Wednesday 30 March 2016

Wednesday, March 30th

This morning it was a bit nicer day and got gradually warmer. 
Richard & I went golfing with Gerry at Apache Sun.  The game went pretty well, but I was concerned with Richard hitting the ball so well off the tee.  He was using my Calloway clubs, so I will have to keep my eye on the driver, I'm afraid as he was doing so well with it that I need to make sure it is still here after he leaves.  LOL  He was pretty impressed with the tortoise, for a 9 yr old it is pretty big.
    When we got back the girls were no where in sight, I guess they went shopping to Cato and Dollar General after their long walk in the park.  Marg took our leftovers from last night with her and left them with Gary.  He loves left overs, me not so much, so it works out well for all of us.  Richard & I went for a walk through the cactus garden of Patti's and the over to Dales to look at his scorpions.  On the way Richard had somewhere got a piece of jumping Cholla cactus in his foot.  He went to pull it out, but instead I got him to go back to Dale who pulled it out with pliers.  On our walk I met 3 people who said they heard I was working on the hamburger crew tonight, which I of course denied.  Well except Cheryl who said something like - oh yes you are.  They got back shortly after and then it was lunch time.  Gave the Proulx's a bit of a taste of some of the desserts around here as we had some Mexican cookies on hand.
  After lunch we went out to Total Wine.  Richard didn't find anyone to jam his cart into this time, in fact never even pushed one or stood in line with at the cash out, he got Evelyn to do that.  We were all very disappointed as we got lots of laughs last time.  Anyway they both bought a 1.75 litre, so it will be interesting to see how they make out with C'dn border security folks.  On the way back the girls got to thinking about missed shopping opportunity and asked to stop at Ross.  After a few minutes both emerged with a bag of stuff, in Marg's case just a pair of casual shoes.
  It was just about time to go to the hall for the hamburger supper.  Yes; I learned that Marg had  told Patti we would lend a hand because they had lost 2 couples from their crew.  It was a bit of an experience, much busier than the breakfast crew.  After we were done I also learned that she had invited the crew to our place for drinks.  It made for a nice end to a busy day.  Lots of laughs.

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Tuesday, March 29th

What a change in the weather, it cooled off drastically and is in the 70 range today.
  I went for a bike ride and there were only two of us this morning.  We made the short route, only about 4 miles, but the wind was blowing pretty strong, so that was good enough.  When I got back it was starting to sprinkle and that was the deciding factor.  In fact I had a few drops on the mirror and my glasses.  We have this rule on rainy days, everyone for themselves and if you are slow too bad, you just get wetter than the rest.
  when I got back Marg was doing housework in advance of having house guests.  One of the ladies at happy hour yesterday said she was making rolls and to stop in and get one for each of us.  I went down to take the garbage and they were just getting set up to have coffee, so Nancy gave me a couple to bring home.  They were very nice and much appreciated.
  Richard and Evelyn Proulx got to our place about mid morning.  They had been staying in Sun City West and drove over to spend a couple of nights.  It was great to see them again.  After a bite of lunch Richard & I went to play pool while the ladies went to do a bit of shopping; Bells & Kohls I think.  Richard made lots of excuses about not playing for a long time, but that generally sets of the alarm bells thinking that the complainer may want to play for money - LOL.  Anyway we had some good games and he beat me a couple of times.  It was his first time playing 1/15 eight ball, but he adjusted quickly and adapted to the difference.
  We took them to happy hour.  With the wind and cooler weather it was at Blanke's and remembered seeing each other last summer at the lake.  There was a pretty good turnout at happy, I would guess about 2 dozen.  As it turns out there were 6 couples who left on Monday and 2 more today.  That was a topic, as would be expected.   After Marg had supper in the slow cooker, so it was back to the park model for that.
  Supper was a bit of a hurried effort as we had to go to bingo.  They said they hadn't played for quite a while, but then Evelyn pulled off a win in the last game of the evening.  It was the full card and she did have to share it, but still a good payday for her.  Well off to bed as we need to get up early for golf tomorrow.

Monday 28 March 2016

Monday

It was a nice day but the wind came up and blew quite strong most of it.  I think it is a sign that the weather is changing and is supposed to be quite a bit cooler for a couple of days.
  I went riding with 3 guys this morning and as usual Gary stopped to feed the donkey carrots.  She seemed pretty happy with it although we didn't get the loud chorus of donkey calls we had the other day.  We made about 5 miles which is good enough for me and I turned off with Larry while the other two went on for a longer route.
  We had our overnight guest in the Az room last night but never saw her arrive or leave.  It seems their family got in a bit late, so she was a bit like ships passing in the night.  Anyway it worked out for her and made use of our spare room.  It has been almost a year since anyone has slept in there.  Then Marg changed the sheets giving Linda back the ones she had brought over.  They stopped by later in the morning and we got to meet their son & his family, two charming grandchildren so Marg gave them some carrots to feed the donkey later in the day.
  Lunch today was french toast, now that's a winner in my book.  Marg actually made it with croissants, which is really good and only happens once in a while, so today was pretty special.  After lunch we went over to Walmart.  Marg wanted to picked up a few groceries and a plastic basin she could use to wash her feet in, so much simpler than the bathtub.  I just went for a haircut and was fortunate to get the same lady who cut it last month.  Nice young lady and pretty good barber.  I say young, because I learned from chatting that she is younger than Charlene.  Mind you it won't be much longer and most of the world will be younger.  LOL
  The
excitement of the day was a phone call from Jerry that he had a snake in his golf cart.  I asked if he was BS'ing me, or whether this was for real.  I told him that I was suspicious after having played poker with him and seen his bluffing.  Anyway when I got there I had to use the camera to take pics to verify that it was indeed there.  Apparently it came from the neighbours and crawled over the driveway while they were chatting and settled under the seat in the cart.  Kenny got a rod and prodded it until it crawled out of the wheel well and went back under the 5th wheel trailer next door.  It was a pretty good size gopher snake.
  It was happy hour at Johnson's again tonight and there were still lots of folks there tonight.  I think there were 5 or 6 couples leave the park today and quite a few more planning to leave by week end, so the reverse migration is starting.

Sunday 27 March 2016

Easter Sunday

Definitely a day to reflect on life's gifts and appreciate what I have.
  I started off the day attending the church service here in the park.  It was well attended and a happy occasion, it was also the last service in the park until fall.  Just another one of those last things we are dealing with as the winter comes to an end.  We had a nice breakfast when I got back and then got our day started.  We did some other stuff with the Az room for our overnight guest tonight and she stopped by to say she would be a late arrival asking if we could just leave the door unlocked.  Kind of like when our kids were out late nights, eh?
  It was another hot day in the sun and was quite warm early on in the day.  Taking advantage of the break in activity we took our laundry to the one in the park.  Marg was able to get enough machines to get everything going at once, making for a shorter time in there.  After she called so I would come down to help carry out the clothes and bring the freezes in the freezer.  It park manager's daughter was married this weekend, so the family were all here in the park to spend the day together.  Marg has a special relationship with her kids and being a hot day wanted to give them the freeze's for a treat.  They all give her hugs, especially the youngest girl.
  By the time she got it all steamed and put away, we were well into the day so only had a short time to take a break.  About 3:30 we got together with Blanke's & Binger's.  We had decided not to go to the Easter dinner in the park and they were of a like mind, so we agreed to go out for supper.  We had not been to the German restaurant this winter, so that was the logical choice.  We went down to Zer Kat, but isn't open on Sunday, so being Easter didn't help.  Fortunately for us there is a second one [Bavarian Point] in the same complex, but we had never eaten there.  As luck would have it they had seating and we were early enough to get seated almost immediately.  Now sometimes that is an omen of beware, but remember we were early for dinner.  The girls were immediately impressed as there was a well stocked salad bar.  The guys, with the 3 sizes of beer glasses with tap beer, almost all German.  I had a nice wheat beer, something I only order with certain meals.  I had a sausage plate with 3 different kinds of worst.  Marg had a nice roulade dish.  Both were excellent, in fact the bratwurst is made in house and was awesome.  So an accidental discovery that may change our plans in the future.
  When we got back we went for a walk around the park, as we needed to settle our dinner.  Well there were about 8 of us and walk is a generous description of what we did.  It was more like a slow moving visit with anyone out and about.  There were 3 stops to say farewell to people leaving tomorrow morning, one to look at the baby owls and several just to chat with 4 or 5 other folks.  It must have taken an hour to walk the park.  After we ended up with the group of walkers for coffee at our place as well as a couple of drop-ins, two being another couple leaving tomorrow.  Beth had made a cake that she brought over, so it ended up being coffee & cake.

