Our beautiful fall weather!! I love sitting out in the yard, taking in the colors and the sky. I went for a short walk, and it was nice. There were, though, lots of people and moms with baby carriages. Anyway, I may try again perhaps at a slightly different time.

That maybe the Santa Fe will get fixed and I won’t have to worry about driving it. Hopefully it’s like ChatGPT said and is an air bubble.

I’m thankful for a warm house and having the firewood done. I’ve been having a fire every morning as it’s been chilly. Today the temperature is 46 out, so a bit chilly.

I’m thankful for both my kids and how much they help out. My daughter has gotten the yard really cleaned up for fall and winter. It looks really good. Since my son has been traveling, he hasn’t been up too much but I’ll see him for lunch tomorrow and mention getting another load of junk to the dump. This is mostly the old wood and some old fencing. I think we’re down to maybe 2 dump loads left.

As I said yesterday, I’m really glad to see the end of October.

We are having such pretty fall days. The leaves are turning golden with a hint of red occasionally. Mostly, the light is golden in the afternoon, coming through the trees. So pretty.

I did an ok walk. I felt a bit tired but got it done and it was nice. I’ll walk on the treadmill at the gym later too. I plan on doing weights and maybe dropping off the Goodwill stuff. I’ll see how it goes after I get changed and eat breakfast. I might take the Santa Fe and see how the temperature is. I think I should probably drive it as much as I can locally so if something happens, I near home. I usually take the VW to Auburn so it gets used but as I said I think I’ll do the SF.

Happily, next week no appts, so maybe I can get to the pool a couple of times. That would be really great. Plus, I still need to get my library books by Wednesday so I can plan a morning at the Mahany gym and library. Of course, with gas prices so high I do need to plan on how many times is reasonable and now with the car acting up it feels all a bit iffy. But I’m going to forge ahead and see how it goes.

Last night we had cheese enchiladas and home canned pintos. It was good and easy to put together. I have a salad pack to use today so I’ll see what I can pair with that.

updated: I’m back from town and the heater wasn’t working again, it’s a 10 minute drive). Then it seemed to kick in on the way home. So I think what I’ll do is call and check with the garage as the heater should have been fixed. But I’ll wait a few days and see how it goes on the way to Roseville which is about 25 minutes.

At least the temperature gauge seems to be fine and therefore the coolant must be ok.Such a pain.

I did drop the Goodwill off so that’s ticked off my list. Well, not sure what else I’ll get up today but I’m going to go sit outside for awhile.

So my heater did not work yesterday when I went to my appointment. So I freaked out a bit. I did check the coolant and kept watching the temperature gauge, and it stayed in the normal range, so that was reassuring. After my appt, which was really a Medicare compliance thing, I had planned to do a bunch of things but, of course, did not. I called up to the garage and told them I’d stop by. I also called my son who happens to be in the office on Fridays so he was near by if I needed to get picked up. But then just as I got to Auburn , the heater kicked in. I still went to the garage and he checked it and said it looked good and to just monitor the temperature. So, I guess it’s really just wait and see time. It really did take the wind out of my sails for the day though. I did stop at the Holiday and picked up the milk and few other things we needed so at least that got done.

Last night I slept terrible probably upset at the car but I managed to at least go for a walk this morning. I went out at 7am and it was light enough. I’m not sure what the day will bring as I still have those errands to do. I have laundry to do and it’s sheet day too.

I tallied up most of Octobers food receipts and it came in right around $400. It might have been less with LTSF from Costco which averages out over a number of months but still I think keeping it around $400 is a good mark. It’s definitely a learning curve with this food business because we just are eating differently. I’m still making some mistakes and buying some stuff from Costco that we are not getting to and end up in the freezer. (Those new biscuits are an example). But I think more frequent trips to Trader Joe’s or Winco will help me buy in smaller quantities. Last night we had the TJ’s fried rice with some of their wontons and spring rolls. All in all the amounts were perfect and we are using the food up. So I think going forward this next month that’s what I’ll do.

Well, off to do laundry and and see what else can get done.

The rain was so nice, and it seemed to help the fire season. I had a little fire going in the woodstove and it was pleasant.

Today, I’m off to the NP for the sleep doctor, who is actually a neurologist. I don’t really have any issues at this point so it should be quick. After that ,the library and maybe the gym. It just depends on how I feel. I need to stop at Winco for some milk and a few things. But I may just do that here in town. Sometimes the extra stops are a bit much for me. And of course, I’m still a bit nervous about the car.

My son is back from his Japan trip and it seemed it was a great time for all. I’m glad he got to do it. He’s coming over next week to show pictures.

