A Long Walk, Cacti Varieties, Bill’s Flight

Park Place RV Park

On Friday, Jan. 31^st I had a couple of things on my mind when I woke up. Oh gee, I just remembered that I had quite the dream too. Wish I could remember more about it but, as usual, I got separated from Bill and got lost. Never good dreams for me when that happens. LOL I lazed in bed until Bill was done in the shower and then got up and had mine.

Good morning!

I skipped my early walk and instead took my white poufy vest and our two chair quilts (from Nancy) over to be washed. No one is ever there at 7 – 7:30. When they were done, I hung them on the park’s clothesline. 😊 It’s a beautiful morning with very little wind. Bill and Duncan left for the flying field around 8 and I was happy to sit with Gibbs and have my tea.

Gibbs gets a brushing
and so far he's liking it.

The good news is that I woke up feeling better than I have in a number of days. I was afraid to speak it out loud, but my sciatica pain was almost non-existent! Sssh! It may not last! Once my tea was gone, Gibbs indicated that it was his turn to go for a walk so at 8:30 we went around the park. Not sure why, but he didn’t do the outside perimeter this morning.

I walked to Celia's Rainbow Garden
and took pictures as I walked through to the
flying field.

I dropped him off and a few minutes before 9 I slipped into my hoody and windbreaker only and set out with my tunes. There has been a lot of buffering with the Sirius XM over the last couple of days, so my songs have had many interruptions as I walk. Oh well. Today, it was later and warmer and I was feeling good so walked through Celia’s Rainbow Garden to Bill’s flying field.

There's my pilot

It was a nice walk and a nice surprise for my hubby. He’d had two flights already but had one more so I could watch. Sweet! My pictures aren’t great because it is hard to find the small planes in that blue expanse of sky. 😊 He did well, had a nice landing and then I moseyed on, back through Celia’s Garden to take pictures of some cacti.

A Saguaro hangs on

Time for a selfie on the waterless bridge

A few interesting things at the garden.
Frisbee golf, fitness platform (?),
RVW memorial, wood art that looks
like a roadrunner (top right)

Teddy bear cholla (left)
Staghorn cholla (right)

a small Saguaro that didn't make it

Prickly Pear

I’m not sure of all the names, one in particular escapes me, but I’ve tried to show you the most popular ones that are in the garden. Back home, I still felt good and that sun was so warm that I immediately changed into shorts and summer top. Gibbs and I sat outside on the patio and I delved into my book. The sun felt so good.

This one is unnamed.
It is a cholla of some kind, I think.

Bill was working with Duncan on the damage to our trailer panel from the tire blow out. It sounds like they know what they’re doing so I wasn’t concerned at all. I didn’t get a picture though, maybe tomorrow I’ll remember. We had lunch at noon, a sandwich for Bill and more soup for me and after another hour of sitting out reading, I went to the puzzle. 😊

Even a cement chair for you to sit in

It's coming along.

We sat with Duncan and Patty for a Happy Hour, until about 5:15, supper time. Bill grilled a pork chop and I fried 2 pieces of liver I had in the freezer. With onions, it was wonderful!! We had a salad and finished a shrimp ring we’d picked up at Walmart. We do love our shrimp. ♥

Gibbs had a good day, finding shade

Supper was good.
The liver makes me want to buy more!

It has been a lovely day, 69F/20C, feeling warmer than that in the heat of the Arizona sun. Warmer days ahead and we are all so ready! This is more like it and totally what we are used to down here. I hope you’ve enjoyed your day.

Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

A Walk to Start the Day, Chillin’ for the Afternoon

Park Place RV Park

On Friday, Feb 16^th the family was up and moving by 7. Gibbs was snuggling up with Bill before 6 and it seems no matter how I tried, that was it for me. They came back to bed for a while. Things running through my head until we finally got up.  When my tea was finished, Bill had left and Gibbs and I went for our walk. It was a lovely morning again and all I needed was shorts and my hoody with a windbreaker. 😊

Well look at that.
We started our day with a ring around the sun.

