Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad
Another sunny, warm Christmas day in Yuma ! WOO-HOO !
Last Christmas I got a waffle iron, and had waffles for breakfast the day after Christmas. This is the first Christmas in eight years that I've actually had waffles on Christmas morning, my family's tradition. WOO-HOO !
After breakfast, we opened gifts. WOO-HOO ! ( That was Bo, not me ... HA HA HA ! ) Bo loooooves opening gifts. He gets frantic during the process. It's sooooo funny ! We let him open his gifts, and Sully's, and Kaydee's, and ours. HA HA HA HA HA ! This was probably Kaydee's "first" Christmas, despite being about four years old. And while she thought the gift opening process by Bo was a bit weird, it did not take her long to appreciate ... HEY ... those are dog treats ! HA HA HA ! You go, girl !
Last week, there was a visitor in the boondock area of Kofa Ko-op using a Sun Oven. Joanne wondered why it took me an hour and a half to take a bag of garbage to the dumpster. Because, my dear, I was chatting with him for an hour and a half about his Sun Oven. And then I came home and ordered one for you for Christmas. Between Keremeos in the summer and now Yuma in the winter, I'm certain we spend well over 300 days a year in sunshine. We've talked about "harnessing the sun" with solar panels, and / or "harnessing the wind". with a small RV wind turbine ( Keremeos and Yuma are both windy as well as sunny ), and we've talked about using a solar oven. So ... one is on its way ! I set up a link in the computer to Sun Oven's website as today's "gift" to Joanne. See http://www.sunoven.com/
While Joanne prepared her contribution to tonight's Christmas dinner, I went outside and planted three Aloe Vera plants in the dog park behind our back yard fence. I have now planted four prickly pears, four Aloe Veras, and two agaves. Wish me luck ! Next I want an ocotillo, the "masterpiece" of my cactus gardening. I chatted briefly with my sister. After a bit of a setback caused by infection, my brother-in-law's recuperation from cancer surgery continues.
We went early to dinner. I had volunteered to be a turkey and ham carver. Joanne had volunteered to be a greeter, greeting people upon arrival, taking their potluck contributions and placing them in the correct locations on the large serving tables ; salads, hot side dishes, desserts, etc. Christmas dinner was excellent ! Turkeys roasted to moist perfection ! MMMMM ! ! ! A hundred and thirty people ... served and sitting in nineteen minutes ! Great organization and execution by the couple from Alberta who were in charge of Christmas dinner! Well done ! I love efficiency !
Tomorrow morning a woman in the park is coming to see Kaydee and consider her for adoption.
WOO-HOO ! I've just checked the weather forecast. New Year's Day is forecast to be 75 degrees. That's great, because I've signed up to participate in Kofa Ko-op's New Year's Day "Polar Bear Plunge" and belly flop contest. HA HA HA HA HA ... a bunch of old guys jumping into a pool heated to 90 degrees on a day when the air temperature will be 75 degrees. Polar Bear Plunge Yuma style ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA .
Monday ; Boxing Day ( in Canada ) Another beautiful, sunny, warm day. AHHHHH ! ! !
The lady who was supposed to come by to visit Kaydee at 10 AM this morning did not show up. She sent a neighbour over to tell us she had a sore throat < shrug > or something.
Today was a bit of a lazy rest day. As Boxing Day should be. We spent much of the morning laying in bed, reading yesterday's newspaper ( Joanne and me ), and snoozing in sunbeams ( Sully, Bo, Kaydee, and me ). HEY ... I can go either way ... HA HA HA !
In the afternoon I chatted with neighbours, and did some "gardening" in the dog park / desert behind our back yard fence. DAMN ... I broke a spade I had borrowed from the landscaping committee's shed. I was digging out a wild Brittlebush ( I think that's what it's called ). Didn't know that root stalk was so thick and so deep ! Joanne had a long phone call with her family and then continued painting the shed door.
At 4 PM we went for our regular daily pack walk. But today instead of three dogs, we walked with six. Bo, Kaydee, and Spanky were joined by our next door neighbour, Ardee, and two new dogs, Maisie, and Paddy. Five little dogs and one big one. And ... dominant little Spanky decided to show his dominance by "attacking" Ardee. What a bad little dog. And since Ardee is old, and large, he mostly tried to ignore Spanky's attack. So it would have fizzled out in about two seconds ... had Bo not decided to get involved. "HEY ...
