Changed Email Subscription Service for Email Delivery of The Dog House Blog Site

The previous service I used for email subscription expired. Although it was still working, it is going to end from Feedburner (i.e. Google). I imported all email subscriptions previously subscribed to the new service called Follow.it. You will start receiving email notices of new posts from this new site. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you to those that follow my blog via email, social media, or stumble across my page when browsing the internet. Those that have not subscribed via email, you can do so on the front page at https://www.haverty.net/.

Thank you!

Various September Sunday Ramblings on a Holiday Weekend About Saturdays, Fun, Routines, Sports, and Anything Else that Comes to Mind

We made an effort to try and make this a camping weekend. We (i.e. Carrie) searched for camp sites and while we found them, the weather was the issue with not going. She checked camp sites all over the state, but everywhere had rain Friday and Saturday, so we decided not to go camping. We will try again later this month and we have already selected dates in October to go camping. Of course, today being Sunday, the weather is beautiful at 74 degrees with sunshine and cool breeze. Makes us want for being by a lake camping with our dog.

That’s how it goes sometimes and we are still early in our camping experience, so I am sure we will have many more like this in the years to come. We feel the pull of nice weather and wanting to camp but as the time approaches, we have to adjust schedule to another weekend or possibly camp in the rain. As you may recall, our first camping experience (see Camping Eisenhower State Park) where we did camp in the rain and cold, it was not bad but not something we want to plan on doing if we can help it. If it it happens when we are camping where weather comes up, that is fine, but if we can avoid camping in rain/cold, that will be our choice to pick a clear weekend… as you would expect. Still, the pull from wanting to camp when it is nice is heavy. I can relate it to when I was playing golf when the weather would be nice and I would want to go golfing so bad I could not focus on anything else; the feeling of good weather and wanting to camp is similar for me.

Instead of a camping weekend, we met Greg and Erin for breakfast, ran some errands, and then had a late lunch at Boomers’ Steakhouse, Grill and Catering on Saturday. We have been having fun the past few Saturdays as we have met up just about every Saturday to have fun. Our weekend get together Saturday have included Topeka Farmer’s Market, visiting a winery, various lunches or dinner locations, and enjoying some beers at local establishments.

Next weekend, we will be going to a concert which will be fun. Eddie bought the tickets and we are making an evening of it. More on this next week. It will be fun to go to a concert as I do not recall the last one I attended… I am thinking it would have been in 2019, but I am not positive. Regardless, it will be fun to be out with others, listen to live music, and have a good time. We will be safe and cautious while we are out and keeping an eye on the venue for requirements for masks. We have all been vaccinated, but still have to be careful just as I am at work where masks are required.

This next week kicks off the NFL season. It is hard to believe as it seems like we just watched the Super Bowl. Not a game we want to remember, so maybe that’s why it seems like it was just yesterday. The Chiefs start their season on Sunday, September 12. I have two fantasy football leagues I am playing this year and I finished my last draft this past Friday. Ready for another season and ready to cheer the Chiefs to another fun season. 

Speaking of football, Washburn Ichabod football team won their first game of the season Thursday night 76 - 12 over Lincoln University of Missouri. The Kansas Jayhawks football team won their first game of the season with a new coach 17 - 14 over South Dakota. A positive start for local college sports and then we look forward to watching professional sports start up this week.

That is all for now, so have a wonderful holiday weekend and watch for a holiday post on here tomorrow. Until next week, have a great week!

Camping Discussion for September and October plus Future Camping and Taking Our Dog in Cooler Temperatures

Carrie and I have not been camping in a few months, so we are thinking about going here soon before it gets cold. We are debating on whether to go camping for our anniversary or wait until October. We are looking at options and trying to figure out when we could do a long weekend for another camping adventure.

We learned this week that the annual festival I attend each year, King Biscuit Blues Festival, has been canceled for the second time in a row. Sad to hear we will not be at the festival this year and not able to see our friends that travel from all over the country to attend. Although it makes sense with the rise of COVID cases across the country, it is sad to not be going again this year. So, instead of going to a blues festival, Carrie and I might take a long weekend and go camping instead. Although no dates are set and we do not have anything reserved at this time.

If possible, we would love to be able to do two or three more camping trips before it gets cold. I am not sure how that will work out though. As we see August come to an end, we move into September and if the first few weeks of September are anything like the last few weeks of August, it would be very warm to go camping. Granted, the weather should start cooling down where it will be nice to camp, but it would be cool during the evening and just the day to deal with the heat.

We did learn from our camping adventure back in June (see Camping in Hot Temperatures at lake Milford Near Junction City) that we can go camping in extreme temperatures, but it would be nice to be able to take our dog and not have him overheat in the weather. So, hopefully late September we can get a camping visit done and then two more in October.

I am not sure how much Oliver likes to camp as we have only taken him two times so far in our adventures, but he seems to like the experience. He sleeps throughout the day, enjoys going on walks as we do much more walking when we are camping than at home, and he likes watching the people at the other camp sites. The weather might be too warm to take him in September, but hopefully we can take him at least once in October if we can get a date set.

We did book a camp site for the future (2022) in Big Bend National Park and we cannot wait for that trip. The dates are tentatively set as Carrie could see the dates disappearing, but we do have that to look forward to in 2022.

What trips do you have planned for future camping sites? Do you have a favorite you would recommend that Carrie and I visit? We would love to hear from you in the comments. Until next week, have a great week!

