MINI VACAY FOR OUR 52nd ANNIVERSARY

WE CELEBRATED 52 YEARS OF MARRIAGE AUGUST 31st.  HAD AN AWESOME TIME.  It soaked in.  Hubby surprised me by making arrangements to stay a night at CLOVER CLIFF RANCH in the LINCOLN SUITE.  

On our way, there was a major detour to get there.  It was a GOD SEND as I had wanted to visit Marion where we married on our actual wedding anniversary.  The detour caused us to go there. What a sweet blessing.  We actually were in Marion, KS on our actual wedding anniversary. THINKING OF THE DAY WE MARRIED.  August 31, 1974.  It was a cool day with overcast skies. It had rained in the morning and we exchanged vows around 6 in the evening.  The sun came out and the birds were singing.  All was well.

After we played in Marion, we drove to Council Grove for a late lunch at the 1857 Hays House Restaurant.  I had a good 'ole fashioned 🍔 hamburger with 🍟 French Fries.

Drove over to Clover CLIFF RANCH to stay in the Lincoln Suite.  Magical.  Lovely suite.

🛁This suite has a bubbling jacuzzi.  I had dreamt of taking a long soak in this device.  So I did. Climbing into the tub was a bit of a challenge as I was nervous about my knees getting injured as it is a very deep tub. Climbing out of it wasn't as difficult since I have a technique of turning on my side, rolling over on my knees, grabbing ahold of the side of the tub and climbing out of it. Like clockwork it worked for me this time.  We stretched out on the bed and watched some television until night fall.

🛏You will sink into the mattress which is super soft with poofy pillows.  We woke to the fragrance of Breakfast.  🍽 Breakfast was gourmet, if you ask me. 

🫖Stopped off in Marion and had a treat at THE SIT DOWN coffee shop in an old Victorian House.  Relaxed. 

After we said our goodbyes, we drove back to Council Grove to visit the Dustie Shelf again. Looked at a piece of jewelry that did not fit.  We had a change of plans and stayed in town at the COTTAGE HOUSE INN in the Wedding Suite!  Loved it.  We skipped Breakfast to eat lunch at the Hay's House again in Council Grove.

We caught the FLINT HILLS BOOK STORE open that's in an old Bank. 

https://www.flinthillsbooks.com/

📖📚Jennifer Kassebaum runs this really neat shoppe.  We have not been able to catch the store open before until today and it was a real treat.  Very nice book store with an oversize painting by Jak Barnes.

🌡🤒We drove HOME afterwards and took a well deserved NAP.  I woke feeling so very tired.  It must be the heat.  108 in the shade this morning.  Slowly, it cooled off some.  This evening it's 84.   

Gosh, we had a wonderful HOLIDAY celebrating number 52 and blessed to still be married.

🍁🍂Tomorrow, it's going to be just as HOT as the HEAT RING continues.  By the end of September, AUTUMN will be so welcomed.  So far I have not guessed well how the weather is going to be in certain months.  Our September is hellishly HOT for a September where I thought it would be cooling down like Autumn meant business.

🌞OUR ON GOING PROJECT of getting settled in our retirement HOME has been so different than I predicted.  In my mind's eye, I was thinking that the temps would cool off making it pleasant weather to clean out the 3rd storage unit.  We started in June at cleaning out the 2nd unit that took until August to finish.  Weather and health did not go as planned.  At the rate we're going, cleaning unit 3 will not happen quickly.  We'll have to switch gears and work at 6 in the morning to get right conditions to be out in it.  The weather AINT cooperating.

👁THURSDAY.  Honey had an eye appointment.  While he got his eyes checked, I stayed in the lobby and looked at eyewear for myself.  I was not impressed with their inventory.  Yuck.  I want a pair with spring hinges and they had so few to choose from where I liked the frames.  What am I to do?  I'll check SAMs next week and see what they have.  

👀Hubs appointment went really well with the doc saying his eyes looked good for a 71 year old. Good news!!! 

🌷We went to the VINTAGE TULIPS in Wamego and right off the bat inside the door were some old Victorian pieces that Hubby blessed me with for our Anniversary.  An old metal water pitcher and butter dish with dome.  A miniature coffee pot cute as can be went in my basket as I begin a miniature collection.  Some jewelry!!!  What a fun day.

🪺Off to Manhattan to pick up a few items in the heat.  Horrible temps.  Target was first for tea.  Short visit.  We had to stop at the Eclectic Charm on our way HOME.  $15 for a large container holding 5 BABY Aloe plants was too good of a price to pass up.  They sell Farm Fresh Eggs and I was in need of some eggs so we left with a huge container of Aloe plants and 2 dozen Farm Fresh Eggs.  