I don't want members of my pack fighting ... so I'm going to charge in and attack both of you to break it up". Yeah ... great ... just what was needed, Bo ! Thanks a lot !
Tuesday ; The temperature is rising daily, returning to more seasonal norms. It's been a bit cool lately.
This morning Kaydee was taken for a walk by a couple of the ladies residing in the park. One has been contemplating adopting Kaydee, the other was providing encouragement and moral support. Kaydee was unwilling to walk with them ... unless her "mommy" came along. And by the time Joanne joined them, Kaydee had wrenched a front shoulder resisting the walk. She spent most of the rest of the day resting, nursing her sore shoulder, unwilling to put her full weight on that front leg. Poor Kaydee !
This morning we did some "annual home maintenance and cleaning" chores. This afternoon I washed the truck while Joanne continued painting the shed door and window trim. I took Bo for a pack walk with Spanky, Paddy, and Maisie. Kaydee stayed home and rested her sore shoulder. In the evening we soaked in the hot tub for awhile in conjunction with our nightly volunteer chore of covering the pool and hot tub with their solar covers.
Wednesday ; WOO-HOO ! The Christmas gifts I ordered online both arrived today. A collapsible "pop-up" magician's top hat ( very expensive ! ) for me and Joanne's Sun Oven. Items ordered just before Christmas certainly do get fast delivery. By both USPS and FedEx.
We spent much of today shopping ... again ! First stop was Yuma Nursery Supply where we bought some scalloped curbing and ... < insert drum roll here, please > ... an ocotillo ! Looks like a dead ocotillo. HA HA HA ! "Wild" ocotillos out in the desert look dead at this time of year as well. Next stop was True Value Hardware for quite a few advertised specials, and other hardware supplies. We had a late lunch at Burger King and then shopped for advertised specials and groceries at Food City, the "Mexican" supermarket. After Food City we had other shopping to do, but decided to head for home as the ice cream products we bought were melting, and pack walk time was approaching.
After a six dog pack walk Joanne continued painting the shed door and window trim while I did some landscape planning and layout. Just before dark I unpackaged and set up the Sun Oven in the back yard. We hope to use it tomorrow. After supper I unpackaged my magician's top hat. Very nice !
Thursday ; Another gorgeous day ! This morning we finished setting up and cleaning the Sun Oven. That included putting a pot of soapy water inside and leaving it for a couple of hours to "steam clean" the inside of the oven. So ... by the time we finished setting up and cleaning the oven, then preparing our inaugural solar dinner ... pot roast beef ... there wasn't enough sunlight left in the day to cook our supper. We got the pot roast started at 2:45 PM and it became obvious at 4:45 PM that the sun was getting too low and sunshine too weak to continue cooking. DARN ! I guess we're going to have be better organized and start cooking earlier. But ... after finishing the pot roast in the trailer oven, it was extremely moist and tender for such a cheap cut of meat. That's supposed to be one of the hallmarks of solar oven cooking ; moist and tender meat. Tomorrow we'll try a salmon dish.
This afternoon Joanne continued painting. I planted my ocotillo ! WOO-HOO ! But ...it appears as if I planted my dead ocotillo ! It certainly looks dead ! I know that ocotillo and many other cacti and dessert plants can look dead while "dormant" in the winter, awaiting water from spring rains, but ... this ocotillo really looks dead ! And we're probably not going to know for sure whether or not it is still alive until we return here in eleven months or so ! I'm hoping it might be obvious by the time we leave on April 1.
Late in the afternoon a couple came over to see Kaydee. They had just arrived here at Kofa Ko-op and saw our notice on the bulletin board in the clubhouse. They were only able to visit with us briefly. The man seems very interested in adopting Kaydee. The woman much less so !
After supper we went Wal-Martin'. Oh, joy !
Today was another day of good intentions and plans, but poor execution. Most of today's plans were usurped by socializing. Aw, what the hell ... I'm retired !
This morning I cut the three wires wrapped around the ocotillo. I thought the stalks would spread out after the wires were cut and I would need to tie a rope or large cable tie around it to hold it together. But ... it stayed together, the brittle stalks remaining upright. Perhaps in the spring, assuming it survives, when it greens up and the stalks soften a bit, it may spread out more and need to be held together, but not now. There were four broken stalks. I bunched them together and planted them in the dog park behind our back yard fence. I think it would be akin to a miracle if any of them caught / rooted and grew. Joanne continued painting.
