We Have a Shed!

I was going to post several pictures today of the shed building progress yesterday, but the internet at the library was down.  So, tonight I’m only going to upload three photos to save on data.  Two of the completed building and one of Rog in his new man-cave before we moved stuff into it.  

It took four guys four hours to go from an empty concrete slab to a completed building.  The walls, roof joists, doors, and braces for Roger’s workbench were all preassembled.  The guys showed up with a trailer with all the parts and started putting the jigsaw puzzle together.  It was amazing watching them work - everyone had his job and it all meshed together in the end.  It was very entertaining.   Rog said last night that he felt like it was Christmas Day eve - the anticipation is over and the “present” has been opened.  

After the crew left we went to Lowe’s in Casa Grande and spent our $200 in gift cards (from credit card points) on outfitting the inside - shelving, shop stool, miscellaneous hooks to hang things on.  Then last night we went shopping at Amazon and bought a small solar panel, some solar outside lights and a power source thing for minimal power if needed in the shed.  I’m hoping we are done shopping for a while, although, we had managed to save up over $1K in credit card points over several cards to help pay for all the miscellany  - thank goodness.  We have reached that magic number now and have to start being a little more frugal.    

Next week we are supposed to be in the queue for having the patio built.  That will be nice.  I’m beginning to feel like the red silty sand is overtaking me and the RV.  Learning to live with the constant dust is a challenge and I find myself dusting down the dark counters most days.  

Roger ended up taking the propane tank out and finding a place to get it filled yesterday.  We had our sign out for the propane man for three days and he never stopped.  The office never returned calls, so we will just do it ourselves.  Apparently they didn’t want our business. 

Can’t remember when I posted last, but not a whole lot  other than regular day to day stuff going on.   The weather has been a little cooler - chilly in the mornings and today only up to 80.  Looks like that is what the next week will be and then a week of 70s and high 60s.  

Friday I have a haircut appointment.  I need a haircut desperately but am afraid to go - new person.  Who knows what I’ll look like when she’s done.  Keeping my fingers crossed I’ll still be presentable - actually, more presentable than I am now!  

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow.  If it is warm enough (for me) I’ll go to exercise class in the afternoon.   Then I need to do end of month financial fun.  The day will fly by - as have almost all of them since we have been here.  

Two Quiet Days

We’ve had a couple of very quiet days - nothing on the agenda.  

Rog worked in the wood shop both afternoons.  He’s making drawers for his tools to put in the shed.  He’s doing it all by hand so it’s a slow process.   The guys in the shop just shake their heads - why do it by hand when you can use the power tools and get it done now.?  Besides wanting to do his woodworking by hand, since it takes longer, so what.  It gives him an excuse to go to the shop.

Other than walking both mornings with Maggie,  I went to exercise class yesterday afternoon and this morning I did laundry.  Woohoo!!!  I’m trying to get my book club book from home read so I can start on the one from here.  I usually read at night after we go to bed, but lately I only last 15 minutes or so and I’m ready to turn out the light.  Therefore, I’m having to make time during the day.  In addition, I’ve been doing some crochet work.  Crochet until my eyes cross, read until I fall asleep.  That was this afternoon.  I had a nice nap in the recliner until my 3:00 alarm went off.  (It’s set so I’ll remember to take my meds.)  I’m not sure what time I dozed off.  The book is good, though, but it was warm and I was comfy and that was all it took.

We picked up some DVDs at the library on Wednesday - they are only checked out for a week.  We have been binge watching Season 3 of Madam Secretary in the evenings trying to get through the whole season.  

This morning’s walk was kind of interesting.  Rog decided to ride his bike around the perimeter path at the same time that Maggie and I took our walk.   We started out and Rog headed one way and Maggie and I the other.  I like going southeast  towards the dumpsters as Maggs does her business within the first 15 minutes and I can drop off the poo bag and continue on my way.  She kept stopping and giving me the “I don’t want to go” look, I kept yanking her leash and telling her she was going.  She must have stopped five times between home and the dumpster.  I was beginning to wonder if she was sick or something.  Then we saw Roger coming down the path.  She spotted him first and her tail started wagging.  He stopped to talk to us and I told him what she was doing.  We concluded she was wanting to follow him and not go with me.  He turned around, then, and headed back the way he had come.  If she could have run, she would have.  I started following him and going so fast I could hardly keep up.  She kept up quite a pace and kept turning around to see if I was following her.   I got my aerobic exercise for sure this morning.  Once Rog was out of sight, she kept going with her nose in the air and when we would get to an intersection of paths she would stop, sniff both directions, and then pick one - the one he had gone on.  It was cool to watch her do that.  All along she just wanted Roger and not to be walking with me.   Shows how much I rate!  I wish we could have let her go to run alongside him, but it’s against the rules, and there are cactus and critters she would encounter if she went off path.  I believe she would have kept up with him, though.  

