December 13 to 19, 2015

Sunday ; Sunny and warm. How nice !

We had a long, tiring, busy day of "return home" chores. Our yard is overrun with Goat's Head Cacti, a ground creeping vine type of plant with tiny buds, each with a couple of very sharp little quills, hence the name "Goat's Head". They are deadly to dogs' feet ! And the soles of our shoes. Joanne spent the entire day weeding them out of our yard. And she's only about half done !  I think our days of "no herbicide spraying" on our lot are over !

I lent my very sharp machete to a new neighbour who just bought the lot across the street. The cacti on their lot are so large that he had to trim them by whackin' 'em with my machete. HA HA HA ! At 5 PM we took Bo for a walk around the dog park. At 6 PM we went to the regular weekly ice cream social where we chatted with old friends Charles and Coralee.

Monday ; Sunny, chilly, windy.

Another long, tiring day of "return home" chores. Joanne finished weeding the yard late this afternoon after two full days of working on it. Her hands look like hell !  I appreciate her efforts. Well done, dear, thank you. I spent the day doing repairs. Our Arizona room roof sustained some damage during a violent summer storm.

Tuesday ; Sunny and chilly. I guess winter has arrived in Yuma.

We got a late start to our day again. My cold is almost over but I'm suffering from fatigue and low stamina. Part of the fatigue is because I'm not sleeping well. Because all night long Joanne is coughing and hoarking and snorting and making all those other ugly throat noises that she makes when she has a cold ... < sigh >. Yes, yes ... not only have I had two colds since we left home three months ago ... I've passed both of them on to Joanne.

This afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our first volunteer shift of this winter season. Our friend and neighbour Carol Mae came along. Joanne did "cat cuddling". Carol Mae and I did dog walking. At the end of our two hour "shift" we were tired.

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Sunny and chilly, high temperature of 62º F.

This morning we headed for Los Algodones, Mexico, for dental appointments. BUT ... due to Joanne having a cold, I persuaded her to cancel her appointment today. SO ... while I went for a dental cleaning, she went for a pedicure. AND ... while I was having my teeth cleaned by a hygienist, my periodontist had to leave unexpectedly. HMPH ! SO ... my periodontal examination was postponed ! When my cleaning was completed
I rescheduled my periodontal examination and Joanne's cleaning and examination for two weeks from today.

After my dental cleaning and Joanne's pedicure were completed we went for lunch to our favourite little "restaurant" in Los Algodones. After lunch we returned to the border, eager to get some chores and errands done back in Yuma. This was our fourth time crossing from Mexico back into the United States in the last month and a half, and I have a suspicion. Our border crossings have been so fast and painless, with thinly veiled contempt by the Customs & Border Patrol agents, I suspect that they have been advised to "keep hands off" the Canadians returning to the U.S. from Mexican border / tourist towns.

Once back in Yuma we went to Pep Boys to return an item, to Lowe's to purchase an item, and finally, Albertsons to buy groceries. Once back home we took Bo for a walk around the dog park perimeter before it got dark outside. We spent the evening watching the three hour season finale of Survivor.

Thursday ; Sunny and cool. It was a long, tiring day of moving from Elsie the truck camper into Harvey the fifth wheel trailer.

This morning our neighbour / friend Carol Mae came over to show us her new "foster" puppy, a six week old ... who knows ? A cute little female, probably a Chihuahua / Terrier mix, black with a small white patch on her chest. A "tuxedo" ! Carol Mae will care for the puppy for at least a couple of weeks, until it's old enough to go back to the Humane Society and be put into the adoption kennels.

Joanne "moved" everything that needed to be removed from the truck camper into the Arizona room. I prepared the truck camper for storage. Right after lunch we drove to Kofa Ko-op's storage area and unloaded the camper off Lanoire the truck. I installed the fifth wheel hitch into the truck and we hitched up to the fifth wheel trailer. On the way back to our lot we stopped at the park's air compressor and refilled the trailer's tires with air. We got backed into our lot, then I worked on outside chores while Joanne worked on inside chores, including "moving" from the Arizona room back into the trailer. I was not quite finished with outside set up chores when darkness fell. < sigh >

Harvey the fifth wheel trailer is showing his age ! Sitting unused in the brutal summer heat here is taking its toll !

Friday ; Sunny and cool. We spent most of the day running shopping errands.

First stop after heading out this morning was Peanut Patch, the local peanut farm and store to buy some freshly made peanut butter. Then over to Arizona MarketPlace where I needed to buy a few hardware items at Wally's World. We bumped into one of our old acquaintances from SKP BC Okanagan Chapter 33.   Working !   I strenuously object to Canadians working illegally in the United States !

Next stop was Lowe's to return the 14" roof vent I recently purchased for our shed, and to special order the correct 12" size roof vent. We went to Rally's for lunch. As always at Rally's ... atrocious service, excellent food ! After lunch we shopped at the 99¢ Only Store, and finally ... < sigh > ... Wal-Mart.

Back at home we went to check on Carol Mae's foster puppy, then I connected and configured our satellite dish and receiver. It's a semi-annual chore I don't like doing, mostly because it usually doesn't go smoothly. Today was no exception !

For supper I barbecued marinated steaks with foil wrapped packets of potatoes, carrots and onions. MMMMM ... simple but good !

Saturday ; Sunny and mild.

Joanne went out shopping by herself this morning. I began work on removing the Arizona room's snap-on vinyl walls. By lunch time I had removed the "end" wall panels and needed help to finish removing the long "side" wall panels.

By the time I was finished lunch Joanne had returned home. I napped briefly while Joanne began our Christmas decorating. She helped me remove the Arizona room's "side" wall panels, then we worked together to complete our Christmas decorating. We took Bo for a lap around the seven acre dog park, then went out for dinner at a Chinese buffet restaurant with Laszlo and Gail, our friends from Kamloops, B.C.

Every year we receive one old fashioned "snail mail" Christmas card. It arrived today.

Thank you for the Christmas card, Julie.

DSK