Monday - Tuesday, Feb 28th.

Let me see if I can recount the last couple of days.
Monday - We had a busy day packing stuff and loading it in the truck.  We had a very good start on the project, the truck box was about 90% full when we finished.  We got the electric meter read and settled that account with the park, put a move notice in our mail box, etc.  I got the awnings put down on the outside of the trailer and fastened in place.  I dug out the reflective insulation that we put in the windows, it really helps with the intense summer heat and got about half of the windows covered.  Marg cleaned out the fridge and cupboards.  She packed what will travel and gave the rest to Doris.  The rest was quite a bit, in fact about 8 bags full, too much for them really, so she shared it with two other gals in the area.
  She saved enough food for lunch, so we had a sandwich and then went out to look for a few things.  We had a last minute call asking her to look for a few things for Vanessa to wear post surgery and had a bit of success at Ross's.
  Then it was back home where I cleaned the BBQ and then we started putting some of the stuff in the Az room, like my bike, the folding chairs, etc.  Next project was to put some support pieces on the fence around the back patio.  It just sits above ground on cement deck blocks and fell over in a big storm 2 years ago.  Marg cleaned the place and washed the floor.  A difficult day for her as there were visitors off and on most of the day.
  We made it to happy hour and said farewell to some very good people.  We were so busy that we never had time to go around the park, so it was pretty much whoever we happened on to for that part.  Fortunately supper was no problem as Doris & Kenny had us over.  She made a lovely dinner with country fried steak, and all the trimmings finished off with a pineapple pie.  She had made one for the park wide sale, but I never got any.  It was very good and we were all glad she gave us an opportunity to taste it, her pies are legendary.
  The rains started, late in the day, so it was a good thing we got the outside stuff done.
Tuesday - We got up early and packed the rest of our stuff and loaded it.  By then the back seat was pretty much full as well as the box. 
  I put RV antifreeze [it doesn't evaporate or freeze] in the drains and covered them with a zip lock bag filled softly with water.  These are to prevent critters from coming into the place through the drains.  To illustrate how big the problem can be, the pic is of a cockroach, the big ones that can come out of the sewer if the traps dry out.  Then I put cling wrap on the toilet tank and bowl to keep it from drying out as well as a couple of the zip locks in the bowl.
   By 7:45 we were done and on the road.  By 7:46 we made our way back to the trailer and I turned off the water.  By 7:48 we were really done and on the road.  It was raining, fairly hard actually until we got through Mesa.  We took a guys advice and went right through the centre of Phoenix in the HOV lane and it worked very well, so we stopped in Goodyear for a bite at the golden arches.  After that the roads were dry and bare.  Stopped in Kingman for fuel and picked up a bite to take on the road.  Made it through Las Vegas in fairly light traffic on the freeway.  With each mile the temperature kept getting lower and the fuel prices higher.  We were in Spanish Forks in good time, so drove all the way through Salt Lake City, stopping in Layton; 775 miles today, but we are well positioned.  How low did the temp get, well minus 3 C with snow on the ground in northern Utah. 
  Must get some rest now.  Will try and update you tomorrow.

Sunday

The forecast was not all that great, but the sun shone and it was a nice day.
  I went to the church service in the rec hall this morning and it was well attended.  The pastor's wife came over to ask me how many more Sunday's I would be with them and I told her this was my last as we would be leaving for home this week.  It was a nice service and as usual Pastor Don gave a meaningful sermon.  Then I took the truck down there to pick up a dozen chairs.  Gary gave me a hand picking out the chairs and getting them loaded, well the shower was for his new grand daughter, so I guess he had a stake in it.  By that time I was getting peckish, so she made fried eggs and toast, even some cinnamon bread toast, that just hit the spot.
  Marg in the mean time was getting the food prep finished and the place laid out the way she wanted it.  One of the ladies helping made a cake & punch and the other brought a veggie tray.  Marg had a couple platters of wraps, a cheese tray, a bunch of crackers, the chocolate cake, the chocolate balls covered in white chocolate, salsa and tortilla chips.  After we got the chairs unloaded, I helped Marg a bit with moving stuff around.  Then the ladies helping with the shower came by to decorate and I helped a bit with that like by doing the stuff they couldn't reach.  One of the husbands stopped by to say a couple of them were playing pool today at 1 if I wanted to join in.
  That meant a hurried trip to the Mesa market to visit with the book lady.  I traded in the ones I had read and picked up 5 new to me books.  Her daughter was there helping her out and they kind of know me by now, so I asked how long her mother has been doing this.  Turns out it's 17 years and she used to be a glass blower.  The place was a zoo, almost no parking, so I was glad to get out in short order.  Stopped for fuel on the way home and paid $2.03/gallon at Circle K.  When I got home there were a few ladies there already.
  So I headed down to the pool room.  On the road there I passed quite a number of ladies walking to our place with nicely decorated gift bags, mostly in pink.  I think Marg had close to 30 ladies and they had a ball.  Her partners in putting this on were skeptical of the games she organized and they turned out to be a hit.  Apparently most showers here they just have a punch and no food, just some mints, so this was very different.  The baby was showered with some great gifts, in fact the wagon they had for gifts only held about 1/3 of them.  The young couple were delighted.  Several people said it was the best shower they have ever attended, others raved about the food.  There were some emotional moments for Marg with her friends.  In fact the park manager said how sad she was that we were leaving early and what a very special person Marg is in this place.  As you might expect it was a bit of a farewell to her friends as well as a successful baby shower.
  Me on the other hand had my hands full with the two guys in the pool hall.  They are very good players and the competition was tough.  There wasn't a bunch of that touchy feely stuff like the shower, rather it was each man for himself and the devil take the hind-most.  I did get my share of wins and took some beatings, but it was fun.
  After we finished the guys came back with me to help return the chairs.  They had a beer and a plate of snacks and sweets, there was still lots left when we got there.  It was kind of funny, Marg said the guys [one in particular] ate more than any of the women.  Well duh, we worked hard around that pool table.
  Supper was a bbq, 2 very nice rib eye steaks with baked potato.  Nice have a breather for a bit.  Then after supper Marg packed most of the clothes and much of the food out of the cupboards to get ready to load tomorrow.  We will likely return the Mediacom stuff tomorrow, so that will be the end of the TV, Internet & land line phone.  We will hang on to them as long as possible, but later in the afternoon will pull the plug.  As a result there will not likely be a blog or any FB posts tomorrow.  We will still have our cell phones, but unless we find a wifi hotspot, we'll likely be out of contact until Tuesday night.

