Sunday ; This morning I did an agility session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog.
This afternoon Joanne went by herself to run some errands. I tested the DISH NETWORK satellite dish mounted on our shed roof and the DISH NETWORK receiver I picked up off the bargain table recently. That involved connecting a very long TV cable to the dish on the shed roof and running it into the trailer. Well, the satellite dish and receiver both work fine. But I doubt that we will subscribe to the DISH NETWORK satellite TV service. Firstly, we don't have a phone jack to connect the receiver to a phone line, which is a requirement. Secondly, the DISH NETWORK service cannot be turned on and off seasonally / at will. That's my requirement.
We attended the late afternoon / early evening ( depends upon one's perspective ) regular Sunday ice cream social. Afterwards we used the barbecue to make supper.
I haven't used the barbecue since we got the Sun Oven just after Christmas. Afterwards was "TV time". Sully and Bo wrapped in a "blankie", cuddled against my leg on the sofa while we watched the season premiere of Celebrity Apprentice.
Monday ; In preparation for tomorrow's Annual General Meeting ( AGM ) today was the annual spring cleaning day in the clubhouse. There were many jobs to be done, and a sign up sheet had been established for volunteers to pick and choose their jobs. Joanne and I had signed up to clean the water cooler machine. So ... this morning we headed over to the clubhouse, disassembled the water cooler, cleaned in, under, and around it, reassembled and reinstalled it. Just the sort of job I don't mind volunteering to do. Done at our own pace, figuring out our own way to do it, no one supervising and telling us "how it's always been done".
Afterwards Bo and I went for a pack walk with Carol Mae and Dulce. Dulce so enjoyed the pack walk with Bo that she was inspired to crouch and play pounce at Bo. WOW ... that was great ! Dulce is old and stiff, and "can't get along with all other dogs". It's been a very long time since Carol Mae has seen Dulce attempt to play with another dog.
Joanne and I then left for a day of running errands. First stop was PetsMart for dog food and cat glucosamine treats. Then Family Dollar to look at TracFone cell phones. I think we're about to buy a new cell phone / switch to a new cell phone service provider. Then Smart & Final to buy some supplies for the Cajun meal we will be preparing at the upcoming SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Over to Harbor Freight Tools to buy some more neat guy stuff, then Burger King to sit in their parking lot and use their Wi-Fi to make a Skype / VoIP phone call. We went for a very late lunch / very early supper to Golden Corral. We have had many recommendations to try their buffet restaurant as an alternative to Hometown Buffet. It was a very good buffet meal, at a reasonable price. ETYS ! HA HA HA !
When we got home, Joanne went for a long nap, complaining of an upset stomach. Maybe you should have had more marshmallows dipped into the chocolate fountain, dear ! I went for a long bicycle ride then worked on the computer until it was "TV time".
Tuesday ; Mardi Gras
Today was the Kofa Ko-op Annual General Meeting. It started at 9 AM and, including a break for lunch, was completed around 2 PM. A lot of business was conducted ... relatively smoothly. It was well planned and well executed. What a relief. We were dreading attending this AGM having given up, in frustration and exasperation, on attending the AGMs at Riverside RV Park Resort two years ago.
After the AGM, and squabbling in disagreement, we did not attend the afternoon's "Western Days" fun events. After supper Joanne was "down in the dumps" so I went by myself to the Hail & Farewell celebration in the clubhouse. The retiring outgoing board members were "roasted" and thanked, and the newly elected incoming board members were "roasted" and welcomed.
Wednesday ; This morning I went to my regular Wednesday morning Tai Chi class. By the time I returned Joanne had taken Bo on two pack walks. One with Spanky and one with Dulce. Joanne left to go Wal-Martin'. I did an obedience session with Bo. Excellent, Bo, good dog !
This afternoon I repainted the water heater exterior access panel and the stove top cover. No, no ... my spray painting skills haven't improved any ! Joanne made sun dried tomatoes in the Sun Oven, and then a cake. She did not properly balance the cake pan on the "levelator" tray in the Sun Oven so the cake pan was "lopsided". The cake baked very thin on one side of the pan and very thick on the other. OOOOOPS ! We took Bo for today's pack walk then I went bicycling. What lovely weather ! People are starting to complain that it's getting too hot, but I love it ! Intense desert sunshine and temperature in the low 80's.
When I took Bo for his bedtime walk late in the evening, we climbed over the back fence into the dog park, and while Bo wandered around, I kicked off my sandals, sunk my bare feet into the cool desert sand, and did a few minutes of Tai Chi in the dark. WOW ... my Yin and my Yang are in harmony !
Thursday ; Another beautiful, hot day. Late in the morning we headed to The Foothills to have lunch with our friends Lynn and Mischa at their home. We had lunch and visited with them for the afternoon. We invited them to join us tonight at Yuma Palms Shopping Center for the weekly Thursday evening free jazz concert. They accepted.
We drove home and dropped off Bo, then headed over to Yuma Palms where we met Lynn and Mischa again. We sat in the folding lawn chairs we had brought, listening to jazz as the sun set on a warm evening. The music wasn't all that great, so we left at the intermission after the first of two sets. On the way home, Joanne and I stopped to buy some take home dinner at Arby's. We had dinner at home in front of the TV while watching Doc Martin, a quirky British show we have recently begun to follow on PBS.
Well ... it was just a matter of time ! ! ! Could have seen that one coming ! ! ! Two Marine helicopters on a night training mission had a mid-air collision and crashed in the desert nearby. Seven Marines were killed ! I wonder how long it's going to be until a fighter jet or other Yuma MCAS ( Marine Corps Air Station ) aircraft crashes into a local RV park ? ! ?
Friday ; Late this morning we headed to the clubhouse for a presentation and free lunch by Sky Med, an emergency medical air transport "insurance". Too expensive a luxury for us. Nice pizza lunch though ! Thank you, Sky Med.
Afterwards we went to run some errands. The primary objective was to buy a new TracFone cell phone at Family Dollar. We also did a small amount of grocery shopping at Albertsons. When we returned home Joanne discovered that the tomatoes she had left to sun dry in the Sun Oven were sun burned, not dried. OOOPS ! Desert sun in the spring time is pretty intense !
After today's pack walk ... with just the "rat pack" ... I went for a long bicycle ride. Once around the perimeter then up and down every road in the RV park, then out of the RV park to Ave. 3E, to Ave. 4E, then back to the park. Kofa Ko-op to Ave. 3E to Ave. 4E to Kofa Ko-op is two miles, so a total of somewhere in the vicinity of three miles, I guess.
I have named the "founders" of the daily pack walk ... Bo, Spanky, Riley, and Maizie ... the "rat pack". Bo is "Dean Martin". HA HA HA ! < singing > Everybody loves somebody sometime !
In the evening I spent WAY too long activating our new cell phone. Did I mention ... I hate activating cell phones, especially with a very bad Wi-Fi connection !
Saturday ; Another beautiful, hot day.