Left overs for dinner last night and tonight.  Too hot to cook.  We are out of leftovers.  We are trying to conserve propane as we somehow missed the propane guy yesterday - or he missed us.  So cooking is being kept at a minimal - oh darn. 

Tomorrow we may have to go into town for dinner and try out the Greek restaurant or go to the Italian one - if either are open.  We aren’t sure about what is open around here on Sunday.   So, tomorrow - clean house in the morning, ice cream social at 2 and then out to dinner.  Sounds like a good day.  

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a lovely Thanksgiving Day.  The weather was a bit warm - high 80s - and it’s hard to think of Thanksgiving without cool weather.  But, that’s ok.  That’s why we are here!  

We sat outside most of the day - me crocheting and Roger listening to his audio book.  Maggie just hanging out with us.  

We had a light lunch in anticipation of lots of food at the pot luck at 3pm.  We weren’t disappointed.  Even without the turkey, we filled up our plates.  Lots of carbs - potatoes fixed several ways, yams fixed several ways, even some mac and cheese.  Several salads of different varieties, deviled eggs, and veggie trays.  We definitely found enough to eat.  Of course, there was dessert but was surprised there weren’t more pumpkin pies instead of the mousse type pie.  Lots of cream pies with lots of whipped cream.   Our table mates were convivial and I spent some time chatting with ladies from the book group.  One of them is thinking of moving to Carson City!  If the acoustics had been conducive to better conversation it would have been nicer.  The place was quite full!   

We visited with neighbors outside our rig until it got dark and too cool to sit outside.  We are in for the night.  

We hope everyone had a good day with lots of good food enjoyed with family and/or friends.

We are feeding hummingbirds and have a small bird bath for water for the other birds.  So far we haven’t seen anything but hummers and cactus wren.  I’m told there’s a neighborhood woodpecker, but he hasn’t wandered our way yet.   We had a feeder for the hummers but the bees were taking over and chasing them off.  Yesterday we went into Florence to the really cool hardware store there and found some feeders that say they are bee resistant.  They are different from any I've seen before.  We bought two and hung them out yesterday.  Immediately the bees swarmed around and then after a few minutes they took off and we haven't seen any since.  I had put Vasoline along the edges of the yellow part -  advice of the guy at the hardware store.  We are seeing hummers regularly now.  

I went to the first book club meeting of “the season”  here yesterday.  About 20 women showed up.  All but two of us have been coming here for years.  Most of the them, it turns out, are also the water exercise members that I’ve met,  so I saw a lot of familiar faces - not great with names yet, but I’m getting there.  Everyone very friendly.  There is a woman “in charge” that put me off a bit, but shall see down the line how that goes.   The format for today was to go around the room and ask each person to give their thoughts on the book.  About 75% “loved” it, maybe 10% “Liked it ok,” and the rest didn’t like it at all.  It generated a lot of back and forth discussion after everyone had their say.  

The book for today was Anne Tyler’s “The Beginner’s Goodbye.”  It was a story about a man who lost his wife and how he copes and then finds love again.  In listening to the discussion it reminded me a lot of “A Man Called Ove” but only sadder.  I piped up and asked if anyone had read One and if they had did they see a similarity?  I guess I was on to something because it started a new line of discussion.   One of the members gave me the book to read which I thought was nice.  

I asked if they read any non-fiction and they said very little and they gave me some examples but I can’t remember what they were.  One example was “Boys in the Boat.”  I was told, NO ROMANCE and NO SELF HELP books  :-)  

We are awaiting our shed delivery next Tuesday, the patio installation the week after, and then the landscaping.  In the meantime we sit and stare at the lot and make adjustments here and there and continually move the stakes in the sand that delineate where we think we want the patio!  It’s on about it’s third iteration!!   We found some colorful Mexican pots to put in the front of the shed.  You can see by the photo why we positioned the shed on the lot the way we did.  This is the view from our dining/living room.  The shed will hide the best part of the neighbor's rig and most importantly, the sewer line.  

It's very windy today!  My yard art blew over.  The rabbits look sad on their sides!  We are in the library right now in downtown Florence.  We can't be outside and listening to the wind blowing is annoying, so it was a good time to come here and use the internet for surfing, back up devices, and do some blog posting!  We also checked out some DVDs.   Rog will spend the afternoon in the wood shop.  I downloaded some crochet patterns to work on as I'm finally finished with Christmas ornaments.  

Maggie is getting used to being here and we are even able to leave her off leash (although it’s against the rules) while we sit outside.  The issue we had last March was she was chasing ground squirrels and we couldn’t let her off the leash.  They did something here this summer because we haven’t even seen one so far.  

Looks as if my iPad has updated and backed up, so it's time to wander home.    

Learning Lessons the Hard Way

We have learned a couple invaluable lessons in the last four or five days in regard to data plans, hotspots, and use of the internet.  Basically, we ran out of data with the plan we had.  (Notice past tense.)  Then we decided to upgrade our plan to what we thought we could live on/with.  When we did, instead of being pro-rated from the time we changed, it ended up being retroactive to the beginning of the last billing period.  We lost 3GB of available data, we were throttled back to dial up speed, and ended up paying for it for the whole month instead of a partial month.  These wireless plans are tricky if you don’t read the fine print.  Lesson learned.  

That is why there has been a long hiatus in blog postings.  We couldn’t even get Google to open the page to write a post because the speed was so slow!  Today we start the new month of data and we have made a few concessions as to how we will use the data and try not to run out again.  What a pain that was!  One thing we think will help will be to write the blog entry in the word processing app and then copy and paste into the blog and then close it right back up.  Same thing for long emails.  We will go to the library at least once a week and download things we need and back up all the devices.  We shall see how that goes over the next 30 days.  If we are still having issues then we will have to rethink the purchase of the local WIFI.  

So, what’s happened in the last few days?  Not a whole lot.  We are starting to get into a routine for laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, etc.  Roger has started going to the wood shop every afternoon while I am at exercise class.  I’ve been working on the last of the Christmas presents and doing some reading.  I walk the dog in the mornings.  (I’ve been taking  the short route  which is about 1.7 miles and my back handles it nicely.  Today I decided to try the long route which is just over 2 miles.  My back was talking pretty loudly to me by the time I returned.)   Sunday afternoons they have an ice cream social - two scoops and a cookie for a dollar but you have to be “social” and sit with others and visit.  Always a catch! 

Saturday we went to Casa Grande and had lunch with our friends the Morlans to celebrate my 70th birthday.  We did some shopping - got the other two chairs for the patio set that we couldn’t get into the back of the truck last time.  It was a long day.  We were gone five hours and poor Maggie was just beside herself with excitement when we got back.   Today we had lunch out and got groceries - that alone was a two hour chunk out of the day.   

Tomorrow is the book group meeting and I’ll go try it out and see what sorts of reading the group prefers.  

Thursday there will be a pot luck at 3pm.  The park is furnishing the turkey and gravy and the rest is up to the residents.  From the sign up sheet it looks like everyone who is here will be going.  I keep thinking about the last time we went to a Thanksgiving Day pot luck I caught a really nasty cold.  

The weather has been fantastic and the sunsets spectacular.  We did have a very windy day yesterday, and Maggie and I got caught in two walls of blowing sand on our walk.  We both had to have a bath after we got back to get all the sand off of us!  It was pretty ugly.   Tonight the sunset was brilliant red with just a sliver of the rising moon showing.  Unbelievably beautiful.  

Hopefully I’ll be back to regular postings - probably every other day unless something exciting happens or I have a great photo to share.  

A Down Day and Shopping Day

I didn't sleep well Monday night - one of those wake up at 4am and the "brain is on speed for about two hours" kind of night.  Obviously, that made for a very slow, lethargic day for me on Tuesday.  After walking Maggie I was done with the physical stuff.  Just felt puny.  I spent the afternoon working on the budget stuff.  We didn't even go to the Welcome Back Hamburger Party.   

The people across the street are having a huge area of their lot cemented in, so Rog and the neighbors spent a lot of time just watching the workers move dirt and gravel and frame in the area to be cemented.  That seems to be the thing around here - when someone is having work done of any kind, all the guys, and some women, gather round to supervise the work!  It's a way to get to know your neighbors as well as get ideas as to what can be done to your lot!  

