Seven on Friday - An enjoyable week

Lots of little things were enjoyed this week including warmer and sunnier weather - 

Friday - Babysitting the 2 1/2 and 8 1/2 yr. old granddaughters ended with all of us resting in a bed for about an hour with books and the cat - fun.

Saturday - Hubby and I went out for a mid-afternoon beer and fries at a Berkeley biergarten with outdoor seating. It was busy with nice music, a mix of adults and families, and a good vibe.

Sunday - I went to the nearby farmer's market for lively music and lots of yummy things. I like being able to get in season organic produce in small quantities. Besides veggies I bought 2 empanadas for our lunch & a small peach & pluot tartlett to eat on the go and it was amazing. Ran into my across street friend which was nice too.

Monday - I made  a “if it takes 30 minutes or less just do it” list. Exercised and walked much more than usual and checked off some small home & yard tasks.

Tuesday - Another very nice summer-ish day. We got notice that all the paperwork for Hubby’s RMD from one account was accepted. Unlike mine which has to be requested every year, his is a once and done requirement but required notarized documents from me. Onward to his other one.

Wednesday - Hubby went to the fish market in hopes of better quality and it did not disappoint. We had delicious fresh sea bass for dinner with farmer’s market new potatoes and some frozen green beans.

Thursday - I found 2 library activities that I will try to go to later this month in my effort to engage more. One is a book discussion focused on the history of California - this month the book is Black Death at the Golden Gate. The facts and human behavior are very similar to what is happening in our country right now and also to even older history fictionalized in Daniel Defoe’s book The Plague. I read the latter early in the pandemic and sadly saw that human behavior was still the same.

Hobbies anyone?

This post some hobbies to pursue by Gina got me thinking about how few hobbies I have in my mid-70s and then about all the hobbies I have pursued over the years.

Please let me know what hobbies you are enjoying at this point in your life.

Hobbies now only cover three of my categories: physically active, creative/expanding, nurturing - walking, Pilates, reading, blogging, exploring new places/restaurants locally, dog Mom

I want more activities in my life now so let's go down memory lane and remember hobbies from earlier in life. I'm sure I've missed some!

The others over my lifetime - The ones in bold are ones I think I could do right now and might enjoy adding back into my life!

Physically Active - climbing trees (I'd still like to try a zip line through trees!), swimming, badminton, tennis, paddleball, kite flying, ice skating (including outdoors at Yosemite), roller skating, hiking, boating & canoeing, bicycling, square dancing, line dancing (offered at my current city rec center), swing dancing, jumping rope,  yoga, aerobics, strength training, backpacking, camping, skiing, waterskiing, horseback riding

Creative/Expanding - writing including poetry/Haiku, woodworking, pottery on a wheel and hand building, needlework (embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting), drawing, acrylic and watercolor painting, creating a vision board, going to art exhibits/galleries/fairs/walks, live theater, music performances of many kinds, reading and author talks

Challenging - shooting pool, croquet, Monopoly, Scrabble, science projects, 4-H projects (school and work mostly took care of this part of me lol)

Social - entertaining, being in book clubs & women's groups, volunteering (Friends of the Library, PTA, band boosters)

Learning - genealogy, classes and reading on many subjects through on-line courses, art centers, Open Universities and Senior Universities. 

Nurturing - cooking, baking bread, home decorating, gardening

Oh August - I'm just not that into you!

Don't know what it was in July - the miserable weather, not feeling very energetic or what, but I generally just did what I had to and got by with that. Here at the start of August I feel better and the weather looks like it will be better, but no projects planned or major goals to share.

On the calendar - a jazz concert with the couple DH plays with and "Nana & Papa" camp for the soon to be 3rd grader on the 2 days before school starts on Wednesday the 13th. Otherwise playing it by ear.

Do you have any plans or goals for August that you are excited about?

Five on Friday

Woo-hoo! Temperature in the 70’s with sunshine for the next 10 days!

