blind in our bedroom that he bought a couple weeks ago.  I washed the curtains from that window.

I continued to try to get my new computer to work right.  Keep thinking I will stumble across something that will magically make it work.  Looks like a trip to the Geeks at Best Buy.  I finished by book by trumps niece.

We went to HyVee for their Thursday night steak dinner (carry-out).

Eating and reading

Two for one at Perkins so we went for our favorite potato pancakes.  The place was fairly busy being they have many tables blocked off to keep people apart.  Then we went to Walmart, didn't have much to buy but some important things.

I downloaded and read over half of the book "Too Much and Never Enough" by trumps niece.  Very interesting how a family could be so dysfunctional generations back.  It carries on through the generations, some family broke free of the dysfunction but others like trump just feel in lock step.  I had finished the book "The Room where it Happened"  by John Bolton.

We had bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwiches for dinner. 

Taco Tuesday again

Don worked on cleaning the grout on the ceramic tile in the kitchen, a huge job on the knees.  I worked on catching up on some bookkeeping chores and again on the new computer to no avail.

Being Taco Tuesday we had tacos for dinner.

Cleaning, Computer and Chinese

House cleaning day already again.  This looks to be a busy week so good to get it out of the way.  (Busy for us, I should say.)

I worked on my new computer again, still trying to get it set up the way I want it to be.  Can't get email or get the cloud to work.

We had leftover Chinese food for dinner,

Sunday, newspapers and TV shows

Went to Panera for breakfast this morning, seldom go there on Sunday.  Then a quick trip to Menards.  Came home to watch the Sunday news shows and read the newspapers.

We grilled bacon wrapped steaks for dinner and also had baked potato and some fresh fruit and vegetables.

Finished watching the morning shows in the evening and did some reading.

Drive around

Rain in the morning and again in the evening but the in-between was nice.  We were lazy in the morning but finally got a few things done in the afternoon.

We did a little drive around, checked daughters house and watered her plants.  Checked out the nearby campground.  They were almost full!  Got the car washed (it doesn't show dirt so it had been a long time sense a wash).

We got salads from Panera for dinner and watched some Netflix. 

Friday!

We went to Panera for bagels this morning, it was not busy at all.  Then to HyVee, also not busy.  The heat must be keeping everyone home!

In the afternoon Don did chores around the garage and outside while I read more of the book "The Room where it Happened." by John Bolton.

We got Chinese food from HyVee for dinner.

My kind of face mask!

More cleaning

Still in the cleaning mode, we cleaned the display cases where I have my antique dish collection.  A once-a-year job.  (Probably needs it more often.)  Also washed the glass and frames of pictures on the wall.  Don dusted off the four ceiling fans we have.

We still have some cleaning jobs to do but good to get this far!

We had the leftovers from Red Lobster for dinner along with a romaine lettuce salad and the last of the birthday cake for dessert.


Why has wearing a mask such a political thing?

Don's birthday

Don's birthday today so we went for his free breakfast at Denny's.  Then to Walmart for a few things.  It looked like an impending storm but just got a few sprinkles of rain.  North Minnesota got some bad tornadoes. 

In the evening we went to Red Lobster for dinner.  It was good but way too much food so we will have leftovers tomorrow night.  We had leftover cake from Sunday later to top off his birthday!

Windows!

Don suggested we wash windows today, it took a lot for me to say OK.  It's good to have that job done for a year and the windows look so clear and sparkly!  While I was at it I also wipped down some other areas like the fireplace.

My arm hurt after all this, shows what a pansy I am!  Also took a good ole nap.

We had camper eggs for dinner, had some eggs that needed to be cycled out of the refrigator.  Also the last of the rhubarb dessert.

Another week begins!

We woke up to thunder, it thunderer for awhile and we got a little rain.

At least the house is clean for another week!  Hate that job.

Other than that about all we did is read, etc.  We had left-over pizza for dinner along with left-over rhubarb dessert.  Then watched some TV.

Birthdays celebration

Today we celebrated son-in-law Ken's birthday and Don's birthday.  We had all over for pizza.  Brenda brought fruit and Sheila brought cake and ice cream.  Is always fun to get together!

July 4th!

I have my Forth of July "stars" shirt on, ready to celebrate!  The TiVo is set to record the fireworks from NYC.

We went to daughter Sheila's house in the evening, sat on their deck and ate and drank.  We also watched the fireworks that their neighbors were shooting off.  Some were very nice.  The local cities had suspended their fireworks this year.

The Independence Day festivities begin!

We went to Panera for bagels and our free coffee we now get all summer.  Then it was to HyVee for groceries.  I thought we were not going to be able to pay for them as neither one of our credit cards would work.  I finally pushed the card in as far as I could and held it and it worked, so it was not our cards but their card reader.

We got an email from Arby's for 40% off everything so we went there (drive thru) and ordered up.  Even got milk shakes!  Ate too much.

I wanted to watch the Rushmore Fireworks but Trump kept talking so I finally had to give up as it was getting late.   We could hear a lot of fireworks in our area but promptly at 10 PM they stopped so didn't keep us awake.

Steak and rhubarb

Hot old day.  Keeping the plants watered is a challenge!  I worked on the new computer and made no headway.  Guess my next move to to visit the Geek Squad at Best Buy - next week.  Gave me a headache and made me crabby.  

HyVee grocery has started their Thursday steak night.  We get one meal for the both of us.  The steak was very good.  I made rhubarb dessert later and we had some when it cooled down some.  More left for later.

July 1, 2020

We went to Perkins for their potato pancakes to celebrate July 1!  Then we went to Walmart for a few things.  It looked like we would be rained upon but it dissipated.

I fixed some noodles with shrimp and asparagus for dinner.  Later Sheila came over with some vegetables from her box she gets every week.  There was great radishes and some rhubarb among other things.