Wordless Wednesday

 

Painting, a birthday, and more windy weather

I think I'm going to need a vacation when I get home from this vacation. It has been another full week of fun and a bit of work.

Our garage sale visits on Saturday were productive, with a number of useful items purchased by J and L. I picked up a mug to leave at the clubhouse for coffee/tea - coffee hour is on Thursdays and I always forget to bring a mug with me, and a cross stitch magazine. I spent a whopping $1.50. The RV park we visited had 1200 lots, two clubhouses, five pools, several hot tubs, as well as pickle ball, tennis and shuffleboard courts. Far too big for me, and the monthly lease costs are approximately $800 USD per month. Too rich for my blood.

In comparison, the park I am in has 59 lots, a clubhouse and a 15 man hot tub. It is a mix of park models, house trailers, and RV's. As a Co-op, and with few amenities, the lot lease is only $125 US per month. That includes cable television, WiFi, and water. I should note the water is not potable. There are many places to buy water. I walk about 4-5 blocks to Desert Water, where I can refill two of my gallon jugs for a mere 50 cents. Walmart and Food City sell these for about $1.50 each. I go through about 3/4's of a gallon each day, more if I'm doing much cooking.

This weekend, many of the residents were busy with painting the perimeter fence. I helped some on Friday, took the day off on Saturday, and then jumped in on Sunday to paint the fence at three lots. I finished the second coat of the third fence on Monday morning. There are some residents who chose not to do the work themselves, so the park will be charging them a fee for the work. The last lot that I finished on Tuesday morning, was one of the latter. On the other hand, there were several people in their 80's out there putting in more than their fair share of work. My painting partner on Sunday turned 79 this week. As a renter, I wasn't expected to help but I know everyone was eager to get it finished. Those who weren't able to paint provided supplies for lunch every day, and it was prepped and put it out for the workers at the clubhouse. 

Tuesday was thrifting day, with L and A. We hit up three thrift stores, where I found a couple of pieces of clothing, another set of knitting needles and a book of crocheted dishcloth patterns. One can never have enough patterns, right? Then we headed off to the mall, where I picked up my first Christmas gift. It is a pretty pink purse for my daughter. We had lunch at In and Out burger, a restaurant I've never been too. It was good and very reasonably priced. The Wednesday photos were from that trip. I certainly know where I need to go if I should need any bathroom aids as I age! The tree was in the The Palms mall area; an oleander, which I've learned is toxic, but so pretty!

The wind picked up that day and there was a lot of sand in the air. Happy hour was held in the enclosed area beside the clubhouse, and even there the wind felt cool. It was noisy overnight, as there are items hanging on the side of the park model that bang. It had calmed down slightly overnight, but I decided to forgo my walk in the morning, and caught up on some housework. I'd vacuumed the prior morning, so washed the floors. I also put together a casserole from leftovers in the fridge. Time is ticking down, and I want to use up as much as possible. 

By Thursday, the wind had died down, but it was cloudy and cooler, just 17C (63F) at noon. I went to the clubhouse for coffee (in my case tea) and goodies in the morning. There were sign up sheets circulated for the Heritage dinner (Feb 22 - I was already signed up), for the women's luncheon (Feb 26), and St. Patrick's Day (I won't be here for that.) In fact, I have less than two weeks remaining here! Time does fly when one is having fun. That evening, I went to dinner at Olive Garden with the birthday gal L, and her husband G, and their park neighbour D. L and D were both nurses and worked together in their community in British Columbia.

I've spent the afternoons stitching on my cross-stitch project. I think I started it a couple of years ago, and I've a long way to go. 

I'm also reading a John Sanford novel, Bad Blood. If you've read his novels, it is about one of his characters, Virgil Flowers, an agent of the State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and his investigation into several murders in a small rural area in Minnesota.

Friday was a quiet day, with nothing major on the agenda. After a walk to Desert Water, I worked on my jigsaw puzzle, did some stitching, and finished my book. It appears I will not be able to watch the Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling, as it is only being broadcast in Canada (boo!) I have to keep an eye on the scores on-line and watch the news for highlights.

I have no plans for the weekend and I'm ready for a quiet couple of days. Perhaps time will slow down a bit, and my last two weeks will last longer. A girl can hope, right?

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

The heat is on!

Someone must have left the furnace on outside...we reached highs of 27-30C/80-86F early in the week. The a/c in the unit does work, but I'd rather not use it unless I truly need too. As a result I've spent more time outside in the shade this week.

I spent Sunday afternoon (finally) cleaning up the outside living area. I started by removing the sheets off the couches and washing those, moved onto sweeping the tile floor and washing it, and then wiping down the furniture. After hanging the sheets on the line to dry, it was time to relax and read in the shade.