Saturday, Feb 25th

Got up and out to breakfast in the hall this morning.  The pancakes were good and well everything I had was as well.  Sat with the usual group and got filled in on the gossip in the park, well such as it was.  There were a couple of people looking for updates on our family health situation, that's one nice thing about this place, word has got around that we are leaving and lots of folks are concerned.
  Marg did a quick load of laundry and hung it out to dry and then did the floor mats.  When I got back we went out to Costco as she wanted to pick up some things for the shower tomorrow.  Fortunately the place was not busy for a Saturday, must have been lots of other stuff to do today, I guess.  She got some appetizer things, my only purchase was some lighters as I need one for the propane fire pit so that I don't singe my eyebrows.  Then it was a quick stop at Basha's for a few other things and back home.
  Marg spent the morning baking, making a triple chocolate cake and some chocolate cake balls both decorated with white chocolate, well actually the balls were coated and the cake was drizzled, but you know what I mean.  The chocolate covered little balls caused quite a stir as they became stuck fast to the drying rack when the chocolate hardened.  After a bit of trial and error she turned the rack upside down and managed to get them free.  I packed some of my stuff in the truck, loading the golf clubs, shoes and other assorted stuff. 
  After lunch we wiped down all the furniture and cleaned and re-arranged it for the shower tomorrow.  We got our extra chairs and set them up, but we only have a dozen so will be bringing some from the hall tomorrow, I guess.  Well actually Patti & Gary [grandma & grandpa to the new baby] stopped in and Gary said that is what we'll do.  He is quite involved with the park here, so his word on using them is good enough.
  I did some vacuum work out on the driveway and took garbage out.  We threw out the plant that Marg was given.  It was a bit of a problem as you have to handle it with rubber gloves because the sap is poisonous.  Well. the sap was leaking from it in several places, it was kind of milky white and I didn't fancy handling it, so got it stuffed in a green garbage bag without touching it.  Tricky, yes, but I think it's OK, but time will tell.  Then I took out all the garbage, didn't want that thing hanging around here.
  We went to happy hour, not many of those left now and there were lots of folks there today.  After we decided we did enough today, so went out to the Chinese buffet for supper.  The restaurant was totally renovated since last year and everything was changed even the name, except the food is still as good.
 
 

Friday

The days are chilly at night and warm up nicely once the sun gets up, pretty normal any place on earth, but much more noticeable in the desert.
  Marg got up and did a few things this morning, but 10 came early and that was their appointed departure hour for the Fort.  Today was the end of the big promo so the draws were held for the big prize, a Mercedes and some nice cash prizes as well.  There was a cash alternative instead of taking the car of $42,000.  This made the place and all activity very busy, so they wanted to allow for that.  One of the ladies won $825, but unfortunately Marg was not the winner and her name never came out of the draw bucket.
  I went out to look for a propane fire pit, but couldn't find one in AJ, so had to go to Lowes up on Higley where I got one for a hundred dollars.  I think it will be great for any get together's in the breezeway.  If the weather is a bit cooler on Sunday, it will take the chill off the place.  I had some problems with a denture and went to the dental office that made it 4 years ago.  The ladies got me in pretty quick and had it fixed in a couple of hours.  They remembered me, not sure how, but there was no charge for the repair.  Pretty amazing considering how much time has passed.  In between I sprayed all the weeds around the park model and picked up some glue traps for the place. 
  I finished all that and got back to the park just in time for happy hour.  It was pretty well attended and then the group went out to the Chinese buffet after.  Gary and I stayed behind as our wives had arranged to get pizza delivered that we would have with Larry [it's his place where happy happens] as his wife is one of the gamblin' gals.  By the time I left there it was about 7, so time to put the feet up.
  Marg got back home about 9 and started in baking a cake.  Apparently the lady baking the cake for the shower is making a small one and with 25 ladies, Marg felt the need to make another.  Made for a long day for her.

Thursday, Feb 23rd

  The weather has turned a bit chilly today and it looks like it will be this way for a week or so.  It is forecast to be in the 60's that while not hot, is still far above the freezing mark.  It just seems a result of a never ending series of storms moving through the entire country.
  I went for a bike ride with the guys this morning, there were 5 of us and the donkey was very well behaved this morning.  Jerry and I swung back after 3 miles or so as he was tiring, probably because of the wind and I went with him as we generally don't leave anyone on their own in case they need help.  When I got back Marg had a pull apart bread or monkey bread made.  It was still warm and delicious, so that was breakfast.  She had me take a piece of it next door for Janice, who was a happy recipient.
  Marg did a load of laundry this morning to try and keep busy, as it was a very stressful day.  But it did get better when we finally heard that Lyzi came through the very lengthy surgery and seemed in good spirits.  We are not yet aware of all the details but are certainly looking forward to her recovering and getting back to normal.
  Just after lunch I went to take pictures of the new executive for the RV park tenants association.  We did them down by the pool this year.  After I met with the executive to discuss the handling of the facebook account.  With our leaving next week, there is no one left to post on it as I have ended up the defacto owner of the site.  The site gets very busy when events and pictures are posted, but almost dormant when they aren't.  This has now been corrected and the association identity used to set it up as the owner and administrator.  Then I scanned some stuff like the bylaws and got that filed electronically for them using the new identity.
  Marg had lots of company all day, mostly people inquiring how things went.  It's nice to see people are concerned and supportive, but emotionally draining.  By the time I finished the scanning and assigning of rights, changing the FB picture, I had frittered away most of the afternoon, so we went to happy hour.  There were lots of folks there today and seemed to be lots of stuff to discuss.
  Supper tonight was a nice steak bbq using the tenderloin Marg picked up a while back.  We have more steak and chicken than we can eat by departure day, so no doubt Marg will be looking for a home for some of it.  She made a nice dish of roast potato and vegetables to go with it.  Then we finished off with apple pie and ice cream, one of my favourites.  There was still lots left from the pie she made yesterday and it was just as good today.
  After supper it was the animal races.  Well for me anyway, as Marg didn't feel up to it.  It was pretty well attended and the elephant was back - go Bimbo, even though it never won.  I won 3 of the 8 races, so lost a few of the dimes.  I had Marg's change purse and Gene was MC for a while and said in a very loud voice, oh look!  Is that Marg's change purse Dave has, to which I replied thank you for noticing in such a loud voice.  Most of the place erupted in laughter.  Must look for an opportunity to reciprocate.  LOL
 

