The Seniors Do Father's Day - Saturday & Sunday

SATURDAY:We survived Friday. Saturday morning, as we S L O W L Y got up, we rejoiced that we had nothing whatever to do in the morning. So, after a good weekend breakfast, we did ---nothing.

Until we couldn't sit idle anymore. Curse that inner drive! We made our way down the stairs from the Great Room, intent on cleaning golf clubs for the day tomorrow.

And we found the package in the garage! Our thoughtful, considerate daughter and son-in-law had sent hubby a BIG box of Bing Cherries for Father's Day! Yum!

Noon found us, full of cherries, down in the studio, creating pots and tiles. Then, wifey had a go at finishing the editing on a book that had to be done for a friend. And she did it! A flurry of activity kept us engaged until dinnertime.

The energy flurry ended right after the food, and TV took up the rest of the evening...until a very early bedtime - 9 pm - for the wife. She assumes the hubby got to bed at a reasonable time, and that she didn't snore too much...

SUNDAY: Father's Day, and we were out the door by 6:30 am, grabbing our Subway Breakfast Sandwiches on the way to the Club to play in the Father's Day Scramble! Yee Ha! We met up with our golf buddies Bob and Brenda, and the Scramble went off at 8:30 am., finishing by 1 pm. It was a good day on the course: we came in 3 under par. Never mind that the Scramble leaders were, like, 15 under par. And Hubby bought a shirt. He does not have enough golf shirts. Like Imelda didn't have enough shoes.

No time, however, to linger over a beer at the bar: we had a CAR SHOW to go to in Oakbrook. Not for our car. These are the totally classy 'Concours' cars that make one's mouth water. Into Roxy, the IROC Z Convertible, and we were off and running. A quick stop at Jimmy John's for a sandwich, and soon we were parking at Oakbrook. Noting the parking spot. Really. Just in case.

We walked all around the car show, with Hubby taking pictures, and me enjoying the cars and the crowds. There sure are some classy looking people at the Oakbrook Mall. Not like my local Wal Mart. Wow. And they smell good, too!

Sometime during the show, we got a text invitation from our thoughtful, wonderful son and daughter in law to come over to their house for cake after we were done at the show. It was an invitation we just had to accept!

What fun to have that GREAT home made Dark Chocolate Cake, Ice Cream! The grandsons were both there, too. Great conversation, and good times. And...Hubby was appropriately gifter with a very classy, very useful 'day pack' which he will fill with many wonderful, intriguing things.

With a full tummy, we set off for Seneca. Well, one of us had a full tummy, but Father's Day Boy was hungry again, and wifey didn't feel like cooking or eating, so we stopped by the Katie Hooper tugboat/restaurant on the Illinois River for one drink and a pork chop sandwich for the Dad. As we sat at the deckrail overlooking the river, we felt so blessed. Tired, stinky, and blessed.

So home it was for a shower and a relaxing time before willingly falling into bed to be ready for: Monday!

The Seniors Do Father's Day Weekend: Friday

Today, Tuesday the 23rd, is recovery day here at the Seneca Senior Home. The air is on, the shades are closed, and we are lounging around, revelling in the total absence of committments today.

The weekend was 'killer': fun, but killer. It all began Friday.....(dissolve, fade to flashback).

Early Friday morning, we had an Estate Sale on our little list of 'fun things to do in life'. We headed out in the big truck (always optimistic!), and found the location of the sale. Touted as a 'Farm Sale', we found it curious that our 'farmhouse' destination was a small, brick ranch home on a major roadway, not far from large, newly built homes.

At least 40 vehicles lined the roadway, and many people were millling around in front of the house. We wondered why. We asked. We found out. The small house would accomodate only a few folk at a time; there was a 'waiting list'. A waiting list with a LOT of names before ours. In fact, at least half and hour's worth of names before ours!

After walking around the one outbuilding and looking at the rusted, nearly unsalvagable bicycles, milk cans, and general 'junk' that was offered there, we opted out of waiting and hopped in the truck to go to: Blain's Farm and Fleet! Yee Ha!

After a pleasant hour at Blain's (we cannot 'do' a Farm Store in less time!), we popped my purchases in the truck (3 new outfits!) and headed for the home front.

A quick lunch, and it was off to the other property to weed the veggie garden, pick strawberries, and work on the Caddie for the car show that night. And cut the grass at that property, too.

With just enough time for a shower (badly needed. Stinky seniors), we headed off in the Caddie for a double feature evening:

1. The LaSalle County Cruisers Car Show

2. The Ottawa Art League Gallery Opening

Both were on the main drag in Ottawa, and it promised to be an adventurous evening. Just how adventurous we were about to find out.

Dinner with a friend, and --bingo--we were all set up for the Gallery opening in the outdoor patio area at Jeremiah Joe's Coffee. It sort of looked like rain, but we were protected with a roof over our heads, and the gallery was totally inside. Cars began arriving for the Car Show; the main street was blocked off, the DJ began broadcasting, and we were happily greeting people and watching cars.

Then the thunder began.

To say we had a storm is like saying poison ivy is a little bit itchy. It rained sheets of rain. It boomed and it blew. People huddled under the coffee shop roof, looking out at the sudden night created by the black of the storm. Some of the show cars left, but the sensible ones waited it out. And it did finally end.

As commerce resumed, and people began to stroll, we were rewarded for persistance with a trophy for our Caddie! It's always a tickle to get recognized!

As we sat in front of Thor (our Caddie...so named because he sounds like thunder when revving up), we learned from a friend that our town, Seneca, was out of power from the storm. We headed home.

Yup, Seneca was black!

We stabled Thor in his garage at the 'other house', manually opening the overhead door...the power outage meant, of course, that the garage door openers would not work. We headed home through darkened streets with citizens milling about in the quiet, steamy night air. The silence was only broken by the hum of ajn occasional generator.

Oh, heck! Did we have keys for OUR house? We NEVER used them, relying on the garage door opener...which wasn't gonna work! Augggh!

I found that I had a key for the lock on the front door, but I didn't have a key for the deadbolt on that door. I had no luck with the other doors at all, and the windows were all shut tight and locked ... of course. Just when things were looking dismal, another key, hidden in hubby's pack, fitted itself neatly into the deadbolt! We were IN!.

The power had been out for 2 hourse by then, and we actually started our generator. Exhausted, we watched TV, hoping to hear the welcome hum of power coming on. Finally, hubby went to turn off the generator, unwilling to let it run while we slept. And, with amazing coordination, the power came back on.

We fell into bed, grateful to Com Ed, and thankful for working keys.

Seniors Surfing through Sturgeon Bay

Sunday morning: rising with the Sun (or an hour or so thereafter), we climbed into our truck (name: Dually...all our vehicles have names. Don't yours? Why not?) for our trip up to Sturgeon Bay, WI. Relatives were awaiting us: Hubby's fabulous Aunt who is 93 years young and still keeping house by herself in a really cool cottage on Lake Michigan; Cousin J, who, in his later 50's , is getting married again! He's visiting his Mom in Sturgeon Bay from far away Massachusetts;and Cousin K, who is the artistic member of Auntie's family. We were looking forward to a couple of great days of family. Longer than that with family is probably too much, unless a lot of alcohol is consumed.

Before hitting the Highway, first things first. Stopping at Subway for a breakfast croissant and coffee would make the trip go MUCH better. Yum. And Yum again. Seniors like their food. Especially breakfast.

After becoming mired in Fond du Lac-which we blamed on Garmina (our Garmin. She has a name. Doesn't yours?) and her inability to foresee ROAD CONSTRUCTION and DETOURS- we rediscovered our route and made our way unerringly to Sturgeon Bay, WI.

As we pulled into the long, well-remembered driveway to Hubby's Aunt I's year-round cottage, a sense of peace settled over us like a cherished blanket. Okay...enough.

The nice thing about visiting relatives older than you is that they make you feel young again. They remember you when you were just a kid. Your cousins remember the 'growing up' days when they hated you. Now, of course, you all only remember the fun you all had. Ah...memories.

Sunday night was spent eating and talking. More eating. More talking. Computer slide shows of houses far away. More eating. More talking. Goodbyes to Cousin K., who had to be home to go to work (not old enough to be retired like us!).And, finally, sleep on the pull out sleeper sofa. Well, one of us slept. The other kept hogging the bed and the blanket. And Cousin J, in the adjacent bedroom, snored. Not softly. Nope. It was a long night.

Morning brought breakfast. Cousin J made banana bread. His ALWAYS is moist. Mine has a crust like lava. It was delicious. Hubby made coffee. Aunt I was regaled with good food and good coffees. Nice.

After a long walk down the nearly deserted road, I came back to the cottage to find that Cousin J had planned an outing on Lake Michigan. He had a kayak. I had a rowboat. Hubby had a camera. We were ready to ROCK! After testing my ability to row a boat, I headed back to shore and Hubby creaked into the boat. Cousin J launched his kayak, and the three cousins cruised along the Lake Michigan shore with the sun shining, the gulls diving and calling, and the light waves lapping at our respective crafts. It was an afternoon of delights.

