Clouds! Two Sides to that Story, Laundry Gets Done, Sierra Vista, New Family

For some reason, I woke at 6 am on Saturday, Feb. 17th and couldn’t seem to drop back off. I know it was another one of those nights spent in dreams. Bill, Bridgette, and a whole bunch of people I don’t remember were involved in that mess of nonsensical happenings. Bill got up at 6:30 for a nature call but Clemson stayed huddled under the covers until he returned. At 7, I got up. Sneakily. They didn't move.

Saturday started out like this

I opened a couple of the blinds in our common area and noticed the fog was blanketing everything about 20’ out. By the time I slipped into my shoes and jacket and stepped outside with my book and phone, it had moved even further away. I drove up to the clubhouse laundromat and found one other person waiting. Hmm. I was happy to hear her say, ‘there are 2 washers free’. Perfect!

After loading them with our duds, I walked to the other door leading into the clubhouse/book room/exercise room/dining area and dropped our 5 books off on the shelves. I was alone and it was warm in there compared to the chill of the 42F outside. Even the laundry room was cool. It wasn’t long and I was joined by another lady.

Low clouds performed quite the act all day today

The conversation started out good and before I knew it she began talking about Christianity and I was looking for an escape route. I hate that! Thankfully, one of the cooks arrived to begin preparing for their featured Saturday morning breakfasts. They started talking and I slipped out the side door. Coward, I am! She wasn’t ‘preaching’ but telling me all about a group she belongs to and yadayada.

So, I sat in the truck with my book and read until the spin cycle finished and then transferred them to the dryers. Back inside when the dryers were 10 minutes from finishing I felt warm arms wrap around me from behind. Talk about sneaky! Of course, I knew who it was so didn’t strike out. Ha ha. Who else would be walking around with bare arms?

We folded the clothes and found that a few pieces of clothing were still too damp to put away. We don’t like this type of dryer where you have to put a certain amount in to start it. We like the ones where it takes .25 to start it and you can add as many as you want. We weren’t spending another $1.25 to dry 5 items. I hung them up in our shower. It wasn’t worth getting our portable clothesline out either.

The clouds have moved in and it doesn’t look like we’ll see much sun today. The wind is up a bit too and the temperature will have to struggle to make it to the forecasted high of 66F. We could smell the pancakes and sausage wafting through from the clubhouse into the laundry room so when we had put everything away, I made our own for breakfast. The little waffle iron has certainly paid for itself, even though we only use it once every couple of months.

Groceries here

Clemson now has food for the next month

With dishes cleaned up, I went online to pay one of Mom’s bills and then checked out Facebook. I don’t do that often but did remember to play my Scrabble games that are in play. I’d missed our cousin Glen’s birthday so had to wish him a ‘belated’. Today, is a Happy Birthday to our friends, Trevor and Tracy Aljoe. We hope it’s a great day for you both!

Before I knew it, I had signed us out of our hotspot without reading my comments and friend’s blogs. LOL. I’ll have to go back on later. We relaxed for a couple of hours with our books and then took a run into Sierra Vista for a few small grocery items and Clemson’s soft food. The clouds are clearing away slowly but I was fascinated by the way they hovered over and through the ‘black’ mountains to the south.

We shopped Fry’s and stopped at their gas bar to fuel up Black Beauty. We must remember to go there before we leave the area. Their diesel is a nice price at $2.69/gal. and that is without using our Fry’s points. On our way back home, I caught sight of the Blimp again, just hanging there in the white clouds in front of the mountain ranges. Very cool to see that thing but I don’t think my pictures turned out. We were driving.

On my walk with Clemson we saw this little guy
Beep beep!

As we went in and then exited Fry’s, 3 or 4 cute little Girl Guides were selling cookies. Many varieties for a change. I won’t buy the chocolate mint ones for any price, but on our way out I bought a box of their original shortbread brand. Not quite the same as their traditional sandwich type but these are good and for a good cause.

The clouds didn't give up all day

It was after 3:30 when I decided to take a walk with Clemson. Bill said he saw where George and Suzie’s friends are camped. The family with 7 children, living in their rv. I saw Abigail first, shyly smiling at me as I walked near. I walked over and said hello. Her brother then brought Brownie over to say hello to Clemson and our little scaredy cat (er, dog) showed no fear. They touched noses and that was enough.

I met their dad, Scott and Abigail then named her sisters and brothers but I couldn’t repeat them for any amount of money. I caught the names, Esther and Marideth and then heard the story about what was wrong with their bikes and about their haircuts. Abby is a charmer. So cute, and such a polite group of children. Scott’s biggest dilemma was what to have for supper so I left them to it. Feeding my one hungry man is enough for me, feeding 9? Kudos to you, Scott and Laurel!

And we begin to appreciate the clouds even more
as the sun goes down

We sat inside with the tv on. I don’t enjoy sitting outside when I have to layer up with my clothes and even though it is mild, there is no sun to encourage me. Today we watched an episode of The Launch. I’m not so sure that I’m into another one of these shows, but Bill seems to enjoy them.  At 5:30 we started supper. Bill lit the Weber and I peeled and cut potatoes.

Even I'm impressed with this lovely looking supper!

Bill grilled 2 thin pork chops for himself and butterflied and grilled a very large chicken breast for me. I boiled and mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and corn inside. This was a really nice meal and we were eating by 6 and cleaned up by 6:30. We have leftovers for another night and that is always good. 

In between drying dishes, I was running outside with my camera. The sky was changing by the minute and it was absolutely magnificent! Now, we can say thank you for the clouds today.

Looks like fire and smoke

We were watching Live PD and lost the connection to the satellite. Woops! Don’t know what happened there, but it isn’t the end of the world. Just the end of watching television this evening. I finished posting my blog and sat with my book. I’m reading Tami Hoag’s Dust to Dust and it is getting good. Bill is reading a Michael Connelly, The Drop, and seems to be caught up in it as well. It’s a library night, apparently.

This has been a good day. We got laundry and some shopping done and some walking and relaxing too. Who can complain about that? Not us! I hope you can say the same about your day. 

Goodnight from Quail Ridge

PS – just before posting, Bill reset the satellite dish and we are back in business. I’m still going to read my book. 😉

Thank you for reading today. Feel free to leave a comment.