This is what we awoke to yesterday! The bitter cold blew in on Friday and we are not supposed to climb out of the forties all week. And more snow is predicted for Tuesday. Hooray for our year-old heater!!!!
I had purchased spring bulbs almost six weeks ago but I just never made time to get them in the ground. But, I knew the cold front was coming, and the temperatures ahead of it were unseasonably warm so I spent all Thursday morning pulling up my many dead zinnias and planting the 112 bulbs (45 daffodils, 45 tulips, 10 hyacinth, 12 crocus). I put half of the daffodils in back to enhance the daffodil plantings I already have and I put everything else in front along with 18 viola plants. I am trying to imitate the temple grounds plantings and that is what they do every spring and it looks amazing. Below is the cleared out zinnia bed and the piles of dead stalks waiting for room in the yard waste dumpsters. This time of year, those dumpsters get full pretty quickly as everyone is clearing out deat plants and leaves.
On Monday, when temperatures were more autumn-like, Steve, Beckie and I had a little adventure. We visited the Missouri-Mississippi confluence north of the city and then we crossed into Illinois at Alton and took the river road about twelve miles up to Grafton. Lighthouses along the way and in Grafton where we enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch packed by Beckie. We road the skylift to at Grafton's Aerie resort and enjoyed the view. It was a lovely time. Emily and family were supposed to have joined us but they got hit by a bug over the weekend and most were down for the count.
Below are Steve, Beckie and me where the two rivers actually meet.
Below is the Missouri on the left and the Mississippi on the right
Tuesday at orchestra, we had our new conductor who will be doing the December concert (remember we are having four conducting candidates this year as we search for a permanent one going forward). This guy, TJ Abernathy, is young but I like him, so far.
Steve has started taking Ozempic since he started seeing an endocrinologist in late September. At first, we really couldn't see any difference in taking that EXPENSIVE drug. But, in the last couple of weeks, things have changed and Steve has had to increasingly lower his insulin doses to prevent having low blood sugars. He has been in fairly constant contact with the nurses both with the doctor and with United Healthcare as he continues to have low blood sugars. So, I guess the Ozempic IS working. And it is good to be able to reduce the high levels of insulin that Steve had been taking.
I had a music studio recital on Saturday that included my Missouri students as well as my Phoenix students, all thanks to Zoom. It was held in a church a couple blocks from our house and is the one that Fred Olver, our blind neighbor attends. It used to be a grocery store so it isn't much for looks but the acoustics are fantastic, they have a Steinway grand piano, and their wifi is good. Here are a couple of photos. The second one is of Noah. I have fourteen students (2 in Columbia, 3 in Saint Louis, 4 in Ballwin (grandkids), and 5 in Phoenix) and eleven of them performed yesterday.
After the recital (and an earlier baptism that I played piano for), Steve and I just hunkered down in the warm house for the rest of the day. We hardly watched anything all week. I started watching Notting Hill Thursday night while Steve was at church meetings. It was funnier than I remembered and also had more foul language than I remembered. I decided to just read the synopsis rather than finish watching. I am glad I did because I had forgotten that the middle part is so sad and hard to watch. On Friday night, Steve and I watched the first episode of Andor and after just one show, I decided to read the synopsis of all the other episodes to determine whether we wanted to continue. (remember, I LIKE spoilers. I read the ends of books). And, after reading, I think we will pass on that series. I am not a fan of anti-heroes or of heist movies and Andor is both. I guess I am getting old....
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