Busy August AND September

It has been over one month since my last blog entry. I am truly sorry about that. August remained busy and so was September. We did many things and were involved with many activities.


Our motorcycle weekend during August 19-21, with our kids was a great success! We stayed in the same B&B as last year, and only used this one for two nights. Then, on the day we were there we really checked out the local area. Riding most of the day, with stops in rustic and eclectic places.

While we were riding I noticed some worse oscillation of the tires during our rides, but I had been assured that due to some “cupping” in the tires this was not all that uncommon. Yet because of these oscillations we decided to get new tires anyway, to ensure a better ride on future excursions. When I took the bike in to have the mechanic look at it I got a really big surprise: there was a large defect on my rear tire. Apparently the thread had separated from the tire lining and wore about a three inch (7 cm) hole in the tread. Miraculously we were still holding air. We had gone over 70 mph (115 km/h) on the previous weekend on the way home. We truly believe that the hand of God kept the tire intact until we could replace it. We had planned to ride to Minnesota during the following week, to see our children and grandchildren there. But it was way to windy to ride all that way, so we went by car. We only went for two overnights because they were planning to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We gave them some belated birth-day gifts. Arn made a NASCAR of his favorite driver and Will made a movable wooden lion.

The week leading up to their visit we were once again active with helping to package meals, for “Meals from the Heartland.” This is an annual event, which is patterned after “Feed the Children.” Started as a local church project, the community adopted it and for the past few years about 10.000 volunteers package over 4 million meals during Labor Day weekend. They are shipped to areas of need and all the materials are paid for prior to the event.


After that we were busy entertaining our grandchildren, while their parents took time to relax. I had finished my N-Gage railroad layout and the boys were happy to take time to run some trains. We had also scheduled some time for crafts with them. They made a bill-fold and a coin purse.
We had planned it so that they would make each others’ project. They had a lot of fun making each others special money carriers.


September started with beautiful cool weather, but we were not able to ride our motor bike because of a defect in the ignition switch. The part took a week to get here but all is well gain now. Fortunately it was covered under our warranty! The bike was ready or me to ride as an escort bringing the Dignity Wall into Des Moines. I’ll do my next blog on that event.

Slowing down???

On July 9, I wrote that July was for slowing down... This did not really happen. I just looked back at the previous three weeks and my head is spinning. During my dermatology visit on the 9th, I found out that I have a basal cell ca on my back, which they will excise some time in the future. It fortunately is not worrisome, but needs to be dealt with in any case. The cutting is scheduled for September.

On the 13th we got a new kitchen counter. It really looks beautiful, but we had to clean out our cabinets, or contend with saw dust. So, Tuesday, after volunteering at the VA all day, we emptied our lower cupboards. Wednesday after the new counter was installed, we also put our stuff back. We did get rid of some of the items we had not used for a long time. So we have some more space as well.



After that we relocated the furniture on the loft, primarily into the guest bedroom, to prepare the loft and the stairs for new carpet. We had done done some of that earlier in the week as well. Surprising how much small stuff accumulates, and how much is really useful and necessary.
We did get both the kitchen and the loft, back into shape before Thursday night, when we entertained dinner guests.



Then we dog-sat our grand doggy. Our kids from West Des Moines had sold their house and were moving over the weekend. On Monday we helped with clean up and moving some fragile items. I rode the motor bike and my thermometer registered the outside temperature at 101. I wore my helmet and gloves after that, but tucked my armored coat away.
We kept the dog until mid week. This requires us to take her for walks, she likes more walks than we do. It was hot most of July, so the walks were more like a chore, particularly in the heat.




Nice get-togethers and some needed shopping trips filled the next few days. We did enjoy a really nice long motor bike ride on Monday, the 25th. Board meeting, dinner guests, overnight guests and a dental check-up finished the month.

In August, September, and October we have trips planned. I guess we rest when we can, and slow down between activities to play catch-up.