Saturday 26 March 2016

Saturday, March 26th

It was another nice day in the valley of the sun.  We slept in a bit and then when I got up I knew why, I was so stiff from golf yesterday, must have overdone it.  In fact I called Gerry to tell him that I would not play on Monday as I was feeling too beat up from the day.
  After we got mobile, we went to take some pictures in the park.  Patti has an amazing cactus garden and it has some neat features, so that was our first stop.  She is also pretty creative, like the statue or mannequin she has with the binoculars that appears to be looking at whomever is passing by their place.  Being Easter she had it dressed like a rabbit, pretty funny.  Then across the road I took a picture of Aaron's shed that he had painted to resemble the countryside near where they live and posted them all on facebook.  When I put pictures on the tenants assoc. site it always gets lots of interest and this has been no exception.
  After we went over to the big Walmart on Picture Butte.  Never really found much of what we were looking for, although Marg did pick up a few things.  When we got back home, I put up some hooks to hang things on [one of the purchases].  Then we cleaned out the Az room putting all my golf stuff and the rest of it in the shed.  We are having a house guest tomorrow night, Linda has her family coming and needs a place for one night.  Then Proulx's are coming on Tuesday for 2 nights.  Linda brought her own sheets, so Marg & her put them on and when she takes them with her will put a set on for the next guests.
  After lunch I went and played pool.  There was no one there, so I went and got Dale.  He is a very good player, but has not been playing much in the park.  Even though he generally thrashes me, he is fun to play.  Just after we got there, Luther, then Jim showed up so we played four for a while.  Then another guy came in so we played 3 as one guy went to give then newcomer a game.  It's kind of the way it goes here, the guys generally try to accommodate anyone who wants to play.  I had a bit of a hot streak going at times.  During one of those times, Kenny came to watch a bit and seemed to be impressed.  It was a game where I was alone against the other two, both of whom are very good players.  They were down to the 8 ball and I still had 3 balls on the table.  As luck would have it I ran all 4 remaining balls to win.  Well you would have thought I had split the atom from the way Kenny regaled anyone who would listen with tales of the game.  I have played him a few times and it convinced him I had been going easy on him; it was pretty funny.
   Marg got some clothes steamed in the afternoon.  Being quite warm, she does it on the patio rather than inside.  Then she started getting stuff ready as we were hosting the happy hour group today.  She put out taco chips with 2 kinds of salsa and guacamole.  She also had a cheese tray and a platter of crackers, some sausage chopped up and some taco type cups filled with a dip containing spinach, artichoke hearts and parm cheese.  These were really a hit.  There were about 20 people here in the breezeway and they stayed longer than the regular hour, in fact about `2 hours or more.  Rita had also brought a dessert dish she made.  Anyway it was a fun evening.

Friday 25 March 2016

Friday

It was a nice day and I started with a bike ride with the guys.  There were 6 of us this morning and as we approached the place where the donkey is and she saw Gary, the braying started.  That animal is louder than you can imagine and was in the bush already at the fence watching for him.  He didn't have carrots today, rather had a couple of apples.  It was funny because the donkey would only eat a bit at a time, so Gary cut it into slices and it went better that way.  It's pretty smart because we pass by on the way back and it doesn't expect anything or make any noise on our return trip.  Larry keeps saying Gary has made a friend for life and I think that may be the way it is.
  Marg did some vacuuming on the outside rugs as they get lots of fuzz and stuff on them.  She uses my shop vac for this stuff as it will pick up the leaves and weeds that blow in here.  While she was doing this I took my compressor and brad nailer over to Stan's place.  He had a piece of trim that kept coming loose and wanted to try fastening it with brads.  He had it all marked out and ready to nail down, so we will see how that works out. 
  Then Marg went to water aerobics and they had a bit smaller group today.  She actually likes that better because it gives them more room to thrash around in the various routines.  The best part is, before she went down to the pool, she made me a sandwich for lunch and left it on the counter here. Now that was pretty thoughtful.
  I ate and then went off to Encanto to play golf with Gerry.  He had a tee time just after 1 PM and it was just starting to get hot when we went out.  Fortunately there was a breeze blowing, so it didn't really feel like 87 degrees in the sun today.  We were paired with a couple of guys from the west end and the game went pretty well, with 2 birds and a par on the front 9 for me and that was still only 46, so the bad holes were quite bad.  The back nine was not quite that good and it was a bit backed up so the other 2 guys went for beer instead.   Traffic home was lighter than normal, but there were a couple of wrecks that caused some delays.

   In the afternoon Marg viewed the video of Haylee's speech [it was quite moving] and then had a walk around the park. She made the classic error of walking inside the fence and in this case that meant 2 hours to walk the park, with all the visits she had enroute.  When she got back she my supper, pork chops, vegetables and potatoes in the slow cooker.  My supper was great, very thoughtful of her to do that for me.  Then she went with a bunch from the park here for supper.  It started out as a few folks going for fish and chips and ended up being 29.  He had it all set up with a reservation, even though they don't take reservations there, the smooth talker got it all set up.  They had the all-you-can-eat cod and it was good as usual.  They were in the back where there is a singer and as luck would have it this was at happy hour, so they had bargain priced drinks.  Sounds like they had a lot of fun with the girls making a fuss over Kenny and got some funny pics.  It made for lots of laughs and he enjoyed the attention.   Lots of folks stopped by to tell me about the fun they had and a few of them stopped in and had a beer with us. 
  We heard from Proulx's and will be getting together with Evelyn & Richard for a couple of days next week.  They are in Sun City West right now after driving down with Richards sister and her husband.  It was unfortunate that Doug's mother died just after they left, so they flew back to Edm for the funeral, but Richard & Evelyn are pretty resourceful and will make out just fine.

Thursday 24 March 2016

Thursday

Yes you know what the main event today was, the gamblin' gals went to the Fort.  There were only four of them this morning as one has gone home already and another must have had something else that held her back.  The day started out as a good one with a win for Marg in the early bird game.  She had to split it with 2 other winners, but a win is what she needed to break her dry spell.  With big expectations she daubed on thru the day, but alas that was it for bingo  On the slots it was a bit better story and she ended up losing only what I had won Tuesday night.  I generally give her my winnings as she has this theory about lucky money finds more luck.  Both her and Nancy waited on the same number for a big one [about $900], by Lynette was the big winner today.
  I went for coffee and donuts and it was amazing how many were there, probably one of our best turn-outs.  I think there is only one more, it's that time of year where every event is the last or there is just one more.  Leaving for home is pretty much the topic at every conversation now, well that and the weather at home.  There wasn't much news other than a recap of the few remaining events and some discussion about them.
  After coffee I went about getting all the stuff out to pain the ceiling in the park model.  There are a few marks on the ceiling and the first coat last year didn't cover as well as we would have liked.  This pretty much took the balance of the morning.  Well I was interrupted with a visitor or two, that made it take longer.  Doing a small job like this the clean up and prep is just about longer than the actual painting.  It was a pleasant surprise that the ceiling paint was still very good, so I was able to match the previous coat well and it covered better that way.
  After a bite to eat, I took the truck in for service.  James Tire down on the Trail had a coupon in the local paper offering:  lube, oil and filter for $14.99.  The deal was exactly as advertised plus tax, so about $17 all in.  They do use bulk oil, but what a remarkable deal, at home it would be about 5 times that.  The only downside was they are doing so many [mostly people getting ready to leave] that a reservation is needed, mine booking time was 5 days.  On the way back I stopped at the water outlet to fill the 5 gallon bottle for the water cooler; we use about a gallon a day.  The sad part is most of it is drank straight up, no scotch in it.
  I went to happy hour, it was at Jim & Beth's tonight.  The group was quite a bit smaller today.  When Marg got home, she didn't come because her hairdresser was over at Sue's and she had arranged to be there for a cut.  The lady usually does about 4 to 6 haircuts when she comes to the park and she is one of the few that doesn't leave Marg fit to be tied at it's cut.
  Supper tonight was Ihop and it was good as usual.  You want to know what is really funny, Marg had the 2x2x2, which is what I generally get & did tonight as well.  The place is noticeably slower as well, it seems the snowbirds have started leaving already.
  After we got back we went for a bit of a walk.  There are usually lots of people out walking in the park at that hour.  I took my black light along and stopped where we got the scorpion the other night and lo and behold found another one.  Gary was coming along and had his walking stick, so he killed it.  Starting to look like there could be a nest around there, because they are really not that common.   You have to really look for them most of the time.