I did some rearranging yesterday too. I was looking at Facebook and there’s tons of decluttering ideas but there are also ideas that an older person should consider in their house. One was not to keep things on higher shelves. Probably because of the risk of falling off a step ladder. So I had some christmas boxes on the top shelf of my one and only closet. I took them down and put them on the other side of thee closet where the shelf is lower and more reachable. Then I had a high shelf of books in the small built in bookcase outside the bedroom. So I moved them all down to a lower shelf and kept the top shelf empty. I didn’t declutter any because those books are nostalgic. Some are Barclay’s Bob Dylan Books and the others go back to when we first married. I have my original Laurel’s Kitchen and the Little Prince that Barclay got me. So nothing decluttered but made more accessible.

I do have another load to go to the Goodwill though of just random things. Honestly, where does it come from??? I will do that today and get it out of the car.

Last night I ended up having some soup for dinner. I didn’t feel like much else. Tonight, my daughter suggested a pizza but I’ll wait and see if that’s what she wants to do after work. I really haven’t been doing meal planning as such as. Maybe with the fall weather, I’ll feel like setting out a menu again for the week like soups, chilis etc.

Right now it’s almost 7am and it’s still quite dark out. Tomorrow, my walk day, I’ll need to gauge when to get down to the park. But the following weekend, this will be 6am as we fall behind. That’ll be ok in the morning but the afternoon will feel like I should go to bed at 7pm. ugh!!!

Well, off to get ready.

First, a big thank you to a reader who donated to Buy Me a Coffee. I appreciate the gesture and am grateful for the generosity. Thanks for supporting my blog in all it’s boringness!!

Onward. My heart is just so sad at the loss of lives in Bend Oregon. Those little children will never get to grow up and that lovely 25 yo teacher. What a tragedy and heartbreak for those families.

Well, I’m coming out of my Dex moment. Not all the way, but at least I feel better this morning. I plan on going to the gym at least for a small workout. I finished staining the fence and had just enough stain to do that. I might see if there is a quart available to have as some other railings could use the stain as well. I’ll have to check home Depot.

We went and got the car Friday and it wasn’t all good news. He’s not sure if the head gasket was involved and if it was then the overheating could happen again. Checking that involves taking the whole engine top off and would be too expensive of a fix for me. For now, I’ll keep some coolant in the car and check before driving. Other than that, I’d need some kind of strategy to buy a used car. But I really hope that it’ll keep going but I cannot have the stress of a car not working with the driving I do. So, I’ll see how this goes this coming week.

I made a big crock pot of black beans for dinner last night and have a bunch to freeze. I’ll have some more tonight as well. These beans are still what was part of my prepper pantry from a few years ago, so I want to use them up. I still have one more jar of them and a jar of pintos from that time too. Going forward, I’ll probably just buy Rancho Gordo as then come in 1lb bags.

Tomorrow I have my labs and then I will chance driving down to Roseville. I’m sure I’m going to be nervous about it but I guess it’s better to do it and I know at least I can call AAA and have it towed back to the garage. Still, I’d really hate a repeat of last Thursday.

Another costly repair. The Santa Fe’s engine started smoking right before I got to the pool in Roseville. Fortunately, I limped off the freeway and got into a gas station. But smoke was billowing all over the car. I kind of freaked out. But steady on, I called AAA and eventually got a tow. It took 2 hours of waiting, so I was pissed off. He alos, the driver, took the car up to Auburn to the garage I used once before. I hate doing these things and my adrenaline was skyrocketing. The driver was very nice. he told me he’s Muslim and we had a nice chat about the state of things in our country. The garage was also kind and helpful as I must have looked a bit crazy at that point. My daughter came and got me and then we picked up some Taco tree to bring home.

Long story short, both coolant hoses had split so there was no coolant thus the smoking. So it’ll be $1500 to fix. I guess when there’s money problems it all comes at once. sigh, I’m incredibly frustrated and concerned. I mean this too will pass, but shit, does it all have to pile up at once.

So, then I had to take my daughters Honda to Velcade yesterday. I get quite anxious if I haven’t done something before so I drove slower than normal. In the end it was fine and I got there and home ok.

Today, I should be able to get the car and pay the bill on a CC again. But it’s also my Dex day, so I’ll need to be extra careful driving.

I’ve been staining the fence out by the driveway in 15 minute increments. I have had the stain a few years in the garden shed and decided it was about time. I am almost done but I think I will run out of stain right near the end. So I’ll have to decide buy a new gallon or leave it? I guess I’ll see how far I get. After I finish this I might see what else I can help with in the yard. I can’t do a whole lot but I can do some.

I checked on my Miebo reorder and I cant order till next week. The AI did say the $0 copay was a one time manufacturer deal, which I did figure out. This is a very expensive eye drop so I doubt I’ll be able to afford it and the insurance declined it already. I’l wait and see what it is next week. Maybe it wont be too bad.

Well, I’m feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment, so after I get the car, I’ll come home and stain some more fence and then read some.