Last Day, Making Progress on My Lesson ♥, Pack Up Process

La Posa South, Quartzsite, Az

On Monday, Jan. 31^st, we have successfully and happily reached the end of another winter month. The good (great) thing is that we have spent it all in the warmth of the southwest. There have been cool days, definitely cool nights, but we haven’t had anything below 32F/0C and we haven’t had any of that white stuff. Heck, I can say it – we haven’t had any snow! 😊

We had company on our walk today

You could say we are happy campers and you would be 100% on the money. Gibbs and I went for our walk, a bit later than normal and when we returned, Bill was almost ready to go flying again. Good for him! The day was a calm one and the sun rose into a beautiful clear blue sky. I wasn’t concerned about the few wispy clouds but I guess I should have been.

I asked this 'fellow' on the corner which way,
and this is my answer

Bill left at 8:30 and Gibbs and I sat in my chair with my tea and my book. I was itching to get back into the crocheted blanket that Deb started me on yesterday – before I forgot the stitches - LOL but wouldn’t do that with Gibbs being so keen. I warmed up some of my ‘oatmeal’ and enjoyed it with a bit of cream and pineapple. Bill chose a fresh pineapple off the shelf at Walmart and I’d used my handy corer to slice it for easier consummation. If it’s ready, we eat it.

The sun was already popping

Gibbs and I moved outside around 10:30 and I took my project and thankfully remembered the steps, even turning the corners correctly! 😊 My teacher would be proud. I chatted back and forth with Donna back home on the progress of our LadyFest plans. They are coming together. Back to today’s plans though. When Bill returned from the field at 11:30, he was happy after a number of flights. He had stopped at the park we’ll move to tomorrow to check on check-in. Now we know.

Look now, tomorrow we will be gone 

He began packing up things we wouldn’t need tonight and then stopped for some lunch. He doesn’t usually need my help outside, today being no exception, other than folding our wind break tarp so I continued to crochet before putting many of our ornamental things away inside. We won’t be in a rush in the morning, not having to move until after lunch, but it’s nice to have things mostly taken care of. It’s our way to be ready in advance.

This was my progress on the new rectangle afghan
at 11 am and I'm happy with what I've done ♥

I made a tea and Bill poured himself a drink around 4, when he finally stopped working. Gibbs is probably wondering what is going on? He was just settling in to another place, thinking it was the new ‘Ridge’. 😊 More changes, good thing he’s flexible like his Mom and Dad. For supper, a hamburger ghoulash in Madame IP. There are leftover potatoes that can be fried up and there is Jell-o and whipped cream to clean up as well.

Bill put our panels down flat,
removing the tilt arms

There was no more sun, so he'd taken down the
sun screen first

Bill drew my attention to this low-flying plane

I had my phone in my pocket so was able to
catch it as it flew over

So, plans are good but they don’t always go as we expect. Bill started the generator around 5:30 and I prepared the ground beef, carrots, onions and celery in the IP. Sautéing the meat and onions first, then adding the carrots and setting for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes in, all power went off because the generator went off. ☹ Bill got it going for a few short minutes but it died again. Bummer.

It's a process but when you need solar power,
tilted panels benefit us a lot.

Our batteries were charged enough for us to manage through the evening BUT I moved the stew to a pot on the stove. Carrots take the longest but they were almost completely cooked already so it wasn’t going to take long. I fried the potatoes separately and then decided to add dumplings. It all turned out well but it sure did create a lot of dishes.😊

for a last minute concoction, it was very good!
Bonus = leftovers!

We watched a couple of programs on tv. I finished my J.P. book today; Liar, Liar, is an exciting page turner. This was a good day, we are ready for our move with just a few things left for the morning. I hope your beginning of the week and end of the month went well too.

For a very brief moment, we had a lovely sky

After the remnants of our sun went down for the night
Cloudy overnight means warmer temps 50F/10C
Good night! Good bye January!

Thanks for stopping in!

 

Getting Things Done and Having Fun Too

Pilot Knob RV Resort We knew when we got up on Thursday, Jan. 6th that we were going to go play Bocce Ball since it would be our last time. After the usual ‘Gibbs and Mom’ walk, Bill and I had our first drink and then headed up to the court. I took a thermos of coffee with me. We wore less than we have for the whole month we’ve been here, it was a lovely morning.