Wednesday

  Today was a difficult day for us, sitting here in Arizona while are hearts and minds were with 2 precious members of our family dealing with health challenges.  We kept busy and active today as our game plan.
  I went golfing to Apache Sun this morning with the group from the park.  It was a picture perfect day for golf and we had a good time.  In fact I started out in fine form and was one under after 3 holes, then the wheels started to come off.  Ended the day with 5 pars and a birdie, carded a 40 on 9 holes.  That's about as good as it ever gets for me, best round of the winter season.
  When I got home Marg was at water aerobics and the day was already getting very warm.  Apparently the pool was gorgeous today and they had lots of ladies in the pool.  We had nice lunch and then I went to play pool while she went out to look for a alternatives to the post op shoes.  I think she has a line on some at CVS or Walgreens, but again they only had one in the size we need, so are trying to get her a second one.  We are still waiting to hear from the medical company on their success in getting a second shoe.
  I played pool with some of the good guys today and we had lots of laughs.  The guys I played were  3 very good players and it is a bit of a learning experience, the way they play the game.  Two of them have played at fairly competitive levels [for money] a few years back, so they see the game much differently than the average guy.
  By the time I got back it was time to head down to the Rec Hall as it was hamburger night.  Marg and I again were the cashiers and it's a nice change from kitchen duty.  Hey that was a pun, sometimes they just come out like that.  LOL  We had 139 paying customers and then 11 crew, so fed 150 tonight.  It gets a little frantic at times as we have quite a line up and it gets jammed up a bit because we do this in the space of an hour and the place is pretty much packed.  By the time we eat and get the clean up done everyone is all in.  The crew were getting together at Dale & Sheryl's after for margaritas but I went to play poker with the guys as it's my last time to do that.  As it turned out that was a good decision, I ended up being the big winner tonight recouping my losses from the last week or two.  I think Marg only stayed for one margarita, but it was a nice end to a busy day.

Tuesday

A gorgeous day in the Valley of the Sun.  We are back to what we like here.
  I went for a bike ride this morning and one of the guys gave the donkey his carrot.  If you have not heard one of these critters braying, you would hardly believe how loud they are..  This guy seemed to sense or saw us approaching and let out a call, I guess so that we wouldn't pass him by.  There were 3 of us and we made about 4 miles today, so it was good to get back on the road.
  When I got back Marg was just leaving for water aerobics.  Apparently there were about 10 ladies there today and they had a good workout.  The only negative was she found the pool had not warmed up enough since the weather improved, so it was a bit chilly.  Just one of the problems with solar heating in a swimming pool.
  When she returned we had lunch, tuna sandwiches with the special way Marg makes them.  Then we went out to get some stuff we need. For me a stop at Harbour Freight to get a tv wall mount that sells for $25 with my $15 special price coupon and my free [$4 retail value] 25 ft tape measure coupon.  Marg was over in Big Lots where she got a bunch of things she needed.  As Basha's was in the same shopping complex, we made a stop there to get the rest of the things we needed.  We also picked up a 24 pack of water as we are going to be needing it when we are on the road.  It was a great deal $1.77, so that's about 7 cents a bottle and there are no deposits on plastic bottles here.  If we could take these home for deposit return, it would be a money maker, just sayin'.
  Happy hour was well attended today.  It was kind of funny as Bill phoned while I was there and his first question was - is there a party going on there?  Most days from 4 to 5 it's like that here.  I'm not certain, but I think there are at least 6 or 8 in the park every day.
  Supper tonight was warmed up roast beef from the other night and it was very good.  Marg fries the left over potatoes with onions and butter and they are great the next day.  After supper it was BINGO! in the Rec Hall.  We had 3 winners at our table tonight, but unfortunately neither Marg nor I were among them.  We were close, but that is what all the non-winners always say about this game.

Monday

The rains lifted and the sun shone and the people were glad.  It was warm today and is forecast to get very nice by Wednesday.
  We got off to an early start as we had some errands to run.  Our first was to try and find some post op footwear to take home with us.  I did some research on line and found numerous places that were supposed to have then in their stores, but when we got there that was not always the case.  When we found some it took us several tries and miles to find the ones Marg thinks will be the right ones.  The size selection and the design were the main reason we had to keep chasing around.  It was also complicated as these sell singly and the store with the ones we liked only had one in the right size.  The salesman said they are supposed to be getting more in within a day or two, so with any luck we will get a pair this week. 
  After we went to the cable company to settle the latest bill for services, always a fun place.  We have learned to never go there first thing in the morning, as old folks are morning people and are generally lined up at the door in the morning.  Late morning is usually better, but it seems there was a guy ahead of Marg who was considering switching to the cable co. and had many questions, ultimately leaving without making a decision. 
  By then we were out of time, so went home for lunch.  After lunch I went to play pool and ended up playing one of the biggest sharks in the tank.  I had some respectable games, I think I won a few, but certainly lost more than I won.  He's quite a character and fun to play, so it was all good.  Marg was having a lady over to cut her hair as well as that of another lady in the park.  This is the same hairdresser that has come here in past years as well as earlier this year.  Marg is satisfied with the way she cuts her hair, so prefers this to taking chances at beauty salon's around here..  She also had to get the chicken wings started in the slow cooker that she was taking as our contribution to the block party/pot luck today. 

She was still busy at 4, so I went to happy hour at Jerry's place.  His place is on Bobcat lane, where the block party was being held, so we wouldn't be late for it.  It was a real success with over 100 coming out to party.  there was lots of food and some of it was even good.  There were lots of dessert choices and they were the best part, in my opinion.