This morning we went to the clubhouse for a brunch potluck. Too bad it wasn't better attended. Maybe the 50/50 draw jackpot would have been larger. Joanne won it ! Long after everyone else had left we were still sitting there chatting with a couple from Golden, BC who have been here for most of this winter season and a newly arrived couple from Lethbridge, Alberta.
This afternoon I did a couple of very minor maintenance projects, did a little bit of computer work, then took a long nap with Sully and Bo. Sully thinks I should be napping with him more often. I agree ! HA HA HA !
On this afternoon's pack walk we had a new "pack member", Gracie, and her owners. We invited them to visit with us in our Arizona room after the pack walk. Afterwards we went over to a neighbour's "Happy Hour" where four couples sat around and chatted about their travel adventures. We were surprised by how adventurous an elderly neighbour couple were "back in the day". We should know better than to assume that old, slow people were always that way !
After a late supper we drove to Arby's ( slightly closer than Burger King ) to use their
Wi-Fi to make a phone call.
DSK
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
February 12 to 18, 2012
Sunday ; This morning I did a few minor maintenance chores before we headed out to Yuma Park N Swap ( a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market ). Today was the busiest we've ever seen it. We were dismayed to see how many boxes and baskets of puppies there were for sale. If the stupid gringos would stop buying puppy farm bred dogs for a hundred and fifty bucks at the flea markets, maybe the Mexicans would stop breeding them ! ! ! All the dogs looked like Kaydee !
From the "Dog Track" we drove over to the Indoor Marketplace, the "new" flea market to buy a Rada knife and a citrus grater. Then over to see Yuma Conservation Gardens, a desert horticultural preserve near Yuma Fairgrounds. Nice ! Needs money and labour !
We got home just in time for the daily pack walk. Afterwards we headed over to the clubhouse for a spaghetti dinner, followed by the regular Sunday evening ice cream social.
The desert is blooming. Sully and I are beginning to suffer "hay fever".
Monday ; Late this morning Joanne went grocery shopping without me. Three stores, all for advertised specials. I did an agility session with Bo. I disinfected the fresh water holding tank. And since I tightened a connection a few days ago there has been no more leaking around the fresh water holding tank. I cooked some eggs in the Sun Oven. After lunch I concocted a supper to cook in the Sun Oven. I sharpened Joanne's kitchen knives. I did some computer work online.
After today's pack walk we spread six buckets of finishing gravel in the back yard. DARN ... that was about half as much as we need. We'll have to buy six more buckets. The fish concoction I cooked for supper turned out quite well. Better lucky than smart, I guess ! After supper we went to Wal-Mart < sigh >.
Tuesday ; Happy Valentine's Day ... AND ... Happy 100th Birthday to Arizona
Apparently there was an earthquake overnight. None of us felt it !
Today I did some minor maintenance projects on the trailer, including applying new weatherstripping around the exterior edge of the bedroom slide. While doing that ... I stabbed myself in the palm of my left hand with a dental tool. It was a small but very deep wound at the base of the thumb that bled profusely for a long time. And the tissue around the wound is very bruised and sore. Two days ago I bought a bag of grapefruits at the Dog Track Flea Market. Today I juiced them. MMMMM ... fresh pink grapefruit juice ! A neighbour from three lots over offered us a set of steps today. They got new ones. We gratefully accepted and now we have steps on both sides of our back yard fence into the dog park. I installed a one square foot patio stone in the dog park behind our fence today. It’s for the large bowl of water we place in the dog park every day at the beginning of the daily pack walk. All the dogs know that there is a bowl of water there, and eagerly have a drink every day as the pack walk passes by our place. It’s become known as “the oasis”.
Late this afternoon one of the Marine fighter jets practicing manoeuvers high above our RV park broke the sound barrier. OOOOOPS ! The resultant sonic boom was enough to set off car alarms in the park. Bet some young Marine pilot got his / her wrist slapped tonight !
Wednesday ; This morning after Tai Chi ( still the only male in a rapidly dwindling group ... ya gotta give me points for determination ) I did an obedience session with Bo. WOW ... some days he's just "spot on". Well done, Bo, good dog !
We had visitors for lunch ; Dave & Joy and Paul & Kolly, neighbours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home in Keremeos, BC. Joanne prepared gumbo, as a sort of "test run" of the meal we will prepare for fifty or so people at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally out in the desert in a month.
After our visitors left we went on the daily pack walk then I transplanted some cacti from out in the dog park behind our back fence to my new front patio cactus garden. The installation of new steps behind our back fence yesterday necessitated some relocation of plants. I went for a long bicycle ride before we left to go into town to Burger King ... to use their free Wi-Fi to make a Skype / VoIP phone call.
Thursday ; Today was cloudy and cool with a few drops of rain. A good excuse to indulge in a day of doing not much of anything. Our major accomplishment of today was taking a long afternoon nap. We went for our daily pack walk in the dog park. Joanne did laundry. I went for a long ( for me ) bicycle ride.
Once again I made the half hour "commute" ( in each direction ) to Burger King late in the evening to use their Wi-Fi.
Friday ; Our inactivity yesterday was certainly not repeated today. It was a pretty busy day. First thing this morning we headed east to The Foothills to the Helping Hands Yard Sale at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church. We were looking for some specific items. Didn't find them ! From there we went to Fry's to buy some groceries and refill with diesel. Then over to Walgreens for a couple of items. On the way back to Kofa
Ko-op we stopped at an RV consignment sale business. I wanted to look at a couple of old motorhomes they had advertised for sale. Not to buy, just because I was curious. One of the old motorhomes is the same as a friend has.
When we arrived back home at Kofa Ko-op, our friends Everett and Tina asked if they could impose upon us to pick up a sofa they had purchased ... at the Helping Hands Yard Sale ( rolling eyes ). Joanne jumped out of the truck, Everett jumped in, and we headed back to The Foothills to pick up the sofa. After returning to Kofa Ko-op and unloading the sofa Joanne and I accepted Everett's and Tina's invitation to have a chilled glass of white wine. In the middle of the afternoon, on a completely empty stomach ( I hadn't eaten yet today ) ! Well ... there went my plan to drive over to Yuma Nursery Supply to buy some gravel.
After having a large glass of wine we wobbled home. Joanne's friend Eilene was bicycling by and stopped to chat for a few minutes. As she and Joanne discussed tomorrow's park wide "garage sale" ... a deal was struck. Eilene could have the heavy, large, metal stair railing found in our shed when we took possession of lot 52, AND ... wait for it ... Joanne's handy husband would install the railing on Eilene's entrance steps. Oh boy, just what I wanted. Another job to do ! HA HA HA !
We took Bo on today's pack walk. I went for a long bicycle ride. We had another wonderful dinner cooked in the Sun Oven.
< sigh > For the third night in a row we headed to Burger King in the evening to use their Wi-Fi, this time again to make a phone call. The Wi-Fi at Kofa Ko-op is not working most of the time, and when it is working, there certainly isn't enough bandwidth to make Skype / VoIP phone calls.