Rog went for a bike ride - then fell off the bike in the driveway as he was coming home.  The road/driveway is loose gravel - big gravel - and his tires got caught in it.  Fortunately the only thing he really hurt was his pride.  One of the cement workers saw him go down and came running over to check on him and help him up.  His left wrist, elbow and shoulder are tender today from landing on them, but no skin was lost and no bruising.

Today, after Maggie's walk, Roger and I drove up north to Chandler, a southeast suburb of Phoenix 40 miles away, to a Woodcraft store.  Rog bought some more hand tools so he can work in the wood shop and in the shed once we get it.  We had a very good lunch at a place called "Chompies."  It purported to be the New York Deli of the Southwest.  It was crowded and there wasn't much on the menu for us, but what we had was delicious and there was lots of it.   We stopped at the post office on the way home to pick up my packages - new swim suit/pool shoes and a new sun hat and visor for the pool.  We were gone over four hours just for that.  Nothing is close, so we have to plan our trips.  Maggie was very glad to see us when we got home.

We discovered a crack in the truck windshield on the way home.  Neither of us saw it going up there nor did we hear a rock hit, so we are at a loss as to what happened.  It's a small one on the passenger side.  Will have to address that issue soon.  

This evening I was talking with a neighbor - the lady who facilitates the water exercise program - and she offered to be available to let Maggie out if we ever get stuck in traffic, get delayed for some reason, etc.  That is very generous of her.  She was sitting outside weaving baskets.  She showed me some of them and they are gorgeous.  She will be selling them at the craft fair in December.  I see one or two in my future.  

I cancelled my Ancestry membership yesterday for the duration.  No sense paying for it if I can't spend hours on the internet doing research.  Will have to do other things.  I did bring some files on two families I need to review and figure out - two lines that everyone has the same names and I'm not sure if I have them right.  I can work on that without the internet, I hope.  

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow except Maggie's walk and the exercise class.  Not sure what Rog has in mind to keep busy.  

No changes in weather - low 80s and partly cloudy today.  

Veteran's Day Program

We started the day this morning with the Florence High School Band coming to the park and playing the National Anthem while the flag was being raised.  Then we all went inside the activity center and had donuts and coffee and visited with other vets in the park.  It sure looked as if the majority of the inhabitants here are veterans.  There was a nice turn out and some nice displays of shadow boxes with medals/  flags/etc. that belonged to some of the vets.  (I almost typed "guys" but then remembered that not all vets are guys!)  

My swim suit held up today in class!  It looked a bit funky, but since I was in the water up to my neck, no one really noticed - I hope.  The pool was absolutely packed today and I'm meeting some nice ladies - and actually remembering a few names.  The workout is 45 minutes non stop bouncing in the water while doing exercises that we normally do on land.  It's quite a workout!  

Went to Florence hardware store this afternoon.  Rog bought some wood to make drawers for the tools he's going to have to buy.  I found a small hanging birdbath, some hummer food, and a wind chime to go on a metal "tree" that our friends left on our site.   Slowly getting some "pretties" for the yard. 

We have had a frustrating day with trying to get internet going here.  We have tried and tried to get signed up.  It just won't happen.  So, we've given up.  I've been "chatting" with AT&T now for about an hour (using my data) to see if we can upgrade data plan for now but go back to cheaper one when we return home.  I think the person I  am "chatting" with is not up to speed - running at about 128kbps.  It looks like it will be cheaper to upgrade our data plan while we are here rather than pay their internet charges - if we could get signed up.  It will mean roughing it as far as streaming any of the programs we normally watch.  We will have to pace ourselves and I'll just have to wait 'till we get home to watch the new season of  "Longmire."  Bummer.  Well, we will figure something out.  Lots of reading and crocheting coming up.  There'll be enough data for me to play WORD and Rog to watch an occasional woodworking video.  I see trips to the library to get DVDs in our future!  It's doable.

Cooked some fish in my combination microwave/convection oven using the convection part.  It's a bit of a learning curve and I hope it doesn't take too long to figure it out.  Food came out OK after a bit of confusion and button pushing.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be a Welcome Back Potluck.  I signed us up, but will see if we actually go.  We are just not social animals but the lure of some desserts might get us there.  Maybe.