Sunday

Rain again today, at times it sprinkled, but other times it rained pretty hard.  The clouds were low and we never saw the sun.  But take heart, the sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow.
  Got out early and went to the church service.  It was well attended today and the message Pastor Don delivered in his sermon was quite thought provoking, although not as meaningful as last week.  The first hymn was The Old Rugged Cross, kind of left me a bit melancholy as it put me in mind of father's service some 20 years ago.  Funny how things like that trigger memories that you don't normally have.  It was very nice as the pastors wife made a breakfast type of [well pretty much a meal] for the coffee & fellowship after the service.  What was very nice is she approached me at the chili cook off yesterday [she was one of the judges] and asked me to bring Marg, saying that even if she can't come to the service she would love her to come for the breakfast.  This morning I explained that she couldn't make it but was very appreciative of the special effort Lorna made to invite her and asked that I thank her.  A nice lady.
  Marg spent the morning getting things ready for supper as we had company coming for a roast dinner.  Lunch today was the last of the left-overs from Red Lobster, they were still good and I only had a couple of coconut shrimp as I was quite full from the morning coffee.  We then went out to get some water, I had taken the 5 gallon bottle yesterday and forgot to fill.  Then we went to CVS where we got a few toiletries and other stuff.  While there we looked through the aids to daily living for people with challenges.  We found an option that may suit Vanessa in dealing with her problem of finding shoes for her swollen feet.  The option is post-op footwear or shoes.  They are soft sided with Velcro fastening and hard soles.
  When we got back Marg put in the roast and later the buns she made.  Actually it was kind of funny as she got called out by one of the shower ladies to look at a trial cake she made for the event, so I had to keep an eye on the buns.  Well I am pleased to say when I pulled them out of the oven they were golden brown on top.  Another thing I can check off my bucket list - bake perfect buns.  A bit later and our guests arrived for a great dinner of roast beef, gravy, potatoes, peas & carrots, Marg's famous crepes; oh yes and buns.  Kenny & Doris and Lynette were all well pleased with her offering today and it was indeed very tasty.
 After supper we went to ice cream social and it was too soon after supper for anything other than a bowl of ice cream with a small piece of cake.  That and a bit of socializing.
 

Saturday

Got up to a rainy morning and it was pretty much like that the entire day.  The one thing they do very accurately is predict weather here, so I expect cooler weather and rain tomorrow as well.
  I went to breakfast in the hall.  It was a great day for it as they had french toast and blueberry pancakes.  Fortunately the kitchen crew are all good friends, so a couple of slices of french toast and a couple of pancakes along with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon and I was good to go.  Well it was too much actually so I gave a fellow a slice of bacon, no way I'm giving up the pancakes or french toast.  It was really funny, he started talking about places he went when he was young and single and mentioned the Rathskeller Inn in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  When I said I had been there for long weekend fun, he said I was the first person he has talked to that had been there.  Pretty funny as he is from Montana, but it was a popular bar.  Today they would probably call it a club because it had big name bands of the day play there.  But I digress, it seems lots of folks had the same idea on a rainy morning and the place was busy.
  No Marg did not go for breakfast, she went with the gamblin' gals to the Fort today.  They were missing one who was cooking breakfast, but the 3 of them went as scheduled.  It was wet on the freeway so the traffic was much slower, but they made it there and back safely.  They never had any winners today, although Marg did come away 50 cents ahead, so that is a good thing.
  I went out and got a lock for the patio door.  It would seem to be an easy thing to do, put a lock on the door that is tamper proof.  The patio door just has the regular catch on the handle and it wouldn't take much to break in.  This one fastens to the frame and puts a pin into the sliding door frame, so it is a back up to the key lock on the handle.  Not that we have any cause for concern here, but Marg must have been watching CSI or something where a patio door was forced open.  LOL  It was only 10 bucks, but lots of messing around until I got the right one for this door.
  When she got home we went to the chili cook off at the Rec Hall.  It was a first for the event and we had 6 people cook their version of chili.  There were judges who selected a winner and second place, then there was a popular choice by the people as well as a second place.  The winner was selected by using a blind taste, the cooks were not the ones at their crock pots, so we never knew who made which one.  There was one that was a chicken chili, a couple of hot ones, a couple of mild ones, some were thick, others were runny.  It was well attended for a first time event and a lot of fun.

Friday, Feb 17th

A nice day in the Apache Junction.
  Happy birthday Kennedy, on your sweet 16 today, a special birthday.  Hard to believe but she has her driving test scheduled for tomorrow, not wasting any time with that.  They grow up so fast.
  We lazed about in the morning as we had some things to catch up on.  Marg did some laundry to keep it from piling up.  I worked on a pool cue that I was putting a new tip on.  At the pool room they have breaking cues, you know to break the rack with the first shot.  It's because so many guys have 2 part cues and smashing the rack of balls with them eventually causes problems with the connection and is tough on the tip.  Anyway one broke off and the guy who looks after them was under the weather so I just took it home.
  After lunch I went to play pool.  I played with 3 guys, two of whom are very good and we had some good games.  We also had some very good laughs, you had to be there I guess.  For example I only had one ball left, then the 8 ball to win.  One of the guys said well he has the game unless he misses, so the power of suggestion, I missed a very easy shot.  The 8 ball was right in front the pocket, looked like you couldn't miss, so I said well looks like he has the game unless he follows it in.  Well you know what happened and we had a real belly laugh, well 3 of us did anyway.  LOL  Marg went out for a few things.  It may seem she goes shopping quite often and she does, but it's partly because we don't have a lot of room to keep large amounts of food, especially in the fridge and she is still working on loose ends for the shower.
  We went to happy hour and knowing there would be a group wanting to eat fish tonight.  We told people it was date night, that we never went out for Valentines day, so were going tonight.  We were originally planning to eat out on Saturday, but Marg signed us up for a sampling at the chili cook-off that night.  Apparently the gals gave Marg quite a razzing about what date night means, but I missed it, so if you're curious, you will have to ask her for details.  We went out to Red Lobster and although the line was about a half hour, it was worth the wait.  She had a plate that included 2 lobster tails, I had a plate of coconut shrimp.  Both were delicious and more food than either of us could finish, so 2 doggie bags to take home.  I think lunch is looked after tomorrow.  There was a big serving of pasta with lobster, shrimp, scallops in it that she never finished and half a dozen huge shrimp with sauce.
  Had lots of phone calls, some facetime and emails from home today, lots going on.