Saturday ; This morning was the Kofa Ko-op spring "yard sale". Joanne was up early this morning to set up a table with our unwanted items for sale. She sold no items. She gave some away at no charge. While she took a short break, I sold one item ... for three dollars. Joanne was wandering around the park ... spending two dollars and fifty cents. Today's net proceeds ; fifty cents. HA HA HA ! After the yard sale was over I put the remaining / unsold items on the bargain table. Good riddance !
I drove to Yuma Nursery Supply and bought six more buckets of finishing gravel for the back yard. Bo came along for the drivey. AND ... < whispering > ... we drove by a field of alfalfa ... with sheep in it ... and I pulled over to the shoulder and stopped ... and Bo barked until the sheep stampeded. HA HA HA ... he loooooves doing that. Bad Daniel ! We poured and spread the gravel this afternoon. Six more buckets were enough. Yard looks good !
There was a wedding in the clubhouse this afternoon. Two residents of the park got married. While much of the park attended the ceremony, we didn't. It doesn't make sense to us to attend the wedding of people we don't really know.
With Joanne's assistance I installed the railing onto Eilene's rear entrance steps.
DSK
From the "Dog Track" we drove over to the Indoor Marketplace, the "new" flea market to buy a Rada knife and a citrus grater. Then over to see Yuma Conservation Gardens, a desert horticultural preserve near Yuma Fairgrounds. Nice ! Needs money and labour !
We got home just in time for the daily pack walk. Afterwards we headed over to the clubhouse for a spaghetti dinner, followed by the regular Sunday evening ice cream social.
The desert is blooming. Sully and I are beginning to suffer "hay fever".
Monday ; Late this morning Joanne went grocery shopping without me. Three stores, all for advertised specials. I did an agility session with Bo. I disinfected the fresh water holding tank. And since I tightened a connection a few days ago there has been no more leaking around the fresh water holding tank. I cooked some eggs in the Sun Oven. After lunch I concocted a supper to cook in the Sun Oven. I sharpened Joanne's kitchen knives. I did some computer work online.
After today's pack walk we spread six buckets of finishing gravel in the back yard. DARN ... that was about half as much as we need. We'll have to buy six more buckets. The fish concoction I cooked for supper turned out quite well. Better lucky than smart, I guess ! After supper we went to Wal-Mart < sigh >.
Tuesday ; Happy Valentine's Day ... AND ... Happy 100th Birthday to Arizona
Apparently there was an earthquake overnight. None of us felt it !
Today I did some minor maintenance projects on the trailer, including applying new weatherstripping around the exterior edge of the bedroom slide. While doing that ... I stabbed myself in the palm of my left hand with a dental tool. It was a small but very deep wound at the base of the thumb that bled profusely for a long time. And the tissue around the wound is very bruised and sore. Two days ago I bought a bag of grapefruits at the Dog Track Flea Market. Today I juiced them. MMMMM ... fresh pink grapefruit juice ! A neighbour from three lots over offered us a set of steps today. They got new ones. We gratefully accepted and now we have steps on both sides of our back yard fence into the dog park. I installed a one square foot patio stone in the dog park behind our fence today. It’s for the large bowl of water we place in the dog park every day at the beginning of the daily pack walk. All the dogs know that there is a bowl of water there, and eagerly have a drink every day as the pack walk passes by our place. It’s become known as “the oasis”.
Late this afternoon one of the Marine fighter jets practicing manoeuvers high above our RV park broke the sound barrier. OOOOOPS ! The resultant sonic boom was enough to set off car alarms in the park. Bet some young Marine pilot got his / her wrist slapped tonight !
Wednesday ; This morning after Tai Chi ( still the only male in a rapidly dwindling group ... ya gotta give me points for determination ) I did an obedience session with Bo. WOW ... some days he's just "spot on". Well done, Bo, good dog !
We had visitors for lunch ; Dave & Joy and Paul & Kolly, neighbours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home in Keremeos, BC. Joanne prepared gumbo, as a sort of "test run" of the meal we will prepare for fifty or so people at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally out in the desert in a month.
After our visitors left we went on the daily pack walk then I transplanted some cacti from out in the dog park behind our back fence to my new front patio cactus garden. The installation of new steps behind our back fence yesterday necessitated some relocation of plants. I went for a long bicycle ride before we left to go into town to Burger King ... to use their free Wi-Fi to make a Skype / VoIP phone call.
Thursday ; Today was cloudy and cool with a few drops of rain. A good excuse to indulge in a day of doing not much of anything. Our major accomplishment of today was taking a long afternoon nap. We went for our daily pack walk in the dog park. Joanne did laundry. I went for a long ( for me ) bicycle ride.
Once again I made the half hour "commute" ( in each direction ) to Burger King late in the evening to use their Wi-Fi.
Friday ; Our inactivity yesterday was certainly not repeated today. It was a pretty busy day. First thing this morning we headed east to The Foothills to the Helping Hands Yard Sale at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church. We were looking for some specific items. Didn't find them ! From there we went to Fry's to buy some groceries and refill with diesel. Then over to Walgreens for a couple of items. On the way back to Kofa
Ko-op we stopped at an RV consignment sale business. I wanted to look at a couple of old motorhomes they had advertised for sale. Not to buy, just because I was curious. One of the old motorhomes is the same as a friend has.
When we arrived back home at Kofa Ko-op, our friends Everett and Tina asked if they could impose upon us to pick up a sofa they had purchased ... at the Helping Hands Yard Sale ( rolling eyes ). Joanne jumped out of the truck, Everett jumped in, and we headed back to The Foothills to pick up the sofa. After returning to Kofa Ko-op and unloading the sofa Joanne and I accepted Everett's and Tina's invitation to have a chilled glass of white wine. In the middle of the afternoon, on a completely empty stomach ( I hadn't eaten yet today ) ! Well ... there went my plan to drive over to Yuma Nursery Supply to buy some gravel.
After having a large glass of wine we wobbled home. Joanne's friend Eilene was bicycling by and stopped to chat for a few minutes. As she and Joanne discussed tomorrow's park wide "garage sale" ... a deal was struck. Eilene could have the heavy, large, metal stair railing found in our shed when we took possession of lot 52, AND ... wait for it ... Joanne's handy husband would install the railing on Eilene's entrance steps. Oh boy, just what I wanted. Another job to do ! HA HA HA !
We took Bo on today's pack walk. I went for a long bicycle ride. We had another wonderful dinner cooked in the Sun Oven.
< sigh > For the third night in a row we headed to Burger King in the evening to use their Wi-Fi, this time again to make a phone call. The Wi-Fi at Kofa Ko-op is not working most of the time, and when it is working, there certainly isn't enough bandwidth to make Skype / VoIP phone calls.
Saturday ; This morning was the Kofa Ko-op spring "yard sale". Joanne was up early this morning to set up a table with our unwanted items for sale. She sold no items. She gave some away at no charge. While she took a short break, I sold one item ... for three dollars. Joanne was wandering around the park ... spending two dollars and fifty cents. Today's net proceeds ; fifty cents. HA HA HA ! After the yard sale was over I put the remaining / unsold items on the bargain table. Good riddance !