🥣Tired by now and ready to journey HOME.  Quiet time and rest.  It'll be cold cereal for SUPPER.  Ready, set, go.

💪Our plans for FRIDAY are to get up really early, disassemble the muscle rack then go to the storage unit making room for it to sit.  Set her up and start filling the shelves with Christmas decor.  Lord, I pray we can get this far or further.  Need to make progress.  Oh wait...our PT Cruiser needs cleaned out as it is holding STUFF from the unit that needs placed in the garage. Hopefully, we'll get this done.  Might be Saturday when we get the muscle rack taken care of. 

We've been busy over the Summer, but I am in a hurry to get to the end of this project.  The finish line behind us on this one.  My patience is gone.  Oops and a half.  I relax when away from the mess, but when I walk amongst the projects, I turn into someone I don't like very much. grrrrrr.

Hello, Week-end.

~d

THE SIT DOWN, THE MEMORIAL DAY CLEAN-UP and DECIDING HOW TO LIVE EACH DAY TO THE FULLEST

BUSY DAY IF YOU ASK ME.  Up early.  Did a few chores.  Laundry.  Snipped price tags off of baby clothes I purchased.  Shampooed my hair and trimmed it about two inches shorter. Bathed, Groomed, Got dressed.  Figured the day.  Did my arm exercises with weights.  I have got to be faithful in doing this.  I can walk, lift light hand weights and walk through the Jack LaLane videos.  Eat my salads and drink me water.

Loaded up the car and drove over to Marion, KS to decorate my Dad and Brother's graves, but first we had time to stop at a new CAFE called THE SIT DOWN for some hot tea and ended up eating a Klobasneks in one of their Victorian House's sitting room.  Cute place, but I'm not sure how long they will stay open in Marion as I know this community to be rather tight on their spending.

This is GABE.

When we lived in Marion back in 1992-1995, this old house was being remodeled by an elderly couple from California and as the years passed it was ignored and left for someone else to complete this task.  Eventually the house took on a new persona and it became a Coffee Shop that exchanged owners several times before becoming THE SIT DOWN.

It was a great stop before we drove about town.

Next we went to the Cemetery to clean up around the tombstones, wipe down the tombstones and hang some geraniums.  I have some wreaths for the graves, but with all the shuffling we have done, we could not find the wreaths.  Oops.  To simplify this Memorial Day, we bought a couple of hanging white geraniums and called it good.

We drove the Cemetery roads and located my Grandparents, 

Aunts and Uncles and a few cousins.  This is a stage in life that seems odd.  SO many are gone.  I know more deceased people than alive.  I miss everyone of these family members.

By this time, it started to sprinkle and we drove over to where one of my favorite cousins is buried in a different community.  We stopped off in Hillsboro to eat at a small Restaurant.  Back on the road again to head HOME.  In Junction City, I needed to pick up our Memorial Day MEAL for MONDAY.  We arrived safely HOME to put things away and watch a movie.  

YESTERDAY, AFTER MONTHS OF NOT WALKING A MILE when possible, I headed out the door with specific instructions from my Husband that I was not to walk a mile, but only walk around the track ONE TIME.  I obeyed.  This would be a quarter of a mile.  My hip is feeling so much better than last February when I could not apply pressure on the hip at all.

HIP Journey.  I visited my Primary Physician for an X-RAY and ordered a MRI with a referral to Orthopedic Surgeon. Visited with Surgeon where he suggested a corticosteroid shot.  This whole problem of extreme hip pain came after I took FLUOROMETHOLONE, a corticosteroid.  Years ago I had a horrible reaction to Fluoroquinolone, a corticosteroid, where my calf decided to almost rupture.  I have no business taking corticosteroids.  No business.  When I heard that the surgeon suggested this for me, I decided that I would go to my Chiropractor instead.  SO I did and I had excellent results.   

5 treatments later, I am walking well with little pain.  Praise the Lord. 

I will have to treat exercise and food like medicine.  Be faithful doing it and that's that.

So many times, I feel like I am not doing LIFE right.  If I look at it from the wrong angle then I may be looking at it from the angle that isn't meant to be looked from.  Wrong angle.  Wrong thoughts.  If I need to speak to myself to clarify wrong thoughts then I had best do that.  

How does one live each day to the fullest?

All the best to you this sweet day,

~d