Well…up and going by 5:10 this morning and that was just to get to see the F1 sprint race but I need to get on the bike by 6 so I’ll miss it and try to pick it up when Man U starts at 7:30…so that puts the 2nd ride in limbo until about 10 when the Match will be over…so the schedule is blown up this morning and that’s okay…I really need to stop feeling bad when I don’t have everything go the way I want…the rain that was supposed to come yesterday fell to the Muskegon force field and there is none in the forecast until I get back from Italy so I won’t have to worry about the lawn getting away while I’m away…I did get a little work done yesterday and I’d like to continue that today by cutting the perennials back for the fall since I did get rid of the hornets…finally…and I need to get the brush killer applied so I don’t have to keep trimming the trash brush in the fenceline…I think I need to have a bagel before I go out to keep the energy level up through the morning…weights will wait, though, until during the Man U match…so, I need to get more coffee to pour down and toast the bagel so I can be on the bike in the dark…more later…

Well…after getting the holes plugged that the hornets were using to nest, I still had a bunch of dead ones on the floor downstairs so I cleaned that all up today along with cleaning the glass block windows that were full of dirt just from how dry it’s been here and the blowing dust that comes from it…so I vacuumed them and took cleaner to them and they look a lot better…but that’s all I did today after the rides and that made for a lazy day for me…I did get up at 5:10 this morning to get an early start on the day but I didn’t really…I did get the weight work done before I got on the bike but didn’t get out til it was light again today…but tomorrow I’ll need to get out by 6 to be back here by 7:30 when Man U plays their first match of the new season that started today…and the F1 sprint race is on at 5:15 so I may be able to see that before I get on the bike…I think I do like the 2% milk I tried this week but the extra calories are something I don’t need…oh, I did do laundry, too but that’s it…I do like the new shorts I bought and may buy another pair for the Italy trip since they are lightweight and only 14.70 a pair…so I can order them and all the travel soaps, shampoo, and toothpaste I need to take with me…I am glad I bought more espresso beans, too and that will be the last bag I need to buy this year…have 8.8 pounds unopened with another 3 pounds opened so I can grind beans every day if I want…I was reminded that there is an air show at the airport here this weekend by a pair of WWII trainers that flew in formation over my house today…I just love the sound of big radial engines on aircraft…can’t wait to see what else flies over…

Well…up and out of bed at 5:10 this morning so I guess I’m back to the normal stuff and I just don’t have the energy to bitch about it…I did sleep okay if that’s any consolation and it is…a little…but not much…didn’t do crap yesterday but order some stuff from amazon…I needed new shorts for the Italy trip since it’s supposed to be in the upper 70’s to 80 while we’re there and that’s too warm for jeans…and we’ll be walking outdoors a lot…wonder it I should take a coat at all since the lows will be in the 50’s but I hate being cold so I guess a few fleeces should work…I did order the adapter I need to plug my electronics in and it was only 9 bucks and has two regular outlets along with two lightning and a USB port so I can charge everything I have at once…and of course more coffee beans so I’ll have enough for the rest of the year…I did buy some 2% milk Wed and have tried some with a meal and I’m surprised it actually tastes like milk that non fat just doesn’t….so I may have to just take the calories…I do like it in coffee and I wonder what it will be like thickened to put in my potato soup…it will probably spoil quicker with more milkfat in it but I guess we’ll see…not much to do today…just need to have my bagel and more coffee and get my butt out for the rides and then clean the kitchen…might go out and start clearing the finished perennials since I want to put them out for pick up Tuesday…oh, and hit that damn trash tree with brush killer…more later…

Well…I knew it rained a lot here Tuesday when I noticed that the animal water container was full to overflowing when I only filled to half full…and I just read in the news that we got 3.35 inches of rain in that storm…that’s a hell of a lot of rain for a few hours and it even flooded US 31 under the overpass near my house and they had to close it with 4 feet of water there…yow! But that still won’t help my yard at all since it’s built on sand and all of the water just drains through when it rains…but I’ll take whatever we can get…I did order some stuff for the Italy trip today… another pair of shorts, a power converter that gives me American outlets when I plug it in to European electricity…and I also added another kilo of espresso beans since I could still get them for 14 bucks…I needed the shorts since it’s supposed to be near 80 for a high in September in Italy and there is no way I’m walking around in jeans…and that stuff will be here between 4 and 8am tomorrow…now I just need to do an early check in with Southwest for my trip to Richmond to hang with my daughter for a couple of days before we fly to Italy…might look for a couple more shirts to take with me since I only have 5 and I’ll be gone 2 weeks…maybe we’ll have a hotel with a laundry again like we did in Scotland…that would be cool…

Well…damn, I don’t know how I’m doing it but I didn’t get up til almost 6am this morning but I don’t feel better from it..it’s only 56 degrees out there so I’ll have to wear a modified thermasuit this morning…okay, a long sleeved shirt…that’s not as dramatic sounding…I think I did get the hornet thing sorted since there aren’t any downstairs but I’ll have to take a look outside when it gets light…got every little crack and crevice cemented over yesterday so there is no way for them to get back in…or out for that matter…so, I’m not getting on the bike til almost 7am since I do need more coffee and to toast a bagel to have some fuel for the rides…not sure what else I have to do today…made another jar of pickles and one of pickled red onions y3esterday and I added a bit to that recipe to give it some bite…a little cayenne pepper just like I add to the pickles…need to be able to taste something…added the 2% milk that I bought yesterday to my coffee but I can’t taste any difference…maybe I will when I drink it for lunch…who knows? not much to do today…need to clean the kitchen and probably will with nothing else on the agenda but putting brush killer on the crappy shrub so I don’t have to keep trimming it…and I do need to cut the perennials down and clean up the side and back of the house that I can now get to without the damn hornets swarming….more later…

