Last Day is Bittersweet, Busy from Beginning to End

I woke up around 5 and rolled over with the hopes of going back to sleep. Clemson moved as well and crawled under the covers with his Daddy. He has been so good, sleeping through the night again, night after night. I dropped off and then woke at 6. Our last day, I thought, no time to dilly dally since I was wide awake. So, I got up 10 minutes into the hour.

Interesting sky this morning again

I had a post to finish for yesterday’s blog so sat at my laptop to do that. Eek! That reminds me that I forgot to post it to Facebook so I’ll be doing two in a row now. Where ever was my blonde head this morning? I finished posting the pictures and published it and by that time it was 7:15 and I was able to go out for my walk. It was a mild morning again with no breeze, whatsoever. I love those mornings.

It is a different park now than when we arrived on Dec. 11

These sites were mainly empty

When I returned after my 3,000 steps, Bill had already had his coffee on the go so I made my tea to drink with him. We read a few blogs and I’d made the decision that I wanted to play Bocce ball one more time before leaving. It would give me a chance to say goodbye to Gordon, Judy, Eddie and a few others. Bill declined as he had many things on his list of things to do to get ready for departure.

Just an inkling of the sunrise

At 11:15, I checked over Gordon’s shoulder (he’s the organizer and scorekeeper) to see if he had me slotted in for the last game. He did so I asked him to put someone in my place and I scooted home. We had 3 large loads of laundry to get done today. When I got home, Bill had a wheel off Black Beauty so he could check pressure, tread and all that good stuff that men do to their tires. I needed change for the wash so asked him to bring the basket of clothes up when he was ready.

Gordon sweeps the court to remove small stones

 I walked to the office to get quarters and it wasn’t long before he brought them in for me. Since there are only 5 washing machine you are only supposed to do 2 loads at a time, so that others can also use the facilities. No problem. I loaded the one old washer that was $1.25 and one of the new $2 ones and moved on to work on the puzzle. There was a puzzle with the border ¾ done so I worked at that until it was finished and skipped next door to check wash.

The ladies at one end
Pat takes a shot with Judy to her left waiting

I actually saved a total of $1.50 today because I used the old washer for the last load too. Every quarter counts. Long story short, the puzzle had a number of pieces together, laundry was clean and dry by 1:30 and Bill picked me up with the truck. I realized up there that the half grapefruit I had at 8:30 was not enough to sustain me but I couldn’t do anything until I was back home. Because Bill was home and on the move more than me he had access to a second coffee and a couple or three or four nutter butters. When I walked in, I had to find something to eat, like soon. It was too late to make us a big breakfast/lunch so we each had some toast with jam or peanut butter.

It was a nice turnout and there were 4 new players today
Rob winds up for his turn

Bill was busy all morning packing things up and you can read all about it on the post that he’s working on now tonight, at On Our Way. He was tired out and stretched out on the sofa for a snooze, since his recliner won’t recline anymore. That put a damper on my next chore and that was to vacuum the Suite from top to bottom. I got my paints out again and painted 3 rocks for someone special.

There were some close games this morning
and I certainly wasn't throwing anything like I did on Monday!

Our neighbor, Don, whom you ‘met’ yesterday, suggested on our 'paint day' that I paint a “Kilroy Was Here” rock. I hadn’t yet done that so decided to paint one for him and Carolyn before we left. The second one says “So were we” and the third one says “see you in December, God willing” He will get a kick out of them, I’m sure, and I’ll leave them on their step in the morning with Carolyn’s 80^th birthday card. Her birthday is on the 15^th, same as Taylor’s, my oldest grandson.

Small gifts for Don and Carolyn
such a wonderful couple

While Bill was sleeping, I swept the cement patio as we had invited everyone here for our last Happy Hour at 3:30. Bill even invited the lady across the lane who we met in the laundry room to join us. After he was awake, I vacuumed. Most things were put away and cupboards bungee’d shut. All that was left to secure was the everyday dish cupboards, fridge and the items on our hutch beside the table. Rob and Pat, Ken and Nancy, Benno and Marlene and Diane joined us in the sun shortly after 3:30. Seldom is anyone late for happy hour!

Rob and Marlene
She looks so cute in my hat, I should give it to her

Ken and Pat, who also looks cute in her hat

The day has been gorgeous! Highs of 73F and if I’d had more hours in the day, it would have been a great pool day. No worries, I’m happy with how the day went. Judy and Eddie popped in with suggestions of things to see and places to go if and when we get back to Nashville so we were able to give them goodbye hugs. We’ll miss these folks, this has honestly been our best visit to Pilot Knob ever and we look forward to our return in December.

Benno, Nancy and Bill in the shaded end

Mr. Drone who hasn't committed any crimes

The ‘party’ broke up just after 5 and Bill was happy to have gotten his drone up one more time to show Benno, who is very interested in it. 

Showing Benno how the drone works

We hugged when we parted because we don’t know if we’ll see anyone before we leave in the morning. We hope to leave by 9ish and we know we’ll gain an hour as we head further west, officially moving into California’s Pacific time zone. For supper, it was a simple indoor meal since Bill had the Weber Q tucked away. I fried mini sausages and steamed the last of my asparagus and ‘nuked’ Bill’s mixed veggies. It was a nice filling dinner.

Supper was good
We had some homemade  Christmas cake and creamy jello
for dessert

I caught up on and published this post before 7:30 so I could relax this evening. This has been an awesome day and a wonderful time here with various friends. The best part, I think, is the new friends we’ve met and reacquainting with old and dear ones. Although I can't downplay the fun we've had with learning and playing Shuffleboard, Bocce ball and Texas Hold'em. 

And a pretty night  sky for our last one here

 We’ll definitely be back next winter. We are sad to leave but at the same time, happy to be moving to another place we love to visit. Check in tomorrow to see where we end up!

This is my attempt at catching the Waxing crescent moon
Visible 17%
Good night!

I hope you had an enjoyable visit to my blog. Your comments are always read and appreciated.