It was a perfect, warm, lazy afternoon (for me - Rog was working hard in his shop) and I had a hankering for ice cream. Rog was going into Florence to the hardware store so I tagged along because there is a small restaurant next door that serves real ice cream. CLOSED. Bummer. Seems their cook has left, according to the sign. Apparently they can't function without him, so the place closed until they find someone else. It occurred to Roger that Mickey D's has ice cream - well, sort of ice cream - chemicals designed to taste like ice cream. We went anyway and with hot fudge, nuts, and strawberries on it, we pretended. It hit the spot, though. We realized that it has been a VERY long time since we had been inside one of their establishments and things have changed! You can place your order and pay at a kiosk and they bring your food to the table. Very weird.
After a great deal of deliberation we have decided to hire the landscaping people to come back and install an irrigation/drip system so that we don't lose our plants this summer. Several of the neighbors are talking about getting together and hiring another landscaping crew to come and water for them. We thought about it, but that particular crew doesn't have a reputation for reliability. The woman who watered our tree last year is a year-round resident but she doesn't water anything but trees because that's all the time she has for. We had to put in a formal request, with a drawing, to the architectural committee and should have it back, approved, by week end. We are now waiting to hear from the owner of the landscape company to give us an install date. He gave us a rough estimate over the phone this morning and we will trust him on that. He did the patio, landscaping, and rocks and we trust him to do a good job. In fact, when Rog handed in our request our section rep said that he was glad to see we were using this particular company.
It must be Spring Break somewhere as we are seeing young people on the streets and the walking paths. Grandparents, parents and grandkids together or sometimes just the "grands."
We are starting to crave food we can't get here. We want Thai from Sawsadee, a veggie burger and fries from Great Basin Brewery, and Chinese from Chin Chin. We haven't found a Thai place anywhere near. There is one decent Chinese place next to the Safeway 13 miles away. As for a veggie burger - forget it. We can't even get Mexican locally that is remotely vegetarian. We tried one place and it had vegetarian tacos on the menu. When it came it was a corn tortilla with shredded lettuce, tomato and guacamole. The beans had lard and who knows what the rice was cooked in. I imagine if we went into the big cities - Phoenix and suburbs - we could find something but it is at least an hour's drive. A bit much for lunch or dinner unless we have other business to take us there. Oh, well. Our eating out food bill is small when we are here - that should count for something, I guess.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Monday, March 5, 2018
Allergies Have Calmed Down
That was a tough day on Saturday and Saturday night. Once I got enough antihistamine in my system and used the Flonase, by Sunday morning my allergy symptoms were pretty much gone. Today Roger started sneezing and my walking partner woke up stuffy, but I'm good to go - I hope.
Sunday was the usual - groceries and laundry. I've started taking the iPad and keyboard with me and using the time to catch up on long emails. Today was paying bills and writing a long letter to a cousin who doesn't use a computer. We communicate by snail mail, believe it or not!!!
I'm still doing short walks and my back seems to be tolerating it better. I was most likely just overdoing it. Sometimes I'm like Roger - if the doc says walking one mile is good for you, then 2 miles has to be better!! Apparently not in this scenario. I asked Roger yesterday at what age we could stop paying attention to doctors and advice about eating right, exercising, etc and just let ourselves enjoy goodies and being lazy. He said, "never." What a spoil sport.
I'm working on a crochet project now - a poncho for me - using up some yarn I bought for an afghan but didn't like the way it turned out. I ripped it out and have several balls of yarn to use. Unfortunately I lost my crochet hook for about 24 hours, so I lost some time working on it. Rog found it under the recliners this morning. I just got two books on knitting in hopes that I can do some more of it and feel more confident. I looked at some of the projects, though, and they are intimidating even if they are "one skein wonders."
Rog was raking the "straw" from the palo verde tree and caught the golden prickly pear with the rake. It broke off two segments. I've been told you can just stick them in the ground and they will grow. So, why not try? I dug a hole, put in some potting soil and grabbed the piece with my bare hands. Now, with this particular cactus you can't see any spines. But, trust me, they are there! Little teeny tiny things - like tiny slivers in your fingers. Next time - gloves. So, it's in the ground and Roger has watered it and we will see if it grows. Do cactus need fertilizer? I need to look that up.
One of the women from the book club here that I met the one time I went has been friendly and we are sharing book lists. She brought one over today of books she's read and wants to read. I've read a lot of them on her list, but she's got some that I would like to read eventually. So little time...... Can't wait to get back to my Sparks book group - I've really missed them. I've been reading the books, but it's not as much fun if you don't get to discuss them. Sometimes I need someone to tell me what I'm missing or give me a different perspective to help me understand why a book has great reviews. Sometimes "I just don't get it."
