A common sight here: milkweed pods. I love their sculptural look. They eventually burst open and the seeds are spread on the wind. This is also the time of year that I start yanking the milkweed plants that are done for the year. I’ve had to mow around a few all season long and now I can move them to the compost pile.

I ended up mowing the entire front lawn on Monday and it took me all day yesterday to recover. It’s a beast. Don was grocery shopping and running errands for us and I didn’t want him using his injured foot too much. It’s much better now, but he had to be careful using it for a couple of weeks.

Of course, two more new books have arrived at the library. It is becoming clear to me that I won’t be able to read them all in the allotted checkout time. Some will have to be returned and requested at a later date. Fall is always the time for new releases and I’ve ordered more than I can handle. And, for the first time ever, I am holding off on the newest Louise Penny – only because I always order it right away and it ends up sitting here for 4 months before I get to it. Don’t worry – I’ll eventually buy it.

The big and horrid news is our heating oil bill. We ordered 100 gallons – we have a 250 gallon tank. Normally, that amount of oil is around $400 – $450 dollars. The cost of this 100 gallons? $647.84. Two hundred dollars more. I knew it would be higher, but this is ridiculous. All of this because of an illegal war started by Agent Orange. We only buy 100 gallons at a time because we have a very limited budget and can’t afford to fill up the tank. So we usually have about 4 deliveries a season. That adds up to $800 more. My online friend in Seattle said they just filled up their tank and the cost was $1800! She couldn’t believe it. She is retired, also. How the hell are people, especially those who are struggling already, supposed to pay to heat their homes? Medicaid is being taken away, not enough money to pay for the increases in groceries, gas, and heating oil (which is the common method of heating homes in our area.) All because of the deliberate cruelty coming out of the White House.

Between Don and me, there was a heck of a lot of cursing going on here.

So that’s been our week so far. Today I pick up the books at the library and we might start up our walks there again. We need to be more disciplined about that.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Thank you for your lovely comments on our anniversary! We appreciate your kind words.

It was a quiet day for us; full of talk about the day we met, the day we got married, how unbelievably lucky we are – and expressing gratitude for our marriage and our love for each other. We are blessed.

Yesterday, I spent some time on the Beacon Hill, painting and installing baseboards in almost all of the rooms. I’m holding off on the den until I’m sure of furniture placement. You’d think it would be easy but wonky rooms, uneven floors, etc., make it anything but. I also reinstalled some wallpaper on the second floor landing because I saw some errors that needed to be corrected.

Today? Vaccinations. They always make us tired and sleepy so the rest of the day will be about rest.

I’m reading Life Out of Order  by Audrey Niffenegger who wrote The Time Traveler’s Wife, one of my favorite novels. This one is also about time traveling. And I have another book ready to be picked up – Our Noble Selves  by Kate Atkinson. These are books that have just been published so I have limited time in which to read them.

The completed puzzle “The World of Witches.”

I love this “World of….” puzzle series. I learn a lot (there’s always a key describing every thing in the puzzle) and the illustrations are beautiful. The next one – I’ve yet to order it – will be The World of The Odyssey.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.