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| Beautiful Autumn |
We have had a stint of absolutely gorgeous weather here. There have been a few frosts, but the days are warm and sunny. The fall colors have been beautiful!
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| Perfect Maple coloring |
As of 3:20 pm today (Monday 10/26/26) we no longer own the Thistledown Gardens property. We actually moved out on October 12th, using the rest of that week to finish moving boxes and cleaning up for the new owners.
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| Bob is able to lend a hand |
Before moving out, we cleaned up the garden, except for the flowers. Those were left for the benefit of the bees.
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| Final flowers |
During that time, Bob's sister, Rachael visited for the weekend.
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| A walk at the park with Rachael |
While she was visiting, we went to Taughannock Falls State Park and enjoyed just spending time together.
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| Time to leave, goodbye |
And so, we have said goodbye to that home and property; that way of life. So much of ourselves will be left with that place. We will miss so much, especially the earth friendly place which we made it into. But change begets change and moves the wheel of life along.
I don't think that we could have picked a more beautiful time to move to our new location.
We are now settled into our new home. The move was a busy time, but all went smoothly. We did all of the packing but hired a company to move the furniture and heavy boxes. They placed all of the furniture exactly where we specified, and that was very helpful.
Bob and I especially benefitted from the priceless assistance of our niece, Angela, who sacrificed a week's vacation to come from Michigan to help. She was an invaluable addition to the team, providing muscle, cooperative effort and a much-appreciated sense of humor. We cannot thank her enough. We not only emptied and cleaned the old house, but got the new one all set up within that seven day span.
The townhouse is half the size of the Lodi house, but we feel it is generally cozy. (Alright, the kitchen is just small, but I'll adjust.)
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| The great room |
The great room is done,
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| Book room/Movie room |
...as is our book room/movie room.
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| Harp room in the works |
The harps and the computer occupy a room together now. We still need to put up wall decorations in here. The new room begged for new and better lighting for the harps. This seems to do the job nicely.
Before Angela left, we took a day off and went to Buttermilk Falls State Park.
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| With Angela at Buttermilk Falls |
The day started out drizzly, but the scenery was still lovely.
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| Buttermilk Falls |
The city of Ithaca is surrounded by hills. We live at the top of one of those hills. The views up here are spectacular.
Here's the view from our back balcony.
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| From our balcony |
And this is the view from my harp room.
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| View of the far hill |
Our garden space here is limited to an area about 5'x8' with governance by the HOA. Our place name, "Thistledown Gardens" just doesn't fit here. We believe we'll adopt the place name, "High Land" for this home. We hope you'll join us on this new journey as we flesh out a different way of life on this high land. Our situation has changed, but our core beliefs remain the same. We may just be learning to live them out differently now.
Now, regarding Bob's condition. Lots of good news. His PET scan showed that the tumors have not grown and may have begun to shrink. The therapy is working! The goal was to stop the growth and shrink the tumors, if possible.
He has also received counseling from a Registered Dietician. This has been very helpful. She has given him a target weight and a daily target for calories and protein, as well as many good ideas for increasing both. She also told him to begin exercising so that those extra calories can become much needed muscle. As of this week, he is halfway to his weight goal. He's enjoying the "prescribed" ice cream, but his sense of taste is still off and may never right itself. He finds that a problem.
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| First nap at the new place |
He still becomes fatigued and needs a daily nap. While Angela and I hustled boxes, Bob rested as needed and set up the electronics or hanged pictures.
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| Setting up the DVD player |
Yesterday's weather was so delightful that we went for a walk in Sapsucker Woods for Bob's exercise.
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| October 25, 2026 |
It's a flat walk and good for a recuperating person. He did need a substantial nap after we got home.
Another outing was the semiannual Senior day at the library booksale.
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| Selections from this sale trip |
Just 13 books this time, but enough to keep us busy this winter.
Enjoy this marvelous season and begin to prepare for what's ahead. You know it's coming.
We'll see you next time from High Land,
Kathleen and Bob
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| At the top of Buttermilk Falls |
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| Buttermilk Falls |
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