Thursday, August 30

Slept late, until around 8 a.m. Did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning. I didn't accomplish much before noon after I'd gotten ready for the day.

Hubbie spent the morning "battening down the hatches" as it were, in anticipation of stormy weather later today and tomorrow. He filled several one-gallon containers with water, as well as a five-gallon container, and the reservoir in the camper, because if the power goes out, our well pump will not work.

Turned the camper refrigerator on, because if the power goes out, the fridge will automatically switch to propane, and we'd have a place to store some of the food from the indoor fridge.

Hubbie also checked the propane tanks on the camper, not only for the fridge, but in case we need to cook out there (our inside kitchen has an electric stove). He also created run-off ditches near the front porch, and in front of the garage, in case of heavy rain.

We charged our cell phones, the laptop, and the e-reader. Gathered flashlights and other light sources. All this is probably overkill, but at least we're as prepared as we can be for whatever arises.

After lunch, Mother headed to the couch for a nap. Hubbie and I ran errands. Before we could leave, Hubbie had to get a hose and wash the van off, because it was covered in a thin layer of fine dirt, the result of his mowing the parched yard yesterday.

We've only had about a couple of inches of rain in the last few months, but it was enough for the grass to sprout a little. It doesn't have to grow much for Hubbie to get the urge to mow. I accused him yesterday of mowing the dirt, and by the look of the van today, it seems as if that's just what he did.

Our errands took us first to the farmer's market for sweet potatoes and a watermelon; then to the library to check out movies for the weekend (even if there is no power outage, there might be a lot of "stay-indoors" rain); and to the WDCS for groceries, including bread and milk, because we were completely out of both (and not, Sis, because we might get a hankering for milk sandwiches).

At the library, I registered for access to e-books. This is a recent capability of the library, so in a few days, I'll be able to preview their selections.

Drat...on the way home from errands, Hubbie's foot got heavy, and we were pulled over by a state policeman. Seems Hubbie was traveling 58 mph in a 45 mph zone. Fortunately, he was only given a warning ticket this time. But I'll bet the embarrassment of the incident will slow him down, at least for a while. I constantly caution him about speeding. But I'm his wife, and he's not about to pay attention to me. Better that a policeman should caution him.

From the library: we checked out four movies..."Mansfield Park," based on a Jane Austen novel; "Back When We Were Grownups," a Hallmark movie; "The Massie Affair," a murder mystery; and "A Suitable Vengeance," a British movie mystery.

At home, Mother finished her nap around 3 p.m., and wanted to help me make bran muffins. Once those were in the oven, she shredded the white American cheese and mixed a batch of pimento cheese. This satisfied her urge to work in the kitchen.

Later, we enjoyed our supper of potato soup, with bran muffins. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and waited until she had taken a shower before I returned home. Though it got cloudy and a little windy at this hour, nothing adverse happened.

Hubbie and I spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

It remains to be seen if the weather will prevent my attending water aerobics in the morning.