Documenting Real Life

 

celebrating with ice cream

This hot summer weather justifies our ice cream treats. It's usually vanilla ice cream sandwiches, or bars coated with a chocolate shell, or those cute little single-serving size cones, especially if it's BOGO (buy one get one free). One afternoon, we celebrated with ice cream on our way home after choosing a contractor to replace our floors.

a Sand Hill Crane atop our neighbor's  house
overlooking the lake

Looking back, it's been an eventful week here, but then most of them are by the time I finish embellishing them here on this blog. 😏

a Yucca plant in the yard of another neighbor

Due to the humidity, heat, and some early-morning appointments, we have not been outside walking much. Gary's still not clear to ride his bicycle as issues from his surgery have led to an extended period of caution. But I did log 4 miles on my bike in the sticky heat one day this week, finding that the air moving over my skin actually felt refreshing. 

Junior

Let's see; moving past the weather report, what else have I to document from this past week? Junior's birthday was on Tuesday. This photo was taken in about 2016?? when he was only 40-something. Now he is on a fast roll for the half-century mark. As you can tell from the snapshot, he's a fun kinda guy! We live about 1700 miles from each other, so a monthly FaceTime convo is working well to keep our relationship thriving. 

the old tile in our kitchen

The aforementioned transition from ceramic tile to luxury vinyl tile throughout our house finally came to an end early in the week. I use the word, "finally" because over last weekend one of our two very dependable workers caught a nasty bug (the kind that requires a commode commitment), which in turn extended the job by an additional day with only one man to do everything.

new Luxury Vinyl Tile in master bathroom
(with temporary, but non-operational, seating)

We have two bathrooms in our house. With the reduction in labor force, we were limited to only one of the toilets for 4 nights. (I know, I know. That's a "first world problem." Not complaining here; just stating fact.) Gary warned me at bedtime to be oh-so-careful when getting up in the night. Don't walk into furniture and walls, and be sure to head to the room that had the working facility! I kept a small flashlight on my night table and no injuries were incurred.

Gary takes the drapes down

We are very pleased with the outcome but as so often is the case, one change necessitates another. Since the new tiles were installed on top of the old, the drapes on the sliding glass doors were brushing the floor as we opened and closed them each day. That was not good, so we talked about our options, all of them time-consuming and costly. 

Then Harriet Homemaker (yours truly) said she could machine-hem the drapes, although she was not sure she liked the idea. But with all things considered, we settled on that option. My Singer sewing machine and I camped out on the kitchen table for about 30 minutes while turning under the fabric about half an inch. 

my temporary sewing room

After it was all done, I used the nose-to-arm-length method to determine that the hemming job was between 8 and 9 yards of fabric. Relieved to have that done and the drapes hung, I moved on to other tasks related to putting our house back in order.

Putting the pretties back into the china cabinet was a little unnerving due to the fragility of the items in hand and because much of it belonged to Gary's late wife.  With each item arranged, I was dealing with memories of Edith as well as some of my own.

"Charming Barbara" Bavarian china
soup tureen and platter
from my mother's collection

My thoughts wandered to the brief encounters I had with Edith, when we sat beside each other a couple of times in a very large women's Bible study group five years ago. We were not well-acquainted and we certainly did not imagine that in a few years, both of our lives would dramatically change. She would slip into Heaven, as did my Tom. 

completed china cabinet

As you can imagine, it was an  interesting journey of thoughts as I lined up Edith's extensive bell collection, her lead crystal wedding gifts, and some delicate hand-blown figures created by Gary's cousin. 

Christmas stem ware from Arby's
holiday promotion in 1990

Interspersed with Edith's things are treasures from my life: my grandmother's antique china cup as a reward for perfect Sunday School attendance, pieces of my mother's Bavarian china ("Charming Barbara"), and Christmas stem ware one of my (then teen-aged) sons collected for me while driving through Arby's for lunch eight days in a row! There is also a glass globe of sand and tiny sea shells, one of two I bought years ago (one for me and one for my daughter).

old (dark) and new (silver) frames

With the flooring project behind us and the house put back in order, other matters of life have needed attention. My cataract surgeries are behind me and now I'm waiting on my new glasses. 