I drove to Yuma Nursery Supply and bought six more buckets of finishing gravel for the back yard. Bo came along for the drivey. AND ... < whispering > ... we drove by a field of alfalfa ... with sheep in it ... and I pulled over to the shoulder and stopped ... and Bo barked until the sheep stampeded. HA HA HA ... he loooooves doing that. Bad Daniel ! We poured and spread the gravel this afternoon. Six more buckets were enough. Yard looks good !
There was a wedding in the clubhouse this afternoon. Two residents of the park got married. While much of the park attended the ceremony, we didn't. It doesn't make sense to us to attend the wedding of people we don't really know.
With Joanne's assistance I installed the railing onto Eilene's rear entrance steps.
DSK
Sunday, February 12, 2012
February 5 to 11, 2012
Sunday ; I've just retrieved the mail from our mailbox. A letter from my sister and a card from her husband. WOO-HOO ! ! ! Great news ! Bud's pathology was ... everything's okay ! Cancer's gone, nothing in the lymph nodes, nothing in the margins. Congratulations, Bud ! Or, as it would be pronounced in Mexico ... Bood ! HA HA HA ... new family joke !
Today I did the last transplanting of this winter season. There's only two months left before we will be leaving Yuma. Only two months to nurture the plantings before they have to be abandoned to fend for themselves over the 115 degree summer. Joanne doesn't think anything transplanted after this date would be rooted sufficiently to survive the summer. So, I have to stop my cactus gardening projects with only thirty-nine plantings in the ground. HA HA HA ! More next year !
Joanne did some laundry, including washing the Arizona room's sofa throw that a neighbour's dog peed on. That wasn't really a big deal. What annoyed both of us was the neighbour's lack of a simple apology and offer to pay for the laundering. I did an agility session with Bo. I puttered around with some landscaping. I took some photos of my cactus gardening. We took Bo on the daily pack walk. I did monthly computer backup chores, working at the desk in the Arizona room. We went to the Sunday ice cream social. There wasn't much of an ice cream social today because most people were engrossed in watching the Super Bowl.
Late in the evening I updated my investment files. HMMM ... January was a pretty good month in the stock market !
Monday ; This morning I discovered what seems likely to be < sigh > a leak in the freshwater holding tank. I really hate discovering a problem that is likely to result in a huge maintenance project !
This afternoon we ran a few errands ; Lowe's and Bank of America. After our regular daily pack walk, Bo and I went on a second pack walk with Carol Mae and her dog Dulce. Dulce has anxiety around other dogs so it's pretty special that she can pack walk with Bo.
Tuesday ; We got up earlier than usual this morning to be ready to leave at 8:40 AM to head for the Farm Smart Tour. We picked up Eilene, Terry, and Judy, who "car pooled" with us. We headed west on Interstate 8, crossing the Colorado River into California, and driving for a bit more than an hour to reach the University Of California Desert Research Center near El Centro.
The rest of the morning was taken up with an indoor audio-visual presentation on farming in the Yuma and Imperial Valley area. Lunch was a huge salad. After lunch we headed out into the fields on hay wagons towed by tractors, stopping frequently to learn about the crops, farming practices, and research activities. Last stop was the "pick your own" fields where we were each given a large bag to fill with a variety of vegetables we picked ourselves. Lots of Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, Swiss Chard, radish, Daikon radish ... what did I miss ? We returned to the main building to be served ice cream to end the "day at the farm".
We drove to Holtville, bought some pan dulce at the panaderia in town, then over to Holtville Taco Shop to buy a couple of burritos to take home for supper. Between Holtville and Yuma there were six CHP cruisers with traffic stops pulled over. What ? Traffic ticket quotas ? Easy money for a state with budget problems ? The local donut shops were closed for the day ?
Wednesday ; It's beginning to get warmer. Sunny and warm has become sunny and very warm. Spring is on its way ! Plants in my new cactus garden are blooming. My ocotillo has little buds on it. WOO-HOO !
First thing this morning was Tai Chi for me. It makes my knees hurt !
I brushed Bo's teeth. I took a propane tank for refilling. I put everything back into the back of the truck that Joanne had removed to make room for passengers for the trip to the Farm Smart Tour yesterday. Can't believe that we have a truck this big and ... we need a bigger truck ! HA HA HA ! I did an obedience session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog.
I trimmed my beard. Bo and I went for an impromptu pack walk with Wolfgang the Doberman Pinscher and Duke the Golden Retriever. We had an unexpected visit from Robby and Christine, neighbours of ours back home at Riverside RV Park Resort.
After lunch Joanne went shopping and ... WHEW ... I laid sixteen feet of walkway using one square foot patio stones. Tougher job than I thought ! Warmer day than I expected !
I think that will be my last yard project of this winter season. It's time to switch to some trailer maintenance projects. Joanne completed her latest painting project, the doorway between the Arizona room and the shed. We went for our regular daily pack walk. I went for a bicycle ride, an exercise and relaxation activity I try to do daily.
Thursday ; Happy 8th Birthday to Bo
What a beautiful day ! Brilliant sunshine and temperature in the mid 80's. Spring has indeed arrived in Yuma.
This morning Joanne whipped up a batch of her favourite brownies recipe and baked it in the Sun Oven. It turned out excellent ! It's going to be the recipe we use for our Sun Oven cooking demonstration at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally in
mid-March. After removing the tray of brownies we put a pot filled with beef short ribs, vegetables, and sweet potatoes into the Sun Oven to cook for tonight's supper.
The leak that I discovered at the fresh water holding tank a few days ago might be nothing more than a loose connection. I can't seem to find anything more sinister than that.
After lunch we headed out to cross the Colorado River to Bard, California ... for Bo's birthday gift. A date shake ! WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! ! ! There's nothing that Bo loves more than a date shake. Date farms / date trees must emit a fragrance. As we approached the area of date farms, Bo sniffed the truck's air vent and began wagging his tail furiously. HA HA HA ... Happy Birthday, Bo !
As we were on Interstate 8 crossing over the Colorado River from Arizona into California, following a commercial tractor-trailer, a beer can flew out of the truck's window. Then another ! THEN ANOTHER ! THEN ANOTHER ! ! ! Just before the truck had to pull into the California inspection station ! ***hole !
Bo ate date shake until he couldn't eat any more. UH-OH ... HA HA HA ! Guess we'll see the effect of that on tomorrow's pack walk, won't we Bo. Maybe even sooner ! HA HA HA ! We returned home just in time for today's daily pack walk around the dog park. Bo and we were the only ones who made two circuits around the dog park. Everybody else thought it was too hot for a second circuit. I thought it was perfect ... at 83 degrees !
Friday ; Happy 63rd Birthday to my sister Sharon
Today was sunny and hot ! I love it !