On Monday, I headed out early to pick up a couple of gallons of water; after dropping that off at the unit, I went in the other direction and treated myself to breakfast at McDonald's before stopping at the CVS. I had brought travel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner with me, and I was running low. Back at the unit, I went out to sit in the sun to read. At least I read for part of the time, as there were lots of people walking past, and almost every one stopped for a quick chat. 

It wasn't long before the heat was ramped up and I moved into the shade in the outdoor living room. Lunch was eaten at the dining table, and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and chatting with a couple of visitors. Then it was off to Happy Hour to visit with more of the crew. I headed home shortly before six, made a bit of dinner and watched the sun drop in the sky. It really cools off nicely in the evenings, and with the screen door and the fan running, it felt quite comfortable inside the unit.

Tuesday morning's sunrise.

Three of us went thrifting on Tuesday, with a stop at two of the stores, and then to a grocery outlet, Green Trees. I came home with four more t-shirts. One is for my daughter, and one I bought for later in the week. The park fence needs painting/staining, and I had agreed to help out. At Green Trees, I picked up a small container of ice cream, a box of Rice-a-roni, a cup of mashed potatoes, and a couple of dish scrubbers. One of the other ladies mentioned she uses the potato flakes as a thickener for gravy and I think it would work well for thickening stir fry sauce. I'll give it a try, for certain.

That evening was the potluck supper, which was well attended. The food was varied and very good! There were various salads, spaghetti, chili, sweet and sour meatballs, green bean casserole, ham, chicken wings, Chinese fried rice, and so much more. For dessert, there were mini cupcakes, a cheesecake with cherry topping, Black Forest cake, sweet cornbread, and my brownies. Amazingly there wasn't a lot of food left after everyone had eaten.

I had vacuumed on Tuesday, but the floors needed washing too, so that was on my list for Wednesday. With the warm-up in the afternoons, I decided I'd do a bit of cooking in the morning including a sausage/rice casserole and some taco meat. While the casserole was baking, I had my breakfast and let the rest of the dishes soak. When the food was tucked away in the fridge, I washed the floors and went outside to read and enjoy the sunshine.

After lunch, eaten outdoors, I went to Canasta. We played three on three, and my team won both games! I think I'm finally figuring out the strategy, just don't ask me to count cards. They go so fast I haven't got a clue. :) By the time we finished the games, it was just fifteen minutes prior to Happy Hour. 

I stayed up late that evening, watching curling (Alberta men's) and hockey (Edmonton vs. Chicago) and it was near midnight before I fell asleep. My landlady had texted to ask if they could come by to wash the fence in preparation for painting at 8'ish the next morning. Imagine my chagrin when I woke up, hearing her voice outside, at 8:30 a.m.! 

The was a pancake breakfast (I hadn't planned to go) and once that was complete, the park got very busy as the volunteer painters started their work. I did not paint, but did assist the preparations for lunch for the workers in the clubhouse. Then it was back to my unit to clean up the patio, as the mud tracked from the fence area had dried up so I could sweep and mop.

By this point, the crews were ending their work for the day, as the temperature was rising quickly. I had my lunch, then spent the afternoon watching curling. The men's events are on for the Alberta and Manitoba provincials. I'm not as invested in these but will watch when I have time.

Friday morning, I joined a crew a few doors down and helped with the painting. One person was rolling paint on the fence boards, her husband was coming behind and brushing the paint to even it out, and I used a paint brush to reach the bottoms of the boards and in between the boards. They there longer than I was, but I put in over an hour before we finished our portion. Others were further down the park, and more still at the front end. There are few areas that haven't been done just yet, but the rest will have the second coats complete in the next few days.

We stopped for a water break in the shade and the two of them went back to work. I would have but there wasn't really much for me to do. Instead, I cleaned up and went to help with lunch...except that was pretty much ready to go too! These are a talented group of people and everyone pitches in, one way or another.

After lunch, another renter and I drove out to Imperial Date Gardens near Bard, California. We were both looking for fresh dates. I picked up a small container, while she bought a large box. I'll need to eat mine before I leave, she'll take hers back to B.C. later in March.

Today, I'm off early in the morning with one of the residents to go garage sale'ing. I have no intention of buying a garage...nor anything else for that matter, but it's very nice to see different area of Yuma.

I'll end this post with photos from my daughter of the aftermath of this week's snow fall.

The first is looking out the front door at the city sidewalk, and the second photo is out back, showing the snow that she's piled up from the driveway.

I almost feel sorry that I'm not there to help with the shovelling. Note I said, almost.

I must teach her to take her cellphone photos on landscape! 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday funny

 

Wordless Wednesday