Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this very last day of August, 2024. September is eagerly waiting for August to pass the Baton. We had some pretty miserable days again with very high heat and humidity and some storms. We also had heavy rain Thursday. But today it is cooler because a cold front has moved through bringing with it low humidity... my favorite two words of the summer. Our flowers are still blooming although we are debating whether to buy mum's this year because of our resident rabbit and pesky deer. They've eaten enough of our flowers already! 

Speaking of passing the Baton I have been watching the Paralympics yesterday and today. I think it takes a lot of courage and effort to do what they're doing. I was watching the long jumpers who were vision impaired or blind.  Their assistants  let them know where they are at when they are running and gauging when to jump. Amazing!! We watched a little archery too . And swimming for vision impaired . Again amazing ! 

Joel has been busy biking, working on projects and doing a little vacuuming,, etc. Monday he drove us to Rochester and the heat index that day was 113! Grateful Beyond grateful for air conditioning. We stopped at Trader Joe's and then  ate out at Culver's where I found a delicious chicken cashew salad to enjoy. On our way home we go through my hometown so we stopped at a relatives for a visit. It was a nice 2-hour break before heading into Iowa. We are very blessed to have Mayo Clinic within 2 hours of our home. 

I've been walking everyday getting some chores done listening to audiobooks and going over articles that I've written for that book that keeps calling me. 

This has been a busy week for our family in regards to transitions and events. Kids getting back to college, a surgery for a grand, and one of our families transitioning with a big move. I certainly remember all the moves we have made. Some easier than others but bringing with them a lot of changes. Over the years we moved 22 times mostly to new cities, states, and sometimes to just to different houses. Anyway we look at it, it was a lot of packing and a lot of unpacking and a lot of making new friends, going to new schools and settling in to new communities. In the military it was a way of life so everyone knew this and just jumped on board and made quick friends before it was time to move on. In the ministry we had a community waiting for us every time we moved to a new congregation. That was really nice and I'd say we still miss that. Now that Joel's retired we don't have that village, we have to make our own and and it's not any easier when you age or have health issues. Just saying. Moves are opportunities though for new experiences, new adventures and new purposes.

It is Labor Day weekend.....most of ours are spent quiet and when the kids were all around we spent some of the weekend preparing for school to start....and for some strange reason we usually cleaned the garage!  I can't give one reason why we picked that time.  Hmmmmm  Joel does like an orderly and clean garage!  He did my sister Jan's when we visited her the end of May!  Today we are making homemade pizza .......we uses a cauliflower crust, refried black beans, ground turkey, red sauce for Joel, black olives and cheese.  I really enjoy it!  It's not Godfather;s Pizza but it is good!  We'll do some grilling too I expect and have a special dessert.  Head to church and maybe the park or lake.

I'm going to wrap this up and share a few things I am grateful for.  Grateful my Mayo check up was good.  Grateful for a trip to Trader Joe's and a family visit.  Grateful for cooler weather!  Grateful for biking, walking, chicken salads, homemade pizza, a clean house, rain, phone calls, lthe prayers of others, a grand's surgery going well.  Grateful for transitions that we walk through with God to guide us.  Grateful for emails, texts, phone calls and in person chats.  Grateful for all this and so much more........

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

 

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where we continue to have August heat and humidity. Looks like it'll be an indoor weekend with heat indexes into the high 90s or triple digits. The plants seem to like an okay. Speaking of plants, we bought a hydrangeas a few years ago and it just never grew. joel moved it three times in 3 years and this year one beautiful bloom appeared. Sadly it also disappeared before we were able to enjoy it. We think the same pesky rabbit that ate all our geraniums had a tasty morsel last night and now it's gone. Sometimes it's hard to commune with nature. The other night I fell asleep to an owl hooting. We don't get too many in our yard but it was familiar and in some ways comforting. Joel has spotted a few deer on his bike rides too.  We drove to Clear Lake Sunday afternoon to do some people and lake watching.  It was a beautiful day for it.  We continue to enjoy August knowing that in four short months it will be the end of another year.  

Joel has been busy doing some repairs on the house. He did hire a man to power hose above the porch cleaning off the siding and roof, caulking and repairing and then painting that area's siding. He himself has been climbing ladders to put new trim around where the old trim was starting to deteriorate. I could write a speech about how I feel about him on ladders but it has all been said before. He thinks he's Spider-Man I guess. He's also been biking and getting ready for Sunday when he'll preach at a church here in town where he was Pastor for 10 years. He enjoys seeing all the familiar faces!