Thursday

I don't know why I set an alarm.  I had it set for 6AM today and was awake at 5:30, so got up and made coffee.  We had to leave at 7 this morning for a golf game at Viewpoint, there were 4 of us from the park here.  It was an 8 AM shotgun start and we started on #8.  This first both shotgun start and game played at this course.  The course certainly proved challenging enough and the postage stamp sized greens never had a flat spot on them.  The only disappointment was the traps were more like the desert, they were not loose sand by any stretch, but they weren't too bad.  We finished in good time and were home just after 12:00.  We started off with a jacket, but by the 2nd hole were in shirt sleeves.
  Marg went out to get a few things for the baby shower, including a gift for the baby.  She loves buying baby stuff, so it was not big chore for her.  There has been lots of activity around the shower that is keeping her busy.  She even managed to take in water aerobics, a nice day for it.
  Lunch was a treat, french toast, as she had some buns that had to be used up and they work out really well this way.  I was actually getting pretty hungry as I just had a muffin this morning followed by lots of activity.  After lunch we went to fill the truck, I think gas was $2.07 a gallon, then a stop at the dollar store for more shower stuff.  Good thing is you get lots of stuff there for a couple of bucks.
  I went and played pool in the afternoon.  It seems there was a foul up when it came time for the tournament today, so they guys just played among themselves at our pool room.  I played with the two guys who kicked my butt yesterday along with another guy from the park and we had some real good games.
  When I got home Marg had more company, I'm beginning to wonder whether she is running a social service or something here.  LOL  We went to happy hour and it was fairly well attended today.  It didn't seem to be as noisy as normal and I actually was able to enjoy a few conversations.  Can hardly wait to see the fall-out on the shower among the ladies.  There are a few who will not be receiving invitations, because the list was proposed by the grandmother of the baby and there are some of the happy hour group she does not care for, so did not include & Marg has taken the position it is for them, so they should make the guest list regardless.  Yikes.
  Finished off the day at the animal races.  Someone in the crowd had switched out the elephant with an antelope.  Well I wasn't having any of that so never bet it and consequently won only once out of the 8 races.  Marg won 5 races, but they all paid well, so she was quids ahead, nice to see.  Well see maybe, but hear about?

February 16th

A nice day in the Valley.
 Wednesday, so you know by now that it was golf with people from our park at Apache Sun.  I hit the ball reasonably well, but missed some good opportunities in the short game and on the green.  I would like to blame some of it on the greens being wet from the watering over night at first and faster as they dried out, but the truth is the cause was, as always - operator error.  Played with some good guys today and it was fun and the score wasn't all that bad.  I hit enough good ones to keep me coming back.
  Marg went to water aerobics this morning, but tried to cram in some steaming of the remaining clothes from yesterday, so she was a bit late and there were already a dozen ladies splashing away by the time she got in.  Then she felt the need to catch up, so kind of over-did it.  Not certain what the catching up thing was, it's not like it is a journey of specified length - is it?  As a result she was a bit tired when she got back here.  Then it was lunch and I think she was anxious to get that over with as she had company coming and still wanted to get the slow cooker going with supper.  I was anxious to get it over with as I didn't want to be around for the ladies planning the baby shower.
  I passed the ladies who were coming here while on my travels.  I made up another CD with pictures for the couple who had the 50th anniversary party as the last one really didn't work out.  Finally had some success with this and they were delighted to have the pictures.  Then on the way I was given a couple slices of bread.  The baker boys made beer batter bread today from scratch and one of them gave me a sample.  I had it later for supper and it was quite good, had a cheesy crust as well as cheese bits in the loaf.  Then I went to play pool with a couple of guys who are two of the better players here.  How good, well good enough to run all of their balls in one turn in 8 ball.  It was a bit of a humbling experience for yours truly.  It felt a bit like being a kid at the adult table.  Well I did win one game when it was me against those two.  I get along with them well, so it was fun anyway.
  When I got back Marg was gone.  Her and one of the ladies who is helping organize the shower went shopping for things to use at it.  It looks like they are planning on about 24 ladies, I guess it got to be a bit of a runaway when they were trying to build the list of who to invite in the park.  It will be interesting to see how this goes.
  We went to happy hour and then had our supper.  We had one couple come during supper, then when we just finished another couple stopped in.  Just before they left one of Marg's friends stopped in with her two daughters and their friend.  When I left Marg had out the blender and was making some kind of margaritas for them.  The girls were all going home early tomorrow morning so they only stayed for a couple of blenders full, I guess.
  I went to play poker while they were having their visit.  We had seven players tonight and there was lots of action.  I don't keep actual count of my win or loss but I don't think I won tonight.  It was a good game though because it was a bit lighter and we joked around for most of the evening.  We generally play until 9 PM and the deal ends at the person before whomever dealt first at the start of the evening. 