I puttered around today with some minor maintenance and landscaping chores. Joanne worked on "spring cleaning" our closet. She discovered that her leather coat and my leather coat are both ruined. She has an expensive, full length leather coat. I have an expensive, ¾ length leather coat. Both are quite lovely. They harken back to our successful small business owner days in Ottawa. We haven't worn them in eight years. They were stored at the back of the bedroom closet in garment bags. Yearly we remove them to inspect them and air them out. This year they have ... some kind of mysterious, severe "puckering". We don't know if it's insect damage or mould damage or heat damage or ... ? ? ? But ... they're ruined now. We were walking with them to dispose of them in the dumpster when our friend Eilene suggested that we donate them to one of the local charities. A homeless person or some economically disadvantaged Mexican wouldn't care about the puckering, she suggested. Okay ... we threw them in the truck and will deposit them in a donation box.
Joanne and I were the only humans on today's pack walk, although there were two other dogs in addition to Bo. Too hot for everybody else, I guess. After the pack walk we gave Bo a bath. Oh boy ... the one day a month that Bo smells nice. HA HA HA !
Saturday ; This morning we headed out to Arizona Market Place, the nearby flea market, for one specific item. We returned home with that item ... and half a dozen others. My fault ! "Oh ... I need that ! And that !" And .. so on ! We stopped at Habitat For Humanity ReStore to browse and drop off some recyclables. Kofa Ko-op has no provision for recycling ... and we're throwing far too much recyclable plastic ( like milk jugs ) into the garbage
This afternoon we trimmed Sully's and Bo's claws. Gee, Sully can complain loudly !
Another hot day. And ... my cactus garden is blooming ! I took photos !
After today's pack walk we headed out to Yuma Nursery Supply to buy six more buckets of finishing gravel for the back yard. Then over to Goodwill Industries to donate our leather coats. We went to The Salvation Army first, but they didn't have an after hours drop off box. Then it was over to Harbor Freight Tools. WOW ... around 6 PM on Saturday is a good time to shop at Harbor Freight Tools, which is usually crowded, busy, and understaffed. We had a quick bite to eat at Burger King then headed "downtown" to Historic Yuma Theater, the fourth time this winter season we have attended an event there. Tonight was a "Romantic Classics" concert by Yuma Civic Orchestra in honour of Valentine's Day next Tuesday. And it was also billed as a symphonic celebration of Yuma's 100th Birthday, also on Tuesday. So ... the "theme" of the evening's music was ... more "old west / cowboy" than "romantic". < sigh > < whispering > I'm a symphony snob ! Perhaps I need to lower my symphonic standards. Oh, well ... it was nice to have another "date night".
DSK
Today I did the last transplanting of this winter season. There's only two months left before we will be leaving Yuma. Only two months to nurture the plantings before they have to be abandoned to fend for themselves over the 115 degree summer. Joanne doesn't think anything transplanted after this date would be rooted sufficiently to survive the summer. So, I have to stop my cactus gardening projects with only thirty-nine plantings in the ground. HA HA HA ! More next year !
Joanne did some laundry, including washing the Arizona room's sofa throw that a neighbour's dog peed on. That wasn't really a big deal. What annoyed both of us was the neighbour's lack of a simple apology and offer to pay for the laundering. I did an agility session with Bo. I puttered around with some landscaping. I took some photos of my cactus gardening. We took Bo on the daily pack walk. I did monthly computer backup chores, working at the desk in the Arizona room. We went to the Sunday ice cream social. There wasn't much of an ice cream social today because most people were engrossed in watching the Super Bowl.
Late in the evening I updated my investment files. HMMM ... January was a pretty good month in the stock market !
Monday ; This morning I discovered what seems likely to be < sigh > a leak in the freshwater holding tank. I really hate discovering a problem that is likely to result in a huge maintenance project !
This afternoon we ran a few errands ; Lowe's and Bank of America. After our regular daily pack walk, Bo and I went on a second pack walk with Carol Mae and her dog Dulce. Dulce has anxiety around other dogs so it's pretty special that she can pack walk with Bo.
Tuesday ; We got up earlier than usual this morning to be ready to leave at 8:40 AM to head for the Farm Smart Tour. We picked up Eilene, Terry, and Judy, who "car pooled" with us. We headed west on Interstate 8, crossing the Colorado River into California, and driving for a bit more than an hour to reach the University Of California Desert Research Center near El Centro.
The rest of the morning was taken up with an indoor audio-visual presentation on farming in the Yuma and Imperial Valley area. Lunch was a huge salad. After lunch we headed out into the fields on hay wagons towed by tractors, stopping frequently to learn about the crops, farming practices, and research activities. Last stop was the "pick your own" fields where we were each given a large bag to fill with a variety of vegetables we picked ourselves. Lots of Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, Swiss Chard, radish, Daikon radish ... what did I miss ? We returned to the main building to be served ice cream to end the "day at the farm".
We drove to Holtville, bought some pan dulce at the panaderia in town, then over to Holtville Taco Shop to buy a couple of burritos to take home for supper. Between Holtville and Yuma there were six CHP cruisers with traffic stops pulled over. What ? Traffic ticket quotas ? Easy money for a state with budget problems ? The local donut shops were closed for the day ?
Wednesday ; It's beginning to get warmer. Sunny and warm has become sunny and very warm. Spring is on its way ! Plants in my new cactus garden are blooming. My ocotillo has little buds on it. WOO-HOO !
First thing this morning was Tai Chi for me. It makes my knees hurt !
I brushed Bo's teeth. I took a propane tank for refilling. I put everything back into the back of the truck that Joanne had removed to make room for passengers for the trip to the Farm Smart Tour yesterday. Can't believe that we have a truck this big and ... we need a bigger truck ! HA HA HA ! I did an obedience session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog.
I trimmed my beard. Bo and I went for an impromptu pack walk with Wolfgang the Doberman Pinscher and Duke the Golden Retriever. We had an unexpected visit from Robby and Christine, neighbours of ours back home at Riverside RV Park Resort.
After lunch Joanne went shopping and ... WHEW ... I laid sixteen feet of walkway using one square foot patio stones. Tougher job than I thought ! Warmer day than I expected !
I think that will be my last yard project of this winter season. It's time to switch to some trailer maintenance projects. Joanne completed her latest painting project, the doorway between the Arizona room and the shed. We went for our regular daily pack walk. I went for a bicycle ride, an exercise and relaxation activity I try to do daily.
Thursday ; Happy 8th Birthday to Bo
What a beautiful day ! Brilliant sunshine and temperature in the mid 80's. Spring has indeed arrived in Yuma.
This morning Joanne whipped up a batch of her favourite brownies recipe and baked it in the Sun Oven. It turned out excellent ! It's going to be the recipe we use for our Sun Oven cooking demonstration at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally in
mid-March. After removing the tray of brownies we put a pot filled with beef short ribs, vegetables, and sweet potatoes into the Sun Oven to cook for tonight's supper.
The leak that I discovered at the fresh water holding tank a few days ago might be nothing more than a loose connection. I can't seem to find anything more sinister than that.
After lunch we headed out to cross the Colorado River to Bard, California ... for Bo's birthday gift. A date shake ! WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! ! ! There's nothing that Bo loves more than a date shake. Date farms / date trees must emit a fragrance. As we approached the area of date farms, Bo sniffed the truck's air vent and began wagging his tail furiously. HA HA HA ... Happy Birthday, Bo !
