Sunday, the beginning of a beautiful weather week

about June 1st

about June 4th

About June 10th after neighbor Bill brought over many plants that he had started from seeds Terry gave him.

July 21st--do NOT notice all the staking up that has NOT been done!

Our hotel in American Samoa

A typical scene in American Samoa with youth all about and MUCH vegetation!

I am set to go for the day.  I had a breakfast of English muffin with fried egg and ham which was delicious BUT the biggest thing was my FP coffee.  Terry encouraged me to buy Kona coffee while in Hawaii so FOUR and a half pounds was packed in my suitcase.  I had my first cup of it this morning. Some might say it is as smooth as a babies behind BUT I can't say that as I am about 39 years removed from any babies behind so I will just say it is outstanding "for sure"!  It is Sunday so I should have some Irish cream for it but we have none so I had to enjoy without it.

I made some progress on the stair project but as anyone could guess it was not enough BUT I am retired and at times "tired" so that is my excuse.

We had about 1.2" of rain yesterday which will keep the lawn and garden in good shape for some time.  Today, close to the end of July, the lawn still looks fairly good.  In fact there are mushrooms growing so I am guessing we have had enough rain.

As I sit at the computer looking out at the street I see one of our neighbors leaving.  I can make money if someone is willing to bet me WHY he just left.  In about 25 minutes he will return with about $10 worth of Starbucks coffee.  Of course I will take my homemade FP ANY day and then I will keep the change!  In fact even as I drink Kona Coffee I will keep the change.  According to Google one can get 23-45 6 oz cups of coffee from a pound.  At that rate I figure I paid about $1.05 per FP cup of coffee.  Lets see, two cups will cost me $2.10 and the neighbor probably paid $3.95 plus tax plus a tip so I am GUESSING he will come home $10.45 poorer so I should put $8.35 in savings this morning.  Oh I forgot he had to spend about $.50 for gas as he drove his Ford F150 to get the coffee so that ups my savings to $8.85!!!

I may have said something about this before but will repeat as my mind is not as sharp as I used to think it was.  Our neighborhood has changed so much.  A house across the street and on the short alley sold last fall.  The people drove a Camry car.  The new owners have TWO BMW cars in the garage!  Another house across the street sold and they drive a BMW and they paid $675,000 for the house!  AND they have two little kids.  Like I said things change.  When I had two little kids we were living in a house that we paid $17,500 for and we had ONE car that was 5 years old and was purchased used for $3800.  Sorry, I don't mean to bore anyone just to acknowledge that I am OLD and yes the only certain thing in life is "change".

Terry and I are going on one of our favorite summer outings today.  You guessed wrong, it is not to Costco!  We usually get together with Norma and Wayne twice a summer.  Once at their place and once here.  I have said before Norma was Terry's legislative aide for some time as Terry served in the Minnesota Senate.  We are about 10 years younger.  They are a delightful couple and fun to spend time with.  We will go to their place today and Norma will have the china out and will serve us a feast.  I am guessing there will be some politics intertwined into the conversation!!!  As far as I know Wayne, at the age of 85, still gets up early.  He goes to the golf course and gets out the many golf carts for the manager and then plays a round for free.  He and his buddies always used to meet up with a neighborhood dog on the back nine and Wayne would, "for sure" have some dog treats in his pocket.  IF Wayne had a successful fall hunting season we will bring home some venison sausage which is VERY VERY good.

AND we will be going past Costco on the way home so will stop and get some things, among them hearing aide batteries.  I have had aids for 7 years now and have never purchased batteries as they came free with the aids but with my Costco aids now I have to buy.  I had to make a choice.  Walgreen has a package of 24 for the surprising low price of $19.99 or my other choice is at Costco where they have a package of 48 for $8.99.  Well I do believe in shopping for the best price so I went on line and found out that Walmart has 24 for $9.94. I have a big decision as to where I should purchase them!  COSTCO "for sure".  I also had to look at the price of aids as I needed new ones.  The first place I purchased aids I paid about $4,500 and they came with free batteries for the life of the aids.  My aids that were purchased at Costco were $2,500 but I need to buy batteries.  I wondered for a nanosecond, given the aids were similar in value, will I spend $2,000 on batteries during the life of the aids.  Buying the Costco aids I can buy batteries for 100 years and still come out ahead!!!

The neighbor just returned with his $10 coffee.

I think this is enough for a Sunday morning.  My Kona FP was actually good to the last drop!