November 8 through November 11, 2013

Friday November 8

Yep, yep...the blog is certainly back...two visits in a row - woot woot! We left on Friday at 9:30 am for our weekend. It was later than we planned, but we were well on our way. Since I-90 is still undergoing construction for the last 60 or so miles of Illinois, we continue to travel on I-88 - where the daytime construction is minimal. We actually didn't deal with much traffic and the ride seemed to go by rather quickly. We drove straight through to the Iron Skillet {slash} Petro WITH A truck stop and arrived there about 12:15. They reorganized their Halloween decor to a fall theme! I think they just took down the bats and scary witches!

  

Carlo mentioned that he could smell Subway...and sure enough, that's there too! Iron Skillet {slash} Petro WITH A truck stop {slash} Subway. I'd like to point out there is also a DQ in the building!!! Iron Skillet {slash} Petro WITH A truck stop {slash} Subway {slash} DQ - truly a one stop place to shop!



For lunch I had the breaded pork tenderloin and Carlo had the meat loaf. With our soups and salads, it was a yummy meal! After lunch I shopped at Walmart for things we needed for O'Wich and for a few things I needed for home. Carlo filled up the gas tank while he waited for me - he claims 50 minutes...but I didn't notice - it didn't seem long at all! We arrived to our leave covered O'Wich about 2:30 pm, unloaded the truck, started a fire and put everything away.

   

It was a good feeling to know that we were settled in for the rest of the day and didn't need to go back out. Now to scare the chill away! I vacuumed up some opossum playing flies before they could thaw out and take flight...because I really hate flies! I swept the leaves of the front porch and back deck and put out some more pumpkins and Carlo brought in some fire wood to keep the stove burning for the night.

  



Since we're back to blogging...gotta snap some pictures! We took a lot of them...we'll just go with this one!














By 6:00 pm I was nodding off - which I pretty much expected. Carlo was relegated to the recliner and sometime during the evening he suggested I go to bed - no telling me twice! I think he just wanted the couch back!!!



Saturday November 9

At 1:30 am I was up, wide awake and hungry. Missing meals is an O'Wich trend just as much as napping or sleeping is! I decided on a sandwich and watched TV. At 4:30 am the chill was once again on its way out, since Carlo was now awake and got the stove going. I just love this place! After the sun came up, Carlo spotted a deer in the front...I don't know how he spots these things...to me, they just blend in with everything else! If I were a hunter, these deer would be so safe with me!



After catching up with the news and some HGTV, I started breakfast while Carlo ran to pick up the eggs I forgot. We had sausage and waffles - I am so excited that I brought the waffle maker along.

  

After breakfast we hung the new bedroom blinds and replaced a broken switch plate cover, cleaned up the kitchen and got the crock pot of chili started.

 




Carlo blew the leaves from the driveway and now that the morning was over, Garry arrived and lunch was ready and served promptly at noon. After our tasty, mild, spice it up yourself chili, we visited with Garry and discussed our next project for the spring. So exciting! The only hint I will give you will be this one photo...

The windy afternoon kept us from working outside and the leaves were accumulating again on the back deck. Since the leaves were still falling and it was the leaves we were planning on cleaning up we decided to push this chore off until Sunday. We then opted for watching TV and napping, which we did without any problems until abut 7:00 pm when - believe it or not - it was time to eat! Salami sandwiches for everyone! Just more of nothing and TV until it was actually time to go to bed...although the naps were a nice addition to our restful afternoon.

Sunday November 10

After a lot of sleep during all of Saturday, I was up by 6:00 am - so far, no deer around...which doesn't mean they're not there, I just haven't seen any! We had a crazy busy morning that by 11:30 am was done. During the morning hours, we blew and swept at least three g-a-z-i-l-l-i-o-n leaves in over three hours. For you math officiados that equates to about one g-a-z-i-l-l-i-o-n leaves per hour. All this means to me it that we have too many trees! Once we were done with our chore, we sat outside and rested while warming up at the fire pit. 

This was a good day for this chore...the sun had come out - it was 45 degrees - the gusty winds stopped and the rain is not expected until evening. Carlo didn't show any interest in any more photos - although this was discussed at great length - so I had to take some without him. Again, there were lots of photos, but I'll just go with these - after a hard morning of labor and one of me looking cool with my protective eye wear!

 

After lunch, today it was hot dogs and chips, we took it easy until we left to visit with Betty since we didn't see her our last few trips. From there we drove to Culver's and picked up dinner. Our restful weekend was coming to an end. 

We didn't really do much (aside from moving the leaves) but since this weekend was suppose to be a Morgan, Rose, Val, JT, Carlo and Cindy weekend we were okay with just relaxing. Sadly, our guests couldn't visit and we truly missed spending time with them. Hopefully, good health will prevail for our next planned get-together - which I hope is not too far around the corner!

We hit the hay by 9:00 pm - those leaves kicked our butts and all I can wish for is that the winds stay away so the leaves stay away! But it sure did look nice when we were done!

  

Monday November 11

Another early morning - it rained during the night - snow is in the forecast but it looks like we are going to miss it. It's sort of disappointing because every year we have been at O'Wich for the first dusting of snow. Carlo said it was snowing, but it was just fluffy, colorless rain when it got down to my height! We decided to eat our medley of leftovers before hitting the road, which made for a lighter cooler and less to transport home. Time to go. Keeping my fingers crossed that we make it back before the end of the year for a final visit of 2013 - and maybe some, discussed at great length, pictures!!!