Our neighbours Robby and Christine from Riverside RV Park Resort back home in Keremeos, BC came by today for a brief visit. And we visited a lot with Kofa Ko-op neighbours wandering by. A by-product of such lovely weather, I suppose.
We cooked our second meal in the Sun Oven today, using the stacking pots. Rice in the lower pot, baked salmon in the upper pot. Both turned out great ! I'm really thrilled with this new way to cook and conserve energy.
On our daily pack walk, both Kaydee and Bo picked up and began to chew / splinter chicken wing bones. Right behind the lot where a party was taking place. Joanne wrestled a chicken wing bone out of Kaydee's mouth. Our friend Terry wrestled a chicken wing bone out of Bo's mouth. Thank you, Terry. After returning home, I walked
( stomped, perhaps ) down to where the party was taking place to discover a party of perhaps twenty or so people ... most with plates of chicken wing bones on their laps.
I loudly asked that whomever was tossing chicken wing bones over the back fence into the dog park please cease and desist ! From within the group some profanity was directed my way. Booze will do that to people, I suppose. I thought being called names was rather unfair, under the circumstances. I walked away ! That's not really how I want my relationships with my neighbours to go ! Afterwards, twice, people came over to see me and offer their individual apologies for some rather reprehensible behaviour within the group. I appreciated that.
And to make my day complete ... < sigh > ... Kaydee went into heat today. Just what we needed !
At bedtime, we discovered the cause of her "sore shoulder". < sigh > She had a large abscessed wound in her "arm pit". She had been reluctant to jump on or off the bed or go up or down the trailer entry steps for the last few days. As Joanne lifted her onto the bed tonight, the abscess broke ! And it became obvious that her harness had been aggravating the abscess. Poor Kaydee. The abscess ... now broken ... needed to be drained < sigh >. Poor Kaydee ! The process was obviously extremely painful for her. Joanne held her, I gently squeezed the broken abscess and drained out all the pus. Kaydee screamed in agony and her heartbeat ( under my hand ) raced ! But what must be done ... was done ! It's pretty difficult to purposely inflict that much pain on an animal ! At the centre of the abscess was a puncture wound. At first we thought it was a bite wound. Then we realized it had probably been caused by one of the sharp little rocks in the asphalt of the park's roads. She has other abrasion and friction burn wounds on her feet and "elbows" consistent with being tossed out of a slow moving vehicle ! < sigh > Poor Kaydee ! We disinfected the broken abscess ... another very painful process for her ... applied ointment and gauze bandaging.
Saturday ; New Year's Eve
Here I sit in our trailer at 7:30 PM, alone with the animals, typing on the computer, because the alternative is ... the Kofa Ko-op New Year's Eve party where currently the "entertainment" is karaoke sing along. No, no ... not for me, thank you. I'd rather have a colonoscopy. I'll return to the clubhouse in an hour.
Today was another fabulous day in Yuma, brilliant sunshine and very warm temperatures. My priority this morning was to prepare an antibiotic solution for Kaydee and administer some to her. She's a pretty strong little cur when she's resisting having a syringe of medicine put into her mouth. There was more Cipro solution on me than in her !
Joanne continued painting the door, window trim, and door trim in the Arizona room.
I puttered around with some year end online work. Joanne made her contribution to tonight's potluck dinner ; gumbo, with a huge pot of rice cooked to fluffy, moist perfection in the Sun Oven. Unfortunately, this batch of gumbo was not her finest.
We had our daily pack walk around the dog park then went to the New Year's Eve potluck dinner. It was okay, but ... now it's karaoke sing along time, so ... here I am in the trailer ! Life is too short to have to endure that kind of agony !
It's now 11:30 PM. We have returned from the clubhouse. After we left, there were four people remaining. Most of the group were there for the arrival of the New Year EST ... at 10 PM ( rolling eyes ). A much smaller group celebrated ( again ) the arrival of the New Year CST ... at 11 PM. Perhaps the remaining four will still be there half an hour from now to celebrate the arrival of the real New Year ... at midnight MST !
We returned to the trailer with party noisemakers. Bo loooooves the party noise makers that unroll when you blow them. HA HA HA ... every year we amuse him ... and ourselves ... with these. HA HA HA ... kill that thing as it unrolls from our lips, Bo. HA HA HA ! Kaydee got into the spirit of it all ... Bo's enthusiasm is infectious ... but she was puzzled and afraid when we blew noisemakers in her face. It's an acquired taste, Kaydee. HA HA HA !
FELIZ AÑO NUEVO / HAPPY NEW YEAR
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment