This morning I did a "toadstool agility" session with Bo. HA HA HA ... good dog, Bo, well done ! This afternoon I worked on installing clamps on the more than 30 feet of propane hoses to the new heaters. I'm not finished yet !
This evening we went to the weekly ice cream social, then watched Amazing Race.
Monday ; Today we remember Toby the cat, who died 7 years ago, while we were WorkCamping at Trout Lodge up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.
The cleanup continues. The storage shed / workshop is almost done. And today I finished installing clamps on the new heaters' propane hoses. All that's left now to finish the heater installation job is to replace the Wave 6 heater's wood mounting strips. Initially I used cheap Douglas Fir because that was all I could get at the time in Oakhurst, California. Now I have bought oak, cut it, drilled it, and Joanne is staining it. In a few days I will remove the Douglas Fir and replace it with oak.
Late this afternoon just as we were preparing to take Bo for his daily walk around the perimeter of the seven acre dog park, Sully expressed a desire to go outside. So while I walked around the dog park with Bo, Joanne stayed with Sully as he explored the dog park / desert right behind our lot. We now enter the dog park by simply climbing over our back fence. Sully was interested in checking out the cholla cactus behind our back yard. Joanne wouldn't let him. Now he's pouting !
Tuesday ; This morning while Joanne went to Wal-Mart I installed a new motion detector light fixture on the exterior front wall of the storage shed. There had been one there already, but when I went to adjust it a few days ago, it crumbled like a potato chip. The intense desert sun here bakes plastic light fixtures, I guess.
This afternoon I had my inaugural nap on the sofa in the Arizona room. With Sully and Bo, of course. While we napped Joanne planted herb gardens, using about half a dozen large flower pots that were in the storage shed. Good luck with growing herbs out here in the desert, my dear ! Actually, they probably will grow alright. She's positioned the pots on a large shelf on the front wall of the storage shed, and it's shaded from direct sunlight for most of the day by the trailer and the screened front patio.
This evening I ( finally ! ) completed the catalytic radiant heater installation job ! I removed the Wave 6 heater, removed the Douglas Fir mounting strips I had made, installed the now stained oak strips I made, and remounted the heater. Bring on the cold weather !
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm, perhaps the last for awhile. Starting tomorrow the weather is forecast to be cooler and windy.
This morning I did an obedience session with Bo. He has been a bit of a "bad dog" lately, and needed some "reinforcement" regarding who's the "leader of the pack" ! Neighbours are dropping by, curious and interested to see our Arizona room, which has been hidden away behind its vinyl walls for at least the last four years. We spent much of the morning chatting with neighbours.
This afternoon we went shopping. Main destination was Harbor Freight, a "guy" store, to buy some advertised specials. But ... they were out of stock of most of the items I was interested in. We stopped at an air conditioning service business, looking for a few little items I need to refurbish the swamp cooler. I got the items I needed, and learned what I needed to know about the operation of swamp coolers. I don't anticipate we will ever use lot 52's swamp cooler, but I'm too anal retentive to leave it non-functional for the sake of a couple of bucks worth of parts. We went to Specialty Sewing Senter to pick up the new front patio screen section we had them make for us.
Back at Kofa Ko-op late in the afternoon we attended the regular Wednesday Happy Hour & Appetizers Potluck. Our television reception in the trailer ( using the park's cable TV ) is very poor, so I went to the clubhouse in the evening to watch Survivor.
Thursday ; Today was mostly overcast, a bit cooler, and a bit windy.
This morning we went shopping to Arizona Marketplace, the large flea market nearby.
I needed some hardware. Joanne bought fresh produce. This afternoon Joanne went shopping by herself while I napped with Sully and Bo. Sully is obviously of the opinion that I'm not fulfilling my obligation to nap with him often enough.
This evening we went to Arizona Western College's Christmas Gala. It took us a long time to drive to and find the venue, Cibola High School. When we finally got there ...
< sigh > ... we discovered that the venue had been changed to Kofa High School's Auditorium. Needless to say, we were a bit late. The concert featured the Arizona Western College / AWC Community Band, AWC Chamber Singers, AWC Youth Choir, Yuma Civic Orchestra, and Yuma Chorale. The concert was ... okay. It served to remind me what an "orchestra snob" I am and how much I miss the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
Friday ; I just got off the phone with my sister ( at 6:30 PM ). My brother-in-law's prostatectomy surgery yesterday went as well as could be expected. He was on his feet today. Might be able to go home Sunday. Way to go, Bud ! Our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Begone, ye evil cancer !
This morning we headed to The Foothills to shop at Al's RV Service & Supply. Today was a "Welcome Back, Snowbirds" customer appreciation day sale with 15% off everything in stock. I have been wanting to replace the trailer's entrance steps for a long time now, and I wanted to check if they had a replacement step assembly. I knew it was unlikely because there are so many different sizes and configurations of RV step assemblies. But ... lo and behold ... they had one step assembly in stock and it was the right size and configuration. WOO-HOO ... I bought it ! Just what I needed ... another big job on my "to do" list !
After lunch I went to the clubhouse to help out with a computer project. The park is getting a new Wi-Fi configuration and all users must be identified by their computer "name". Volunteers were needed to help those who did not know how to identify their computer "name".
We met our new next door neighbour, a woman from Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC ... and her cat. We went to the late afternoon TGIF happy hour. It was not very well attended this week, perhaps due to cool weather.
Saturday ; We spent the entire day running errands and shopping again. I'd like to spend less time shopping and more time working on home improvement projects.
First stop was Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Fifty percent off again today. Then Goodwill Thrift Shop. Same 50% off story. We bought an excellent vacuum cleaner ... for $7.50 ! We ran around looking for an upholstery shop that was difficult to locate, and when we finally did find it they were unable to do the folding chair repair we need done < sigh >. We went to Food City for some advertised specials. WOO-HOO ... avocadoes were 4 for $1.00 ! Sure beats paying $4.69 per avocado in Penticton !
We had a very late lunch at Subway then headed over to Lowe's for more hardware shopping. Then the Dodge dealer. The money I saved on the vacuum cleaner got spent on a hubcap for the truck. GEEEZ ... $67 ! Oh, well ... that beats the Penticton Dodge dealer's price of $90 !
As we arrived home our friends Terry and Judy came by asking if we would go for a walk in the dog park with them and their new dog Spanky. Bo and Spanky met a few days ago and have become “pack walk” buddies. Spanky was recently adopted from an animal shelter in the Vancouver, BC area. He has some insecurities that are diminished by socializing and “pack walking” with Bo. While we were walking in the seven acre desert dog park, Joanne picked up a gruesome looking desert plant thing on the back of her shoe. Terry identified it as a Devil’s Claw / Horse Crippler. YIKES ! Appropriate name !
In the evening we went to the clubhouse to see a Christmas concert by Rainbow Station, a local children’s choir comprised of children from four to fourteen years of age. And we had an opportunity to express our condolences to Betty, who has just returned to the park after visiting family in Massachusetts. It’s the first time we’ve seen her since her Quebec born husband Reynald / Ronnie died this spring. We will certainly miss our friend Monsieur Labrecque.
DSK
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