As we were on Interstate 8 crossing over the Colorado River from Arizona into California, following a commercial tractor-trailer, a beer can flew out of the truck's window. Then another ! THEN ANOTHER ! THEN ANOTHER ! ! ! Just before the truck had to pull into the California inspection station ! ***hole !
Bo ate date shake until he couldn't eat any more. UH-OH ... HA HA HA ! Guess we'll see the effect of that on tomorrow's pack walk, won't we Bo. Maybe even sooner ! HA HA HA ! We returned home just in time for today's daily pack walk around the dog park. Bo and we were the only ones who made two circuits around the dog park. Everybody else thought it was too hot for a second circuit. I thought it was perfect ... at 83 degrees !
Friday ; Happy 63rd Birthday to my sister Sharon
Today was sunny and hot ! I love it !
I puttered around today with some minor maintenance and landscaping chores. Joanne worked on "spring cleaning" our closet. She discovered that her leather coat and my leather coat are both ruined. She has an expensive, full length leather coat. I have an expensive, ¾ length leather coat. Both are quite lovely. They harken back to our successful small business owner days in Ottawa. We haven't worn them in eight years. They were stored at the back of the bedroom closet in garment bags. Yearly we remove them to inspect them and air them out. This year they have ... some kind of mysterious, severe "puckering". We don't know if it's insect damage or mould damage or heat damage or ... ? ? ? But ... they're ruined now. We were walking with them to dispose of them in the dumpster when our friend Eilene suggested that we donate them to one of the local charities. A homeless person or some economically disadvantaged Mexican wouldn't care about the puckering, she suggested. Okay ... we threw them in the truck and will deposit them in a donation box.
Joanne and I were the only humans on today's pack walk, although there were two other dogs in addition to Bo. Too hot for everybody else, I guess. After the pack walk we gave Bo a bath. Oh boy ... the one day a month that Bo smells nice. HA HA HA !
Saturday ; This morning we headed out to Arizona Market Place, the nearby flea market, for one specific item. We returned home with that item ... and half a dozen others. My fault ! "Oh ... I need that ! And that !" And .. so on ! We stopped at Habitat For Humanity ReStore to browse and drop off some recyclables. Kofa Ko-op has no provision for recycling ... and we're throwing far too much recyclable plastic ( like milk jugs ) into the garbage
This afternoon we trimmed Sully's and Bo's claws. Gee, Sully can complain loudly !
Another hot day. And ... my cactus garden is blooming ! I took photos !
DSK
Sunday, February 5, 2012
January 29 to February 4, 2012
Sunday ; WOW ! ! ! Who would have thought that was possible ? ? ? To meet a work colleague from Canada Post in Ottawa, twenty-one years after leaving Canada Post ! And to meet him here at Kofa Ko-op in Yuma, Arizona ! ! ! AND ... < sputter > ... that he would be the son of Escapee friends of ours from Maple Leaf Chapter 18 in Ontario that we've known since our first days as Escapees eight years ago ! WOW ! ! !
Today was one of those days where not much went according to plan. We slept late. When I did today's regular preventive maintenance I discovered that the truck had a flat tire. And you know how much I hate changing a tire on the truck ! Especially a rear tire ! < sigh > With help from Joanne I changed the flat tire. Joanne left to go Wal-Martin'. Fine ... as long as I don't have to go along ! Our friend Terry brought back my bicycle after he had completed some refurbishment work. Thank you, Terry. I spent some time playing around with the bicycle, doing some minor adjustments and riding it around the park. I did some other minor maintenance work then took Bo on the pack walk. It wasn't very well attended today because there was a park wide barbecue scheduled at 4 PM. Joanne and I have stopped attending park "dinners" scheduled at 4 PM. That's three ( or more ) hours earlier than our normal supper time.
We did, however, attend the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. Where we met Gerald and Helen. New retirees. New Escapees. New visitors to Kofa Ko-op. I worked with Gerald at Canada Post in Ottawa ! More than twenty-one years ago ! And his parents are Escapee friends of ours ! Joanne and I chatted with Gerald and Helen for a couple of hours after the ice cream social.
Monday ; < YAWN > ... Didn't sleep well last night. Chatting with Gerald yesterday conjured up all sorts of Canada Post ghosts and goblins that kept me tossing and turning and having bad dreams. Oh, well ... I suppose that validates my decision over twenty-one years ago to leave Canada Post and open our first pet food and supply store.
I spent the day creating a new garden along the front of the front patio. When this park was developed about twenty seven years ago, the lots were sprayed with an oil based sealant to stabilize the sandy soil, seal against weeds, and reduce dust. Over time this sealant interacted with the sand and gravel to form a layer almost like asphalt just a few inches below the surface. So ... much of today's effort was using a pick axe to smash through this layer where I wanted to create the garden. WHEW ... hard work !
I excavated and hauled heavy pails full of the excavated material to the dumpster. I built the border using scalloped edge concrete curbing. Then I hauled heavy pails full of sand from the dog park over the fence and to the front yard to "back fill" the new garden. I'm too old to work that hard ! I walked over to the park's landscaped gardens to snap off some segments of cacti to transplant into my garden and while I was doing that a resident within the park offered me a lovely Barrel Cactus that he had just excavated from his yard and was going to discard. WOO-HOO ... thank you very much. I wanted a Barrel Cactus but balked at the $35 price tag at Yuma Nursery Supply.
While doing all this I learned a fundamental Cactus Landscaping 101 lesson ; WEAR LEATHER GLOVES ! OUCH ! ! ! . Joanne was out shopping and my leather work gloves were in the truck. I wore rubberized "grip" gloves to handle the cacti. The needles on the Prickly Pears that I was handling are microscopic and easily penetrated the gloves ... and then my t-shirt, it seems. My hands and my abdomen were itching like crazy all afternoon. I took a pair of tweezers with me on the daily pack walk and as we walked around the dog park I was yanking near invisible cactus needles out of my fingers. When Joanne returned home from her shopping errands she helped me finish up and clean up.
Nice cactus garden ! With a Barrel Cactus flanked by two Aloe Veras. More to come !
Tuesday ; Another in a long string of beautiful, sunny days. It's amusing to look at the daily newspaper's weather page to see how many different ways the weather people can forecast "sunny and warm" for each of the next seven days. HA HA HA !
Today Joanne cooked rice pudding in the Sun Oven. I worked on demineralising the shower head and the outside water pressure regulator. Yuma's water has such a high mineral content that "scale" / mineral deposits form inside fixtures. I soak them in CLR
( Calcium, Lime, Rust remover ) every few months. I reinstalled the wheel liner, valve extenders, and hub cap on the spare tire that is now on the truck. I decided to leave it on the truck and move the flat tire to the "spare" position after I have it repaired. I installed the framed screen I recently fabricated, onto the shed ceiling under the "Whirlybird" roof vent. And in a few days I will climb up on the shed roof and repair the holes I made in the shed roof / ceiling by using screws that were too long < fume > !