I've been walking mostly indoors, saw the chiropractor and had my checkup for the glaucoma. Things are steady there so that's good. I've done some baking and some cleaning..... the same old same old that takes up a lot of our days.  Another activity that can take up my days is listening to books on tape.  When I walk I listen....when I clean around the house I listen....when I have rest time I listen.  Yeah....I figured I have listened to around 40 books this year so far.  Lately it is one every 5 days.  I have always gotten "into" the book I am reading/listning to..  Once many years ago I was cooking while reading and set a book on fire.  Really just singed a few pages, but you get the idea.  I limit my book hours.  As a child I would get lost in books...they were my friends inviting me into a different world.  I guess that is still true.  I much prefer holding a book in my hands but also thank God for audiobooks!  I love that you can go on Libby or Hoopla and connect through your library to "borrow" books for 2 or 3 weeks to read or listen to on our phones or devices.  What a world we live in....what opportunities at our fingertips!  Books have always been "members of our family so to speak.  Books grace the homes of our kids too....in abundance!  One extended family member once said, "You know you are in a Dahlen house when there are books for your convenience even in the bathroom!  Haha

Speaking of books, I have been listening to Kate Carlisle and her Bibliophile Mysteries along with an Ann Voskamp best seller from years ago....One Thousand Gifts..  We have watched AGT and Murdoch and Mallorca Files once in awhile along with the quirky Northern Exposure and also Antique Roadshow.  

Bringing Saturday's Scribbles to  close, today, I am grateful for A/C.  Grateful for a few porch sitting hours.  Grateful for the chiro and eye specialists.  Grateful for walking, biking, resting, baking, cooking, cleaning, and all the other day to day activities that remind us we are still here!  Grateful our Spanish Eyes ivy is too high off the ground for our pesky rabbit to get!  Grateful Joel got to see in Hydranges finally bloom...for  day.  Grateful for neighbors, friends, and families.  Grateful for books!  Books we hold, treasure, and listen to.  Grateful for one wonky eye that still works.  Grateful for texting emails, photos, and phone calls from those we love and care about.  Grateful for all this and so much more.

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from Iowa where the heat and humidity have returned along with too many kinds of bugs. I tried sitting out on the porch and now my ankles are all itchy from the no-se-ums which are just about everywhere even though you can't see them. Thus their name!  Nature comes in all shapes and sizes.  When we walked along the river we enjoyed a lot of birds and when we walked in East Park there were plenty of geese and a deer amongst the trees which is unusual during the daytime. We had two wild turkeys in our backyard on Thursday.  We have a raccoon that likes to visit our backyard and do his business at night. I think he must realize how much it annoys Joel!  Looking outside our living room window I can see a small bar of Irish Spring soap in the rocks by the tree the raccoon visits, so I think he's trying to keep the little bandit away with the smell of that! Supposedly animals don't like the smell of Irish Spring. I don't like it either! 

Speaking of not liking it.....yesterday was one of those days where things were just a little off kilter. I decided to make homemade whole wheat bread and I think I did something different this time or it could have been the humidity but it just did not rise the way it should have so we have bread but it is very heavy and dense. That won't stop us from eating it though! I like to toast up one slice and eat it for supper along with some banana and a glass of milk. Oh and almond butter for protein!  We decided to bring home Culver's yesterday. Joel had a grilled fish sandwich and I had grilled chicken without the bun. Neither one of us were impressed with what we were eating and found it kind of blah. Maybe it was just the cook or maybe it's our taste buds!?! We're going to grill pork chops today. The big thick kind with the bone in. My favorite kind of grilled chop and they're so big you can eat half for one meal and half for another! I also made Joel oatmeal cookies this week so he has a few now in the freezer. 

Speaking of food, I was talking with a friend about just that and how we get tired of the food we eat and get tired of cooking. Since most of our food is made from scratch here I don't dare get into the tired of cooking mode. I remember when Joel's mom moved into assisted living she looked in the kitchen there and said well I'm never going to cook again and she didn't. She has spent her whole life cooking, canning, baking, and gardening.....making meals on the farm and for her husband and family and she decided she was done. She enjoyed going down to the dining hall very much and eating there. She never turned on her stove.  

Joel finished his wood project of another wooden tray table and he got both of them stained now. They look really nice.  He's used different woods.  Some he has taken out of a dumpster, some old wood that he had here at home .....most of it recycled wood. That's what he did when he made all the wooden boxes last year too. He's ridden his bike a few times, although he took a break this week due to waking up Tuesday morning with bad vertigo. It all lasted under 2 hours but it made him cautious since he had a TIA two years ago. He saw the doctor yesterday for his VA physical and talk to her about it and she felt it was more of a blood pressure issue than another TIA. Good to know.  He's back riding and enjoying nature along the way. I've been walking inside mostly, my usual 25 minutes a day..... did some cleaning and some baking and going through articles I've written. I talk on the phone almost every day to my friend Lana. And I do Wordle, Connections, The Mini Puzzle, and Spelling Bee daily to stretch my brain.

Speaking of phone calls, we talked to our friend Joyce Olson whose husband Merv was Joel's internship pastor back in 1978-79.  Joel sent her a copy of his latest book because Merv played such an important part of him writing it.   She was wanting to talk to us about it. Merv has been gone 10 years now. Our internship year had a profound effect on our lives and Joel's ministry. It was nice to visit and see how she and her children are doing. I also exchanged texts visiting with my friend Helen that I met while living in the Philippines. We have not seen each other in person since 1976 but still stay connected..... us in Iowa and them in South Carolina. We used to call each other Sisters in Christ and expect to meet again one day together in Heaven! Our time in the Philippines is yet another example of a season of our journey that had a powerful impact on our lives and still does.

As I sit listening to Alexa play George Winston songs I am so grateful....for music that soothes the soul.  Grateful for biking, riding, Joel's good physical report.  Grateful for the animals and birds we get to see on a daily basis.  Grateful for a walk in the park and along the river road.  Grateful for homemade honey whole wheat bread, food at our fingertips, and meals that fill our bellies.  Grateful for connecting with Joyce and Helen.  Grateful for old friends.  Grateful for Joel's cookies baked, pork chops on the grill, and refreshing drinks like white grape juice on a humid day.  Grateful for phone calls from friends and family, texts that connect us with one another, and emails......grateful for pictures sent by text, and so very much more.

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa as we dip down into cooler temperatures. What a change from the heat and humidity. It's nice to have the windows and doors open and get some fresh air inside. Our plants are still blooming quite well except for our geranium which was completely eaten by a rabbit. A very bold stinky rabbit who actually hopped up into the planter and sat sunning himself after he had leveled everything in there. Joel caught the culprit when he went out to do some porch sitting.  So annoying. We also had a deer try to get to the hostas that we had fenced in the backyard.  The deer pulled the fencing down and dragged it across into the neighbor's yard!  Determination to get to the plants I guess. I donn't get it because they're not starving this time of year. That's nature for you, you can't really control it only so much. Hmmm.......Just like all of life!

It has been another quiet week here in our little corner of the world, except for Joel's colonoscopy procedure on Tuesday. All things were good there. He was back to normal the next day.  I saw the chiropractor on Thursday and had a painful treatment. Not sure why but a few of my ribs were out of alignment and he uses an activator to help me and not usually manual adjustments.  Otherwise we have been in our usual routine except for watching a lot of the Olympics. 

Speaking of Olympics there has been a few surprises this week with those who are winning gold or any medal at all. I think I have enjoyed women's beach volleyball and gymnastics the most but we've taken in everything a little bit, even break dancing briefly.  Really?? What is break dancing doing in the Olympics! I did take in a tense encounter between one of the Brazilian and one Canadian during a beach volleyball match. Anyway, I look at how strong the athletes all are and I'm absolutely amazed at what their bodies do for them.  And we are quite impressed at how much time, effort,  eand energy is put into these athletes from a young age as they push forward in determination and  effort to reach a goal like this ~~a goal to win a gold medal. It sometimes baffles me because I wonder what it would be like if we took the perseverance of these athletes and applied it to any and all areas of life.   What gives some such focus and determination and others not so much.  What do you need inside to have the determination and the perseverance and how many of us already have that but haven't tapped into it.  I guess what I am saying is that we have what it takes in us to walk through life but so often we don't realize it.  

Speaking of doing life, Joel has been making another folding table with leftover wood this week.  I asked him why he was making another one and he said. "For fun".  Well, that make sense doesn't it. He loves woodwworking.   He has been biking most days and is keeping the yard up.  He'll preach at two churches again tomorrow.  I have been walking, reading and sorting book articles I've written, and managed to bake some again.  I finally used up the blueberries!  I have read recently how important blueberries are for our health.  I do eat them most every day in plain yogurt. We eat a lot of plain yogurt here...organic, icelandic, and greek.  It is high in protein and a quick meal.....we also add banana, maybe strawberries, and some kind of nut.....like walnuts, cashews, almonds.....We are never without them.

Time is passing, so will end my Scribbles with things I am grateful for.   Grateful for you all who grace me with your presence,  Grateful for blueberriess, yogurts, full cupboads and fridge.  Grateful for biking, walking, and daily routines and activities.  Grateful for Joel's procedure going well,  Grateful for Danny driving us to and from the surgical center.  Grateful for the chiro and the lower back being so good.  Grateful for the Olympics and all different sports to watch.  Grateful for nature and all the animal " stinkers" that invade our space.  Grateful for phone calls, texts, pictures, and emails.  Grateful for all this and so much more.......

