August in Elkhart

We are officially moved into our small apartment, a total of 911 square feet. That's a nice uptick from about 400 square feet, which we think we had in the fifth wheel. That 911 square feet would be small and tight for a lot of people if you were coming from a house, but coming from living in a tight RV, it feels a LOT roomier. The apartment has two bedrooms and one bath. Oh, boy, Sparky gets a room to craft in! It is also very light and airy, which is a very welcome change from the dark interior of the fifth wheel.

It was a challenge going from an RV with LOTS of cupboards for putting everything in them, to the apartment with the only shelving and cupboards in the kitchen. We were surprised and just a little disappointed to find that there was NO medicine cabinet in the bathroom. You KNOW old people have lots of meds, right? So we had to get creative with tubs and shoe boxes under the sinks.

Sauder cabinet

Keeping that in mind since there were NO built in cabinets, as we gathered pieces of furniture from yard sales and thrift shops, Sparky insisted just about everything had to have a dual purpose and drawers or doors. Sparky bought a Sauder tall cabinet with shelves to put together. Back in the day, everything Sparky owned as a young single mom was pretty much Sauder put together stuff. Sauder is pretty decent furniture and the how to assemble guide is very thorough. And funny. Further on in the manual it said to pause for a beverage!

But we still have boxes and boxes to unpack and finding spots to put everything away is the biggest problem. Eldo says, "I can't believe we had all this in the RV!" That's because it was all contained behind closed cabinet doors, lol. The main bulk of what's left is Sparky's amazing craft supply collection. (AHA! I knew it wasn't MY stuff! exclaims Eldo.)

The apartment, although small, has lots of natural light coming in. We have a little patio and a storage shed. The complex has a nice laundry, a small pool and a workout room. And if you are so inclined to do yard work, because you miss having a yard, (that would be Sparky) residents can get paid 10.00 an hour rent credit for work done around the complex!

Grey headed coneflower

Sparky is a bit further from the Pumpkinvine bike trail, but that doesn't stop her from getting out there and riding 12-18 miles a couple times a week. The wildflowers are incredible right now....The lavendar bee balm, grey headed coneflowers, purple coneflowers, they are all blooming like crazy along the trail. It's a beautiful ride any time of the year.

Amish farm-corn and zinnias

The butterflies are really enjoying the prolific bloom of flowers...

The cornfields are tasseling....There is nothing better than Indiana sweet corn in August and it's everywhere. The farm fields are beautiful. It's amazing how tightly packed those cornstalks are! The yields must be great for the farmers. They've had ample rain this year and not had to irrigate as much.

Swallowtail on bee balm

It's hot, but not unbearably so, like in the southwest. Temperatures are in the high eighties during the day and low sixties at night. We are really enjoying the area as we settle down for awhile. Sparky will start subbing soon, hopefully, and Eldy is in the height of golf season with the Concord High School girls' golf team. He is VERY busy and that's a great thing for him to have an outside interest that gets him up and moving around. The golf team won their first match and are steadily progressing with their skills. They should have a very respectable season with their new coaches!

Sparky saw the biggest drone she had ever seen while bike riding. It was spray dusting the cornfields. It stopped spraying as it came to the end of the field where she was just outside the edge of the fence. Wonder if she was on camera and the operator stopped spraying because of that? It immediately flew back towards the farm and didn't spray any more after that. Maybe it returned to get more spray?

Along with the many many fields of corn, there are of course, soybeans. Did you know soybeans produce pretty little purple flowers hiding underneath their canopies of fuzzy leaves and stems? 

You may not always see Amish while riding the trail, but they are always out and about either in the fields or in their buggies traveling here and there.  Sparky just missed a buggy today....

The rock snake has gotten a LOT longer! Look at this little dude. In case you missed it, someone started a two rock snake with a little request to post on social media as the snake gets additional rocks. Sparky first saw it with the head and one rock earlier this season and that was it. How fun for people riding along the trail! There are some cool rocks in the snake.

Some more talented rock painters.....

The flower quilts are at the height of their season. Now is the time to go see them if you are in the area...

Quilt garden Abshire Park Goshen

Downtown Goshen

We continue to enjoy the small town of Goshen. They close off the streets the first Friday of every month with usually some sort of theme, for music, food vendors and shopping discounts. We haven't made it over there yet,  but it's on our list of fun things to do when it's not too hot. Sparky loves the downtown vibe there....

We are regular visitors to JoJo's Pretzels on Main Street in Goshen. They have really great warm, freshly made pretzels. Sparky loves her sour cream and onion pretzels, Eldo loves his garlic/parmesan pretzels.

And with that....School starts next week and Sparky already has work lined up with a fourth grade class for half days for two weeks! We shall see you later down the road or in town, haha...Five days till the RV goes in for repairs, the countdown begins in earnest!