Oops - Five Days Since We Posted Anything

Oh dear, where has the time gone and what did we do?  I don't believe it has been anything exciting or I would have noted it.

Roger finished his project - well, it's about 98% done.  He's waiting for one piece of hardware and the rest he will finish at home.  This leaves a huge void in his day and the last two days he's been a bit at loose ends.  He's thinking about "what to do next."  

I finished my crochet project and will put it in the mail to Stephanie tomorrow.  It's a poncho.  I've never made one before and it looks pretty good for a beginner.  Hope she likes it.  

We went to Casa Grande yesterday for an oil change for the truck.  That was quite exciting - not.  

We love it down here but we are seeing the negative of being so far out in the boonies.  To get anything done or do any shopping it's a minimum of a 30 mile drive round trip.  We are trying to work out how we can bring the car down here next year instead of putting the miles on the truck.  We have logged over 4K miles since we left home and it's about 850 miles to home.  Lots of driving to get anywhere. 

We are trying to get a date from the landscaper as to when he can do the drip system.  Time's running out.   

It was very warm yesterday - the warmest day so far - and the RV got quite hot inside.  We opted not to turn on the AC because of the noise, so we went out for pizza with Lona and Lert.  Pizza was horrible, the restaurant was noisy, but the place  was cool.  We won't be going back to that place again - everyone agreed.  

We've had a lovely week of 80 degree weather - until today.  It was cool and windy.  Looks like mid 70s for the next week.  We can deal with that!

Lona came over this afternoon to bring me something and Maggie greeted her like she does us when we come home,  including bringing "Bear" to her to see.  I guess the two times Lona has watched Maggie and walking with her every day (twice) has allowed Maggs to feel like Lona is part of her family.  Lona is not a dog person so it is really nice to see. 

Friday tomorrow and no plans at the moment.  

A Great Lunch and Some Horse Racing

We headed south to Tucson around 10:30 so we could find a place to eat  before we went to the racetrack.  I felt totally overwhelmed once we hit civilization with the strip malls full of food places.  I was amazing!  We've been out in the sticks too long, I'm thinking!

We found a shopping center looking for a place I googled and when we pulled in we spotted an Indian restaurant!  We headed straight there instead of to the one we had found on the google machine.  Tablecloths, cloth napkins,  a wonderful buffet filled with a half dozen vegetarian dishes, and a basket of garlic naan - it was wonderful!  Unfortunately Roger's nose was stuffed up and so his taste buds dulled, but I really enjoyed the meal.  We had rice pudding for dessert and our tummies were so happy.  

The racetrack is in the northeast foothills of Tucson.  Wow, what a beautiful area but so many subdivisions and so much traffic.  The area was unrecognizable from the last time we were there.  The racetrack itself has deteriorated and become run down despite a funding campaign to save it as a historical site.  It is the first place in the US where they raced quarter horses and it is supposedly famous.  It's pretty much a dump now, though.

Today wasn't as much fun as we remembered from before, although, if I had placed a bet on my choice for the first race I would have had enough money to pay for the day's outing!  We left after three races.  I had forgotten that they have a race every half hour and it only lasts for 30 seconds or so and the rest of the time is just waiting.  It got a bit boring.  People watching wasn't that great, but the horses were absolutely beautiful.   Rog got a few pictures.   The Mariachi band played the National Anthem as it was Hispanic Heritage Day.  

A Whiskey Barrel Harley, Tile Painting, and Spring Blooms

We saw this Harley on the way to the post office yesterday.  (sorry about the glare from the windshield) I've never seen a Harley decked out like this before - it is quite unique.  

Yesterday was a tile painting class in the activities center.  Well, I can't paint, I am not artistic in any sense, but it looked like it might be fun.  Wine and snacks to be provided and a room full of women making art.  It was fun once I relaxed and decided it didn't matter what I produced.  There were some weird ones, some ugly ones, and there were some actual works of art at the end of the afternoon.  The medium was alcohol paint on a white floor tile.  Weird stuff.  The paint is thin and runny and if you put a drop of alcohol on it, even more so.  You swirl it around and make colors.  Once you're done, then you stare at it and see if you can see any images and then you outline them with a gold or silver sharpie.  The instructor told us some people make thousands of dollars for their alcohol artwork.  Yeah, right!   It was messy, good for lots of laughs, and for meeting people.  So, here are my feeble attempts at art.  Rog thought my prickly pear was a strawberry when I brought it home.  Just now, looking at my photo of the tile, he recognized my cactus!  Even said it was "modernistic art."  

Prickly Pear in Bloom

Whatever You See - That's What It Is!

Speaking of flowers in bloom, I spotted this little cactus on my walk this evening.  Spring is coming!  

Rog had a frustrating day today - could find no where in Coolidge or Florence that can do an oil change on a diesel.  Looks like we will have to make a trip to Casa Grande next week.

Tomorrow we are off to the races!  Really - quarter horse races in Tucson.  We went years ago when we were in the area and it was lots of fun.  Bright colors on the jockeys and horses, beautiful horses, and a fun day out.  I'll take my $20 and make some $2 bets and just have a good time!  Lona is checking on Maggie so we don't have to worry about hurrying home.  

McDonalds, a Drip System, and Spring Break

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.    

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!!

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.

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.   

He's currently plugged into a 51 hour audible book - Michener's "Centennial."   He's convinced me I will like it but I can't see myself listening for that long.  It would take me two years to finish, so I've ordered a used copy from ThriftBooks.  He says he's learning a lot of depressing things about the settlement of the west and some of the chapters have him feeling angry, but he is learning stuff and enjoying the story.  



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!