Thank you YouTube - Thriving week 30

This house has 20 windows of various kinds (13 downstairs/7 upstairs), 14 window screens, 2 mini blinds (the rest are cellular shades or vertical blinds or nothing ) and 3 doors with glass. 

Most of the windows are dual pane vinyl ones and either single hung, fixed or sliders. We don’t know when they were installed and the company is no longer in the window business. We haven’t cleaned the outsides or screens since we bought the house in March 2023.

YouTube has been our school for learning how to care for them.

• How do you open a tilt in single hung window? 
• How do you get one back in place if it is off the track? 
• Is it ok for there to be some standing water in a weep hole? 
• The best way to wash the outside? 
• The best tool for doing that? 
• How do you get the screens out? 

YouTube has supplied all the answers except for how to improve sticky window tracks and we learned that at my former women’s club having the same problem.

I can now clean the single hung windows pretty well by getting the screens out, using a pole washer/squeegee tool and slightly soapy water to clean the outside of the windows, wash the screens, lubricate sticky window tracks with silicone spray applied with a rag after cleaning them well with soapy water, and operate the tilt open mechanism to clean the window edges. Then I can put it back together lol.

• DONE: 6 windows, 3 screens,  0 mini blinds & 2 doors
• REMAINING: 14 windows, 11 screens, 2 mini blinds & 1 door

Slow but steady progress.

Hopefully the full window cleaning process is not an annual task!!!

Sick Day(s) - boo!

I was so pleased at how energetic and strong I felt on Monday. My exercise and healthy eating increased focus was working!

Then I woke up Tuesday and was sick. Random for sure and nothing terrible but it Dora’s rather feel like a smack down from the universe. Today I feel like I was sick yesterday but hopefully another day of taking it easy does the trick.

My go to when I don’t feel well is sitting on the couch reading and long naps plus green tea. How do you take care of yourself when not feeling well? 

Cobweb brushes are real!

I too had never heard of such a thing until moving to the East Bay Area of California. These cobwebs are outside on the house, trash cans, fence, etc. or in the rafters of the garage. The best explanation I can find is that they are the remnants of spiderwebs that get covered with dust due to the humidity and wind of living near the San Francisco Bay. 

I tried a variety of other brushes we own because who really wants to buy a cobweb brush! It truly does work well and has a very long telescoping handle. It cracks me up that there is a professional version!In retirement I guess one of my jobs is professional cobweb remover.

Truly though it is nice to have an easier way to get them of the house and the sticky dirt that remains on the brush tells the story of why they need to be gone.

Berkeley Rose Garden, bahn mi & more - Thriving week 29

Last Thursday was certainly varied!

First a dermatologist annual visit with a few spots being frozen off. Then I stopped at ACE Hardware and bought a cobweb brush. I have tried to avoid getting one but house maintenance is harder without it. I’m all about simplifying and making house and yard work easier this year.

We had wanted to check out the  Berkeley Rose Garden and although it is late in the blooming season it was very pretty and with a nice rose scent as you walked through. Pretty views across the bay too. My photo doesn’t do it justice.

The garden was built by hundreds of WPA workers over 4 years.You can’t tell from my photo but it was carved into a steep rock hillside and the rock used to make stairs and amphitheater levels.

On the way home we got bahn mi sandwiches to eat at home. They were bbq chicken with grated carrots, etc. and a definite Asian flavor but included both jalapeños and cilantro. The combo led to us researching the origins of both. Jalapeños definitely originated in Mexico but cilantro was variously attributed to the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, India or China. I think we forget that there has always been both migration and traveling that included transporting foods to new locations. People definitely like to create new food combos for variations of traditional dishes.

I’ve written about needing to make friends and I’m glad that I had a deep conversation with a woman I met right after we moved here and really like. I hope to put myself put there more each week.

However, I’m feeling rather like a “stick in the mud” as my parents used to say. My sons and their families are respectively off to Michigan for a wedding and in Hawaii. 3 different neighbors just got back from Japan, one is on an Alaskan cruise and goes to Guatemala later in the summer, and one leaves for Spain soon returning for a one day turnaround before their whole family goes to Slovakia and Croatia. Better up our game at being a tourist in our own area!

Before our son and family left for Hawaii he brought over their ripe garden bounty. I don’t like the texture of raw plums but have found a recipe for sautéed plums to try as a topping for yogurt, cereal, etc. or as a meat side dish depending on seasonings used.

I finished cleaning the garage by cleaning the water heater closet, organized the stuff stored in the office closet so I  can now step in to reach thing which involved moving some stuff to the new garage shelves, and decluttered a few clothes that have not fit for over a year. 

Simple summer reading bingo

If you don’t live in Portland, OR you can’t get a prize BUT you could give yourself a treat! 

I like this one because it has good categories and a simple approach.

Powell’s Summer Reading Bingo

Focusing on what matters right now - Thriving week 28

Since the busyness of moving has calmed to more everyday life I am figuring out what is most important right now in this new lifestyle of ours.

1. First and foremost is time with and support of our son’s family. That is why we went through the stress and adjustments of moving again! Add in time with our older son and DIL too.
2. Enjoyment of the area we live in. It is important to me to find joy in my current living circumstances whatever they may be. That includes finding things to do and ways to spend my time that lift my spirits and friends to share life with.
3. Improving/maintaining my health and fitness. I want to feel and be vital and energetic for as many more years as possible.
4. Taking care of our home, belongings and finances without it consuming daily life. It is too easy to let this fill my time and although necessary it is not the point of living.

This past week’s activities focused some on these things.

1. Went over to visit the family Sunday afternoon as they are leaving on vacation Friday. Baby hugs and she now can say Nana! Big girl smiles. Time to visit with my DIL. Called my older son and DIL who are left on a trip Wednesday.
2. We have a couple of things on our short term list for this area.
3. Exercised quite a bit between heavy housework and exercise routines. Deliberately pushing myself to walk faster and to be sure to get noticeable exercise 5 to 6 days a week.
4. Made a clear “projects “ list of the most important to me one time things left to do in these areas. Focusing on doing one at a time and finishing it is my challenge here but I am making progress as the garage is finished.

A fun 4th - One World city festival & chalk art

On the 4th we hiked over the hill to the park. 

Checked out the city’s 26th annual One World festival.

We aimed to get there when it opened at 11am.

It was another hot day and there was little shade on our walk.

Ran into our across the street neighbor and the youngest kids heading for the rides.

People were already settled in for the day at 11:00am. 

We heard a violinist and his group perform Raga inspired chamber music.

It was different and very enjoyable.

Here’s a performance of theirs I found on YouTube

Lucien Balmer

Lots of vendors, community organizations, classic car show, rides for the kids and food trucks.

Earlier in the morning on the pup’s first walk I saw this creation.

Somebody had fun with a very long hopscotch in the road!

I love the encouraging comments.