New Sidewalk and Update on Other Repairs for Our Home

We were finally able to have our front walk replaced. We had started the process back in February and because of various issues, we finally had the sidewalk replaced. This goes back to a post I made back in January 2021 regarding Repairs Needed, so it took a while, but we have done the window replacement and now the walk replacement.

For the walk, we went with Perez General Contractor. He did a great job for us and the delays were with weather as each time we had a target date set, it would pour down rain and delay us further. The new walk looks great! I have wanted to replace the walk ever since we moved in back in 2006 as it basically fell apart that first winter we were in the house.

Next, I have a tree trimmer lined up to trim the two trees in the front and then possibly also take out a tree next to our drive that has been slowly dying the past few years. Once we have the two trees in the front trimmed up, I will hopefully be able to reach out to our lawn care company to discuss about overseeing and trying to get grass to grow again under the two front trees. Last attempt at this one as I have done overseeing in the past, but the 2019 into 2020 season was the worst and our front lawn turned into dirt under both large trees and up by the evergreen by the front door.

Future repairs include window replacement, work in our family room, and other odds and ends. It feels good to have at least two items that needed to be done now done and move on to the next steps.

Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Back to Bike Riding After a Month and Half From Not Riding… Felt Good to be On the Bike!

After a fun filled past few weeks of vacation, weddings, and basically not exercising, I climbed back on the bike today. The last time I was on the bike was July 1, 2021. A vacation, out of town, and other events led me to neglect being on the bike the past month and half. 

It felt good to be back on the bike. I did a 20 minutes Country Ride and it felt great! I noticed that my heart rate was running higher than it did when I was riding on a regular basis, so that is not surprising. I had a good workout and look I look forward to riding again on my regular days of Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. 

I do plan to include at least one day of jogging into my schedule as I enjoy jogging. With the cooler weather, I think one day a week of jogging will be good. Mix up my exercise routine and it will also be a good excuse to take our dog, Oliver, for a walk which he loves.

Oliver is never really sure what to think when I am riding the bike. He loves walks so much, walking on a Saturday will be a fun way to get him involved in the process and mix up my routine. I think he will love it and his motivation for wanting to walk will help to motivate me to do my run and walk with him afterwards.

The ride this morning was with a new instructor I do not believe I had seen before. Olivia Amato in the 20 min Country Ride was a lot of fun and I look forward to future classes with Olivia. I did manage to keep my “streak” going the past month and half of consecutive weeks of using Peloton, but those were primarily meditation days at least once a week the past few weeks. I did have a few days of walking in there, so that was good, but I think I only walked and counted it with the app once or twice.

Short update for today, but I plan to do more Peloton posts in the future. What is your routine to get back into riding after taking a break?

Wedding Celebration for Nephew, Seeing Family, and Having a Lot of Fun

What a way to end July! Carrie and I attended a wedding to end July 2021. We spent the weekend in Kansas City for the festivities. My nephew Jack got married on Saturday, July 31. Carrie and I reserved rooms a while back at the Hilton President in downtown Kansas City. We were invited to the rehearsal dinner and decided to make a fun weekend of the celebration. Celebrate we did!

We had a great time! I was able to see many of my family members. On the way into Kansas City on Friday, July 30, we dropped off Oliver at my mom’s, so we were able to see my mom. We had not seen here in a while, so it was good to see her. Agh the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception, we were able to see family I had not seen in a while. We had a great time!

The event was to see Katie and Jack get married. Jack is the youngest of my brother Tim. We had a great time. The rehearsal dinner was at a distillery in Kansas City. The drinks and food was excellent. We plan to go back some time to check out the place further. I heard the tour they give is really good and worth checking out. We were able to see of course Jack and Katie which was good to see them. We saw Brian and Udelle, Patrick and Rachel, and Spencer and Danya. Plus we were able to see my sister Jen and her husband Kent. What a great weekend of celebration.

Until next time, have a great week and I will talk to you next Sunday.

July Coming to an End, Heat, and Looking forward to Cooler Weather

It is really hard to believe that it is August. Where did the summer go? We did a lot over the summer. We started camping, worked on getting in shape (sorta), we went on vacations, and got things done around the house. Sometimes we pack so much into a summer that it makes the summer go by that much faster where if we had nothing planned maybe the summer would drag. But that would not be any fun at all, so we cram as much as we can into the summer to get as much as possible done over the summer months. It is what makes the summer fun and also go by so quickly.

Technically, summer does not end until September 22, but when August ends, that's when it starts feeling to me like summer is over. I can remember as a kid gong to the lake well into September and enjoying the water, tubing, water skiing, etc., but still, in my head, it feels as though the end of July and summer is coming to an end. Granted, I could say that for the end of August too as grade schools are back in full session, but I think for me it feels like summer is over thinking back to when I was a kid and end of July meant school was starting.

Like our dog, Oliver, when it is so hot, staying inside is a must. When I have been outside and back in the house, I just want to lay around and do nothing. So, while I am sad to see summer gradually come to an end, I am happy to know that cooler weather is behind the change and we will start the whole process again where I can look forward to summer again next year.

I hope you have had a great summer! Hopefully you were able to do a vacation over the summer months or have a vacation planned as we come down to the end of the summer months. What is your favorite time of the year and where do you live?

Until next time, have a great week!