Early this afternoon Carol Mae walked by with her dog Dulce ( Spanish for "sweet" ). We chatted for awhile, then Bo and I joined Carol Mae and Dulce on a walk to and into the dog park. Carol Mae has maintained ... until now ... that Dulce has such anxiety around other dogs that she can't "pack walk". I wanted to prove to her that Bo is such a good pack walker that Bo and Dulce could walk "together" and Dulce wouldn't "freak out" and attack. I was right ! Carol Mae was very pleasantly surprised ! Good dog, Bo !
Our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbours Dave and Joy came by for a brief visit this afternoon. And brought us a house warming gift of two small potted cacti. Great ... thank you ... I will plant them in the new front patio cactus garden between the Barrel Cactus and the Aloe Veras. I excused myself during their visit to take Bo on the daily pack walk. When the pack walkers had completed the first circuit around the perimeter of the dog park, some were preparing to continue on a second circuit and others were leashing their dogs to leave the dog park, I looked around and ... HEY ... where's Bo ? ? ? Well ... as we had passed by our yard on the first circuit he had decided to abandon the pack walk in favour of going back into our yard to visit Dave and Joy. Thanks to the steps I've installed he can climb over our back fence without any help. And I hadn't noticed that he went home ! Way to make me look stupid, Bo ... thanks a lot !
Wednesday ; Week five ( of ten ) of Tai Chi first thing this morning. Still the only male. The instructor is a "healing arts" practitioner and today incorporated "healing sounds" into the Tai Chi movements. Stretched her credibility a bit there, I thought !
Feeling a bit ill today again. Took a nap after Tai Chi hoping that would make me feel better. It didn't. So ... headed out for a day of errands. First stop was Yuma Nursery Supply to buy a couple of buckets of decorative finishing gravel and some ice plants, both for my new front patio cactus garden. Then to Sears to have the truck's punctured tire repaired. Twenty-two bucks ? I don't think so ! Over to Purcell Tire. Twelve fifty ? Yeah, that's more like it !
Kofa Ko-op's Wi-Fi has been out of order for a few days, so I brought my computer along today, planning to have lunch at Burger King and use their free Wi-Fi. Purcell Tire had free Wi-Fi so I got quite a bit of work done online there while I waited for the tire to be repaired. WOW ... you should see the size of the bolt they pulled out of the tire. We went to Burger King for lunch and I finished my online work using Wi-Fi there. Last two stops were Walgreens and Albertsons for advertised specials and groceries. I'm so impressed with Joanne's careful shopping, taking advantage of coupons and advertised specials. Albertson's cash register receipt shows "savings". Today our bill was $35, with savings of $40. Well done !
We arrived home just as today's pack walk was ending. We took Bo for a walk in the dog park, and there were two other dogs in the park, so we had a pack walk with a small pack of three. Afterwards Joanne finished planting in the new front patio cactus garden.
Thursday ; Well ! ! ! First thing this morning I discovered ... the floor of the cupboard underneath the sink was wet ! < sigh > Joanne emptied the cupboard. I stuck my head in and searched for a leak. It wasn't hard to find. It was hard to repair, just because of its inaccessibility. And the amount of time it took to find and repair the leak upset my day’s work plans. I accomplished quite a bit less than I had planned.
I remounted the spare tire underneath the truck. I watered the front yard ocotillo and cactus plantings. WOO-HOO ... the ocotillo has two little buds on it ! It’s alive ! And perhaps coming out of winter dormancy. I spread decorative red gravel in my new front patio cactus garden. Very nice ! I “plucked” old blossoms off the Barrel Cactus. Easier said than done ! My new front patio cactus garden looks great !
Early this afternoon our friends Lynn and Micha came over for a late lunch. And to join us on our daily pack walk with their dog Gypsy. We had a very pleasant lunch, and visit, and pack walk. After they left, I decided on impulse to offer Joanne an unplanned “date night”. She accepted. We went to Historic Yuma Theatre for their once per month foreign film screening. Tonight’s film was “Long Life, Happiness, and Prosperity”. A “foreign” film from Canada. HA HA HA ! From Vancouver, BC ! HA HA HA ! From “Chinatown” in Vancouver. Some of the dialogue was in Chinese, with English subtitles. The characters were Chinese Canadian. The title is a Chinese “wish” extended to others. It was a story of hope and faith. Good movie !
Friday ; This morning I fabricated and installed a metal "guard" under the sink to protect the water tank fittings, to prevent a recurrence of a leak caused by pots and pans and cans against water lines. In the afternoon I did a minor repair on the shed roof then spent the rest of the afternoon working on my cactus gardens. I moved three of my plantings from one location to another. I dug up some plants that a neighbour wanted to get rid of and transplanted them into my gardens. I now have thirty-six cactus and succulent plantings in our yard.
After today's pack walk we headed to The Foothills to look at a couple of used items for sale. We didn't buy either of them.
Saturday ; Today was one of those days where, despite our best efforts to the contrary, we intermittently squabbled and made one another miserable.
Joanne worked on a new painting project today. I continued working on landscaping. Tonight we went to the annual Yuma Accordion Band concert at Historic Yuma Theatre, an annual fund raising event for Habitat For Humanity. Well ... there goes sixteen bucks and another two hours of my life that I’ll never get back ! Thirteen accordions, a tuba, and a banjo. Two hours of “oom pah pah” music. Come on, people, the accordion is a much more versatile instrument that that ! At least my money went to a good cause.
DSK
Today was one of those days where not much went according to plan. We slept late. When I did today's regular preventive maintenance I discovered that the truck had a flat tire. And you know how much I hate changing a tire on the truck ! Especially a rear tire ! < sigh > With help from Joanne I changed the flat tire. Joanne left to go Wal-Martin'. Fine ... as long as I don't have to go along ! Our friend Terry brought back my bicycle after he had completed some refurbishment work. Thank you, Terry. I spent some time playing around with the bicycle, doing some minor adjustments and riding it around the park. I did some other minor maintenance work then took Bo on the pack walk. It wasn't very well attended today because there was a park wide barbecue scheduled at 4 PM. Joanne and I have stopped attending park "dinners" scheduled at 4 PM. That's three ( or more ) hours earlier than our normal supper time.
We did, however, attend the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. Where we met Gerald and Helen. New retirees. New Escapees. New visitors to Kofa Ko-op. I worked with Gerald at Canada Post in Ottawa ! More than twenty-one years ago ! And his parents are Escapee friends of ours ! Joanne and I chatted with Gerald and Helen for a couple of hours after the ice cream social.
Monday ; < YAWN > ... Didn't sleep well last night. Chatting with Gerald yesterday conjured up all sorts of Canada Post ghosts and goblins that kept me tossing and turning and having bad dreams. Oh, well ... I suppose that validates my decision over twenty-one years ago to leave Canada Post and open our first pet food and supply store.
