Roommate Failure

Well the girls' weekend drew to a close and according to the other female in the house, I failed as a good roommate. Just couldn't scratch her itches the way hubby can. Go figure. But I am supposed to be grateful she collapsed on the floor and let me try.

Oh well, she's all happy now.

Jim was home this morning before I got done walking around the lake. So since I couldn't surprise him with any home improvement projects done, I didn't do much of anything today. Got some reading done. Went grocery shopping...

And my face mask must have short-circuited my brain because this is how I celebrated National Ice Cream Day. A "healthy" choice?? I failed at that, too.

What I did succeed at was having a nice long phone call with my mom. Always good to chit-chat about anything and everything and nothing of consequence. Just knowing she is staying healthy in all this is my main concern. I also always have to share at least one good pun with her...

I thought this would be a failure since she doesn't like "fowl language" of any sort. But she laughed so winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Sorry chickens. But I have to celebrate my successes. Squawk at somebody else!

Slo-Mo Saturday

Definitely was not in the mind set to get much done today. Very much a slow-motion Saturday.

Got a few things done in the house before going to a grad party for one of my "nieces" from church. Didn't stay too long since I had projects hanging over my head.

Stopped at Home Depot on the way home. Ran into a girlfriend and we were both looking for some DIY stuff. We determined that when we wear masks, the guys and gals in the orange aprons can't see the confusion on our faces. We both struck out getting exactly what we wanted anyway.

Feeling determined to tackle the back yard a bit, I headed out there and literally ran the weed whacker all of 15 seconds when I felt a sharp pain on the back of my right ankle. I thought maybe I got cut by the whacker cord. Nope. Just a really angry ground bee or yellow jackets. Serious ouch!! Dang it. Why can't they go away?!

So that forced me back inside in a hurry. Not a bad idea when it's 93 degrees out. So I did a few things indoors and then headed to the lake.

To shoot a waterski show, that is. The Shermalot Ski Team is back to performing free shows on Lake Arrowhead on Saturday evenings. They'd asked months before this COVID business started if I could photograph them. I know a few kids (and grownups) on the team, so that was fun to watch.

I definitely got some good pictures – including this guy who I took senior pictures of last summer – but I have hundreds and hundreds more to go through. Since I'm still in slo-mo Saturday, those are just going to have to wait until morning.

Once again, kitty is way ahead of me on getting our girls weekend slumber party started! G'night!

Girls Weekend

Since hubby's having a guys' weekend at a cabin with some high school classmates, I'm having a girls weekend. With the cat. And well, anyone else who wants to social distance with me.

Started the weekend with my kind of happy hour – golf! Spontaneous plans about 3 p.m. that led to a 5:20 p.m. tee time at Tri-City for my neighbor Marigene and me.

Par dance after success on the second hole – a par 4. Yay!

Second par dance (yes, TWO in nine holes!) came at the par 3 8th hole. Pretty happy about that.

And this is right before our hole in one! Well our attempts. No luck. We both bogeyed the par 3. Still... it's TGIF and we're golfing!!  Plus we rounded out our outing with King Cone. The birthday gift certificates from Jim are the gift that keeps on giving!

After sunset tonight I headed a bit further out in the country to get away from light pollution. Had camera equipment in hopes of seeing the comet  known as C/2020 NEOWISE. This weekend, about an hour after sunset, Comet Neowise will appear near the northwestern horizon. I wanted to take pictures but my camera did not cooperate. Thankfully, some friendly star-gazers at my spot had binoculars and a telescope with them so I got to see it! Very cool! And you can see it with the naked eye after that once you know the basic coordinates. (I probably should use the word "naked" while hubby's out of town.)

Anyway, worth seeing it since it won’t appear again in our solar system for another 6,800 years.

I'm gonna start the slumber party now. Sylvester's way ahead of me! G'nite.

Not Getting My Kicks on 66

A week ago, when the temp was 90+ and the humidity was 100+ percent, it seems like a good idea to schedule Book Club in the park. But that was a week ago.

Today, it was actually chilly by summer standards. So 5 of us met at Red Sands Beach picnic shelter, each wearing long pants and sweatshirt or jacket. Mother Nature is off her meds again!

