Five Things Friday #12 - Heat Wave Edition

1. I am delighted that when asked what she wanted to do for the vacant week in her summer schedule our 9 year old granddaughter yelled "Nana & Papa Camp". This is why we moved despite the struggle of moving and making friends once again. We seem to be doing something right that she wants to spend 5 days at our house with us. Now to make some plans that balance fun/exploring with just hanging out.

2. Starting Monday temperatures in our area became about 20 degrees warmer than usual for highs/"feels like" temps in the mid 80s for 5 days due to a heat dome sitting over the area for a week. That usually happens for a couple of weeks in August/September. We had the air conditioner running upstairs and a fan blowing strategically at the dog's favorite spot on the downstairs couch. Opened windows at night to reduce the indoor temp before it rose high again. Reminds me of growing up in Illinois without air conditioning!

3. Happily accepted a gift of half a loaf of Irish soda bread from a friend. I had thought of trying to make it for St. Patrick's Day, but  quickly gave up that idea. I did spend the day remembering lovingly my grandfather who's birthday was St. Pat's day. He was the best grandpa for me.

4. Walked to the library mid-morning Tuesday before it got too hot so I could get some outdoor exercise while returning and picking up books.

5. Completed and mailed the DMV application for refund for the prepaid registration for the old car. Hopefully we will see a refund eventually.

 

Five things Friday #11

1. I love tulips. Seeing these "in the wild" on a walk was lovely. The walks this week were also full of birds chirping. Spring is here.

2. The 3 "girls" were at the other Grandma's so our son suggested going out for a beer. He also helped us set up the "Find My" app so we could track each other. Given Hubby's fall and struggle to walk home, he suggested doing this so we can find the other person's location if they don't make it home.

3. Just doing day to day stuff. Pruning & fertilizing plants, lots of laundry, driving the new car for errands and parking practice, doing our taxes, running self-clean on the oven, reading, sleeping late, and so on.

4. The gas/electric company says we used a lot less gas in January than similar home but a bit more than the most efficient ones. Given how cold & windy it was, I'd say that was a big payoff for our house sealing & insulation project of last year. 

5. Shopped at CVS and ACE for just what needed replenishing. Sales and coupon saved 25%.

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What we ate for dinner including our efforts to have more meatless/low meat meals as we used to.

    Friday - Low meat: black bean tostados with small amount of leftover chicken

    Saturday - Salmon, carrots, peas

    Sunday - Turkey burgers on buns, leftover veggies (black beans, carrots, peas, asparagus)

    Monday - Meatless: baked potatoes topped with shredded cheese, steamed broccoli 

    Tuesday - Leftover turkey burgers on buns, zuchinni & tomato bake

    Wednesday - Meatless: Huevos rancheros, cooked spinach

    Thursday - BBQ chicken, steamed broccoli, boiled potatoes

What I'm reading Wednesday #7 - One really good one; two duds

3 books - 1 I really enjoyed and 2 duds.

This is the most recently published one in the series although the next is scheduled to come out April 14th. If I haven't read all 20 in the series I've come close. I saw a suggestion that the book to fill the prompt could be set in the 1800s not authored then and that "saved" me from a boring book. 

 4.5 stars. Prompt: Written in the 1800s

I was very disappointed in this book as I have enjoyed several others by this author. Perhaps the life story of Hedy Lamar just wasn't that great for a fictional biography. It did save me from books that appealed even less as she was the star of the top grossing movie the year I was born; Samson & Delilah. 

I was generous and gave it 2 stars. Prompt: Inspired by the top-grossing movie the year you were born (1949)

I would describe this book best by saying it seemed like a fever dream of for those intimately familiar with Oxford colleges. I really didn't like the writing style and how it was pitched to those who knew and cared about the Oxford staffing and buildings. I only kept reading because it was so bad but by a good author so I thought it might redeem itself. Also it fit prompts in 2 different challenges. 

A generous 1 star. Prompt: Includes a Red Herring & Mystery Genre challenge Prompt: A classic mystery

My Spring Vision Board

SPRING 2026

A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

JOYFUL DAILY LIVING

MAKING THINGS, LEARNING, EXPERIENCING 

Pretty simple this time!

Five Things Friday #10

1. I'm so excited that the 52 Book Club came out with a Mystery Genre Challenge in addition to the 2026 challenge! Check it out here if you are into mysteries Mystery Genre Challenge

2. Still learning new car tech, but my phone is now linked with Apple Play. Practicing different driving situations - mostly parking and backing up as they are challenging with a larger vehicl, different visibility and a back up camera. 

3. Other people find money when walking outside. This year I seem to be finding unused poop bags. Four so far at half a cent each and I'm "in the money for 2 cents" lol. Keeping them out of the waterways though is good. 

4. Hubby went on a walk, tripped, fell and had gashes in his face that bled profusely so when I encountered him while walking the dog he had bloody hands and face. He was really shaken up so we got him home, our son came over and drove us to the ER where they provided compassionate professional care. Glue and steri strips instead of stitches, a CAT scan that showed no problems, and some Tylenol later we Ubered home. In the big picture, not very bad but distressing! As Hubby said, given the car accident and my being sick before this, "I hope this isn't how 2026 is going to be!" He was looking and feeling much better the next morning.

5. He realized we could cancel the service contract we bought with the car and get the money back. We drive so few miles that it wasn't a good deal for us. He called and made it happen which is great.

How to learn about our new car tech

As we make the giant leap from 2011 car technology to a 2026 high tech version, the learning curve steep. I'm thrilled to have the modern safety and other features, but they only are useful if I understand them!

Although I haven't watched them all, I found that there are non-car company videos to help. Here is a sample.

AARP has a free online course and additional videos to help! AARP Smart Driver Tek cours

Hubby found a YouTube video that explains all the symbols, buttons and other things in front of the driver. He searched by the year, make and model of the new car. YouTube to the rescue with instructions once again (also great for home fix-its instructions and diagnoses.)

I also found this one - How to park using a rear view camera

The printed manual is over 500 pages long in tiny print and with a poor index and poor illustrations so we are not finding it helpful. It seems more like something written by engineers to satisfy legal requirements.

What have you found to help you learn about new car technology?

Blood Moon - Lunar Eclipse

I forgot that my phone would alert me if I put this on my calendar so here it is at 3:40 this morning! It looked really cool - the photo doesn't do it justice.

It was my first time seeing this phenomenon so I'm happy I was awakened despite the hour. Not long after this the clouds moved in and it was obscured.