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Wednesday

Wednesday started off a bit chilly, some people actually had jackets on.  The wind blew pretty hard and it was a cool wind compared to the last few days.  It seems we are heading into a cooling off period or at least not so hot period.
  Gerry came over for golf this morning and I took a jacket out to the course, but never did use it.  This was our second last organized day of golf as the lady who runs it will be leaving for home.  For the first time in in a while we had openings that went unfilled, so we play in a threesome.  The game mainly went pretty well, in fact much better than  thought when out on the course.  I ended up 40 & Gerry 41, so two great rounds.  I think it is because we like the course and are more relaxed when we play it, but not sure I can keep this up, so just enjoy it for now.  LOL  It played fairly quickly and we were back to the park in good time.
  Marg did some housecleaning this morning and had quite a time getting the floors washed.  She said she had to go over them 4 times before she got them to her satisfaction.  She made some lunch and then I went to play pool.  The place was pretty busy and I played a guy who is  lot better than I am.  He used to do some trick shot stuff and play for some big money when he was younger and still shoots a mean game.  In the afternoon Marg went grocery shopping and picked up a bunch of stuff we needed, it seems we were running low on just about everything.  She had it all unloaded and put away by the time I got back.
  We had plans to go out for supper to the Golden Corral.  A group in the park had organized a pot luck soup and sandwich meal for tonight.  Everyone was to bring a crock pot with soup in it.  We don't care for pot lucks all that much, they really only work well if you get to the food early.  The last people typically get what was unpopular or unappealing, which makes for a poor substitute for a meal.  I think there must be something like a Murphy's law of pot luck that comes to play and deals with quality of what you bring/place in line to eat.  LOL Marg and Linda after talking about it, decided to go to the Golden Corral and let anyone not going to the dinner know in case they were interested.  It turned out there were 15 or 16 of us.  It was kind of nice that the place wasn't as crowded as usual, but the food was just as good.  On the way there I stopped at Fry's and picked up some Crown Royal [$13.99 on sale] and a 30 pack of MGD [$19 on sale].
  I left right after eating as it was poker night.  Jerry caught a ride with me and Marg came back with the Blanke's.  We only had 6 for poker tonight, but that was good as it gave us more options on what games we could play.  While I don't know how much I lost, I am fairly certain I didn't win.

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Tuesday, March 22nd

Went for a bike ride this AM, there were 5 of us today.  We stopped to watch Gary feed his carrots to the donkey.  He hadn't done this for a few days and when he saw Gary approaching, the donkey came running and was braying loudly.  I couldn't believe how noisy that guy was.  As we were passing the park, Larry pulled off as he had enough, so I went with him.  It was still a pretty good ride at 4 1/2 miles.
  When I got back Marg had gone to water aerobics.  It was a bit cooler day but windy.  It seems a good day for the splash & thrash gals as they had a good turn out again.  While she was gone, I got a visitor asking for my assistance.  It was one of the guys in the park who had taken on hanging a ladies blinds.  She had some fairly expensive blinds that were custom ordered he was having trouble with. We got the first one installed and by then Marg came back.  I left with her and Harry pretty much got all the others hung.  They looked great too.
  I messed with the free door for an hour or so and put it aside.  Not sure whether it is usable as is or whether it will be a source of parts for the existing door.  It would be nice to use it as it looks a lot better than our old one, we'll see.   After that Marg just relaxed on the patio, while I went and got Kenny to play pool.  He likes to play, but wants to get more familiar with the game before he ventures out to play with some of the other guys.  We had lots of laughs and he won one game.  I think Marg and her pals have a bunch of us going to Golden Corral instead of the pot luck soup dinner tomorrow night and Kenny has a couple dozen people going out for fish & chips on Friday for supper. 
  Happy hour was at Blanke's today because of the wind and it is sheltered there.  There were lots of folks and we talked about scorpions and such, well the guys did anyway.  After we had supper at home and then went over to Smitty's for his dutch oven dessert.  It was very nice and he had about a dozen there tonight.  From there we went on to the bingo hall.  There was a good sized crowd and the payouts were good.  As luck would have it I won the first game, so we came out a bit ahead even after buying ice cream for the table.

Monday 21 March 2016

Monday

HOT HOT HOT, it was 93F today, that would be 34C for my Canadian friends.
  I went for a bike ride with Larry today, there were no others willing to brave the early morning heat that was already building.  It was unusual in that the roadside was full of running water.  The line into the park to the east of us apparently sprung a leak and they must have lost a huge amount of water, anyway the birds and critters around here seemed to enjoy it as a bonus today.  We made our 5 miles and when we got back they had it down to a trickle, so it was a short lived treat for the critters.
  Marg went to water aerobics and they had about a dozen ladies today.  She said the water temp was much better and it was very refreshing.  The pool must cool off quite a bit at night with the drop in air temp around here.  It actually gets chilly after dark and often see folks with a jacket on.  I guess that's just another reason why the early settlers found the area so difficult.
  We had a nice lunch on the patio and enjoyed a very welcome breeze.  We are just about ready to go for water again, that 5 gallons only lasts us about 5 days and it is strictly used for drinking, so we are keeping well hydrated.
  I made up a memory stick with pictures from the wedding ceremony and ice cream social yesterday for Larry & Sue.  Then we took them down to Walmart where I got prints made 17 cents a picture, how can you beat that.  I also bought a small memory stick and put all of them on it so that Sue can make more, alter them or do as she pleases.  Then we went to a dollar store where Marg got some treats for the bingo table.  I don't bother with them, but the rest seem to enjoy munching while daubing, multi-tasking for seniors I guess.  After we went to Walgreen as they had a good sale flyer and Marg picked up some goodies.  Well mostly she got stuff for around the house, like Melatonin & Aleve which was a real good deal.  She has been sleeping much better since she started taking it in the evening.  She is experiencing better results with Aleve than the Tylenol and what not.
  When we got back we dropped off the pictures and memory stick for the newlyweds.  It was right across the street from the happy hour location tonight.  Sometimes we move around and tonight it was at chez Binger.  There was quite a group there, I would estimate 15 - 20, but the noise level was not nearly as high as usual, probably because the guys were doing most of the talking, LOL.
  Supper was a great breast of chicken, baked potato, yam and a new kind of pea called Green Pigeon Peas.  They were not like the ones we normally have, they were actually more like chick peas or garbonzo beans [not sure about that spelling].  They were good, well not as good as garden peas at home, but still fine.  After we had a few visitors and then took a walk around the park.  While sitting out on the patio we heard a few noises that sounded like gunshots, 3 I think, but they were quite far away.  Usually this is just some guy chasing off coyotes or critters like snakes, but you never really know.  Oh yeah booked an oil change for Thursday, it is advertised at $15.95, I opted not to go for the $19.95 one where they do a tire rotation.  Will let you know how it turns out.