Well…up at 5:10 this morning to be able to get out to get the rides in before the grocery run…and I had to hit menards for brush killer and bug spray before I went to aldis and Meijers and then to the library…where two of the 4 books I got are repeaters and that sucks…so I wonder if I’ll go to the library again or just not read for a bit…haven’t read much of anything today since I had to continue to work on getting rid of the hornets…plugged up the inside holes with cement before I did the same with the entrance holes outside and I hope that will finally get rid of them…at least the ones that are out in the wild can’t get back in now but I’ll keep an eye on it anyway…it did rain like crazy last night for almost 3 hours and the trail was flooded and I soaked my shoes which won’t dry for days…oh, well…and I made another batch of pickled red onions and pickles and now I’m about done for the day…I do have to cook for dinner and I’m making a small ham with mashed potatoes and corn and I really should get on peeling the potatoes right now and then grind the beans for tomorrow’s coffee…man, it has been busy but one thing I learned is that I can amuse myself without a book going…oh, I tried my new shoes for Italy on the grocery run and they are pretty comfy and they even look stylish which is not me at all…still need to breaking in but not as much as leather ones do…okay, peeling potatoes…

Well…up early today but this is the plan for the day…want to get the rides in before the grocery run so I need to get on the bike at 6am and that give me a half hour until then…it’s going to be a busy morning with hitting 4 stores…or maybe 3 not sure yet since DD hasn’t updated it’s ad yet and I’m not going there until I know what’s on sale…going to wear the new shoes out for the run to start breaking them in before Italy….and I confirmed that my Capital One card can be used in Italy with no fees or any of that bullshit just like the UK trip…lucky I chose that card that gives me cash back, too…worked on getting the damn hornets taken care of and will keep working on that today to get to the point that I can cement up the holes they’re using….I must have killed a couple of hundred of them yesterday….not sure what I’m going to do after the grocery run and hitting the library today but I should clean the kitchen…and I need to heat up the little ham I got last week along with making some mashed potatoes to go with it and that will be enough food to last through the weekend with the leftover chicken in the fridge…and I’m going to get more so I’ll have protein to eat…it did rain pretty hard here last night and it lasted for at least three hours which we really needed..puddles on the trail this morning…okay, need to pour more coffee and start prepping to get on the bike….more later…

Well…damn, I started the day out late with not getting out of bed til 6:04 and that really stressed me out even though I still got everything I wanted to do done…so how strange is that? I mean cripes, I have no damn schedule anymore and yet there I am struggling to “catch up” as the day started…shaking my head about that one…but I did get the rides in and saw the turkey family again…twice…and the little ones are getting pretty big…and fast…but they have to stop trying to cross the busy street up to the beach…they almost got whacked by some idiot in a Lincoln going 50 in a 25 zone…I did get the trim on the garage door painted so I don’t have to look at the peeling but next summer I’m going to do it all again with better paint so it will last a couple of years…had the hornets back again today but I think I killed most of them..going to keep up spraying until they are gone and then cement up the holes they are using so they won’t come back…still not exhausted again today so that’s a good thing…and it may rain tonight…ha,ha…I don’t know why I keep saying that with the last 5 times it was forecast we got nothing so I think I’m on solid ground to laugh…no book to read but I think I’ll go out and read some news…

Well….damn, that was weird…didn’t get out of bed til 6:04 this morning and it has to be all the work I did yesterday and running all morning…but I’ll take it other than I should be out on the bike getting the rides in but that won’t happen until 7am or so now but that will still give me time to work on the garage door and get it painted in time for it to dry before the rain comes in later today…still don’t have my regular energy but it’s better so I’ll take it…but that means I’ll have to eat a lot again today and that is going to be harder since I’m not eating before I get on the bike…it is nice to have the whole yard done but I should start taking the perennials down so I can put them out with the trash next week but I’ve got a week so it doesn’t have to happen today…it’s going to be strange getting out when it’s light out there after going out in the dark for more than a week but that’s okay…need to stop being so rigid about my daily schedule…need some time to relax and just wing it but that’s harder than it looks…so today is going to be a little easier than yesterday but I still want to get some stuff done…need to get the grocery list put together and figure out what can go in the freezer after getting it half empty…have thawed a lot of food that will keep me going for the rest of the week…more later…

Well…not sure if I had more energy today or it came from working my butt off this morning…got the rides in and then right into all the yard work of edging my sidewalks, running the string trimmer on the fencelines, and then mowing the lawn…but, after I was done with that, it was still only 10:18 so I loaded up the car and went to the beach to get a swim in…and I was still back here by 12:15 for lunch…and I’m not exhausted like I was yesterday…but I still do need to do the weight work but I’m thinking this should be an off day after wrestling the equipment around for an hour and a half…so, I guess we’ll see…it was probably the nicest day at the beach with temps in the high 70’s, low humidity, and a nice breeze blowing to keep me cool…and the water was the best it’s been this year…just cool enough to be refreshing but warm enough so I could stay in for a half hour…so, a pretty good day today and I still have a little bit of a book to read….time to go back to it…