1. I’ve been watching episodes of a Hungarian show set right when the Nazis took over the country (The Golden Swan) via streaming through our membership to our local PBS station. Very well done if somewhat distressing given the subject matter. Sadly no one is streaming season 2.

2. I took my older granddaughter and DIL to The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse store in Oakland and then out for ice cream while the guys stayed home with the sleeping toddler. I told my granddaughter (8 1/2) that she could spend up to $20 and everything was so inexpensive that it would go far. She picked out some remnant balls of yarn for finger knitting, beautiful origami paper, a like new blank book with one of her favorite characters on the cover, and a bead bracelet for not quite $15. She told her dad she would definitely like to go back to the store. A fun “girls” outing.

3. Our pup is 3 1/2 and has some really clear personality traits and play patterns. Right now he is asleep on the couch cuddling his soft toy dog which is his favorite plaything. He has a little lamb soft toy that he seems to want to nurture and keep safe. The other 5 stuffed toys get some play attention but not the same level of love.

4. We are wading through the paperwork to get DH's two required minimum distributions set up for the first time. One is done. Hopefully the final one is easy but we have time if it isn't.

5. I've been appreciating some little things in our house now that we have made it work for the way we live. The second indoor plant I tried in the pretty pot my son gave me is thriving and I enjoy it as I sit at the dining room table. I put all our coffee making stuff on a pretty tray my Mom gave me long ago. The tray was in the laundry area and now I get to enjoy it every day. 

6. I'm looking forward to babysitting the grandgirls tonight so our son and DIL can go out.

The cold summer is not my imagination!

The coldest in over 25 years so far! Berkeley cold summer record

Five plus on Friday

We watered plants for a neighbor while they were abroad for 3 weeks. They brought us this lovely sampler of Greek flavors as a thank you.  DH really likes olives and says the spread is very good.

I offered to pick up a few groceries for my son’s family to have on hand for their first day home from a 2 week vacation as they get in late at night. At my request my DIL made a list of what I could get at Trader Joe’s that would help them.

We have plans to take our 8 year old granddaughter to the Oakland creative/art reuse store on Saturday. When I told her what it was like she wanted to go. I'm going to try to get her to think of a craft project or two that she would like to do before we get there and then spend time looking for those things. It can be overwhelming otherwise. We will give her at least $20 to spend and everything is thrift store pricing so she should have a ball. I'm the shopping antidote grandma lol.

Good news is that the kitchen can light that is flickering is because the bulb is going out and not due to an electrical problem. I found similar LED can light bulbs and decided to switch all of them out because the current ones are 9 years old according to the label. They aren’t as bright but will do the job. Does anyone else find all the options in LED bulbs confusing even if you are holding the previous bulb in your hand?

Bad news is one burner on the gas stove is having problems again. Other than the water heater the stove appears to be the oldest appliance that came with the house and may be the oldest. I found the manual for it online and it explains how to clean it carefully which is what the repair man did previously. Worth a try.

I've realized how ridiculously happy I am that we no longer have cold air blowing in on one side of the front door. The door really was leaking and DH solved the problem. The insulation/air sealing work we had done is making a big difference too.

Oh those CVS coupons! I’ve started keeping a mental list of what I will be buying anyway that could use the coupons if it made the item less expensive than purchasing it elsewhere. This week I stacked coupons and ExtraBucks plus store discounts to get shower spray and body wash very inexpensively.

Summer is just not the same here

And that is taking a while to get used to! 

We live directly across the bay from San Francisco and in fact can see the Golden Gate and Bay bridges as well as the SF skyline from our second floor. We also experience SF weather which right now means it is very foggy, chilly and often windy. The fog does lift by afternoon most days but I still have my down and fleece jackets in regular rotation. 

We don’t have to drive far to get “normal” summer weather or we can wait for late August and September when we will be complaining about the heat. No central AC here although we added a heat pump for upstairs so we can cool it. 

So while the rest of you are running AC or sweltering we are putting the heat and warmer clothes on each morning!

Random fun fact: the SF fog has been named Carl by younger generations and some of the media. I’m assuming that is I homage to poet Carl Sandburg.