Valentines Day 2017

A nice day in Apache Junction.
  The guys came by shortly before 9, our appointed hour for riding.  They were anxious, I guess because we have not rode for a few days.  We made the usual route, the donkey was braying loudly when we got within a block of his place.  Pat gave him the carrots and he seemed content as he quit making that racket.  It was a good day to ride, a bit cooler and no wind.  I think we made about 4 1\2 miles today with one of the guys going on further.
  When I returned, the place was empty.  Marg went to water aerobics.  The pool was well churned up with 12 of them in it today.  I went out to Walgreens as I needed something for a cold sore I developed the other day.  While there I picked up some marshmallow hearts.  I had picked up chocolates [dark] earlier but I could see she was disappointed with no marshmallow.  I wasn't certain they were right so just in case I picked up some Reese's peanut butter cup hearts.  It seems one of these was a winner, so it was all good.
  When Marg got back she went out to pick up an anniversary card and was successful, it even said 25th.  While in the card area she picked up some cute invitations for the baby shower that she was more excited about than the card.  It was time for a shower and shave to get ready.  She put in a new shower curtain and it is a big improvement over the old one, mainly because it clings to the tub area better.  Even though they said there would be lots of food, each persons take on that is very subjective, so I ate a big orange.  When I say big, here they are larger than a softball.
  Kenny drove up a bit after 1 and we headed out west on the "Trail".   We both had an idea where it was that proved fairly close.  It took about 30 minutes so we were there about 15 minutes before it started.  Well let me tell you when they said 2 o'clock the people in this age group take that seriously, so the only 10 people there at 2 were - you guessed it.  Well that's not entirely right, the couple were there, but a least now the group out numbered the catering staff.  After about 15 minutes people began fretting, began feeling sorry for the couple if no one else showed up; but slowly people drifted in.  It was a very nice venue and we could see there was a lot of appetizers laid out on a banquet table up front.  There was a DJ playing music, waitresses bringing drinks.  Well not it's well after 2 and the flowers & flower petals strewn about the table all started to look very appetizing.  Finally the couple declared enough had arrived and proceeded to the podium to speak with us through the microphone, all 24 of us.  They had another table set for 8 or 10 that was unused.  They took lots of pictures of us and then declared the food available.  It was bedlam as the 10 of us,.... well no; we insisted the couple go up first.  It was tense, because by then everything was starting to look like food, even to Marg.  When we finally got there the food was plentiful and delicious.    Then we all forgot they had declared an open mike for anyone with anything to say about the couple.  So after better than a half hour he went up and announced they would be cutting the cake.  He also proposed a toast to themselves.  Yes a toast, well prior to that they had filled our fancy stem glass with Mormon champagne.  I used mine to toast them, but Marg finished it.  What is Mormon champagne you are now thinking?  It is the carbonated apple cider drink Marg used to buy at Christmas time and called it kid champagne [for the grandchildren].  Well 2 or 3 of us [myself included] earlier noted the presence of said cake much earlier so were pacing ourselves, although I had a plate of fresh fruit to keep my fork hand busy.  It was also delicious and all were glad they saved room.  Then as we rose to leave, the DJ revved up the music and the dancing started.  The groom and his daughter-in-law were prancing about the last I saw.  Not certain how that worked out as with the dozen of us from Carefree leaving that accounted for about half of the attendees.  All in all it was nice and we were very glad we went to help them celebrate, it was sort of sad really.
  We were back in the park by about 4:30, so there was no happy hour today.  There was no supper either, LOL.  Well one of the guys went to a burger place after.

  When we were walking up the street a little guy came running up to Marg.  He is 3 and has been staying with his grandparents across the way for about a week.  Marg had given him some treats at different times [the last was a bag of grapes] and he gave her a Valentine present [see picture].  He is a real high energy little guy but he is a real nice young boy.  Marg told him he has already stolen her heart.  Very nice folks.

  Then we went to bingo where I won the early bird game tonight that paid off $81.  All night Marg was very close, but a win eluded her.  We did have 2 other winners at our table, so a good night.
  Happy Valentines Day!

Monday, Feb 13th

It did rain, but it was last night, so the day was very nice, warm in fact.  It should be more like this at home when it rains. 
  It took me a while to get going this morning as I had to finish off the memory stick with pictures.  I got up to the ones for last year, so it was pretty current.  I think I had some place between 6 - 800 pictures I put on it from 2011 to 2016.  Malcom did a good job of getting them on a DVD sometime today and by the time supper came around in the Rec Hall, he had them up and running on the DVD  player in the hall.  Marg did some laundry and some housekeeping.  When she was doing the floor I had to raise my feet, but kept working on the pictures.  By the time I saw it a few dozen people had liked or commented on it, pretty funny.  She had laundry drying out on the back patio and the combined sun and wind made for quick work of it.  When I finished with the pictures, I helped a bit with scrubbing the shower, nasty job.
  While we were sitting there a guy from in the park stopped by to ask us to a catered affair to celebrate their 25th anniversary.  They had a party in the hall for it last year and we passed on it.  When he stopped in, he caught us unprepared as he asked us to the catered event tomorrow.  When I say unprepared, I meant with an excuse.  They are OK, it's not like they are... well they are OK.  So now we are going tomorrow.  I was kind enough to tell us that the invitations were lost in a flood in their home, so all we got was an oral invite and that the numbers were limited, but as they had paid for whatever number it was so they wanted to fill the quota.  They are after all paying $50 a person for hors d 'oeuvres so not to eat, they wanted everyone to come hungry.  Apparently there will be music, but they don't believe in alcohol.  So IF you're not laughing by now, go back and re-read this paragraph.  With any luck I may have a migraine tomorrow, well just wait will I be liable for the $50.  They did say no gifts.  Oh gee, now we need to go get a card.  Stay tuned.
  Marg had been having sinus problems similar to what I had experienced, so she started using the nasal spray I got from Gary.  It worked well for her and in about the same time frame as it did for me.  It's pretty amazing stuff and is a great response to the allergy type stuff we have here.
  Lunch today was the leftover taco salad, that's how much extra Marg had yesterday.  The stuff was still fresh and it was just as good as yesterday.  After lunch I helped carry a laundry basket and garbage on the way to the pool hall, multi-tasking, Eh?  You might be asking about the laundry basket, well she had sheets to do and they work out better at the Laundromat, well not better in quality, rather quantity.  They fill up the little machine, so can't all be done in one load.
  I played with 3 fun guys today.  We had good games, not sure how many I won or lost, but I would guess it was about even.  They are pretty good players and the partners change all the time so it makes for an interesting match.  I had to tell them one more and left as I had to go help out with the spaghetti dinner tonight.  Marg finished up the laundry and housework and was pretty much caught up when I got back home.
  We went off to help with the spaghetti dinner.  There is lots to do other than the cooking, like setting everything out, serving, you know.  The decorating gals had taken the table numbers thingee's off so I went around with a dry erase marker and wrote the number on each, it was a; humorous exercise as in each case they thought that was the numeric order of eating.  I got lots of offers for a tip in exchange for a getter number, but had to explain to each that no, someone would draw a ball with a number on it to determine that.  There were also those people who come up early and want to pay, so they can go first.  No matter how many times we do it, they still try.  Anyway she worked with me on the cash desk today and I have to say that she moves people along much faster than I did.  We ended up feeding spaghetti, meatballs, salad & bread to about 120 people plus the 10 of us helpers.  It was pretty good, so I guess that's why they keep returning every year.  LOL  Oh yes, then there is always the huge cleanup job after it's all over, that usually takes a couple hours.
  After we stopped in a Kenny & Doris' place as Marg said he had a hilarious story that I had to hear.  It seems his neighbour bumped his car horn after parking and getting out of it.  Kenny thought that was funny and being out in the breezeway pushed the horn on his golf cart. The neighbour thought his car horn was a problem so tinkered with it.  Just as soon as he got out of the car, Kenny would toot the horn and the neighbour couldn't figure out the problem.  His wife came over to apologize for their horn going off.  Finally he pulled the fuse and Kenny kept it up and he was beside himself.  Finally after a dozed tries to stop the horn, he figured out it was Kenny.  Then he said Blanke, I'll get you back.  Kenny said he had to quite before the guy started cutting wires.  There were lots of folks having a good belly laugh over it. 
 