Sunday 20 March 2016

Sunday

It was another hot day, it started out hot and by mid-afternoon it was 91F, tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer.
  The big surprise of the day was Marg & I went to the church service this morning.  I was really worried, as it has been a long time since she went to church for anything but weddings and funerals and I thought we may have people fainting or the roof fall in.  Well there was more to it than that, her friend Sue and Larry were married after the service.  The pastor did a nice job of weaving it in with his sermon and there were lots of other people in there that I have not previously seen.  Then I took some photos of Larry & Sue after the ceremony.  I had some problems with shading and light, but was able to enhance the pics using the utilities on the computer so they turned out not too bad.
  No Charlene, I have not been in the pool yet this year, but from your mothers reports, the water may be too warm for me now.
  After we finished up with that we went to the Mesa market.  I was almost out of pocket books and it was time to get some new ones.  The old gal who I have dealt with for years was still there and I picked up 9 new dusters or oaters as some people call them.  Marg picked up a few things, nothing major though.  It is interesting to see that the pricing is different than last year, as they seem to be coming down a bit already.  In fact there is one vendor taking Canadian dollars at par with US dollars, so they must be feeling the effect of our weaker dollar.
  After we stopped at Fry's, Marg for milk & bread, me for fuel.  Fuel prices have really risen here in the last month, about 65 cents a gallon I believe.  It was $1.93, but I got 20 cents off with Marg's points, so paid $1.73.  She made up for it with a 2 for 1 bread purchase and the milk was under $2 per gallon.  Hey it was cheaper than fuel before my discount.
  Back home for lunch and then we went over to Smitty's to give the a house warming card and gift.  They really appreciate the least little thing you do for them.  She had some bruising from working in the place yesterday and said if he gave her a hard time she would turn him in as a wife beater, Hah!  Pretty funny, her and Marg really seem to be hitting it off.  What else is new.
  Happy hour was at the Johnson's again and was well attended, but not as busy as it had been lately, which is nice.  We could actually have a conversation today.  The topics range the gamut, almost anything can get attention there.
  Then it was back for a supper of noodles and shrimp in a kind of stir fry.  Very nice, we eat lots of meals along this line and enjoy every one of them. 
No desert; as there was cake and ice cream supplied by the newlyweds.  They combined this with our regular ice cream social.  It was nice to see such a good turnout, I would hope it was to wish Larry & Sue well and most of the people did exactly that.  This was our last ice cream social because the next one will be dessert at the Easter supper.  That will be a pot luck and we will not be attending, rather will have other plans.
  Almost forgot, another big surprise.  The Proulx's are leaving today for here, driving with Richard's sister and brother-in-law who have a place in Sun City West.  They are supposed to be here a week and then fly home on April 1st.  Can't believe I am talking about April already, that means our days here are numbered.  We have been talking about going to Tucson or Sedona, but we will see, talk is cheap.

Saturday 19 March 2016

Saturday, March 19th

Happy birthday Marg.  I love you and judging by the number of birthday wishes you got, so do a lot of other folks.
  The day started out the same as every Saturday, breakfast in the hall, well except they had French toast or pancakes, so I had the French toast.  It was very good.  Marg as usual was up and when I suggested she join me on her special day, she just laughed.  I think this is the last Saturday breakfast, so about 50 - 70 of us will miss it.
  After breakfast we went over to the Laundromat in the plaza by Ace hardware.  It was a surprise to us, but the place was not as busy as we normally see.  The reason for this being a laundry day; well there were 4 washing loads, so the hamper was over-flowing.  It was a nice change from the usually busy place and the job went quickly.
  We were back for lunch and then I went and played pool for a couple hours.  Marg had some visitors and some quiet time.  She has been going hard these last few days and was looking for an opportunity to catch some breathing space and got it today.  The temp got up to about 90 or  91 today and it was hot, so a good day to take it easy.
  After I got back we went out to pick out a few things.  Some friends just bought a park model in this park and we wanted to give them something with a card.  She found some household stuff and I went to Harbour Freight where I bought a magnetic tool holder for him.  Yes I used my coupon and got a free gift, a 25 ft tape measure. When I went to put it in the shed, I discovered I now have 6 of them, so I will offer it to the golf organizers to use for measuring putts or chips, if they are interested.
  After picking these up, we went out to dinner.  It was to Fillies, our first time there.  It seems we picked a day when they were having some confusion in the table wait staff, but the food was good.  Marg got to enjoy a taco salad in a shell, one of her all time fav's and she said it was very good.  I had cod and it was good.  The corn bread was probably the best I have had.  The place is definitely western, it even has a corral out back to hold horses of anyone who rides in and well used hitching rails.  The only negative was I picked a table inside and my date would have preferred to eat at a picnic table outside.  They also have music, but it doesn't start until well after we were gone. 
  When we got back to the park, the dance was in full swing.  It was billed as a British invasion with some help from the Allies, so it was 60's music.  One of the guys in the park recorded a bunch of tunes and plays it through the sound system, he has done this before and it usually goes over fairly well.  On of the highlights is it provides lots of opportunities for the line dance and Macarena participants.  We had a couple of dances, although none of these and spent some quality time with good people.
  Stay tuned for tomorrow, there will be a news flash!

Friday 18 March 2016

Friday, March 18th

Happy birthday Jim, hope your day is a great one!
  Again there was no post last night, why, well you can guess, suffice it to say the day was long and it ended quicker than I anticipated.  I may have been asleep in my chair at the end, LOL.  So again today will be two days' information.
Thursday, St Patrick's day
  The day started with coffee & donuts at the hall in the park.  It was well attended and best of all the donuts were free, provided by the outgoing association president.  After the hall was cleared, all the help for the corned beef & cabbage dinner met in the kitchen to get a start on the work.  The beef was in the fridge overnight and we trimmed it up and sliced it into pans to be heated later in the oven.  The gals cut up all the cabbage [45 pounds], potatoes [50 pounds] and carrots [20 pounds] I believe, getting it all into pots & ready to boil.  It went pretty well ready to go and tidied up in about an hour and a half, thanks to a good crew.
  Marg & I went to Costco where she got some wine and finger food.  Oh yeh, I got 4 shirts and a couple pairs of shorts too.  The really good news is both were a size smaller than I previously wore.  Then it was on to the Mexican grocery store up on Stapely where she bought some pastries, tortilla chips and a couple of cakes: a Mexican milk cake and a Tiramisu kind of cake.  We each ate one of the sweet rolls on the way home, so I was pretty much covered in whatever they put on top, kind of a combination sugar/cinnamon.  With the cakes needing refrigeration, we had to come straight back.
  Back at the park there was just time for a sandwich and then back to the kitchen.  We got all the big pots possible going on the stove.  Once they were boiling we transferred them to the grill so we could get others started, it was quite an exercise in manipulation of huge pots of boiling stuff.  The meat was put in the oven to heat with a broth over them so it wouldn't dry out.  It was a bit stressful for some, but with Marg & Patti directing the cooking, it came off well.  The steam trays were filled and started so the food could be served hot.
We were in a good position by 5 when the food was to be served.  Every table brings bowls and platters that they bring to the counter to be filled.  This year we put potatoes, cabbage & carrots all in separate bowls, to give folks more choice on how they used it.  There is a nice loaf of bread at every table and at the end everyone was given a dish of ice cream and Crème de Menthe to add a touch of green to dessert.  The whole place sang happy birthday to me, a very nice touch.
  After eating an hour or so of clean up and we were good to go.  A long tough day, but at least it was an overwhelming success.  Marg had invited the work crew to our place for drinks after the work was done.  They were a great bunch to work with and we had a riot with them after.  Marg had some finger food out and then the cakes.  She also made margaritas and I made certain the Irish whisky and beer flowed well.  Most had not tried Irish whisky before, but loved it and why not as we had both Tullamore Dew & Bushmill.  It was a late night by the time the last dog was hung and yours truly had a skin full.
Friday, March 18th

   It was a long way out of the sack this morning, we both woke up still a bit tired, but with lots of plans to get going on.  Marg had agreed on a 10 o'clock departure time with the gamblin' gals, so we were out of here at the appointed hour.  This was what she wanted for her birthday, a day out with these hilarious gals.  You have to experience it to believe it, but the 5 of them are like a group of school girls on an outing:  joking and laughing and generally having a good time.  This was our first time to Wild Horse Pass Casino and they were pumped for it.  Somewhere along the route they all decided they would rub my stomach [like you do with a Buddha] for luck and they did.
  A few pictures and they were off in search of their fortunes.  They were about 3 1/2 hours and 3 came out ahead Ok with the other 2 slightly behind, but in good spirits.  I have done a few of these now and the ride home is always a bit more subdued with the topics more to do with daily stuff around the park, a marked difference.  Everyone said they had fun, so mission accomplished.
  When we got home it was dinner in tonight.  A nice salad accompanied by taco chips, shrimp and other good finger food from the prior night.  Then it was a huge piece of the milk cake for each of us and I was bursting at the seams.  A great way to finish the day.  We were kind of settling in, but got a coffee call.  The Blanke's had a bunch for coffee and pie.  We both passed on the pie, which is a shame as Doris makes great pie, but enough is enough.  A nice visit over a cup of coffee anyway.  A quick visit to Walmart to get a time card for the phone as the minutes were almost out and we need it for almost a month yet.  Hope to get a better nights sleep tonight, I think we were both a bit over tired last night.
 

