Tom and I have been back in Ohio for about a month now.  We have been trying to do our usual catching up with everything and everybody.  We are now through most of the doctors’ appointments and have spent a lot of time with Mom and Dad and John and Jackie.  For some reason, it feels much busier than when we left in June.  Probably because there are fewer Covid-19 restrictions and thus more things we can do.

We’ve done a bunch of things around the house.  It took a while to unload and unpack the RV and get things back where we wanted them.  Our wonderful neighbor, Dave, collected our mail all summer and it took several days to go through all of it and respond to things we needed to do.  Now that the renovation to the bathroom is finally done, we installed the full length mirror back on the wall.  I finally picked out a small lingerie chest and we moved the tall kitchen cabinet that had been in the corner of the bedroom.

So, what have we been doing while back in Ohio?  We went to see the new James Bond movie with John and Jackie, “No Time to Die.”  I thought it was very good and Jackie and I both cried at the end.  I won’t give any of the plot away because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.  But, if you do go to see it, be sure to watch the previous Bond movie, “Spectre,” first.  We did not – in fact we couldn’t remember anything about “Spectre” but it totally sets up “No Time to Die.”  It would have been easier to figure out what was going on if we had watched “Spectre” first.

John continues to sell his hot sauces, “Fartley Farms.”  He planted a large pepper garden with our help last spring when he was working from home.  The garden grew very well with his care over the summer and, in October, there were lots and lots of peppers to harvest.  Unfortunately, John got a new job in September which he loves, but he works longer hours and has to go in to the office every day.  This meant the peppers were not being harvested.  Tom and I went over several days to harvest peppers.  We felt like migrant laborers, just coming back to Ohio in time for the pepper harvest.  John was able to process the peppers we picked so they didn’t rot in the garden.

Being back in Ohio means my wonderful three-mile walks every morning in Char-Mar Ridge Park. The only challenge to the walk is crossing OH 3.  The intersection is much busier than it was a year ago with morning traffic and crossing can be difficult.  We got a letter from ODOT that they are considering putting a traffic light at the intersection, which would be a huge help to us and the mega-church and school across the street.  I have especially enjoyed seeing the beautiful leaves and the frost in the early mornings on my walks.  Tom loves riding his trike every day on the Ohio to Erie bike trail.

We purchased a new refrigerator.  While we were gone over the summer, we turned off the electricity to all the kitchen appliances.  When we got home, we turned the refrigerator back on but, after three days, it wasn’t any cooler than when it was off.  We tried several of the easy fixes and thought about finding a repairman.  But we didn’t really like that refrigerator anyway, so we decided just to get a new one.  I called lots of places – Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes – but every place was out of the model I was looking for.  I finally found the model I was looking for at a place called “Home Appliance Solutions.”  It was the floor model but still carried the warranty and was in good shape.  We purchased it on a Sunday and they delivered it and installed it on Wednesday.

Aside from that, our time back in Ohio has been spent as we like.  I’ve been weaving, playing keyboard and reading a lot.  Tom has been doing research and practicing the concertina.  Tom and I are really enjoying being so close to any store or restaurant we want to go to.  We have resumed hanging out with John and Jackie and adventure days (more on those later) with Mom and Dad.  We feel so blessed to be back in Ohio, again.