Improvement and a restful week

First off, the knee - thank you for the well wishes. J had been massaging the knee for me, but decided that the issue was likely a problem with my hip causing the knee issues. So on Monday she attacked my hip (or at least it felt that way) and in fact, worked on both sides. The muscles extending from the hip on down the left leg were incredibly tight and she located several balls of muscle that were worked out. On my right side, she also worked on the sciatic area. After the first massage I was walking with my knee brace and barely a limp. After a second massage, the improvement was even more noticeable. 

I still can't walk long distances (wandering the grocery store) or sit in the same position for prolonged periods as these activities tend to cause the knee to feel as if it has locked up. Besides icing the knee and hip, I have started doing light exercises to help improve the strength of my knee, both at home and at the clubhouse. We do chair exercises three times a week; they are helping too.

I did my laundry on the weekend as you could see by Wednesday's photo. S and L have been kind in letting me use their washing machine every week. Sometimes I hang the clothing on their umbrella rack at the back of their unit, but most times I bring it back and put it on the rack here.  With warm temperatures and a bit of wind, it usually only takes a couple of hours to dry. My neighbour H has given me permission to use her lines out back to hang sheets as my rack would not work well. 

Most units, especially those in the M section (I'm in R) have space for sheds. The washing machines are plumbed into the shed with cold water only and hooked up to power. My lot doesn't have the space for a shed, nor do I have ample power. Out back I don't have the space for a folding rack to be mounted on the RV. So everyone who passes by gets to see my clean laundry (at least it's not dirty, right?) It's been years since I line dried clothing and I should, but haven't yet, bring out the iron and ironing board as some things are pretty darned wrinkled!

I missed the snow moon at its fullest on Sunday evening but managed to get a decent photo of the sunset and the moon on Monday evening. One of my neighbours, who visits for about a week every month, mentioned that he and his wife appreciate the photos I've posted on FB, especially of the sunset. So these were for them.

The darn power and internet lines made it a bit difficult to capture a decent photo.

The park held it's annual general meeting of the shareholders on Tuesday. I was warned it could be a noisy affair, and it was, especially towards the end of the meeting. It was clear that some participants had not read the reports that were mailed out, or were making assumptions about certain things. I won't go into details - that wouldn't be fair to the residents but I will say it reminded me a bit of a reality television program with some clear alliances. :)

Wednesday, I went to the clubhouse for the morning chair exercises. In the afternoon, I played Canasta with our group of six. The guys beat the gals again, I think we're up the best of nine now, hoping to make a comeback. We'll have to win out the rest of the season at this rate. :)

On Thursday, J and her husband G put on a pancake breakfast for the park. In addition to pancakes, there was eggs, sausage, toast and fruit. The cost was $5 per person, with the proceeds going to the social club. We had a good crowd of 25 or so people, and the food was fresh and terrific! After breakfast I headed back to my unit to count the cash. I updated our spreadsheet and then settled in to watch the Olympics. I was able to catch a bit of the mixed doubles curling, as the Canada-Finland women's hockey game was postponed as several members of Finland's team have come down with norovirus. Finland is expected to play the USA on Saturday, assuming they can field enough players.

My brother and I were chatting one day and he mentioned a salad his daughter has introduced to them. It included roasted chickpeas, along with a variety of vegetables, feta, and tzatziki sauce. It sounded delicious, but I had no feta or tzatziki, and no way to roast the chickpeas.

This is my version. I put a little oil in a fry pan, added the chickpeas, paprika, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. I cooked them until the outside was slightly crispy (they tasted good right out of the pan!). I added them to a chopped salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, yellow pepper, red onion, and cheddar cheese, with a drizzle of Italian salad dressing. I didn't need all of the chickpeas for the meal, so I'll be enjoying the salad again later this week. 

I've been knitting lots too, and one of the residents has asked if I can teach them. Not sure I can teach but I can show him the basics. I throw my yarn; while I know the continental knitting technique I've never been able to consistently use it. My plan is to show him how to cast on, demonstrate the knit and purl stitches and tell him to watch some videos. He can decide which method he likes best. 

Today I plan to watch more of the Olympics and continue knitting on my project. I will do some light exercises for my legs as well. Gotta keep moving!

Have a great week ahead everyone.

Fun, frustration, and full moon

The Cold Moon, a supermoon , and the last full moon of 2025. Photo taken from my hotel window in Palm Springs. 

It was a week of ups and downs...some fun and a couple of frustrations. I've started writing this on Thursday evening from my hotel room in Palm Springs.  I fly out tomorrow to Regina (via Calgary). It will be a long day, though shortened as I'll lose two hours by the time I land in Regina. 

Monday was December 1, so another resident and I started decorating the clubhouse for Christmas. Well, she ended up doing the majority of the decorating as one of the sets of lights on the tree wasn't working.  Of course it was, what I originally thought, the middle set of three. No problem, I'd just remove it, get another set and replace.

HA! Whoever put the lights on the tree didn't want them removed. Each light was wrapped on to the branches: sometimes two or three wraps of the cord to the right, sometimes to the left and worst of all sometimes the cord was split and then wrapped. I worked on it for a half hour before I went to grab some lunch. Back at the hall, S came to help me while D continued the rest of the decorating.  It took the two of us 2 hours to remove the middle and bottom set of lights. We discovered they weren't really two sets as someone had spliced the two sets together leaving both ends of the plugs. We made an executive decision to trash that set and I picked up two more sets of 100 lights at Walmart. 

