Fallen Down The Rabbit Hole of Retirement

Hi Dear Folk,

I might have fallen down the rabbit hole of retirement.  I'm stopping by to say hello!

Today is going to be a scorcher.  I was out in my garden at five this morning.  A friend gave me some Solomon's Seal, which I wanted to get in the ground before the heat became unbearable.  I think I found a good position for it by the garage where my pond patio is, hopefully enough shade.

I love the early mornings in summer, the freshness of a new day, the whole day spreads ahead of you with such potential.  Birds singing and a cup of tea, some morning reading.  Potter in the garden here and potter over there.  That's the joy of retirement.  In fact I'm at the point where I don't know how I ever went to work and even kept some semblance of order around the house and garden.

Bathroom taps are leaking again, and we have a couple of plumbers coming today to estimate putting in new ones.  Having the plumber come involves emptying the laundry closet and taking out a shelf to have access to view the plumbing from behind.  Not looking forward to doing that.  The whole bathroom needs a revamp so this is a stop gap.

I have a Jewish Apple cake in the oven along with some chicken breasts, Rob requested chicken salad, so thought I'd conserve energy and cook them together.  Plus with no AC I it seemed a good idea to get it done this morning before the heat is too over whelming.

I'm just finishing off some fingerless mitts, crocheted with the same yarn of my half star shawl.  I also made a beret to match.  After this I may put the crocheting away for a while, it just seems too hot for it.  I have a dress that I bought at the thrift, but the top is too big.  I'm thinking of taking off the skirt piece and making that into a skirt and then maybe a head piece or scarf with the top.  Quite a pretty fabric.

Here is the set I've crocheted this yarn is by Lion Brand and is called CupCake the colour is Moody Blue.  I wish their was a little less beige and a little more green, but on the whole I like it.

This beret pattern I have crocheted before, only this time I added several more pattern repeats to make it larger.

Picot edging around the fingerless mitts.

I'd rather work in my garden, which leads to procrastination on the cleaning of the house front, including all the windows that need cleaning inside and out, plus painting on the outside of the house, we may have to break down and get some estimates on that.  I must set a task for each day and get to it.  First painting is the shed door which Mr. B. sanded down for me.  So now the ball is in my court.

Plus we need to have a yard sale to clear out the garage because now Rob has two cars, the Mini which we picked up a couple of weekends ago from Washington, DC and he will keep the Miata, but he wants to house that in the garage.  It made no sense to sell the Miata, he would never get out of it what he has put into it.  Heck if he wasn't keeping it I'd buy it with all I know that he has done on that car.  It's a fun local summer car.  Very noisy for any long distance driving and no AC.  He will be safer in the Mini on the long distance trips that he takes.  I think his version has six airbags.

I have been reading Wallace Stegner I liked Crossing to Safety.  Although well written, I can't say I liked the story of The Big Rock Candy Mountain, just the futile sadness of some lives.  A wrong decision in youth and a wasted life.  It's not that his other books don't carry that theme, but this was especially sad.  Set in the early twentieth century, a young girl of Norwegian descent has two marriage proposals, one would have set her on a path of security, surrounded by family and the other would set her on a nomadic road.

Christine