It may surprise you, but I pay little attention to weather in the summer unless I'm planning a photo shoot or golf or kayaking outing. It's not like winter when I need to know if it's going to take longer to get to work in the morning. (I mean usual winters when I haven't had the privilege to work from home.) So I just figured today would be nice. Between rain and cool temps, not so much.

We did have a good discussion about the book Nothing to See Here (very interesting). And it was great to see people (albeit 6 feet away) and catch up.

It's an unfortunate sign of the times is that much or our catching up revolved around the coronavirus. Three of us have someone close to us who tested positive in the past week. Wisconsin is setting daily records of new cases. In Wood County, we're now up to 117 cases, with 8 new ones today (which include a family friend).

It's an unpredictable world, folks. Hug your loved ones (in your household only) every day and tell the others (from a safe distance) that you love them! It'll warm your heart and theirs.

And maybe even the temperature. I'm game to try.

Coyote Ugly, Very Ugly

Even though my running shoes haven't seen many miles in 2020, Wile E. Coyote was still lurking around Blue Jay Drive at the crack of dawn. Either looking for Road Runner or possible just a good meal.

Because he looked hangry and he looked mangy. Our next-door neighbor Cindy managed to shoot him. With her cell phone, that is.

He's scoping things out in her yard – with the farm just behind those trees at the top of the photo.

And here he is trotting toward our yard. This was all around 6:30 a.m. Hubby was actually out walking at this time but was down the road and missed it all. Thankfully. Because Wile E. might have been desperate enough to take out a Road Walker today if he didn't see Road Runner.

And if you think it possibly could be a stray dog, it's not. I Googled "mangy coyotes" and the pictures look just like this guy...

Trust me, you don't want to see any more of those! So watch yourselves out there. Between Murder Hornets, Bubonic Squirrels, and Mangy Coyotes, you never know what is around the corner (or your neighborhood) in 2020. And face masks can't protect you from any of those!

Remember, I vowed never to ask "What's next?" this year. And I'm not gonna now. Be safe, everyone.

Put Through the Wringer

Serious massage therapy is like paying someone to beat you within an inch of your life – then put you through the wringer. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bless my girl with the magic hands for forcing me to remember my Lamaze breathing as she pinpointed those muscles and ligaments who got themselves out of order when I wasn't looking! It may take another day to recover, but I think I'm back to normal. You know, the Robyn version of normal.

And thanks to rain tomorrow eve, book club Wednesday eve, and an ice cream meeting on Thursday, I don't have to worry I'll be tempted to do something silly like golf or kayak or wave wildly at mosquitoes. My back is safe from me.

For now.

And for the record, I'll never again say it sucks to get old. Based on the year 2020, every aching and non-aching day is a blessing!

Over The Hills

Not saying that our foursome today was over the hill – though we're getting there – but the course was crazy, crazy hilly. Like they discourage people from walking 18 holes (or even 9). It's too much. Take the cart. Trust me, we each got 10,000 steps anyway!

It was a gorgeous day to get together with our friends Scott and Sandy. We try to meet up once or twice a summer and pick different courses. This time is was Autumn Ridge over in Valders, Wis., almost to Manitowoc. Had to look on a map, believe me.

Perfect summer day. Plenty of clouds and pleasant temp in the high 70s/low 80s. Very nice.

But the hills, though! See on this hole above where the cart path disappears? A lot of holes were like that where you had to hit over some ravine of some sort – usually filled with vegetation that eats golf balls and doesn't spit them up. I will say I lost 3 new balls today, but thanks to searching for them, gained 11 "used" ones! Ha.

Here's the final hole. I had to take the picture off their website so you could see the "steps" up the hill. Always fun to finish with a par 5 and card a 9. It was so hard!! Swinging hard to "help" the ball up the hill did my aching back and hips no favors. So yes, I have water running right now for my epsom salt bath. I know. I am OVER the hill!

100 percent worth it though to spend the day with friends. Hopefully next time we can actually hug each other hello and goodbye. Weird not sharing carts boys/girls but staying with our households. We took one selfie and made sure we didn't breathe on each other! These are different times, that's for sure.

Reminds us to never take friendships for granted. Especially friends who put up with my struggling golf game – and hubby's great golf game, which meant they had to pay for dinner. Now that's a good day.