Morning walk

Gabby and Gibbs chase each other around the park. Here, Gibbs shares his newly found bottle.

The temperature was already 51F/11C at 7:30 and a balmy 60F/16C when we started play. I had my wind breaker off within 15 minutes, my sweater within half hour, down to short sleeves. This is what we love! Bill was on the other court; we had another great turn out of 17 players. The park is getting fuller each week and after the RV Show in the Q is over, it will get even busier. The pool had users too, all evidence of warmer weather.

The ladies on my court this morning div class="separator" style="clear: both;">

Easy Going Last Day, Pack up, Goodbye Dinner

Picacho Peak RV Resort, AZ

On Monday, Dec. 6^th we acknowledge that it is our last day here in the park. We aren’t go-go-go rv’ers especially day after day. That being said, we knew we’d just sit tight and start putting things away. I debated going to the pool after lunch but ixnayed that early on. It would have been nice, I’m sure. Gibbs and I slipped out of bed at 7 and walked to the dog park. No doggie friends today but we had fun by ourselves for about 20 minutes.

At the dog park, this white oleander
was just beginning to flower

Back home, my tea went down nicely and Bill was just up, washed and making the bed. I went to the puzzle room for an hour and a half and Bill put things away in my absence. I made great progress today! The border has been redone and this time it is right.

This is cool at a corner of the park

Gibbs supervised Bill in the packing up process; I mean watched him. 😊 It was 11:30 when we had scrambled eggs and bacon for lunch and then I went out with the little mutt to read. That sun was hot! Gibbs settled down in the shade a couple of times before we came inside. Ken and Nancy popped over to confirm a place for supper tonight, and we settled on a time and place before they left.

I'll never see this puzzle done but I wasn't here long
enough for it to worm it's way into my ♥ anyway
At least I fixed the border for the next puzzlers

Gibbs would not settle down the whole time they were here and that is frustrating, as rather than contribute to the conversation, I found I was more involved with keeping him calm. Well, trying to. Of course, after they left, he crashed on the floor and slept. Isn’t that just the way? Good thing we love him so much! Haha! ♥ I worked on my blog and Bill went for a snooze.

Gibbs is not a sun person like Clemson was 💕

Down our street, someone got a
motorcycle dropped off 

The sun setting on the mountains 
Always a beautiful sight

Ken pulled up just as we were walking out of our site. The restaurant was Boston’s Sports Restaurant in Casa Grande and we were glad we had our jackets/sweaters with us. They had a/c on running pretty much full blast and we settled at a table for 4. We had a nice little waitress who made the whole visit pleasant. After ordering drinks, Nancy asked for an appetizer of flat breads along with spinach and artichoke dip. It was yummy!

A yummy appetizer

My supper

For my entrée, I ordered the Baked Lasagna and it was wonderful. I could only eat half so the remainder came home in a doggie bag. 😊 Our friends wouldn’t let us help pay for the meal tonight, so we thanked them for the lovely evening out. It’s all we could do. ♥ Gibbs was happy to see us at 7 and he’d done a fine job of looking after the house. This was another great day ending with a wonderful dinner.

When we camped together in our first years of meeting,
at Silver Lake, MI we always ate out on our last night
Tonight was like that
Thank you Ken and Nancy for the great week! 💖💖
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.

Fun Day with Elvis, Mom, Sisters, Friends and Pocket Cash to Boot!

It was around 6:30 on Saturday, June 9^th when we found ourselves up and about. It wasn’t looking like too much sun was going to make an appearance today but at least the pleasant 55F/13C was encouraging. It was a nice night for sleeping too, double digits are always good for the overnight hours. We had our tea and coffee and talked about what we needed to accomplish today.

A few hostas up on the hill, a tomato plant, peony, rose of sharon
and lilies

One thing I wanted to do before leaving here tomorrow was to spread the last bag of mulch. So, that finally got done! I think it looks so much better and should help to keep the weeds at bay.