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Wednesday

This was a busier day for us and we are entering into a period of hot weather.
  Gerry came and we went to Apache Sun to play golf with the bunch from the park here.  It was a great day for golf and I hit the ball well off the tee for a change.  Several people asked me at times throughout the day whether my day was going as well as last week, Hah!  But I did have a good game, carding a few strokes more than my personal best and was happy with the result.  By the time I got back, Marg had gone to water aerobics.  For certain she is starting to feel better.  In fact she said the pool was too warm and would have preferred it cooler.
  I did a bit of visiting stopping in to check out Smitty's new place and discovered he is having the same soffit problems I was over the Az room, so told him about the screens I made.  By the time I got down to see if she was at the pool, she was back home.  Fortunately I rode the bike, saving a lot of shoe leather and time.  By then it was lunch, so a quick sandwich and an orange and back out.  The oranges we got at the Superstition market are pretty good, so we are trying to use them up before they change.
  After lunch Marg had arranged to meet with Gary & Patti and their crew to deal with the corned beef.  We got it out and put in a couple of huge pots to boil with some spices and chopped up onions.  The crew all showed up as well and washed the spuds and got some stuff ready for tomorrow.  It took a long time to cook, a little more than 4 hours.  Being busy we went down to Ihop for supper, then back to check on the corned beef.  It was pretty much cooked, so we took it out to cool and then tomorrow it will be cut up.
  I went to poker, where we had 6 tonight.  I would like to be able to say I made my little bag full, but unfortunately I seemed to have difficulty catching the cards tonight, so probably donated a dollar or two.

Tuesday, March 15th

The Ides of March be upon you!
  Missed the blog post yesterday because the computer was having a problem.  Apparently there are some bugs in Windows 10, like the start button doesn't always work and other annoying things.  Marg went on line with the Ipad and found we could revert to Windows 8.1, so we did it but then the computer took its' own sweet time, so we had not access to it last night.  Gotta love this technology!
Monday
  Marg spent the day in and around the park model with that nasty sinus/cold thing she had going on, basically as sick as a dog.  I went for a bike ride with the guys first thing and we made about 5 miles.  That wasn't bad as the wind was blowing pretty good.  There were 5 of us and we stopped for Gary to feed the donkey again.  I need to remember to take a camera, it's a nice animal and as soon as Gary rides to the fence, comes right to him so it can get the carrots he brings.  Katie you know all about feeding donkey's carrots, don't you darling.  Then I did some stuff around here in the morning and went to the pharmacy to get some cold & flu stuff for Marg. Then after lunch went golfing to Encanto.  Pat & Diane from here went with me, so meeting Gerry there, we had a foursome.  The course traffic was not too heavy and we got our 18 holes in well within the 4 hours.  Traffic coming back was also light, seems spring break is impacting all these things, in a positive way.  They should let kids out of school every time I want to golf.  LOL  We got to travel in the HOV lane, so most of the journey was at 70mph plus.
  Supper was dining in with some brats Marg had put on in the slow cooker.  That thing comes in handy for many different purposes here and is invaluable.
Tuesday
  Miracle of miracles, Marg was feeling much better today.  She got out a bit, so we went to Walmart to exchange the Dr Scholls insert for my shoes as I am having a problem with my arch on one foot.  Then we went to the Superstition Farmers market where we got some oranges, plums and veggies.  Filled a shopping cart for $10 and it's all very good quality, very fresh.  Funny thing, the guy in the line behind us got chatting with us.  Turns out he lives in a place where there is not grocery nearby, so was stocking up on vegetables, had 2 buggies full.  He told us he came to get some oranges from a farm in the area and had a box in the parking lot.  When we saw his truck we had to laugh, he had the truck box absolutely full of oranges.
  When we got back, I went to play pool  I played with some guys who are usually quite a bit better than me, but I got on a hot streak.  The first guy I played, I beat in all but one game.  Then I played two other guys, both very good.  How good, well Dick used to play for $1,000 a game.  Anyway it was a 2 vs 1 situation, so whoever breaks plays the others and when I played by myself beat them.  Probably never happen again.
  While I was busy with that, Linda stopped to visit with Marg.  It seems one of the new people in the park created quite a stir at the pool this morning sometime just after water aerobics, I guess.  The story goes, they were kicked out of a neighbouring park and came here renting a year 'round site.  He was talking to other people in the pool about Wednesday night being a sex in the pool night and recruiting for other to join him and his wife.  A quick trip to the park manager's office by Marg & Linda and it seems that is not the intended use for the swimming pool after all.  Go figure.  Then while she was visiting around the park, she got a headboard for our bed from a friend.  Then she had a couple of ladies for cold drinks and gossip and one mentioned the reno they did on their Az room and that they had a door they were discarding.  Turns out it is exactly what we need for our Az room, so I had to go and pack that home.  Talking to Jim while picking up the door, it turns out he used to play a lot of golf, but hasn't much here.  I think he is considering joining in the Wed. morning play at Apache Sun, time will tell, but he was worried his game is not where it should be to play with us.  Told me he scored 45 last week on that course, sheesh, he would be in the top half dozen at that rate.
  Supper again at home, but tonight it was bbq.  We Had steak and roasted potatoes with vegetables.  It was very good, then off to bingo tonight.  We were very close, but alas the drought continues.  We could certainly use a win.  Gerry & Deb stopped in for coffee and cake after and we had a nice evening with them.  Well it's midnight, so better go rest up for golf tomorrow.

Sunday 13 March 2016

Sunday, March 13th

Chilly last night, but the sun warmed the day quickly making for a very nice day with a bit of a breeze all day.
  The cold Marg seemed to be getting has indeed become a full blown nasty cold.  She has mostly a head cold with stuffy head, watery eyes and tired feeling.  She covered up with Vicks last night and that seemed to stop the coughing and gave her a bit of a break.  Today she pretty much stayed around the house and rested.  At one point she unsuccessfully tried to take a nap, but she did get rest.  At this point she is trying some off-the-shelf remedies and we will see how it goes.
  I was up early and went to the church service this morning.  We had a fill-in pastor as Don was away for his brother's funeral and dealing with family.  Considering this attendance was pretty as even though some folks were missing, there were some new people.  He was pretty good, although the sermon was lengthy and being accustomed to Don's style probably made it seem longer.  No matter, it still was an opportunity to put in a good word for some people who are important to me.
  I had some people to go and see this morning, mainly to cancel things we had planned to do and now they will have to wait until Marg is feeling better.  During my travels through the park I encountered half a dozen people or their spouses who reported feeling poorly.  I don't know what it is, she never gets colds like this at home, yet every year here seems to have a bout of it.  I almost think it is a combination of cold and allergies.  Fingers crossed that it doesn't last very long.
  We mostly sat around today and did some stuff on the computer.  I finally figured out where my favourites are on this Windows 10 and how to access them.  I haven't been able to use Google, rather had to use Edge, which seems to be a new windows browser/product.  It is certainly making life interesting.  It was a nice change of pace and I spent pretty much the day on the patio.  Other than the stuff I was doing on the computer and a bit of reading, I cleaned my clubs for golf tomorrow and did some re-arranging in the shed.
  Supper tonight was my turn to cook, so we got a pizza from Fat Mans Chicago pizza.  It was very good and although we had a medium, it was too much for us.  After we finished Marg suggested we give the rest to Mark.  He is a single guy in the park and quite a character, who live here year round.  He looks like he could have played in ZZTop.  Nice guy if you take the time to get to know him and he does lots of good things for a couple of the folks who live in the park that are having difficulty getting around, so this is a kind of a pay-it-forward thing Marg did, I guess.  He is kind of a second hand dealer and sells stuff, I think he has a booth someplace, like an antique mall.  He always seems to have junk to sell when the opportunity presents itself anyway.
  One couple that work ice cream socials has left, so Marg volunteered to work the last 3 weeks, she told me 2, to soften the blow.  With her being sick; telling Lynette was one of those duties this AM, but the person who never volunteered was still able to scoop ice cream [miss piggy would say moi].  It was all good as I got to have strawberries on my chocolate ice cream tonight.  That is generally what I used to have when we worked these; most times I like that better than banana splits.

