Only two more weeks until fall is officially here! If you hadn't noticed, autumn is my favorite time of year. I pretty much love everything about it (except for the inevitable allergies that it aggravates). The temps are beginning to moderate a little, which gives hope for actual cooler weather in the near future. I absolutely love the cool nights! Even though I haven't camped in years, I get the itch as the nights start to get chilly. Nothing quite like sitting around a campfire on a cool fall evening!
The leaves will soon begin to start changing colors. I recently bought a t-shirt that says "My favorite color is fall". I have always loved the russet tones, along with the vivid reds and golds and oranges that fall ushers in. I love seeing pumpkins and leaf decorations everywhere.
Of course, this fall will be even extra special with a wedding in the mountains of New Mexico! I know that it will be beautiful. We are all hoping for pleasant weather for the occasion.
One of the benefits of cooler weather is the ability to start baking more. I have baked more than usual this summer, since I started doing my sourdough. But I really hate to run my oven that much when the outside heat is already taxing our A/C. But as cooler temperatures arrive, it is a pleasure to crank up the oven and bake something that fills the house with delightful aromas. Nam has been after me for weeks to make some snickerdoodles. I kept putting him off, telling him that I needed to wait for cooler weather to bake them. I finally decided that I had made him wait long enough and baked up a double batch last Friday. Sheila and Matt had invited us over for supper, so I decided to bring them along for dessert. Nam wasn't the only one who enjoyed them!
Speaking of supper at Sheila's...she and Matt have gotten into cooking meat by the sous vide method. They fixed venison roasts Friday night for us. It was EXCELLENT! The meat is so tender and flavorful! I've never really liked using venison for roasts, because it is usually so dry, but this changed my mind. I may have to get into sous vide cooking!
I finally broke down last week and ordered an Instant Pot. (Thanks, Crystal, for sharing about the sale!) It came in yesterday, and I just happened to have a chicken that I planned to cook for supper. I cooked it on the slow cooker function, which worked good, but I didn't have enough time for the chicken to fully cook. So I pressure cooked it for a few minutes and it turned out perfectly! I'm looking forward to trying out all of the different things that can be done with the pot. Sherry has been talking about how good it is for making yogurt. I plan to try that out later this week.
Dad continues to regress a bit from his little spurt of energy after the funeral. He has really been struggling with time...he never knows what day it is or even what time of day it is. I bought him a day-at-a-glance calendar that I'm hoping will at least help him with the day of the week. He's been missing bingo lately, because he doesn't realize that it is the day to go. His ability to think and react has really been compromised, too. You never know what he's going to do. Yesterday morning, during the lesson at church, he got up and headed outside. Jamie got our attention, and Dennis and I hurried out after him to see what was wrong. He was just going to the car, because he was looking for a Kleenex. We got our travel tissues from the car and gave them to him and sent him back inside. I guess I need to buy him a box to keep beside him on the pew (even though he carries handkerchiefs in his pocket all of the time). I may have to move to the back pew, so that I can keep an eye on him!
We took Dad to Braum's for lunch yesterday. Going out to eat is getting to be more challenging all the time. He is just too confused to handle making decisions. I usually end up having to step in and order for him. He tries to order more food than he can eat, because he wants to carry leftovers back to keep in his refrigerator. That was a disaster back at Brookdale! They kept their little fridge full of takeout and leftovers...for weeks! We had told him he couldn't do that with this little fridge. That doesn't stop him from trying though. I'm constantly having to clean it out (with help from the housekeeping staff) because of the drinks and food items that he brings back from the dining room every day. Once a hoarder....Plus I can't take my eyes off of him for a minute. He tried to sit at a booth yesterday that had other people's personal items lying on the table. (But it was the same booth that we sat in the last time we were there.) It is really taking me a long time to truly realize how much supervision that he needs. In my heart, I keep hoping that he'll "get better" and act on that hope. In reality, he's not going to get better...only worse. I hope that I can eventually be at peace with his condition. I'm not there yet. There are still many days that I barely make it to the car before the tears come.
Dennis has been wanting to get a good, cheap 4-wheeler to use for his hunting (and hauling corn to his feeders). He's always just walked and used a dolly-type deer hauler, but his age is making that more difficult now. He finally found a great deal and brought one home on Friday. He is having to fix it up a little (it is 23 years old), but it should take care of his needs for the rest of his deer-hunting career.
Well, I need to get started with my chores. I hope this week treats you all well.
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