After bringing Gibb back home, I left the hoody behind and headed out for another walk. Duh, I forgot my ear buds so it was just me walking, silently, in between chats with our creator. I’m grateful for a lot of things and often like to make it known. ♥ I went as far as Coyote Fresh Foods, after a stop at the Family Dollar. I’m looking for frozen lime juice for my beer margaritas but after forgetting it at Walmart, can’t find it at either store here.

We like our home and the
property we claimed for the winter. 

We have lots of room,
these park sites are some of the widest.

Back home, I just chilled outside in the sun Actually, there was no ‘chilling’ involved, that sun was hot and perfect, just how I like it! Gibbs didn’t want to come out – he’s turned into a real Daddy’s boy. Bill was home by 12:30, we had lunch and sat together outside. 

The sun had disappeared from the patio so I followed it into the gazebo where it was lovely. The book I’ve started is called The Finishing School by Joanna Goodman and it has me hooked. 😊

When Gibbs and I walked the park,
clouds had temporarily moved in.

Look at this 'fresh off the tree'
bag of fruit. Yummy!

I do enjoy sitting outside with a good story, in perfect weather and few distractions. When Bill told me that Sheila and Randy had brought grapefruit and oranges in to the clubhouse, I walked over to retrieve a few. He can’t eat grapefruit because of his cholesterol meds but he can have ‘some’ on occasion. I love it and don’t have that problem. Thank you S & R! I appreciate it very much.

We drove to the field, which is all set up
for tomorrow's event.

I was able to capture some lovely
sky views out here.

And some other great views, as well. 💓

Bill’s flying event at the field starts tonight with night flying and carries on Saturday. I thought I would join him this evening as I’m sure there will be a good turnout and I like to support him/them. Supper will be what we feel like when we get home. Turned out to be toast with peanut butter, jam and/or honey. The weather today, as I’ve mentioned, has been wonderful. 72F/23C makes for a great day.

It doesn't look like a styrofoam flyer, does it?
I like Russel's choice of colour!

The planes are pretty cool, all lit up and yet
the darker it got, the harder it was to capture them in flight.

Here are Bill's planes lit up.

He can change colours, the pattern
and the speed of the light changes.

I took many sky pictures too but had to pick
just a couple to share. It was gorgeous so a challenge to choose.

I should have said this above, but I stripped the bed this morning and took our flannel sheets and duvet cover over to wash. They were hung on the line and all dried quickly by noon. Bill helped me get a duvet cover on and to make the bed. It is just easier with 4 hands instead of 2. Well, Gibbs tried to help but mainly by staying off the bed and out of the way. 😊 We left at 5:30 and returned home by 7:30. It was a nice evening to share together and then I got back into my book.

The day ended with this huge ring around the moon.
Supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow.
good night!

This has been a nice day. Thank you for stopping around.

A Baking, Walking, Musical, Painting, Lazing Kind of Day

Park Place RV Park

On Wednesday, Nov. 22^nd we slept in until 6:30 and Bill was the first one up. It felt cool in the Suite so he kicked the furnace on for a cycle or two before he and Gibbs went for their early morning walk. That meant, it was comfortable enough for me to slip out from the warm covers. I made my tea right away and after Bill left for the field, I took Gibbs for his second morning walk. With the sun coming up in a totally blue sky, the 46F/8C felt quite pleasant. 😊

A nice morning and a nice morning walk

He met Gerald just before turning the corner towards our site. I only had one thing on my mind today and that was to make two pies for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I set about the first one, involving a regular single pie crust and it was finished and cooling by the time Bill returned from his ‘errands’. A teensy part of me was hoping he’d return with a box the size of a bread maker when he came back from our mail depot. I knew better though, really.