Saturday 12 March 2016

Saturday, March 12th

The day was much cooler and we had a bit of a wind.  Got up and at-em' and went to breakfast in the hall this morning.  It was a popular choice for lots of folks in the park and was good.  Pancakes were pretty good, but I prefer the way I make them, no really, that is not just bravado.  The eggs were good, but Marg does a better job on them as well as the sausages.  This prompted a discussion at our table and I think the association will be holding an information sharing session with the crews next year dealing with kitchen hygiene and food cooking, we'll see.
  After 3 of us went for a bike ride, we made just over 4 miles.  It was cool enough to wear a jacket on the ride, but I did stay with short pants.  When I got back to the park, Marg & I went to look for a few things, without success on the Orbeez body spa.  On our first stop at Target, we picked up some toiletries and things in the pharmacy area.  Allergies continue to plague us this year and the latest pills have not worked out well.  In fact Marg's allergy thing seems to becoming a good old fashioned head cold, hope not.  While we were at Walmart we picked up other stuff, starting with a new coffee maker and some groceries so Marg could make the dish[s] at the gathering tonight.
  When we got back it was lunch time and then Marg went on to make a really good casserole with hash browns, kind of a potato substitute, I guess.  She also make a kind of Greek salad that is becoming her signature dish this year.  Not being much help in the kitchen, I went to play pool.  There was no one there, so I started knocking on doors to get a player.  Fortunately Dale was idle, so came to play and shortly after Luther stopped in, so we had some great games, lots of laughs.  It is at the back of Dale's place where they have been finding most of the scorpions [7 so far I believe], so that was a lot of the conversation.  It seems there are more, but that was most of the conversation.  When I suggested they just spray poisons in their hiding places, Dale explained that they are trying to capture the scorpions.  No idea why but that is, but a couple of them have scorpions in jars.  Apparently they are brown, so may be tree bark scorpions, if so not good as they have the worst of the stinging power, although it is still very much like a bee sting.
  Got back in time to go for happy hour, it's always at 4 o'clock and there was already quite a collection of folks by the time I got there with my one beer.  Small wonder they call our street Happy Hour Lane!  The women had decided it was a food day, we usually have a day in March when we do this as there are so many birthdays among the regulars this month.  The eating was scheduled to commence at 5, so as not to interfere with happy hour.  I went back to the park model for a few things, like a bottle of Tullamore Dew with the shot glasses.  Most of the guys there had not tasted Irish whisky before and it was a hit, well 2 hits for most of us.  It also gave me an opportunity to explain the history of the numbered shot glasses and why whisky was invented.  You know so the Irish could never take over the world.  LOL  By then it was time to eat and the food was excellent.
  After eating, the group mostly went their own way, well except for a few who stopped over at our place for a coffee.  Well for some that included Bailey's, well actually it was the gals who had it.  We sat around and visited for a bit and that was the day.

Friday 11 March 2016

Friday, March 11th

Started my day with a bike ride with 5 other guys here at Carefree.  It was such a nice day without wind that we went up to Idaho and back.  Three of us turned back early, so made about 5 1/2 miles while the others went all the way to the school and back.  When I got back home, Marg had made cinnamon buns lightly covered with icing, they were very nice and welcome as I had only had a banana before leaving.
  After we went down to Mediacom to pay the bill for TV, internet and our landline.  It is for service until the month end, so we will only have to pay for a short period after that date.  This is our 3rd year with them and for some reason the service has not been nearly as good this year.  For next year we will be looking at our options to this service.  On the way back we stopped in a Ace hardware where I bought a flashlight that is a black light.  They are mainly used to see scorpions and some of the guys in the park have been out with them the last 2 nights and have quite a collection of scorpions, so it has got me thinking. I don't really want to catch any, but I do want to know if we have them around our place.  Gave the place a good going over and we don't, likely because of eh pest spraying we did all through the year.
  When we got back Marg went to a bridal shower for one of her friends.  Sue is getting married later this month, so a group of ladies here [looking for an excuse to party - no doubt] got together to put this on.  It must have been a lot of fun as it was the talk all around the park and Marg said it was another day filled with laughter.  They took a pile of pictures [66 by my count] and could only find eight that we could use on facebook.  Yes it got a little racey as evidenced by the pics so we had them printed [one copy only] for Sue.
  I played pool this afternoon and it was fairly busy there.  I played with a couple of the same guys as yesterday and we had lots of laughs.  There were two guys who haven't played aas much, so Gene and I stayed on opposing teams the whole time.  It worked pretty well with the teams being more evenly so I played on a winner sometimes and lost others, so good balance.
  Later it was happy hour and then supper was chicken from the slow cooker with a nice salad Marg made.  It was good idea as we had animal races shortly after and had to attend as it was the season wind up.  This meant the payouts were a little more generous than normal as they gave away all the accumulated surplus from the season.  We didn't do as well as last year, but the elephant won twice, so we didn't do too badly.  Go Bimbo!

Thursday 10 March 2016

Thursday March 10th.

What a day, something happened with the computer.  I have been refusing all offers to update to Windows 10 as I had not heard any positive comments about it.  A couple of times I shut the computer off when it tried to go ahead anyway.  Well last night it started the update all on it's own. The only thing I can think of is there is either a gremlin in it or a lack of telling it to go away resulted in this unwanted update.  At this juncture it cannot be called an upgrade, more correctly it would be a fall into the abyss of techie hell.
  So much for the rant.  That is the reason there was no blog post yesterday, the system ran amok and I had no access.
Wednesday news
  We got up early, I think it was because it was so cold in here, we don't leave the heat on a night, well never needed to lately.  I think it was about 47F [that would be 8C] when I got up.  How cold is that, well our home in GP, with no one living there is set at 17C.  Marg on the other hand thought everything was fine.  Gerry showed up just before 8 and we went out to Apache Sun for golf with the park.  It was a very good day for me with my personal best for 9 holes ever at 39, or 5 over par.  It will always be something I can reminisce about in my golden years.  LOL  I wasn't even keeping the score card or using the pencil eraser.  I'm pretty certain everyone in AJ must know about it by now, this is the kind of day that makes me want to play again.  LOL
Marg frosted the cupcakes she made for the affair and then went to the hall to help set up for the ladies tea.  It was a much changed affair this year with theme tables and they drew names to assign seating giving people an opportunity to talk to different people.  They had tons of food and they divvy it up so each table has a variety and an opportunity to try all the different goodies.  Marg once again participated in the fashion show, with two outfits and never bought anything this year.  That was a surprise!  By the time they were finished it was late in the afternoon.
  As she got me out of the work guys who serve the ladies, I had a free afternoon and played some pool.  My game was reasonably good and the guys I played with were fun.
  Supper was a trip to Taco Bell.  The food there is pretty good and Marg likes to go because it reminds her of Katie [it being one of Katie's favorites here].  It's a little different for us, so I am always challenged with ordering something I like & that doesn't give me heartburn.  We ended up with lots to eat, even a bit to take home.
  Returning to the park, I was just in time for poker with the guys.  We played with 7 and had one more who could have played, but not enough for a second table.  I offered him my seat and as it turns out should have insisted he play in my place.  I took a pretty bad beat, but won a couple of pots at the end to still leave me enough to come again.
Thursday
  The day was much nicer, warmer in the morning and the heat built up through the day, topping out at about 87F [30C].  Marg was up at the crack of dawn to go with the gamblin' gals to the Fort.  There were 5 of them today and they had a good time; another serving dish coming home with each of them.  The real highlight was Nancy won big in bingo, coming home with about $3,400.  I was at happy hour when they drove up [as usual] so got to see the big smile on her face as she brought out the wad of 100's.
  Me, well I went to donuts and coffee where I got an apple fritter, yahoo.  I took pictures of the new tenants assoc executive sitting on our brand new patio.  Don't laugh, I got applause for my photo's on the tenants assoc FB site.  It seems people like to look at pics of themselves.  Hah!  Then I washed the truck today.  It was really dirty from the rain the other night and certainly needed it.  Then I did some work in the tool shed out back.  After I went and played pool for the balance of the afternoon.  Two of the guys were the ones I played with yesterday and the third is a guy who used to play in big money tourney's.  Lots of laughs with these guys and I played well so it's easier to be jovial when the game is going well [even when I was left hooked].
  After it was hamburgers in the hall, Gary's hamburgers we call it.  They are very filling and I made the mistake of ordering a double today.  It was well attended, even some of the new people came.  One was a couple from just north of Westlock, so pretty close to home.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Tuesday the 8th