Late afternoon was spent searching the stores of Sturgeon Bay for a sturgeon (this is not to be found IN ANY STORE IN STURGEON BAY) and looking for photographic barns ; we worked up a powerful hunger, so we all headed back to Aunt I's for a GREAT supper of homemade chili and homemade cherry pie. May we just say: Yum!

Tuesday was departure day for all. Cousin J: we dropped him off at the Green Bay airport. His fiancee was meeting him at the other end in Massachusetts. And he sure was antsy to get back there! After Green Bay, we just tooled on back to the Illinois River Valley, grateful for another family weekend with relatives.

The Seniors Do a Garage Sale

Saturday am, we popped out of bed (hmmm...those were REAL popping noises!), and hustled to get to our 'rehab' house to present our wonderful, gently used 'stuff' for sale at the VILLAGE WIDE GARAGE SALES.

Stumbling through table set up, pop-up set up, and correctly juxtaposing things to display their most eye-catching features (how many glass vases did we have, anyway!), we finally got to the part where we could finish our coffees. That helped.

We even put out a table of our pottery! After all, as starving artists (please don't mention that we don't look starved if you wish an inheritance...), one must begin to get one's reputation in the hometown, right?

The male member of our dynamic duo had to 'cut out' early in order to show his beloved car at the all Cadillac Show in Lombard, IL. This left his frail, elderly wife to deal with the hordes of customers who descended on the site like vultures to a feast. Aw, shucks...that ain't the way it was, folks, but that was a good fiction sentence!

Joined mid-morning by their intrepid cousin from the Northern Sububs, who brought some of her stained glass artwork to sell, the two girls succeeded in selling out nearly all of the garage sale items, and even some of the pottery. A great time was had by both, as the customers proved to be friendly, happy and chatty.

A mid-day drizzle hastened the closing of the Garage Sale, and another Annual Village Garage Sale was over.

The Seniors Discover Estate Sales

It had been quite a week at the Seneca Retirement Home. Monday, the lost day, was spent by yours truly undergoing a 'surgical procedure', and then sleeping off the anesthesia. Tuesday am, more house cleaning (the threat of company ALWAYS produces results!), then off to an 18 hole Match Play Golf Tournament. Wednesday, final house cleaning for our Wednesday night gathering of the Ottawa Art League here for our Annual Art League Picnic. 40 some artists gathered, filling the street and each bringing specialty dishes to pass. A GREAT time was had by all. We hung out until 11 pm, well past our bedtimes! Thursday was back to the veggie garden (after party cleanup) to weed and harvest strawberries. (You know how the strawberry harvest goes: 1 for me, 2 for the basket, 1 for me....)

So today, we woke up ready to PLAY! Thanks to our thoughtful DIL, we had hooked onto a website for Estate Sales that notifies you of local homes 'selling out'. There was a sale in Ottawa, and the preview on the web looked good. We were off to our very first Estate Sale on Friday morning, taking the truck, just in case.

We are in the market for some furniture for the downstairs living area and for our Great Room upstairs. After looking at the prices for NEW furniture....yeeks! Hence the jump to Estate Sales.

We found the Estate Sale house easily enough, thanks to our Garmin and the 20 or so signs along the way. The neighborhood looked really promising. (After all, one does want NICE used stuff! )What fun it was walking through the house (with about 30 other bargain hunters), looking at everything (did not find that mislabled Renoir). And...a chair bonded to us begging to be taken back to our home. We could not resist: it was so needy and cute. We bought it! For $15.00.

Can't wait for the next sale. Why didn't we make time for this ages ago! Woo hoo!

Have truck, will shop!

Yews Is Gone

Oh, boy! Finally, the three yews that have been blocking my gardening ambitions are gone. They are now patiently awaiting their return to the earth as ash. They are drying out by the burning pile. Happy day!

On my list of garden jobs for TWO YEARS, the removal of the yews began a few weeks ago with a burst of energy on my part. One of those "I'm gonna 'get 'er done' days. It took me all afternoon, but I reduced the yews to stubs, and carted away all the branches and needles to the burning pile.

Then, last week, hubby and I decided 'Now is the time!'. With shovels in hands, we made our way over to the 'stumps', and DUG THEM OUT! What blesses relief. It opens up a whole new area, and soon new hosta will fill it. I have visions of really cool varieties, many of which have been promised to me by fellow gardeners.

We added some cool flagstones, too, to further open up this area.

I promise, this is the ONLY new garden I will dig up this year. I promise...really...no more...really.