Sunday, Feb 12th

A bit overcast today, the forecast was for a chance of rain.  Don't get too excited as rain here is not as you would generally understand it.  Usually it does not produce any measurable precipitation at the valley floor, but some may occur at higher elevations, like the mountain tops around here that are over 5,000 ft.  Even when we do get rain, often it evaporates before reaching the ground.
  I went to the church service this morning and it was very well attended.  It was nice to see and there were some people who could sing and do justice to the selections this morning.  Don delivered a thought provoking sermon and prayers for those with health challenges.  After when I arrived back home there was some nice monkey bread and coffee for breakfast.  Marg took a piece over to the neighbour, she has sort of taken under her wing.  Later on lunch today was ..... wait, I never got lunch today, probably something to do with those buns between 10:30-11:00. 
  I had mentioned to one person at church this morning that our plans were to leave early this year, pretty much the end of the month and within a couple of hours, the whole place seemed aware of it.  Seems to work better than the notices they hand out on events here. Her fiend stopped in to tell her the baby shower would be OK for Feb 28th.  This was a bit of a surprise as they originally thought mid- March, but the new parents and grandparents were excited at the prospect of the shower.  Marg's shower parties and cocktail receptions are legendary, so I suspect they made changes to be available earlier.  It will delay our return home a couple of days, but worth it.
  Marg went out to pick up a few things as she decided to make taco salads for supper tonight.  She invited Kenny & Doris to supper providing they liked taco salads and it appears they liked them just fine.  I worked on posting a bunch of old pictures from here to a memory stick.  I think I have 3 years about done now and have probably copied 4 or 500 pictures to it.  That probably is about 2/3rds of what I have, but I never copied many scenery pics, nor any of the personal [family] ones.  The next two will be more challenging as there are many more pictures to choose from.  Now we just have to work out the DVD player, they are still using ours at the hall.
  We made a stop at happy hour and it was a good sized group today.  Must have been something in the air: both happy and church were well attended.  Noticeably absent were two of the guys from last night and the third was drinking vegetable juice.  I was the only one having a beer, so it seems I still have what it takes.  LOL
  Supper was good, bot the food and the company were just right.  Marg had a great assortment or variety of things to fill the taco shell and then we had some of the flapper pie from last night.  It was still good and I don't believe either of them had ever had it before.  It also seemed to go over well, so we were a little full going into the ice cream social.  They had a pretty good crowd as well, but we both settled for a dish of ice cream as the splits seemed to be too much tonight.

Saturday, Feb 11th

A nice day in the Valley of the Sun, I think the daytime high was 84F.  The sky started to cloud up and the wind blew in the afternoon with the forecast of some unsettled weather for Sunday.
  In the morning we went to the big Mesa flea market.  Our neighbour works at a booth that sells phone and table accessories, so we stopped in as Marg was looking to replace the one on the I pad.  She got a new style one that she is really happy with and at a great value, thanks to Bob for making it happen.  Then I went over to exchange my pocket books with the old gal on the west end.  At first she was a bit confused and tried to sell me the books I brought in, we had a good laugh about that.
  After we stopped in at In and Out Burgers and had lunch.  We both had cheeseburgers and they were pretty good, although Marg thinks the Five Guys Burgers are better.  They fed a lot of folks today judging from the number of people around there and at a good price.  I think we were under $10 with fries and drink.
  Then back home for a bit then Marg went out to pick up a few things.  She had to finish the Flapper Pie she made and then make a garlic bread.  We were invited out for supper tonight by some fellow Canadians [well they are from Saskatchewan anyway].  So as not to get in the way, I went to play pool.  It was luck that one of my favourite adversaries from Minnesota was there looking for a game.  We played quite a few games, probably a couple of hours.  When I got home Marg was just finishing up the meringue on the pie using the boil feature on the oven, but having a bit of difficulty.  I got out my butane torch and she finished it up nice and golden brown, a show piece really.
  I called to find out when to show up for dinner and was told we should already be there, so it was off.  Kind of uncomfortable as we had to walk past the happy hour gang as we carried our contribution to supper and our drinks while they were not so fortunate.  It's hell to be popular.  LOL  At the dinner we had a lengthy happy hour or was it appetizers, anyway it was fun.  Our hosts supplied and bbq'd steaks: filet's for the ladies and ribeye's for the guys.  They had been to Basha's and they were very nice.  I had taken a bottle of Irish whisky to the party and Pat had a bottle of honey Bourbon that made for lots of hot shots.  Marg had bought a pack of shot glasses for March and being as we won't be here then, I took them tonight, they sure came in handy.  The company was some of the guys I golf with and wives, basically some party animals.    It made for kind of a long evening but we sure had lots of laughs tonight.  Great folks, just another one of the reasons we like this place.

Friday

What a gorgeous day, I think it topped out at 84F, so about 30C for everyone at home.
  My sinus problem has finally cleared up, thanks in no small part to the nasal spray from Gary.
  We had breakfast and then went out to get a few groceries.  The first picture is of filet mignon in packages of 2 or 3 steaks for $5 or $6.  Unbelievable price and we had some tonight, they were great.

The chicken was buy one get two free.  Each package was 3 large breasts.  The most expensive was about $9, so that was the price of all this chicken.  The breasts are so large that we think one, even shared, will be more than we can eat at one meal.

  Finally there were these two ribeye steaks that combined are about $9, again an unbelievable price.

  We were back in the park for lunch and unloading the groceries.  After lunch I went and played pool for a couple of hours.  Marg went to the mail, took the garbage to the bins and visited with Lynette for a bit.  Happy hour was full today, not sure how many were there but the place was full.  After supper was two very nice tenderloin steaks.