I spent the day creating a new garden along the front of the front patio. When this park was developed about twenty seven years ago, the lots were sprayed with an oil based sealant to stabilize the sandy soil, seal against weeds, and reduce dust. Over time this sealant interacted with the sand and gravel to form a layer almost like asphalt just a few inches below the surface. So ... much of today's effort was using a pick axe to smash through this layer where I wanted to create the garden. WHEW ... hard work !
I excavated and hauled heavy pails full of the excavated material to the dumpster. I built the border using scalloped edge concrete curbing. Then I hauled heavy pails full of sand from the dog park over the fence and to the front yard to "back fill" the new garden. I'm too old to work that hard ! I walked over to the park's landscaped gardens to snap off some segments of cacti to transplant into my garden and while I was doing that a resident within the park offered me a lovely Barrel Cactus that he had just excavated from his yard and was going to discard. WOO-HOO ... thank you very much. I wanted a Barrel Cactus but balked at the $35 price tag at Yuma Nursery Supply.
While doing all this I learned a fundamental Cactus Landscaping 101 lesson ; WEAR LEATHER GLOVES ! OUCH ! ! ! . Joanne was out shopping and my leather work gloves were in the truck. I wore rubberized "grip" gloves to handle the cacti. The needles on the Prickly Pears that I was handling are microscopic and easily penetrated the gloves ... and then my t-shirt, it seems. My hands and my abdomen were itching like crazy all afternoon. I took a pair of tweezers with me on the daily pack walk and as we walked around the dog park I was yanking near invisible cactus needles out of my fingers. When Joanne returned home from her shopping errands she helped me finish up and clean up.
Nice cactus garden ! With a Barrel Cactus flanked by two Aloe Veras. More to come !
Tuesday ; Another in a long string of beautiful, sunny days. It's amusing to look at the daily newspaper's weather page to see how many different ways the weather people can forecast "sunny and warm" for each of the next seven days. HA HA HA !
Today Joanne cooked rice pudding in the Sun Oven. I worked on demineralising the shower head and the outside water pressure regulator. Yuma's water has such a high mineral content that "scale" / mineral deposits form inside fixtures. I soak them in CLR
( Calcium, Lime, Rust remover ) every few months. I reinstalled the wheel liner, valve extenders, and hub cap on the spare tire that is now on the truck. I decided to leave it on the truck and move the flat tire to the "spare" position after I have it repaired. I installed the framed screen I recently fabricated, onto the shed ceiling under the "Whirlybird" roof vent. And in a few days I will climb up on the shed roof and repair the holes I made in the shed roof / ceiling by using screws that were too long < fume > !
Early this afternoon Carol Mae walked by with her dog Dulce ( Spanish for "sweet" ). We chatted for awhile, then Bo and I joined Carol Mae and Dulce on a walk to and into the dog park. Carol Mae has maintained ... until now ... that Dulce has such anxiety around other dogs that she can't "pack walk". I wanted to prove to her that Bo is such a good pack walker that Bo and Dulce could walk "together" and Dulce wouldn't "freak out" and attack. I was right ! Carol Mae was very pleasantly surprised ! Good dog, Bo !
Our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbours Dave and Joy came by for a brief visit this afternoon. And brought us a house warming gift of two small potted cacti. Great ... thank you ... I will plant them in the new front patio cactus garden between the Barrel Cactus and the Aloe Veras. I excused myself during their visit to take Bo on the daily pack walk. When the pack walkers had completed the first circuit around the perimeter of the dog park, some were preparing to continue on a second circuit and others were leashing their dogs to leave the dog park, I looked around and ... HEY ... where's Bo ? ? ? Well ... as we had passed by our yard on the first circuit he had decided to abandon the pack walk in favour of going back into our yard to visit Dave and Joy. Thanks to the steps I've installed he can climb over our back fence without any help. And I hadn't noticed that he went home ! Way to make me look stupid, Bo ... thanks a lot !
Wednesday ; Week five ( of ten ) of Tai Chi first thing this morning. Still the only male. The instructor is a "healing arts" practitioner and today incorporated "healing sounds" into the Tai Chi movements. Stretched her credibility a bit there, I thought !
Feeling a bit ill today again. Took a nap after Tai Chi hoping that would make me feel better. It didn't. So ... headed out for a day of errands. First stop was Yuma Nursery Supply to buy a couple of buckets of decorative finishing gravel and some ice plants, both for my new front patio cactus garden. Then to Sears to have the truck's punctured tire repaired. Twenty-two bucks ? I don't think so ! Over to Purcell Tire. Twelve fifty ? Yeah, that's more like it !
Kofa Ko-op's Wi-Fi has been out of order for a few days, so I brought my computer along today, planning to have lunch at Burger King and use their free Wi-Fi. Purcell Tire had free Wi-Fi so I got quite a bit of work done online there while I waited for the tire to be repaired. WOW ... you should see the size of the bolt they pulled out of the tire. We went to Burger King for lunch and I finished my online work using Wi-Fi there. Last two stops were Walgreens and Albertsons for advertised specials and groceries. I'm so impressed with Joanne's careful shopping, taking advantage of coupons and advertised specials. Albertson's cash register receipt shows "savings". Today our bill was $35, with savings of $40. Well done !
We arrived home just as today's pack walk was ending. We took Bo for a walk in the dog park, and there were two other dogs in the park, so we had a pack walk with a small pack of three. Afterwards Joanne finished planting in the new front patio cactus garden.
Thursday ; Well ! ! ! First thing this morning I discovered ... the floor of the cupboard underneath the sink was wet ! < sigh > Joanne emptied the cupboard. I stuck my head in and searched for a leak. It wasn't hard to find. It was hard to repair, just because of its inaccessibility. And the amount of time it took to find and repair the leak upset my day’s work plans. I accomplished quite a bit less than I had planned.
I remounted the spare tire underneath the truck. I watered the front yard ocotillo and cactus plantings. WOO-HOO ... the ocotillo has two little buds on it ! It’s alive ! And perhaps coming out of winter dormancy. I spread decorative red gravel in my new front patio cactus garden. Very nice ! I “plucked” old blossoms off the Barrel Cactus. Easier said than done ! My new front patio cactus garden looks great !
Friday ; This morning I fabricated and installed a metal "guard" under the sink to protect the water tank fittings, to prevent a recurrence of a leak caused by pots and pans and cans against water lines. In the afternoon I did a minor repair on the shed roof then spent the rest of the afternoon working on my cactus gardens. I moved three of my plantings from one location to another. I dug up some plants that a neighbour wanted to get rid of and transplanted them into my gardens. I now have thirty-six cactus and succulent plantings in our yard.
Saturday ; Today was one of those days where, despite our best efforts to the contrary, we intermittently squabbled and made one another miserable.
Joanne worked on a new painting project today. I continued working on landscaping. Tonight we went to the annual Yuma Accordion Band concert at Historic Yuma Theatre, an annual fund raising event for Habitat For Humanity. Well ... there goes sixteen bucks and another two hours of my life that I’ll never get back ! Thirteen accordions, a tuba, and a banjo. Two hours of “oom pah pah” music. Come on, people, the accordion is a much more versatile instrument that that ! At least my money went to a good cause.
DSK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)