The next morning the Board of Directors were having a meeting we could attend, though we were asked not to speak until the floor was opened for questions or comments. ( Not that it stopped some). It was interesting to observe the interactions and hear different perspectives about a number of issues.

After the meeting D said we would finish decorating on Wednesday. Hooray, as I'd planned to go to the thrift stores with L and S. We all found something and I was thrilled to find the foam/stuffing I can use for the chair pads. I paid a whopping $3 for three pieces. I also found a cute t-shirt for Eli for 50 cents.

Before we headed back to the park we decided to go for lunch. While there I got a call from Jose. He had been to my unit that morning to check on a leak in one of the water lines. It was a drip and he said he'd be back later in the afternoon to fix it. 

I also had a text from D asking if I was back in the park. I wasn't but said I'd be there shortly.  When we returned I headed to the clubhouse and discovered she had completed the decorating.  She had forgotten our morning conversation which both S and I had with her. I think she was a bit annoyed with me. But she did such a beautiful job! Next year we'll get our timing straight. 

Another frustration: I received an email from Enterprise to check in for my rental car for my trip to Palm Springs. As I read over the info I noticed the return was to Yuma airport...it should have been to Palm Springs.  I checked the email I'd received on booking.. it said PSP airport. So I called and was informed they had changed it because they had no vehicle available for a one way trip. When I asked what I should since I had a flight booked and would not be returning the vehicle to Yuma, the operator suggested I call other rental companies. Wow! Eventually I was able to get a car through Budget...but you can bet Enterprise will get a negative response should I receive a "satisfaction " survey.  Especially because the operator didn't bother canceling my reservation. I had to do that myself.

Meanwhile Jose did not come by that afternoon but did arrive the next afternoon.  He removed a section of the hose and re-clamped it. When he left it was no longer leaking.That wouldn't last. 

After Happy Hour I went for dinner and L and E's. I'd finally used up my leftovers and she invited me to join them for the evening meal. I was home around 7:30 and had climbed into bed to read about 9 p.m. About 15 minutes later I heard a pop and the sound of rushing water. I leapt out of bed and ran outside to shut the water off. After a quick text to Jose telling him the fix hadn't held, I spent some time mopping up the water. I could hear the water in the floor vents and wasn't certain if the furnace might be affected. It wasn't...but I still found it hard to sleep. I was grateful that the hose hadn't failed earlier on the evening while I was out. 

Thursday I was awake about 6 a.m., chatted with D, and was reading blogs when I got a text from Jose. He was there and I wasn't even dressed! I jumped up threw on jeans and a sweater over my nightgown before opening the door. He looked the situation over before heading out to get the supplies he needed to make a better repair.

While he was away I took care of several chores I needed to get done before leaving that morning. Coffee hour was being held in the clubhouse and I had three people text or come by to ensure I was coming.  I explained I was waiting for Jose to return.  He did, just as the third person was starting thr walk back to the hall. I let him in and left him to do the work. He finished up about 15 minutes later. After coffee hour I paid him for the supplies; I had paid for his time the day before. The new piping looks like it should last for several years.  In any event, I left the water shut off as well as the furnace when I left the park.

L and E dropped me off at the airport where I picked up my rental car. It was an easy process as they had everything ready for me. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the car, a Chevy Malibu. After my Equinox I felt the seat was too low, though I was able to adjust it somewhat...that meant adjusting it again when I got out of the car.  Since it was a Chev vehicle it had many familiar features to my SUV. It was an uneventful 3 hour drive though holy cow, Cali drivers like to speed! On most of the highways the limit was 70 mph (112 kmph). I kept my speed just below the limit and vehicles were blowing past me. There were at least two who were stopped by the police that I saw and my GPS told me several times there were "police ahead". 

The hotel I booked, Homewood Suites is close to the airport, just a 10 minute drive. The room is lovely! The best part: it was so good to have a shower with great water pressure.  

I'll drop the car off about 9:30 a.m. on Friday and should be home (at my son's) about 9:30 p.m. With the time difference it should be a 10 hour travel day. D and Eli will pick me up on Sunday. I'm looking forward to hugs from my family and cuddles with the cats....maybe even Sage. I'm not looking forward to the cold weather and snow!

I'm updating this from the airport in Calgary. We were pretty much on time getting here though had headwinds and some turbulence.  That's when things turned. The flight to Regina was initially delayed by an hour, then another 30 minutes. As I write this we won't be taking off for another 75 minutes. I won't be holding my breath we'll get out of here by then. It has to do with crew availability. When delays occur earlier in the day the crews have a limit of hours they can be on duty. No one wants an exhausted flight crew. So they have to scramble to find another crew who have had a shorter day or haven't been on duty. This late in the day the latter is likely tge case. The weather in Calgary isn't particularly cold but it is snowing and blowing.  Depending on where the crew members live, this can delay their arrival at the airport.  I expect we'll get out tonight...but when is another question. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. My next cruise is 304 days away.