Nice weather this week - supposed to be in the 80s by Wednesday for a few days before dropping back down to low 70s. I'll take it!!
Sunday was the usual - groceries and laundry. I've started taking the iPad and keyboard with me and using the time to catch up on long emails. Today was paying bills and writing a long letter to a cousin who doesn't use a computer. We communicate by snail mail, believe it or not!!!
I'm still doing short walks and my back seems to be tolerating it better. I was most likely just overdoing it. Sometimes I'm like Roger - if the doc says walking one mile is good for you, then 2 miles has to be better!! Apparently not in this scenario. I asked Roger yesterday at what age we could stop paying attention to doctors and advice about eating right, exercising, etc and just let ourselves enjoy goodies and being lazy. He said, "never." What a spoil sport.
I'm working on a crochet project now - a poncho for me - using up some yarn I bought for an afghan but didn't like the way it turned out. I ripped it out and have several balls of yarn to use. Unfortunately I lost my crochet hook for about 24 hours, so I lost some time working on it. Rog found it under the recliners this morning. I just got two books on knitting in hopes that I can do some more of it and feel more confident. I looked at some of the projects, though, and they are intimidating even if they are "one skein wonders."
Rog was raking the "straw" from the palo verde tree and caught the golden prickly pear with the rake. It broke off two segments. I've been told you can just stick them in the ground and they will grow. So, why not try? I dug a hole, put in some potting soil and grabbed the piece with my bare hands. Now, with this particular cactus you can't see any spines. But, trust me, they are there! Little teeny tiny things - like tiny slivers in your fingers. Next time - gloves. So, it's in the ground and Roger has watered it and we will see if it grows. Do cactus need fertilizer? I need to look that up.
One of the women from the book club here that I met the one time I went has been friendly and we are sharing book lists. She brought one over today of books she's read and wants to read. I've read a lot of them on her list, but she's got some that I would like to read eventually. So little time...... Can't wait to get back to my Sparks book group - I've really missed them. I've been reading the books, but it's not as much fun if you don't get to discuss them. Sometimes I need someone to tell me what I'm missing or give me a different perspective to help me understand why a book has great reviews. Sometimes "I just don't get it."
Nice weather this week - supposed to be in the 80s by Wednesday for a few days before dropping back down to low 70s. I'll take it!!
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Spring Has Sprung?
Looks as if we might be done with our "winter." Hopefully. Warms temps the last couple of days and for the near future. No rain in sight.
With spring comes pollen. I'm down for the count today. Started sneezing at about 0430 and I've got all the usual symptoms - watery eyes, drippy nose, lethargy and sneezing. Oh yes, don't forget the red nose.
I took a short walk this morning and a nap this afternoon.
That's it from here.
With spring comes pollen. I'm down for the count today. Started sneezing at about 0430 and I've got all the usual symptoms - watery eyes, drippy nose, lethargy and sneezing. Oh yes, don't forget the red nose.
I took a short walk this morning and a nap this afternoon.
That's it from here.
Friday, March 2, 2018
A Bargain Deal!
Finally, a day to sit in the sun without getting blown away! It made it up into the low 70s today, too. Maggie and I sat outside most of the afternoon. I finished my knitting project and just enjoyed being out there watching the hummingbirds. I gave them fresh nectar today and they spent a long time at the feeders. Maggie sat and watched for critters and Roger worked in the shop. 
Yesterday I had Rog take me back to that antique store and look at those prints I liked. They are reproductions and in beat up frames, but they do have a print number on the back and I like them, so I bought them. (They are definitely not Antique Roadshow finds, unfortunately.) Each was marked $58. After researching the artist I thought it was a pretty steep price, but I did want them. When we went in her dog was wandering around and we played with her for a while, then she and Roger got in a conversation about hemp oil which she sells. She was pretty distracted. When I got to the counter I said "Too bad there's not a pink dot on them." (She had a sign - pink dot - 50% off). She looked at them, and said, "Oh, they should have." So I got them both for $58. Except I think I only gave her $53. She told me if I paid in cash she would not charge sales tax. So I plopped down two 20s, two 5s, and three 1s. I counted it out as $58, she picked it up and counted it and put it in her pocket. On the way home I could picture the bills on the counter and I realized I had only given her $53. Today I went back and offered her the other $5 and told her what I think happened. Her responses were, "Well, I counted it the same way," and "because you are so honest you don't owe me any more." So, I got the two framed reproduction prints for even less than half price. I'll clean up the frames when I get home and they'll look good in the living room.
