February 23, 2017, Thursday

We have had a busy couple days this week.  Since my last blog on Friday, Saturday, we drove to Apache Junction, AZ (about 13 Miles) and shopped at the Mesa Market Place and Swap Meet.  It is a huge flea market and shopping area. http://mesamarket.com/  It is quite the experience.  We usually go there twice while we are here.  If you walk the whole place it is 1.25 miles of shopping and people.

Sunday, we attended Desert Sands Church of Christ, as usual.  We are feeling very comfortable there.  One of our pulpit ministers, Ryan Breeden, had an open house in the afternoon, which we attended. He has moved into a new house and wanted everyone to see it and know where he lives. He is a single guy about 40 years old and a lawyer. Ryan lives close to us in a neighborhood nearby.

Sunday evening the park sponsored a Valentine Dance in the clubhouse. We also went to that gathering. (Did I mention we were busy this week?) The music was a husband and wife team who played mostly 60's music.

Dancin' fools

 

  They were not the best but we had a great time with friends.

Brenda and Scott from Michigan.

Scott has been my golf partner for a few weeks.

 

  The Americans make fun of the Canadians and the Canadians give it right back. It is kind of a standing tradition here, and it is all in fun.

Monday, Lela went for her exercise class as usual. When she went back to the clubhouse for quilting, I called Zach and asked him if he wanted to drive me in the truck.  He was excited at the chance to "practice."  He does very well.  I'm not afraid to ride with him.  We talk about situations which might arise on the road.

Zach Styling

 

  He drove me to Home Depot as I was preparing to build storage shelving in the shed and needed some material

Tuesday, while Lela went to her class, I started building the shelves.

Construction underway

 

  It was a day long project as I was cleaning up at sunset. It now affords us a place to fill up with more stuff. We never seem to have enough storage space.

completed job

 

completed job

 

  I also hung the "party lights" on the north driveway, where we entertain.

Party Central

 

Lela and the ladies from the park had a luncheon at Olive Garden.  It seemed to be very well attended and they all had a good time.

Wednesday was my regular golf league.  I played poorly carding a 47-43 for a 90 total (my worst score of the season). I was playing with the two best golfers on the league.  I guess I choked under the pressure.  I think I would rather blame it on two days of up and down ladders.

While I golfed, Lela and Brenda took in a movie and went to lunch. They saw the Great Wall movie with Matt Damon.  The girls liked the movie and the day out. In the evening we went to bible study.

Sunset on the Superstition Mountains

Today, Thursday, was an interesting day.  While Lela went to exercise I took delivery of twenty tons of rock.

That's a lot of rock!

 

Our lot here was mostly dirt and small gravel.  The small gravel ended up in the house and needed to be swept up every day and became a problem.

Before

 

  The solution is to get bigger gravel.  I contracted with a man in the park who has a small Bobcat type machine to carry it from the street to the yard.

Patrick on the Bobcat

When the truck dumped the rock, it drew a crowd of onlookers.  I thought they would look and go away, two men from the park came back with shovels and garden rakes.

Ray, farmed most of his life

 

Gary, worked for the railroad

G'pa, made teeth

Every job needs a foreman.

Harold lives across the street. He is 84.

His hands no longer fit a shovel.

 

They helped spread the whole twenty tons.  It took us about three hours.  I can't say enough good things about them.  These are two men in their 70's who have worked hard all their lives. I'm praying that God will bless them.

Finished job

 

Serve Pro

Like it never happened.

 

Now I plan to rest tomorrow.  My body hurts in places I didn't know I had.

 



 

 

February 17

February 17, 2017 Friday PM

Tuesday was Valentine's day.  Lela went to her exercise class and I walked my route.  We spent most of the day working in the yard and running the drip system to some new plants.  We are beginning to look like an oasis.
After the hard day we enjoyed some surf and turf on the grill with asparagus.  It was very tasty.  Then movies on the couch.

Wednesday Lela went to the weekly meeting of the park residents.  I don't go to the meetings as this is the morning for golf.
Speaking of golf, I regressed to 89 (43-46).  I was not happy.  As I always say, I had fun but I didn't enjoy it much.

Thursday Lela went to her class and I walked in the desert (4 mi.)

Interesting things you find in the desert.

 

Then it was another yard day, planting a few more plants and putting drips on them.  Almost all our plants would die in the summer heat if they didn't have a drip water system to keep them alive.  It is necessary to dig out a reservoir for each plant so the water stays on that plant. It is also necessary to place stones on the crest of the reservoir to avoid the erosion of that structure.

The stone lady (Lela) placing stones on the crest.

Today, Friday, we met our friends Bob and Adrienne for lunch at Baci Italian Bistro.  We had lunch with them last month at the same place.

Lela, Adrienne and Bob

We are expecting rain and cooler (60's) temperatures this weekend so I guess we'll find some indoor activity around town.

February 13, 2017 Monday Eve

We have been a little bit busy for the past few days. 

Saturday, I joined with some people from church for a hike in the Superstition Wilderness.  We hiked the Butcher Jones Trail along Saguaro Lake on the Salt River Project.  It was about 2 miles out and then back along the same trail.  We covered it in about 3 hours.  I thought my legs were in pretty good shape, but my calves are stiff and sore.  I guess the up and down caused that.

At the Trailhead

 

Heading out

Remember, what goes down must come back up

Superstition Wilderness

G'pa sporting his colors!

 

While I hiked, our friend Laura came to the park and she and Lela went a craft fair in the park.  They didn't buy much, but the visit was very good.