Gerry needed to borrow Bill’s jigsaw as Mike was building a new rv step for them and once they left, we hopped into the Rav4 and drove to Hanover. A few groceries were needed from Walmart, some bread at Bread Depot and we stopped in Mark’s to check out their ‘storewide sale’. Bill found a pair of black jeans for a great price.

A few things left but not much
Trace and Bill watch the goings on

Sandra had lots of beautiful skating dresses for sale

 Back in Durham, the town was C-R-A-Z-Y!! The Durham Herb Fair was on, an auction sale, many garage sales (including the Aljoes’) and even a funeral. I missed getting a picture of the 1940’s hearse as it sat in the lot. The streets in the north end of Durham were jam packed for most of the day. We found a spot down Queen St. and walked to our friend’s yard sale with a 6 pack……of cinnamon buns. It was nice to see Trace who was home from the mine for a couple of weeks.

Even though it wasn't an original, I still like the sleekness
of this Thunderbird

Bill and I left for home and tidied up a few more things, getting ready for tomorrow’s departure.  At 1 I picked Donna up, yay, my turn to take the new wheels out, and we hit a couple of garage sales. Pat handed me cash that she received for our inflatable boat. Yippee! We are so glad it sold and thankful to them for putting it out for us. We made $24 at their sale. :)

With the grass reflection it is hard to see the colour of our Rav4
It is called Pyrite (fool's gold) and we love it!

 We found a few small things and then drove to Rockwood to see Mom. Today was Elvis day, Spencer a young impersonator from Durham was putting on a show for the residents. We all love Elvis, so when Cathy, my oldest sister, arrived we all sat with Mom in the auditorium. She was so proud to have 3 of her daughters with her.

Full house at Rockwood auditorium
Back row on the right, Donna, Mom, Cathy, my chair

Special times with Mom today

For an hour we listened and sang along to his renditions of many of the Elvis hip shaking classics, then he did some Ricky Nelson and even Johnny Cash. This young man was not more than 25 and was very good. He didn’t look exactly like the Memphis man nor did he talk like him but we enjoyed the performance very much. 

Our Mom loves to flirt

And our friends really appreciate her humour

The 3 of us walked out to the elevator where we met Rob and Pat in for a visit with Aunt Mary. Mom flirted with Rob, right in her element there! Lots of laughs.

don't you love the shoes?

He was very good with the residents, giving out leis, flowers and silk scarves

Mom was singing along too

Aunt Mary was enjoying it also in her hair do and lei

We said goodbye to Cathy and I drove Donna home to the Acreage. Back at the Ridge, Bill had most things put away and the truck backed into position. It was when Bill asked what was for supper that changed the evening. Or should I say it was ‘the way’ Bill asked “what did I have in mind for supper?” that did it. He had an idea in his head and barbecuing steak wasn’t it. That idea was Riverside Fish and chips so we texted Donna and Gerry to see if they had plans.

Mom and 3 of her girls

We drove and picked them up giving them their first ride together in the Rav4. The food was good and I was so ready for it. After dropping them off again and checking out their new step, we returned home to our pooch. I felt kapooped again and just wanted to sit. I hadn’t really done much but it was a go-go-go day. I cleaned up the day’s dishes and put things away before securing the cupboards with the bungees. I remembered how to do it!

Looks like our purple irises will bloom in our absence

Before coming inside, I made 4 jaunts around the property and up to the garden with the watering can. I wanted to give my plants and veggies a good drink before we left. Bill found a program on PBS that we’ve probably seen before but this time recorded it. It is called The Highwayman Lives with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and my all-time favourite, Willie Nelson. Every song is one we can sing along too so now today I have had rock, gospel and country filling my soul with music.

One thing I didn’t tell you yet. While I was gone today, Bill crawled up onto the roof. We had a robin family nestled in our bedroom a/c. We couldn’t take the babies with us or Mama would never find them. So, with gloves on he carefully lifted the air conditioner to move them out. The nest was mostly dismantled and the 3 babies were actually old enough to have their license to fly. With a nudge, each one took off from the rooftop. What a relief that was! Bill’s hands were pretty busy though so couldn’t get a picture.

The sky put on a gorgeous display tonight before (or as) the sun was saying goodnight. I hope your day was just as wonderful!

Thank you for stopping by. I love to hear from you.