My back is improving a bit but I've been taking ibuprofen for three days now so the inflammation is not as bad. I managed two short walks today - one this morning and one after dinner. Something is better than nothing which is what I got the two days before. I was hurting by the time I got back from each, so any more would have been miserable. Baby steps... I'll be back to the long walk before we leave - I hope.
Rog got the part to replace the handle on the passenger side of the truck that I need to pull myself into my seat. It's been broken for quite some time but he found the part while cruising other stuff on Amazon last week. I've been having trouble getting in but use other things to hold onto. It's great having that handle back!
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Achy Back and a Trip to Town
When I said that I cleaned the inside of the RV like a woman possessed I didn't think about what it was doing to my back. So, on Saturday I cleaned, on Sunday I lifted grocery bags and laundry baskets, and for several days we had been walking the path twice a day (3 miles total). By Monday evening I was hurting like crazy, so yesterday and today I took the day off. I've been taking muscle relaxers and ibuprofen and now I'm starting to feel better. I spent both days mostly sitting - either doing computer work or knitting but getting up once an hour to walk around a bit. I plan on trying to walk tomorrow. Shall see how it goes.
I haven't done much of anything with the geneology stuff so far this winter despite my intentions to get a lot done. My subscription to Ancestry ends next week and I probably won't renew it until May after we get settled back in. On Monday afternoon I decided that I needed to get everything downloaded from Ancestry to the computer. First I had to load the Family Tree Maker onto this computer, then tell it to import my tree. That didn't take long, but when it came time to import all the photos and source documents it was forever. Really. I started the download after dinner on Monday and it took until 0638 Tuesday morning for it to complete. But, I have everything and feel comfortable that it's all there.
I made reservations for us at the Sparks Marina RV park for the 7th and 8th of April - our target date for getting home.
Several emails and phone calls later, I finally made progress with the PA for my neurologist. They've pushed back my appointment twice now and I realized I didn't have enough meds. It took a while to get her to understand that we were not at home and wouldn't be until the beginning of April. She kept trying to give me an appointment in March. Finally, we got it straightened out and she will renew my current prescription for just enough to get me to my appointment. Whew!
Today Lona and I went into Florence and hit the thrift and consignment shops along Main Street. There are three plus a small shop that does custom embroidery and t-shirts. We found an antique store we wandered through, too. It was fun and we stopped in a little place that advertises fudge but also serves sandwiches and salads. We had a nice lunch there - no fudge. The antique store has a couple of prints by a Native American artist. I want to go back tomorrow and check them out - to see if they are prints or copies of prints. The artist is R.C. Gorman. For the price I'm sure they aren't original prints, but I'm going to check them out anyway. I really liked them and they would be a good addition to our living room decor at home.
It rained most of the night last night and today was cold (55 hight) and windy. It's 6pm and it's warmer now than it has been all day and there is no wind. It's really quite nice outside. The sun is about to set and there's not a cloud in the sky to make the usual incredible sunset.
A new month tomorrow. It's hard to believe we've been here four months now.
I haven't done much of anything with the geneology stuff so far this winter despite my intentions to get a lot done. My subscription to Ancestry ends next week and I probably won't renew it until May after we get settled back in. On Monday afternoon I decided that I needed to get everything downloaded from Ancestry to the computer. First I had to load the Family Tree Maker onto this computer, then tell it to import my tree. That didn't take long, but when it came time to import all the photos and source documents it was forever. Really. I started the download after dinner on Monday and it took until 0638 Tuesday morning for it to complete. But, I have everything and feel comfortable that it's all there.
I made reservations for us at the Sparks Marina RV park for the 7th and 8th of April - our target date for getting home.
Several emails and phone calls later, I finally made progress with the PA for my neurologist. They've pushed back my appointment twice now and I realized I didn't have enough meds. It took a while to get her to understand that we were not at home and wouldn't be until the beginning of April. She kept trying to give me an appointment in March. Finally, we got it straightened out and she will renew my current prescription for just enough to get me to my appointment. Whew!
Today Lona and I went into Florence and hit the thrift and consignment shops along Main Street. There are three plus a small shop that does custom embroidery and t-shirts. We found an antique store we wandered through, too. It was fun and we stopped in a little place that advertises fudge but also serves sandwiches and salads. We had a nice lunch there - no fudge. The antique store has a couple of prints by a Native American artist. I want to go back tomorrow and check them out - to see if they are prints or copies of prints. The artist is R.C. Gorman. For the price I'm sure they aren't original prints, but I'm going to check them out anyway. I really liked them and they would be a good addition to our living room decor at home.