The temps went down lower last night which made for a chilly evening and it was still cool when we got up in the morning.  When the guys came by to ride, there ended up being four of us.  I went out in my normal riding gear, but quickly decided that I needed something warmer, so changed to jeans and a heavier coat.  This was my first time out of short pants in over a month.  In fact the riders who usually go farther were wearing shorts and returned to the park early while Larry & I went on and ended up making about 5 1/2 miles today.
  Marg went with some of the ladies here to an adult toy shop or what is commonly called a love shop.  She came back saying she hasn't laughed that hard in over 20 years.  There were a few of them looking for ideas to use at the shower for their friend later this week and came up with some stuff that is sure to create a lot of fun.  What was really funny was that a couple of the ladies have never been to one of these before and it was a real eye-opener for them, and these were all older than Marg.  The intended recipient is unaware of this but I'm not sure how long they can keep the secret as it was the talk all over the park today.  Who says this park full of grandparents are getting too old.  LOL
  After getting back I went over to visit with Clyde as he has some old Canadian money.  I ended up buying some from him, as it is difficult to find an outlet for it here.  I got a 1960 silver dollar, an old King George paper dollar, one & two dollar bills with the early Queen Elizabeth all of which have numismatic value as well as 3 of the old style $5 bills. I also traded him 4 loonies and 2 twonies for some Canadian cash he had.  I think I made out OK allowing for the condition and the exchange rate on values.  Then I took some of the current bills to show them, it is amazing how many have never seen the new Canadian plastic bills and they are quite an attraction.  In fact I had to show them to several folks before getting home.  Then I went back with all the quarters from my poker money as they are trying to build sets of the quarters featuring different obverse sides for their great grandchildren.  They ended up buying $18 worth of quarters from my sack.  I will have to start winning again as this was mainly my back up supply in case of a run of bad luck.  Hah!  I've never needed it yet, but you never know.
  We had lunch and then I went to play pool.  I played 8 ball for about 1 1/2 hrs and then came back to do some work on my bike.  I also ended up doing some clean up in the shed, but it really needs a major going over.  I worked on the bike kick stand as it doesn't work as it should and sometimes my bike falls over on the stand. I think I got it, but we will see soon.  The neighbours apparently bought an AC unit from Amazon and have had problems that they couldn't resolve, so the ABC news network crew were at their place filming an interview for well over an hour.  We will have to look for it in the near term.  Marg did some baking and got some stuff ready for the pool party. 
The water aerobics group and their spouses had a pool side party at 4.  This is about the 3rd year we have gone to this and because of the weather no one was actually in the pool today.  There goes my once a year dip in there.  LOL  They had quite a bit of food, sloppy joes were the start of it and there were lots of sides and desserts.  It was quite nice.  As usual it was well attended, I would guess there were about 35 people there. 
  After that it was bingo time.  Gerry & Deb came to play and we were close, but no win tonight.
 
 

Monday 7 March 2016

Monday

The weather turned a lot cooler today, nothing like it has been.   The forecast was for a chance of rain today, but as the day grew closer, they modified it, so on Saturday, Gerry booked a tee time.
  I went riding with the guys this AM, the wind was just gently blowing, but Larry didn't feel like riding uphill to Idaho, so we went west instead.  I told him I only came for the short version, so we rode to Meridian and then around a bit and back, making 2 1/2 miles.  It was cool enough that I wore a vest and a coat.  Later after I was ready to leave for golf, it had warmed considerably and a decent day seemed in the offing.  Marg went for water aerobics and they had a good group again this morning.  They got their hour in and in the process got the pool water well stirred up.
  After a bite to eat, Stan was out front ready to go to Encanto.  I was looking for someone to play with Gerry & I and he had enjoyed the course last week.  Golf is funny thing around here because although there are lots of courses the guys get in regular foursomes or get busy in other things and there generally seem to be a couple of guys looking for a chance to play.  Anyway it was a win win, good for both sides, you know - we get to drive in the HOV lane as a bonus.  We ended up with a 4th, a single playing with us; a nice young guy going to ASU and a very good golfer.  Our scores didn't reflect the quality of the experience, we had a fun day and the course wasn't too busy so play moved along at a good pace.  It was a bit later tee time, so we were later getting back, but the traffic was much lighter, which made for better travel conditions.  The sunset in our rearview mirror tonight was incredible, the sky was lit right up with vivid colors.
  Marg went for a bit of retail therapy with the truck being at home.  She got to some of her fav's [Kohl's, Ross's, Fry's] down in the area around Superstition and found a nice top that she just loves.  This is great because she has been a bit frustrated with not finding anything up until now.  After that she got some groceries to fill the cupboards before we starve.  LOL  Not the kind of groceries I buy, but she did find a good deal on Miller High Life, so she had my best interests at heart.
  Got back a little later than usual, but she had supper already, so got to eat in short order.  It was leftovers from the previous nights roast, that really hit the spot.  Just as we were cleaning up, Bill called to tell us they were going to facetime.  They had cake for his three, so we got to participate in singing happy birthday.  We got an update on their birthday party from the weekend at Bill & Patti's place.  Apparently they had something like 47 at the party and Patti partied with them.  We didn't get a lot of information on what all happened, but that is to be expected.
  After it was laundry night, even though it was getting late because the rest of this week is so full of activities.  I went along to carry dirty laundry and that sort of thing, oh yeh, I loaded money on to the laundry card.  Then I went back home to read for a bit as my participation wasn't required until time to fold sheets and a few other things.  The other advantage of doing it late is all the machines are free.  In a place like this people have their habits and rarely change.  Some of their habits are the days or times they do laundry and Marg has that pretty well figured out.  Wandering about after dark, it is amazing to see how many folks are in bed by 9PM, small wonder they are up at the proverbial crack of dawn.

Sunday 6 March 2016

Sunday March 6th

It was a bit cloudy to start the day, but the sun warmed up the air and it got to be a very nice day, although a wind blew most of the day.  Strange thing was the wind blew out of the south for the most part; that's unusual for here.  For the most part the temps were in the high 70's / low 80's with a cooling breeze, so very pleasant.
  I got mobile early and after a coffee & banana made my way to the church service at the hall in the park.  It was well attended today and we had some extra music in the service, which was nice.  It's also nice that most of the folks who attend are friends, so it is very comfortable, although I still don't sing.  The service ran a bit long, however I managed to stay until the end of the sermon.  Don always does a good job with the sermon, he is great at personalizing the service and weaving a story with meaning in his sermons.  I must admit I am enjoying getting back in touch with this part of my life.
  We were invited to a brunch this morning at Jim & Barb's, she is the one who organizes water aerobics.  It was a nice change and they had just over 30 people participating.  The main event was omelets in a bag, but everyone brought something to add, so lots of variety.  Marg's contribution was mainly the croissants I had picked up yesterday.  I learned a bit about technique and organization for this today.  Everyone had lots to eat and it seemed that everyone enjoyed it, we certainly did.  This being late in the morning, there was no lunch today.  So Katie, you would have been disappointed as you & grandpa don't usually miss a meal.  LOL  Sometimes people complain about the number of pictures I take, but today several were asking -- where's Dave's camera.  They must like seeing themselves on the FB site.
  Back at our place, we took a bit of time to chill ax [this from Smiths in B'ham, chilling / relaxing].  Cleaned the grill and had a bit of a problem with ants.  By the time I got that cleared up, I had to take the bucket of greasy water to dump away from here.  Then I got a call from Gerry about the tee time tomorrow, so went over to Stan's to keep him the loop and arrange for a departure time.  Marg started the beef roast for supper, putting it on the grill in a roasting tray.  Then she got the potatoes peeled, cooked and in the slow cooker.  We had company coming for supper tonight, there were 7 of us, 3 of the ladies are from the gamblin' gals.  As always supper turned out great and there was lots of food.  Took it easy on the desert, just a few cream puffs as it was ice cream social tonight.
  Lots of dishes so I helped so that Marg could be done in time for ice cream.  We had a bit of time, but it was close.  No splits tonight, so we both just had a dish of ice cream.  Pretty good attendance at the ice cream social, a handful of new people, which is nice to see.  Barely finished our dessert as it was quite close after the big meal at supper.  So after we went for a walk.  As it turned out there were two other couples walking, so a couple of laps around the park and we were ready to call it a day. 
 

