Recent Posts

Greetings all

Another overcast Monday here. As mentioned I have come to like Mondays because the kiln opens and my tv shows resume normally. Pretty lame. And yeah Peps, Monday should not be a big chore day. It is more like "celebrate being retired day" when you can go to stores and places that you previously could not do because of work.

My day is shaping up to include payroll and minor errands. I am still in clean up mode for upcoming guest. House cleaner comes wed. and I will get a little extra help from her but first the path must be shoveled. So long as the guest room is in decent shape I will not worry too much about the rest. This person will not judge me. Kitchen table is cleared off in case we decide to eat a meal not in front of the tv.

Wow Liz Poland! How interesting and exotic. Mike's son is there right? Very cool to have locals to show you the cool stuff. Enjoy. Hope your SIL gets out of the hospital and home as early as possible.

Well Peps you are entitled to rest upon your dog show laurels after this weekend.

The gallery was kind of slow yesterday. Mostly sold cards. I picked up a pizza so that makes dinner for a few days. Post vsg I can still only eat one slice of pizza at a time. My pre vsg self would have had three.

More later if anything happens. (don't hold your breath).

Diane S

Poland? If I knew that was part of your trip, I had completely forgotten! How wonderful! Poland is not a place that has been on my travel radar, but I certainly wouldn't turn down the chance to visit! How nice to add a visit to Mike's side of the family, too!

201.7 - Right in the range. So all is well. My target is to be under 200 by month's end. Time will tell.

I must have been tired from the weekend. I stayed in bed until 9 this morning (after getting up at 7 to let dogs out to potty)!

Today I am taking it easy. The only things I HAVE to do are visit my dad and work out with my trainer. Everything else is on an "As I Want To Do" basis. My retired dog show friend uses Mondays as his Saturdays. I kind of like that idea, so I am adopting it. I get to actually rest up from dog show weekends, rather than plunge back into the work week. How civilized! This retirement thing is looking better every day!

Liz, hydrangeas burn here if they are given too much sun. I have two that are planted in shade, but they haven't grown a bit since I planted them. I think the tree under which they are planted sucks everything out of the soil, so only super hardy weed like plants are able to grow/thrive underneath. The shade garden I planted beneath it is pretty meager - even after 5 years. I think I may put in some of that "miniature" ivy, just to get some green by the sidewalk.

CC, welcome back to your summer home! I'm sure a break from AZ and the HOA business is overdue! Will be nice to see Claudia and your dad, too! Glad Kirby is happy to be "home", too.

Merry, merry!

Welcome back to Michigan!

Wow about Umbrella rates! They used to be fairly inexpensive. But it makes sense with everyone ready to sue at the drop of a hat.

Just educate yourself as much as possible on the Medicare options. Unfortunately a plan that may work well for people for years may not if an illness occurs which requires different coverage. So it is best to choose a plan which will work for the future rather than just what is affordable today.

We have hydrangeas and hot weather during the summer on Cape Cod. We just have to water them more. They love the sandy soil.

We made it to MI and are settled. Kirby is in doggy heaven and is being such a good boy so far. It was roasting and humid yesterday and cold and rainy today. Maybe a happy medium would be good!

I would happily sign up for Medicare if it was time. My health insurance is ridiculous, not being eligible for Cobra or a former employer plan. My insurance is terrible and incredibly expensive. I shudder to think what it will increase to over the next 12 years!

Speaking of insurance, I got my renewal for my personal umbrella policy. It went up a whopping 118% for next year. That's insane. I raised my policy limit after friends of ours got sued for $3 million when a woman chased her loose dog onto their property at their beach house and got bitten by their golden retriever when the woman put her arm between the two dogs. It's a scenario that could easily happen here in MI and even if Kirby is sweet, someone sticking their arm in the path of his mouth if he was run at by a strange dog could be accidentally bitten. And people suck and are litigious. State Farm is raising all their umbrella policy rates astronomically to "stay viable". Grrr.

I think that's all I know right now. Off to sleep in the cool air with all the windows open. What a treat!