It rained most of the night last night and today was cold (55 hight) and windy. It's 6pm and it's warmer now than it has been all day and there is no wind. It's really quite nice outside. The sun is about to set and there's not a cloud in the sky to make the usual incredible sunset.
A new month tomorrow. It's hard to believe we've been here four months now.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Mystery Solved and Other Things
We've now had two people tell us that the steam/heat from the shower will set off a smoke alarm. Since it is right outside the bathroom door that would explain it. Learned something new.
Saturday was a day where we didn't do much sitting around. After the walk and showers (no smoke alarms) I started cleaning inside the RV and Rog started on the outside. I ended up doing a "deep clean" and even polishing all the woodwork. Don't ask what got into me - it was like I was possessed or something. I was even ready to take the vacuum to Maggie. Roger got the front and the side of the RV with the windows washed. It was so dirty he had to go over it twice. It was great being able to see out the windows again without looking at mud splatter.
Sunday we did the usual - groceries and laundry. In addition we had to visit the Walmart for RV necessities - toilet paper and digester for the black tank. While I was doing laundry Rog washed the back end and other side of the RV. We are all set for the next rain - tomorrow night.
Two long days and we were pooped last night. Fortunately the PBS station here airs the shows an hour earlier than the regular time so I got to watch the final episode of Victoria and still be in bed by 9:30.
Laundry story - a woman came in with two cushions that looked as if they were dining chair cushions. She put them in the washer that is set aside for rugs/pet bedding. She left. Towards the end of the cycle the washer started going berserk and making all kinds of noises. There was another woman in the laundry room and we just looked at each other. We decided one of us should open the washer and redistribute the load. I went over and opened it to find that the two cushions had pretty much disintegrated and the washer was full of polyester stuffing. It was ugly. We agreed that we hoped we were done and out of there before the woman came back to ger her cushions. Luckily we were and so have no tales of the reaction when she opened up the washer.
All's well here - glad we aren't at home for all the snow they are getting.
Saturday was a day where we didn't do much sitting around. After the walk and showers (no smoke alarms) I started cleaning inside the RV and Rog started on the outside. I ended up doing a "deep clean" and even polishing all the woodwork. Don't ask what got into me - it was like I was possessed or something. I was even ready to take the vacuum to Maggie. Roger got the front and the side of the RV with the windows washed. It was so dirty he had to go over it twice. It was great being able to see out the windows again without looking at mud splatter.
Sunday we did the usual - groceries and laundry. In addition we had to visit the Walmart for RV necessities - toilet paper and digester for the black tank. While I was doing laundry Rog washed the back end and other side of the RV. We are all set for the next rain - tomorrow night.
Two long days and we were pooped last night. Fortunately the PBS station here airs the shows an hour earlier than the regular time so I got to watch the final episode of Victoria and still be in bed by 9:30.
Laundry story - a woman came in with two cushions that looked as if they were dining chair cushions. She put them in the washer that is set aside for rugs/pet bedding. She left. Towards the end of the cycle the washer started going berserk and making all kinds of noises. There was another woman in the laundry room and we just looked at each other. We decided one of us should open the washer and redistribute the load. I went over and opened it to find that the two cushions had pretty much disintegrated and the washer was full of polyester stuffing. It was ugly. We agreed that we hoped we were done and out of there before the woman came back to ger her cushions. Luckily we were and so have no tales of the reaction when she opened up the washer.
All's well here - glad we aren't at home for all the snow they are getting.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Another Wild Goose Chase and a Silent Auction
Yesterday involved an unplanned, very long drive down to the base south of Tucson and back. It's a round trip of over 100 miles. Mostly it was a waste of time. The day before, when we got back from our trip to Costco, I was getting stuff out of the truck and I dropped Roger's new phone in the gravel. He had liquid protective cover put on it when he bought it, which I think saved the screen, but it did put a small divot in the protective cover. Oh, dear.
I called the people at the base exchange who had sold us the phone and asked if they might be able to repair it. "Well, maybe, but we need to see it." In the meantime I realized I had not registered the product nor had we purchased insurance on the phones. With the way I've been a fumble fingers lately, I thought it might be prudent. We went on line and added the insurance, but since I'd thrown away the packaging we couldn't register the screen protector. We had 3 days left of our 30 days before we had to do both.