Yesterday, Sunday, we invited a few of our neighbors to a "Happy Hour" at our house.  One of the ladies is going to have knee replacement surgery tomorrow, so we celebrated Valentine's  Day early in her honor.  We had to move it inside as the weather wasn't very good to be outdoors. Everyone had a good time.

This morning Lela did her regular aerobic class.  When she returned we headed to Mesa, AZ to try to find a part for the Silver Star.  We need to make a couple repairs before we start back in April.  We also had a propane tank refilled in Apache Junction, AZ.

Lela baked some red velvet cakes in the shape of hearts and roses and we took them to Paul's house for the kid's valentines.  They are doing fine. Paul's weekend is Sunday and Monday.

Lela is on the phone with Joey as I write this.  He wanted to thank her for the valentine he received.

The Snow Moon on the Saguaro

February 10, 2017 Friday

I just realized I haven't blogged for a week so I need to get caught up.  My "editor" isn't here so this will be an unedited edition the blog.  If there are errors, it is entirely my responsibility.

Last Saturday is a blur to my memory, but I am pretty sure it was spent at home doing chores and working outside.

Sunday was our regular travel to Gilbert, AZ to the Desert Sands Church of Christ for worship.  Since Wal-Mart is on the way home I'm sure we stopped for "supplies."

We went to the clubhouse for the big Super Bowl Party.  Lela fixed honey BBQ wings and they were a big hit.  What a finish in that game.  It was either the greatest comeback ever or the greatest choke ever, depending on who you rooted for.  I saw it both ways as I can appreciate greatness in sport as well as disappointment.

Monday we went to Florence, AZ as we learned that we are in arrears for personal property tax here.  Who knew?  They send the bill to the AZ address and we aren't there so it gets returned.  We changed our mailing address with Pinal County so that won't happen again. 

While in Florence, we poked around the resale shops and took in some of the history. There is a lot of AZ history in Florence.  http://www.florenceaz.gov/town-history/ , http://www.florenceaz.gov/historic-district/

County Seat and courthouse

Inside the original court house with original chairs from 1880's

 

Bullet hole in a mirror from the Tunnel Saloon.  It was the result of a famous gunfight.  The Tunnel Saloon was so named because there was a tunnel under the street to get to the brothel across the street without being seen.  (Can you remember Coral Courts?)

I didn't get a picture of the original building but you can find it in the links above

 

This is the Silver King Hotel 1876.  Silver was discovered near Florence during that era.

Looking south in historic district

 

Check out the links above.  There is a lot of interesting information.

 

Wednesday was golf.  I continued to be hot and cold in my game.  I was 41-45 for an 86 total. The weather was perfect, I was not. I actually had a 4 putt green on #10.

Yesterday, Thursday, we went into Queen Creek looking for a lounge chair that folds open to flat.  There aren't many choices under $100.00.  I guess we will continue looking.  Maybe it will be a garage sale purchase on down the road.

This morning Lela went to her aerobic class at the clubhouse.  She has been very faithful to her class four days a week.  Then on three days she does water aerobics, also.  I have been trying to walk a four mile course three day per week.  The first mile is about fifteen minutes and the fourth mile is about seventeen minutes.

Lela is gone right now to meet our good friend Laura.  They are going to a ladies Bible study in Mesa, AZ.  I think it includes lunch.  Laura and her husband Ross are very active in supporting other congregations around the valley. They are a very "works" oriented couple.

I guess that brings us up to date.  We have purchased more plants this week, some of which I need to get in pots or in the ground when I have supervision.

Rising "Snow Moon" looking East from the back yard last night at about 5:30 PM.

 

 

 

February 3, 2017 Friday PM

Tuesday was declared a day of rest as we were both whipped.  Lela went to her exercise class, but I didn't do anything I can remember.  We did make a post office run to mail a package.

Wednesday I had my regular golf league.  I played fairly well although a few bad shots raised my score to 44-43 for 87.  The weather was cold to start but as soon as the sun gets up it warms right up.  The forecast is really looking good for next week.

The locals do not like 80's. They think it is hot.

Lela did her aerobic class in the morning and went again to the water aerobic class in the afternoon. She has been committed to her classes.

Wednesday evening we traveled to our Bible study.

Thursday, we traveled to Tucson, AZ where Lela's cousin Glenn  is staying for a few months.  If you look back on the blog you will see when he and his family visited here with us. Glenn and Andrea have a beautiful home situated between the Catalina Mountains and a golf course.

view from the back patio

Back patio

 

This is a long view of the Saddlebrook area where they live.

It really is impressive.

Before we left in the morning, Lela had prepared dinner for some friends who just arrived and we delivered it.

Lela and Andrea went to the Golden Goose, http://www.goldengooseaz.com/ Andrea's favorite resale shop.

 

 They shopped while Glenn and I reclined on the patio, while solving the problems of the world.

Cousin Glenn

They took us to Bubb's Grub, a BBQ restaurant near their home.

 

It was very good.

Today Lela did both of her classes.  I managed to get my 4 mile walk done.  I traveled to Paul's house and Christy gave me a haircut (and trimmed my eyebrows).

Zachary is going to take his driver test soon so I took him on a lesson for about an hour on the backroads and then onto the freeway US 60 past the Superstition Mountains.

  He did very well.  We discussed various situations which arose and some things that G'pa has learned along the way.

G'pa and Zach

 

Back to the park where a few friends stopped in to visit.  We are blessed to have wonderful neighbors here.

I grilled a couple steaks for dinner and now we are relaxing watching TV on the couch. It has been a very fine week, with the promise of even better next week.