A very pleasant young woman prepared the order for my new specs. At the end of the appointment, I paid her a sincere compliment when I told her she looks a lot like the actress, Joely Richardson, who got (spoiler alert) killed in the first few minutes of the movie, Return to Me. (one of my favorite chick flicks, by the way) She was delighted and planned to look up the trailer that evening. 

On Wednesday Jersey Girl and I were able to enjoy a "just us girls" lunch at a new Chick-fil-a here in Ocala. We are not able to get together as often as we would like but we always maximize the time with updates on our families and just listening to what's going on in our hearts. Everybody needs a friend like that: kind, non-judgmental, with good ears.

Hamilton Beach Egg Cooker
Kohl's $27.99 (sale price)

We did some shopping and I came home with an egg cooker. People have told me this is a great appliance to have and since I no longer have my Instant Pots, this egg cooker is an essential for me. That evening I used it to make 2 hard-boiled eggs which Gary requested be made into egg salad sandwiches. It was a hit!

entry sign at new WEC hotel

We had not been to the World Equestrian Center in some time, so yesterday we drove over to walk inside the lobby of the newest lodging, The Riding Academy Hotel. Located just shy of 9 miles north of our home, the WEC is an interesting place to take our out-of-town guests. 

I've taken many of my visitors over the past 3 years, to the large 5-star hotel on that property, which is grand with exquisite decor and a provides good exercise as we walk from one end to the other.

lobby of The Riding Academy Hotel
World Equestrian Center, Ocala, Florida

This venue is also decorated lavishly but on a smaller scale. As to be expected there is a heavy emphasis on horses and dogs.

snack bar

There is no restaurant, presumably because an imposing event center is under construction just across the way, which we were told will have several eateries. But this hotel did have a large grab-n-go kind of snack area.

me with My Lil' Pony

The building encircles a large courtyard where the resort-style swimming pool can be viewed from all of the hotel rooms (4 stories high). We ventured outside for a closer look.

Gary at the fire place

Everything was WHITE. It was beautiful but in the dazzling heat of the day, it was a near blinding sight. With lots of seating arranged for both the solitary and gregarious guests, a huge outdoor fire place commanded attention. Gary was going to light the fire for them, but then thought better of that idea since the outside temperature was a solid 97 degrees.

guest pool

The swimming pool was beautiful, what we could see of it through the tropical plantings. One had to have a room key to get in the gate, so this was the best shot I could get with my camera.

children's area

There was, of course, an area for the children, splash-pads, a purple octopus, a turtle, and a bright yellow duck. (I stood in the bushes and raised my camera over the top of the fence to get this photo.)

wall paper

This was about all that non-paying guests could see, and the weather was so hot (I believe I've already made that point); it was time to head back home. While walking back through the hotel lobby, I stopped to take one more shot of the wall paper. Appropriate for the place; VERY busy.

To summarize the above, I've addressed topics on food, home renovation and home decor, exercise, sewing, a little bit of health, cooking, a touristy place, and dabbled very briefly on thoughts related to grief. 

Often grief shows up in my blog posts. One of the many things I've learned with my experience of the grief that began in 2020, it does not go away entirely. The loss to death of a very personal person is a deep, deep emotional event (for lack of a better word), a trauma even, that changes us profoundly. One man in my Bible study who recently lost his wife said that even though he knows he will see her again, right now, the loss is so "final." (his word) The person is gone, simply not here in body any more. Yes, we will see them again in Heaven if they are Believers, but for now, they are just. not. here.

And in my experience, not only is that person gone, but my life as I knew it for half a century has changed, too. I have come to realize that my sadness has been in large part caused by the absence of this person but my living space, my habits, my routines, some goals, and what is required of me has also changed. That is huge and worthy of grief, too.

But to conclude, I will say that documenting my life now on my blog serves to illustrate that although I've lost some people and a lifestyle I once knew and loved, my life now is a joy. I celebrate the fact that God has continued to give me life, health, a new place to live, and (so blessedly) new people. 

I also have an understanding of relationships, things, and even God Himself that, before, were oblivious to me in many respects. Truly, in God's economy, nothing is wasted and when submitted to Him, He brings good out of it. 

In all things work together for the good

of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Until next time, grace and peace.