the other day I received a Google Nest Mini in the mail… it was a gift for joining a program…
after thinking about it for a short time, I decided to put it in the den… the other option was the laundry room, but I’ve been spending more time watching TV in the den, so we will see how it goes…
I didn’t even have to read the how-to instructions to set it up… the process is easy and it connects with all the others seamlessly…
received a chocolate tasting package from my daughter months ago…
we finally got together via Google Duo and did the tasting together… the last time I participated in one was over Christmas in her dining room… it was set up beautifully…
this one was certainly different… I didn’t think to put them on a pretty plate, but did have them lined up and with the note pages… in the end I felt very happy and enjoyed what I had learned… she really helped me discover the different notes of the five pieces of chocolate;-)…
first this morning, when I went to get some bloodwork done… now, both entrances to the clinic are open… last time I was there only the main door was open and there was a staff person making sure people were using hand sanitizer before they entered… today there was neither sanitizer nor staff person… not sure if that is an improvement or not…
I am getting more used to wearing the mask, but really dislike the fact that my phone won’t recognize me when it is on my face, lol…
later in the day I walked over to La Belle Baguette and put one on to enter the store;-)…
that may have been the first time since March that I have been inside two buildings in the same day…
not too long ago we got a new shade umbrella… it has worked well for a portion of the day, providing shade for one chair but I was hoping it might adjust to provide more coverage, depending on the time of day…
yesterday I learned how to turn it, which I didn’t think was possible… very exciting…
unfortunately, the sun had already put the whole backyard in shadow so we couldn’t test it out… I’d hoped to see what it could do today, but it has been overcast followed by a thunderstorm… no sun expected, but tomorrow should be sunny all day;-)…
had an excellent visit with a good friend a few days ago…
she brought fresh veggies from her garden… we consulted on a project, talked about our lives, exercise, technology, and living on our own…
we ordered in some tasty Pho Hoang and had fudgicles for dessert…
after dinner, while we were sitting beside the pond, I spotted baby fish… this was very exciting…
after she left, I sat and spotted at least four, in three different sizes… looks like two about two inches long and at least one each of two smaller ones…
have not been able to get any photos as they move very quickly and look black in the water, lol… maybe they are nervous about some of those bigger ones..
well, what a day yesterday was… spent the majority of it in the garden, watching the water lily and all the birds flitting about the space… maybe they are starting to head south, sigh…
first to the feeder came the DownyWoodpecker… it was there for a while before flying off… believe that is the first one I’ve seen this summer…
the White-breasted Nuthatch popped by, and posed for a photo;-)…
next were the chickadees, and there were a lot of them, but sadly, they didn’t want to eat out of my hand…
and then, a Tennessee Warbler stopped by the pond for a drink… my Merlin Bird ID was certainly well used, lol…
my neighbour gave me celery out of his garden and a friend brought me carrots and parsley from her garden plot…
my updated licence arrived… I had gone to the insurance office about two weeks ago and was pleased that it turned up today, particularly with all the driving I’m doing… NOT…
I also received a parcel with three new face masks from Canadian Chocoholic… they are made from her newest fabric purchases and are beautiful… they aren’t screen printed, but two of them have elastic instead of the t-shirt yarn the others use… this was so I could wear them to get my hair cut, lol…
I love the ones with t-shirt yarn around my head because they are very comfortable, and hang nicely around my neck when not on my face, but they don’t work that well when someone is trying to cut your hair, lol…
I was without internet and cell service for five days… just to be clear, in case you were worried, I did survive;-)…
all my phone could do was take pictures, act as a flashlight and let me play my solitaire game on occasion… if you wanted to speak to someone who wasn’t there you had to use the landline…
as I was preparing to leave for the trip, I would think of things like – oh, I can change the lights in the house occasionally so it looks lived in, or I can text my daughter with information she would need, or I can call my grandson to remind him about watering the plants, or I can add my meals to MyFitnessPal, etc. etc… nope, no, I could NOT…
when you don’t use the phone, you don’t need to carry it around so much though… although it was handy if my camera wasn’t close by… there was a good deal of reading of paperbacks, doing newspaper crosswords and talking with one another…
while there, the discussion arose as to what was more needed – internet access or a shower… I mean, the lake is right there, so clearly the answer is the internet;-)…
it was like the old days, lol…
on the return trip, all of a sudden, the phone started to beep and buzz and ding as it came into cell range and emails and messages starting downloading… it was funny…