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of North Iowa where the heat and the humidity continue. It has been a week to talk about the weather all around us. We have mostly avoided anything damaging but we have 2 families who have damage done to their property in two different states. Definitely this has been a year of winds and large hail and lots of rain.

 Joel has been getting in a lot of riding by going early in the mornings.  He says there's a lot of walkers out then too. Our beautiful path that was created from the River Road now has a nice bench you can rest on and also a sculpture of a deer, although I'm questioning why we need a sculpture of a deer when we have so many deer around here already that are living and breathing! I'm still walking inside mostly and around 25 minutes. Still baking to use up the blueberries although we froze a few. It's nice to have them for a smoothie once in awhile. Last Sunday we went to church outside but when the winds picked up a lot I stepped inside and sat in the library where I could still hear the service. I had to smile knowing that Joel's books he has written are in that library and are also in our Public Library here in town. Also the bookstore downtown and every Lutheran Church has received one here in town. He is now writing his third book, there is no slowing him down! If anyone remembers me saying that I was putting together articles for a book.... I still am. It's slow going with my vision....but it's going! 

Speaking of not slowing down, have you been watching the Olympics? I really enjoy women's beach volleyball but I find it extremely annoying that the men wear loose fitting shorts and tops and the women are all in bikinis.  I would think they would protest this that draws attention to their bodies and from what I understand the French even wore thongs which left their buttocks free to look at. I'm sorry but that is just gross and distracting. This is a sport we're watching not some R-rated movie. That's my humble opinion of course. :)  Joel was able to watch some archery and we have watched all the gymnastics, some of the swimming and rugby which is fascinating. I did notice when the rowing came on that my body relaxed more just from the amount of noise that went away. It was very soothing to just watch them rowing from a distance. I am adding here that our oldest and son in law and my sister and brother in law have recommended watching the movie, "The Boys In The Boat".  Supposed to be great.  Last night we tried to watch the trampoline event and we both got dizzy from the camera moving up and down so much so that didn't last very long! I'm always impressed with nations that send one or two athletes and those athletes work so hard to get there and they're so thrilled just to be a part of it. A medal would be wonderful but they're enjoying just being there.  They realize what a privilege that is to be there. I think most of the olympians feel the same way.  We could say that about living in America.... it is a privilege to live in a country with the freedoms we have, it is a privilege to be able to make choices. it's a privilege to be able to buy a new car. go to the grocery store, turn on the air conditioning, open our fridge and fill our bellies it is a privilege that not everyone in every country has. I know that I have shared before that more than once we would watch young children around the ages four to six digging through our garbage in the Philippines to take out any scraps they found putting them in a bag for their family. At one point a garbage truck broke down outside the cement walls around our house and the man on that truck started a little fire and went through the garbage to pull out pieces of meat or something else to warm up over that fire and eat! You see something like that and you never forget it. 

Well back to the Olympics.  We have enjoyed the events involving horses the fencing just a little of everything I guess! It was very exciting to see America win gold for both the men's and the women's gymnastics. Sometimes I wish we could see more of the other countries performances but they don't have the time to cover al of it. And the closing ceremonies.....we'll see....Guess we should finish what we start!  Haha

Speaking of finishing what you start, Joel finished the wood project he was doing for the local Frank Lloyd Wright house/museum bookcases.  He enjoys working with wood so much.  

Joel has done some porch sitting, and nature usually provides a show.  This week we were annoyed to see that one of God's creatures chewed off ALL of our geranium plants.  Leaves and buds and flowers were all over the ground around it.  Evidentally the creature didn;t like the taste but kept biting off more and more expecting a different taste?  UGH!  I told Joel I was glad he paid only $10 on clearance for the plant instead of the original $60.  So far the rest are safe from the little bugger.  Our pansies are still in full bloom and so colorful.  And our black eyed Susan is beautiful!  \

Yesterday we went to my sister Kay and brother in law Dan's for birthday pie.  She is only three years behind me in age.  Healthy andd happy!  Happy Birthday Kay!

On that note, it is time to end this Scribbles.  Today's writings are presented by a brain working on 5 hours of sleep.  HA!

So, I'm grateful for the 5 hours of sleep because it also makes me thankful that I uually sleep 8 hours.  Grateful for our flowering plants, grateful for a cool home on hot August days.  Grateful for a birthday visit with family.  Grateful for outdoor church, porch sitting, and even our annoying animals that are nibbling on our plants.  Grateful for the Olympics to watch.  Grateful for all the privileges we have in America.  Grateful my food comes from the store and our kitchen and not a garbage truck.  Grateful for phone calls, texts, emails, and pictures.  And so much more......