Just thought I'd share this 
addition to our Youtube files

While he was gone, I found videos on Youtube of a ‘new to us’ artist that Sue introduced us to last night. Dan Vasc(oncelos) has an amazingly powerful voice and we very much enjoyed his talent. I was watching him sing covers for some well known songs by the time Bill got home. 😊 He has the look of one of my grandsons, although both are handsome, Dan is neater and his music is understood. I can’t even pretend to understand the heavy metal stuff Jake is in to. LOL

See the resemblance?

We had lunch together, just French bread with cheese and/or peanut butter and then I went to work on the second pie. No homemade pie crust with this one but it still needed to be baked after filling it. Of course, they both involve pumpkin. Deb and Tom popped around 2:30 with food from Coytote Fresh Foods, a grocery store in town, that they’d ordered for dinner tomorrow. Lots of food, should be a great day together with friends.

The finished puzzle

The rest of the afternoon involved some rock painting, some picture transfers from laptop to phone and a walk with my favourite little 4-legged friend. The day reached 74F/23C until around 4:30, the sun disappeared from our site and it dropped to mid-60’s. Time to come in from the gazebo. For supper, Bill barbecued brat sausages, something different for us. I fried leftover potatoes and mixed up some coleslaw.

Before the final gloss coat

Not sure what nighttime will bring, definitely some tv of some sort I’m sure. 😊 It has been a very quiet day, I didn’t venture over to the clubhouse at all but was pleased that Susan sent me a picture of the completed puzzle. I hope Adele had a hand in finishing it too! Have a great evening.

Another memory from November 2017 this time.
Set up at Rose and George's home in
Lake Havasu.
Good night!

Thank you for popping by.

Hump Day, Got a Walk In, Frustrating Puzzle, Birthday

Park Place RV Park

On Wednesday, Mar. 22^nd we were all up by 7:15 and having our breakfast. Tea and a banana smoothie for me, cereal and coffee for Bill. Gibbs stuck to his water and kibble, although he didn’t eat much. I took him for our walk and then I sat to play my games. Bill got involved with registering his planes so around 9:30  I decided to walk to the Dollar General.

Gibbs and I played my online Wordle games 
while I had my tea
He was a huge help 💕
We all know 2 heads are better than one

I listened to my podcast on the way up and found a few things worthy of bringing home and walked back. 

There's the blue dot again
Pretty picture, huh?

It was a lovely walk with a lot of spring things happening. There were a few flowering bushes along the walk so I had to stop for pictures, of course. 😊 Back home, I could see that Coffee Hour was over so at 10:30, walked over to see what I could do on the puzzle.

Spring has sprung
I'll see this in bloom before we leave

Every where I looked, the bushes were coming
to life
Red, orange

I spent an hour and a half and found only 3 ‘sure’ pieces while Gerald practiced pool. I might have had more success if I’d played a game with him although he is very good so I doubt that! For lunch, I had a plate of meat, cheese, yogourt, avocado, olives and cottage cheese and then I went back over for another go. It was either going to keep me puzzling OR it was going to get packed up with me admitting defeat. I did find one of the pieces I thought was lost so that was good.

Yellow and purple

Gerald and Suz (who was on duty) played pool and for someone who says she hasn’t played for 20 years, she was very good. I’m glad I didn’t hop in for the challenge, again! 😊 At 3, I’d done enough and moved the puzzle and remaining pieces onto a sheet of Bristol board. Now the ‘kids’ can start another if they want to, I tried to leave them room. Who knows what I’ll do with it tomorrow?

Still trying to find the dark pieces that fit
The girls have given up on it, I guess

Back home, I had my tea and watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy before Gibbs and I went for our walk. The wind was a tad cool but short sleeves was all I needed. We reached a high of 66F/19C and the sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds. Lovely day. For supper, we had leftover hamburger helper with a vegetable making it an easy meal to prepare.

What a beautiful sky

Our afternoon walk
Not only are the Ocotillos greening up
they are in bloom on the other side of the fence 💓

Tonight, we watched Farmer Takes a Wife – it wasn’t on the other night after all – it was a rerun. We’re enjoying this program, the farmers are so humble even though some of the women are still drama queens, similar to the Bachelor choices. 😊 It’s entertainment. This has been an easy going day and the winds haven’t been too bad. Warmer days ahead and that is always nice to see. 