Saturday 5 March 2016

Saturday, March 5th

Happy birthday Brennan, wow 21, how the years have slipped away.
  We were up and about at a decent hour.  Marg to get ready, me to have breakfast at the hall .  Breakfast was good this AM and they had a good response from the residents.  Actually there were a noticeably larger number of diners who are new to the park.  It seems the park has more vacancies and folks are coming in on a short stay basis now.  Some of this always happens in March, it just seems early for it.
  When I got back, it was time to round up the ladies going to Talking Stick casino. 

There were 5 ladies going with us, fortunately we have the flip-up option on the console that makes the front seat into a bench seat, so not a problem.  They were keen, pumped you might say as this has been a topic with them for a bit now and they had their excitement level worked right up for the event.  They had a pre-arranged 10:30 departure time and believe me no one was late, in fact a couple were early.
  While they were playing, I went up to the Costco around Cave Creek as we need some croissants for the morning.  They always have large packages of them, so I had success.  I also found a 1.75 litre bottle of 12 yr old blended scotch that I bought after reading the characteristics on the label.  I picked up a litre bottle of Bushmill and a 1.75 litre bottle of Irish Cream, all at very good prices.   Then I went on to the PGA golf store in Scottsdale where I handled lots of clubs, shirts and tried out several putters, but alas left without making a purchase.  Then it was back to the casino to await the call.
  From conversation in the truck, it turned out that several of the ladies had not been to Scottsdale and we were right there, so we drove down to Scottsdale road and into the Old Town centre. Patti mentioned the ice cream at the Sugar Bowl and there was a chorus of we want ice cream, so that was our destination.  We really lucked out on finding a good parking stall only about a block from there.  It turned out that Linda was the only big winner today and she insisted on treating the rest to a cone.  Along the way the gals did some window shopping with Linda buying a road runner.
  Then we found a stuffed coyote dressed as a cowboy with 6 shooter and all that they insisted we needed a picture of.  When we got in the truck Patti again was telling about a cowboy type who is famous for singing from the back of his horse and wouldn't you know it we turned the corner and there he was belting out some old cowboy song while sitting in the saddle.
  Then it was back to the park, where we were late for happy hour.  Marg made up for it by whipping up a batch of mango margaritas that went over real well.  While on the road a couple had called their spouses, so 2 Gary's showed up for a couple of brews.  One of them had a taste of the scotch with me & we both agreed that it was quite nice and warranted a 2nd, then a 3rd trial.  A bit of finger food and lots of laughs with this group.
  A busy day, but lots of fun.

Friday 4 March 2016

Friday

Happy birthday Paige & Haylee,
Another great day in the valley, it got warm, but not quite as high as yesterday.  It was hot and sunny, just what people out of the north are looking for here.  Got off to a bit of a slow start and the guys showed up looking to go bike riding while I was still in the jammies, so had to dress and get going in a mad dash.  There were only 4 of us this AM and with the wind blowing pretty hard, we had to modify our trip to avoid the hilly part of the route.  I split off with Larry and we made 3 miles today, while the others took the longer route.
   Marg went to aerobics this morning and there were about a dozen ladies there.  She said they had added a bunch of water to the pool, so the water was at a perfect temp.  A group of them are doing a few other things together, like the shower they are planning for Sue and the brunch on Sunday, so had lots to talk about.  They are having lots of fun with the shower and a bunch of them are going to an adult toy store, kind of like a love shop to get some unique things to liven it up and some of the ladies have never been in one, so it is getting lots of laughs and chatter.  While she was gone, I went out to fill the big bottle for the water cooler.  When its hot like this we go through the 5 gallons fairly quickly.
  Lunch was a sandwich on the driveway, well under the carport anyway.  It was too nice to eat inside.  In the afternoon, Marg stayed in and had company.  I guess she really caught up on gossip and events from other parts of the park.  Our lives are pretty sheltered and I can hardly believe some of the stuff that goes on that we miss but also makes me appreciate how peaceful life can be at this end of the park.  I went and played pool this afternoon.  Played with one of the better players, one average and the third was a fellow who only plays once in a while.  It made for interesting match-ups and a kind of whatever day.  I think I played on more losing efforts than winning, but we had fun.
  I went to happy hour and Marg got the dinner ready.  It was the corned beef she made the other day and she fried up cabbage & hash browns to have with it.  It was all great and I stuffed myself pretty good.  Then it was on to the animal races, where Bimbo the elephant won three times and I had a very good night, winning all 8 races;  Marg split winning four.  It was a small crowd tonight, but lively and next week will be the last one.
 
 

Thursday 3 March 2016

Thursday, March 3rd


It was a beautiful day and the gamblin' gals were travelling today, so we were both up early.  The gals left the park by 8AM so they get to the Fort in good time to get organized, travelling in 2 cars as there were 6 of them.  They got their serving dish today and everyone seemed happy with it.  It's not red like the baking dish, rather a presentation style dish or set.  I don't believe there were any winners in the car Marg rode in, although she was very close.
  I went to coffee & donuts this morning.  Donuts were sponsored this morning, so a nice treat from the newly elected president.  It was a very different meeting with some changes to customize the process according to how the new guy wants to conduct the meeting.  We even had a vote on 3 bylaw changes, something I have not seen before in all the years we have been here.  Actually it was a bit smoother than I expected and quite business like, so was a very short meeting compared to what we have come to expect.  I mainly went to take pictures of the newly elected executive, but one was absent.  As it turns out there was an item on the bylaw amendment agenda regarding an audit of the finances, that I spoke to, and they made a wording change to deal with it.
  After I sprayed the weeds around the park model.  Being in the dessert we have a no maintenance area or yard around us, but we still have weeds showing up.  The park sprays them when we are all gone, but I generally do it a couple of times while we are here.  They don't do anything for the place and make a hiding place for critters we don't want hanging around here.  That reminds me we need to contact the guy who sprays for pests.  We had him in last year as we had lots of ants and we had a very good result.  You have to concern yourself with ants around here as termites are very common and once established hard to get rid of.
  After lunch I went with the guys to El Dorado where we were the visitors at the pool tournament.  I played as Gene's partner and it was a good thing he played well because it was like I had never seen the game before.  Anyway we won 3 of the 6 games we played, which was fortunate.  I have not been playing much on the non-tournament days, so if I am going to show up I guess I had better play more.  There are a couple of brothers from Red Deer who have a place in the park now and they are very good, so it was good to see some of the new residents participating.
  I went to happy hour as the gamblin' gals always unload at Johnsons.  They got back a bit after 4 and then Marg & I went out for dinner.  We have been at most of the places in AJ, so opted to go down around Superstition Springs.  We haven't been to Appleby's this winter, so that was out choice for this evening.  Although unplanned we arrived and were seated during happy hour, hey that was the second one today.  Anyway the large draft was priced better than the regular, so you guessed it that's what I had.  The appy's were half price so we tried the won ton tacos.  They were very good, but some kind of spicy, almost too much so for us.  The food was excellent, but with the appy's it was almost too much.
  On the way back we stopped to see the new Source for Sports store at Superstition.  It is nice and I got some short tees to use with iron shots from the tee box.  I'm sure it will help, well if not it will stop me from foraging for broken tees on the par 3 holes.