We got down to the base exchange and it was determined that they couldn't repair the scratch. I explained about not registering the product. They took pity on us and the manager took a new package and gave me the code from it so I could register it so we can make a claim in the future to get it fixed. So, the trip wasn't entirely wasted. We grabbed a frozen yogurt from the food court and headed back to the truck. Maggie was with us and really was a good dog. When we left her in the truck we told her we were "going to the store" just like we do when we go out. She curled up in her bed and waited. We were only gone maybe 20 minutes so she didn't have a long wait. We ate our treat in the truck - gave her some dog treats and then headed back. It was a very long afternoon.
Today the Activities Club held a silent auction and then an open dessert auction to raise money for the Club. I'd never been to one before and it was fun. I managed to get one of the handmade baskets and a small purse for carrying only phone/wallet.
The woman who donated the purse also donated 6 others - all in different fabrics. I bid on all of them hoping for one. I ended up with the one that had my least favorite colors. Rog says it must have been everyone's least favorite colors or I wouldn't have got it. It's ok, though, I'll use it for when I don't need anything but the phone and wallet.
I was beaten out on a nice red one by $1 at the last minute! I almost had two! There were so many nice things - hand made items mostly, and some gift certificates. Rog is thinking about making a couple of segmented bowls this summer to donate for next year. I think they would go for a lot of money!
Then they started auctioning the desserts. Wow! Pies going for an average of $60 and some even got to $110. One pie that went for $100 was bought by the husband of the baker! People even bid on an item, paid for it, then donated it for a second round. One batch of cookies got auctioned three times and made about $60 each time. They raised a lot of money today - they served free nachos and margaritas and everyone had a fun time. I am sure the margaritas were on purpose to loosen up the wallets!!! I really enjoyed it!
Cold and windy this afternoon, but it was nice for our morning walk. Our walking partner is back from her travels. Maggie was very happy to see her. A couple times while she was gone Maggie headed to her RV and would sit down and wait. I'd have to pull her to get her going.
We put the potted plants in the shop for the night - expecting freezing temperatures for the next couple of nights.
I called the people at the base exchange who had sold us the phone and asked if they might be able to repair it. "Well, maybe, but we need to see it." In the meantime I realized I had not registered the product nor had we purchased insurance on the phones. With the way I've been a fumble fingers lately, I thought it might be prudent. We went on line and added the insurance, but since I'd thrown away the packaging we couldn't register the screen protector. We had 3 days left of our 30 days before we had to do both.
We got down to the base exchange and it was determined that they couldn't repair the scratch. I explained about not registering the product. They took pity on us and the manager took a new package and gave me the code from it so I could register it so we can make a claim in the future to get it fixed. So, the trip wasn't entirely wasted. We grabbed a frozen yogurt from the food court and headed back to the truck. Maggie was with us and really was a good dog. When we left her in the truck we told her we were "going to the store" just like we do when we go out. She curled up in her bed and waited. We were only gone maybe 20 minutes so she didn't have a long wait. We ate our treat in the truck - gave her some dog treats and then headed back. It was a very long afternoon.
Today the Activities Club held a silent auction and then an open dessert auction to raise money for the Club. I'd never been to one before and it was fun. I managed to get one of the handmade baskets and a small purse for carrying only phone/wallet. 
The woman who donated the purse also donated 6 others - all in different fabrics. I bid on all of them hoping for one. I ended up with the one that had my least favorite colors. Rog says it must have been everyone's least favorite colors or I wouldn't have got it. It's ok, though, I'll use it for when I don't need anything but the phone and wallet.
I was beaten out on a nice red one by $1 at the last minute! I almost had two! There were so many nice things - hand made items mostly, and some gift certificates. Rog is thinking about making a couple of segmented bowls this summer to donate for next year. I think they would go for a lot of money! Then they started auctioning the desserts. Wow! Pies going for an average of $60 and some even got to $110. One pie that went for $100 was bought by the husband of the baker! People even bid on an item, paid for it, then donated it for a second round. One batch of cookies got auctioned three times and made about $60 each time. They raised a lot of money today - they served free nachos and margaritas and everyone had a fun time. I am sure the margaritas were on purpose to loosen up the wallets!!! I really enjoyed it!
Cold and windy this afternoon, but it was nice for our morning walk. Our walking partner is back from her travels. Maggie was very happy to see her. A couple times while she was gone Maggie headed to her RV and would sit down and wait. I'd have to pull her to get her going.
We put the potted plants in the shop for the night - expecting freezing temperatures for the next couple of nights.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)