Supper was good
I really love the sprouts!

This morning we placed a call to our good friend, Colin, in B.C. to wish him a happy birthday. Unfortunately, he wasn't available to answer so we left him a very sweet singing message. 💘

Happy Birthday, Colin! 💘🎉🍰
Good night!

Thank you for the pop in.

Morning Walk, Back at the Garden, Gloria’s Invite, Sweeter Invoice

The Ridge

On Monday, July 12^th, I never heard Bill get up at 5:45. I never even heard him bring Gibbs up to the bed so he must have been very quiet and convinced the little guy to be the same or I was in a dead sleep. 😊 When I did wake up about 5 or 10 minutes later, Gibbs came up gently and gave me a morning kiss – even before Bill did! Nice and gentle so he is learning to be gentle around our faces. Licks are better than nips.

It was opening up to a lovely day

Good morning for a walk

We stayed in bed until Bill was ready to leave but it really bothered Gibbs that he wasn’t free to help Daddy tie his work boots! While I was in the bathroom, he couldn’t stand it any longer and jumped off the bed all by himself! That took courage! Bill was just pulling out by the time I was dressed and had Gibbs out on the leash but he at least got to see Black Beauty pulling down the lane so he was happy.

A new turning point about 1/4 mile further down the road
Every little bit helps

He has really spent a lot more time with Bill this past weekend, especially yesterday, so I wondered if he would whimper more when he left. He did the usual whine and was content to be with Mom again. 😊 I sat with him until 7:30, he was so cuddly and sleepy! Then I put him in his crate and went for my walk. I likely could have left him out but then I would worry about the time I was gone and my walks are all about me and everything around me.

It was a great walk, past Turbine Lane to the gate entrance of the gravel pit property on the hill and I turned around. I could feel the humidity already in the air so glad I walked early. 

A close up of Sumac blooms

And Queen Anne's Lace

Furry Gnome gave us hints to look for on milkweeds
evidence of Monarch caterpillars
this area in the ditch is full of milkweeds but
the grass was wet and I couldn't see any holes from nibbles
from the distance

Back home, I had my tea outside with Gibbs and when he started barking, first at the geese bathing in the pond and then at something by the storage shed. I looked up just in time to see 2 adult skunks sauntering down the berm to the shed. Now we know what critters dug that hole! Crap!

A couple of peppers from my garden

Gibbs saw them too and was off leash. You can imagine my heart rate at that moment. I called sharply to him and he stopped halfway across the lot and looked at me. Still barking. I squatted down as if I had something for him and coaxed him back to me where I grabbed his collar and put him on his rope. Phew! He actually came to me which was the biggest surprise. 😊 I’m sure there is a family under there, and have set up house for the summer. Darn it all!

Pictures from our drive down North Line

Lots of old and new bridges

Lots of sheltered areas with nice forests

After that, I wasn’t comfortable letting Gibbs out free so kept him tied up. At 9:30 we both hopped in Ptooties and went down the road to pay for our Cub Cadet but the invoice wasn’t made up yet. We were quoted about $700 a few days ago which stunned me but at the same time, it would be a great mower with all the wee issues fixed. That is always a good feeling to know Bill wouldn't have problems.

This place was interesting but I only had my phone camera
so it isn't a great photo
This stone foundation structure is historical but
the family's new modern home is behind it 👍
I love that they left it and it is very neat around it

This is from the road, pretty entrance
BurnBrae is the name on that sign

That was a short drive taking about 10 minutes so I decided to turn to the east and go further down North Line. Just a Gibbs and Mom drive. It is gravel so I drove slow and he sat on the passenger seat until we met Gloria from down the road and after we said hello, he sat on my lap. He was a good boy. What a neat drive it is, up and down, over bridges and streams and through sheltered treed curves. There are also some strange, yet interesting sights.

