I should probably be more disciplined on this blog, because the posts seem to get fewer and farther between. At any rate, work continues on the backyard landscaping. Bruce and I have come up with a system - I move the gravel and he builds the retaining walls. I'm not sure who has the more difficult job, but we haven't felt the need to spend any extra time in the gym here lately.
It's getting to be that time of year when you have to blow out the sprinkler system so it doesn't freeze over the winter. Bruce was going to do ours himself, and it would have been an easy task, if we had a $10,000 air compressor. But unfortunately, the cheapo hand-me-down we inherited from my mom just wouldn't cut it.
I had to take my car in for an oil change. THREE AND A HALF HOURS LATER, they were finally finished. Supposedly they had to do a software update. The next day my car wouldn't start, but after several frantic phone calls and another trip down to the dealer, I found out that the battery in the "keyless fob" was dead. I wonder if Henry Ford ever imagined that cars would become so complicated.
To burn off all the car stress, I made Bruce go on a hike to Castlewood Canyon. It's been really pretty around here this fall. The trees don't have the variety of color like they do in the Midwest, but when the leaves do change, they are a really bright yellow. On this day, the skies were so clear that we could see Pike's Peak in the background.
Last weekend, the Girls Just Want to Have Fun club had a tea demonstration. The owner of the local tea shop let us sample several different types of teas from black to green to white. Afterwards we got to eat some killer scones and pastries. This past week I went back to the tea shop with my Ladies Out to Lunch group and we had lunch. I personally liked the tea I had with my lunch better than all the teas we sampled at the demo. It was a rose flower tea and they served it on ice - very refreshing.
My Zoom account expired, so I've been testing out Google Meet as an alternative. This week I had a game day with my friend, Joyce. We played what I called Speed Splendor. Rather than play to 15 points like the rules state, we played until we ran out of cards and then counted up points. Splendor is much, much easier to play than Disney's Villainous.
On Saturday Courtney and I tried using Google Meet for a paint day. This time we were trying to share a screen so we could watch a YouTube tutorial. It took a bit of fiddling, but I finally figured it out. I've just been using the free version of Google Meet, but I have a suspicion that if I paid for the "premium" version, the controls might be easier.
I've been trying to squeeze in a lot of biking before it starts snowing. This past week I tried a new route on the Willow Creek Trail. It was closer into the city, so had many more trees along it than we have out here on the prairie. The trouble with the city trails, however, it that they spur off constantly into neighborhoods and nearby parks, so it's hard to know when you're on the main route or off on a tangent. I had to get off my bike about 20 times to check Google Maps.
Consequently, I came home and bought myself a phone carrier for my handlebars. And since the days are getting shorter and colder, I also bought some rechargeable bike lights and some bike mittens. The bike mittens are a bit weird. They're like giant oven mitts that fit over the brake and gear levers on my handlebars. I don't actually wear them. But when I stick my hands inside, it's supposed to block the cold wind. At first I thought I might feel stupid riding around with them, but then I figured when it's cold enough to need them, there probably won't be that many other people on the trail.
I also took a ride on the Platte River Trail and stopped off at Hudson Gardens to see their Enchanted Forest displays. This one really caught my eye, because I feel like this will be me still riding around on my bike when I'm 80. (I'd say when I'm 70, but that's just next year...YIKES!).