Without driving in, my curiosity to Ziontario intrigued me too

We crossed Glenelg Rd 23 and went as far as North Line went and turned south on Artemesia Glenelg Townline for a short bit before I turned back. I didn’t want to travel on Hwy 4 to come home (boring) so we poked back the way we’d come. We met Gloria again and I stopped to chat. I learned that her working career was with the school board too. She invited us for a campfire this summer and said she’d leave a note in our mailbox. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any of our rv cards on me to give her. This works, she walks by every day. 😊

The green sign indicates it is open to public
BUT.......I wanted to know what it was first
When I met Gloria, she's lived here since the 70's, she told
me Ziontario is a Latter Day Saints Camp

Back home again, Mary at Northline Service called with the final invoice total and it was $250 less! Once they got in there, certain things didn’t need replacing after all so I was thrilled to tell Bill that. They will deliver it home to us Wednesday, all included in the price. I went out to do more edging today along the big garden and tried it with Gibbs on a tether where he had water, shade and a bed to lay on. That worked for about 20 minutes but he wasn’t relaxing so I put him inside where he settled down.

I drove by Keane's homestead
this is where Bill bought his previous Cub Cadet
Interesting place and man!

He hosts gatherings for Harley owners

When I drove by this sign, I had to back up to read it

This short steep hill takes you to the cemetery
No, I didn't drive up yet maybe another day, I will walk up😏

I worked away until 12 noon and I knew the weakness I was feeling was because I’d only had my tea. Time to eat something. I made a coffee and rinsed out my shirts from yesterday’s pre-washing. With them on the line, I warmed up the clam chowder and the leftover omelette from the fridge. It was kind of a mixed up lunch, huh? That was enough to fill me up though and after chatting with Bill about the mower and the skunks, I went back to the garden. I’m almost done that section.

Working around the edge of our big garden
Challenging but I enjoyed making the improvements

This bush/tree just gets sprawly but I don't mind it in the corner
when nothing else has come up

Working steady along the north edge, I decided to trim/cut back the corner bush (of which has no name) because it is crowding out the Shasta daisies and the hosta. Sometimes it seems like they are all fighting for space to grow. That sounds like a grand reason to thin things out in the fall and move them to the ‘dreaded’ corral hill. 😊 It was almost 3 when I got that done and it was time to quit for the day. The berm can wait for another day. I was hot and felt quite 'buggy'. 

The view from the other side
It needs to a haircut

I made a cup of tea and sat inside with Gibbs watching two episodes of pre-recorded Why Women Kill. Bill came in about 4 pm so I stopped there, leaving one more for another day. He and Gibbs went up for a snooze but Gibbs was kicked out soon after, not wanting to settle down. My sister, Gayle, has come up with another idea for our Ladyfest so us girls went back and forth on Messenger about our options. It will be fun no matter what we all decide.

Okay, ready? It needed and got a BRUSH CUT!!

For supper, Bill bbq’d a huge bone-in butt pork chop for us to share and I made rice and cooked veggies inside. Supper was good and we didn’t need dessert. What a nice surprise to have a text from Rob and Pat about popping out for a visit. They arrived shortly after 7 and we had a great catch up visit. We hardly see them anymore. 😞Gibbs was a little monster, being quite excited for their company, so I hope they didn’t mind him too much.

At the entrance to the corral, my Dianthus seems to be
done flowering but we'll see
I cleaned the area up so Bill doesn't have to use the trimmer
in there

Supper was good

I should have grabbed my camera when they left so I could get a picture of them in Rob’s red truck. I didn’t. ☹ For the remainder of the evening, which wasn’t much for me, I worked on my blog and Bill wanted to watch one of his movies that I'd just watched earlier, so I went upstairs and was asleep by 10:15. This was a good day; I got the one garden finished and two down in the corral area weeded as well. I’m happy about that.

Pretty Pat with a new haircut
making friends with Gibbs
Good night!

Thank you for your visit!