  There was a combination of a lunar eclipse, a comet in the sky and a rising moon tonight, so I got a picture from the east side of the park.  It isn't the best because of the street lighting on the right, but it is the moon coming up over Superstition mountain.  The camera lens leaves a bit to the imagination.  LOL


  We have been talking about returning home earlier than planned when we left back in November.  Later this evening we have pretty much decided we are leaving for home at the end of February, depending on the weather up north.  About the last week of Feb we will start watching the weather and make our final decision on heading home.

Thursday

Another gorgeous day, probably the warmest day of 2017 so far.
  I went to the coffee Klatch this morning and it was a lucky day as our table were first up for donuts.  That is a very envied position and it gave me a great choice of fritters.  Marg opted to pass today, well that happens as morning commitments really aren't her thing.  It was a pretty good sized group and we actually do get quite a bit of good information sharing.
  Marg spent morning on the telephone between our bank card and the companies that she got scammed by yesterday after her on-line purchase of some cream.  It was a $5 trial offer that ended up on the Visa as $200.  Turned out to be 2 suppliers each for half of it, so got a bit complicated.  One apparently reversed the charge and the other gave her a 50% discount.  A tough lesson learned on the pitfalls of buying stuff on line.
  I have been fighting with my sinuses for about 3 days now and thought I was seeing some improvement, but we'll see.  One of my golfing, biking friends gave me a nasal spray he uses.  Although it is prescription, he gets a supply of a half dozen before coming here.  It seems to be a common problem right now, some people calling head colds, other sinus.  This time of the year in previous years, the same thing has happened with the pollens etc. in the air that our snowbird bodies are not accustomed to.  It this continues, I may take the Z Pack Marg got from our doctor.
  When I got home I attempted to copy some pictures on a CD for some folks in the park.  I thought it went OK, but I heard this evening that apparently they can't see them on it.  I'm not certain but I don't think they can see the drive, something to look into tomorrow.  Had a long conversation with the association president about the tenants association FB site.  Right now the way things are, I am pretty much the owner of the site and that needs to be changed, probably to an identity owned by the association.

   The ladies had lunch at the Bass Pro Shop restaurant where they serve some very nice fish , I think she said she had a fish taco.

  Shortly before 11 Marg left with some other ladies.  They went on a tour of the old Wrigley mansion.  You know the guy who built the company that makes the gum & other things.  Apparently it was built in the 1920's at a cost exceeding $1million and has long since been in other hands.  It was quite a drive from here through some very busy traffic areas, but they did just fine.  The piano is a baby grand player piano with a remote control, that apparently is one of a kind.  The place overlooks the city of Phoenix and must have been spectacular in it's day.
  I played in the pool tournament today and my partner and I won all three of our games.  The team had a good day as well winning 14 of the 18 games we played, although it was against Mountainview, not one of our stronger competitors.
  The ladies got back late in the afternoon, so we missed happy hour today.  We went out for supper to Taco Bell as the food is pretty good there and very reasonable to boot.  She had the taco salad, which is fairly predictable and I had a taco deal, finishing up with an empanada, something like an apple pie at other places.
  This evening we went to the animal races.  To add something to it Marg suggested we keep our winnings aside and compare at the end.  There seems to have been some confusion on the rules and play, so no winner was agreed on.  LOL

February 8th, Wednesday

Happy birthday Bill, it's not the big one but sure will be next year.
Happy birthday Lyzi, XXVIII, looks like a lot more years in numerals.
  We wish you both a happy day and much joy and love.
  I got off to an early start as the guys driving today like to leave with margin for error.  It was Apache Sun this morning with our park group.  There are now 5 tee times as we were over the 16 players.  The group I was in went out first and took the markers for the longest putt and close to the pin.  I had the best chance on the putt, but missed it, leaving myself a 4 inch putt.  Greg had an opportunity to write his name on the tee shot closest to the pin, but it didn't stand up today.  The weather was great, sunny and warm and the guys I played with were good as well.  The score was not as good as last week, but it was a respectable round for me, never lost a ball.
  Marg did a bit of housework and then it was water aerobics.  There was a good turnout today and the pool although a little cool was the way she likes it for the workout.  A nice day for some pool time.
   We had a bite to eat and then I went and played pool for a couple of hours.  I played in a group of 4 the first game and when a fifth person came I left to play him.  He's a good player and we have a lot of laughs because we play with offense and defense.  I was on a winning streak, but he won the last 3 games, so it was pretty even.
  We went to happy hour.  We had not been for a few days, so the group were almost ready to send out a search party for us.  It was a smaller group today as a lot of them went to the Arizona Opry tonight.  We like it, but have seen the variety show so many times that we passed on it this year.  The other two shows they do are country and rock & roll as well as some special shows for times like Christmas.  Supper tonight was a bbq and Marg had some frozen cabbage rolls & crepes left from Christmas, so a great meal.
  After we went out to get water, the large 5 gallon bottle for the water cooler and the smaller 3 gal. we use at room temp.  Some people drink the water here, but it is quite hard water, so we just buy it at 20 cents a gallon.  There are cheaper places to buy it but they look sort of dodgy, not something you look for in drinking water.
  After supper we had a couple of facetime conversations with family back in GP.  There was no poker tonight, too many people went to the Opry show I guess.

Tuesday

  Happy birthday Daniel, 14 already, wow.  Hope you had a good day even with all that is going on. 
  Started the day off with a bike ride.  There were 4 of us today and we rode up Foothills and could hear the donkey when we were within a block of him.  I'm not sure if he was calling us or could sense Patrick and his carrots.  He sure is loud when he gets going.  It was a nice day to ride, but I cut off after about 3 1/2 miles today.  Not sure whether I have a head cold or my sinuses are reacting badly to whatever is in the air here.  Anyway it can't pass soon enough for me.
  Marg did some laundry steaming this morning. While we were out in the breezeway a couple of different times people came by to tell her about a baby born to the son of a good friend.  In fact back in November, Marg had said she would put together a shower for the new baby as it is their son's first child and their first grandchild together.  It was the source of most of the conversation this morning.
  After lunch I went for a haircut.  The barbershop is on Power road, so Marg came along and I dropped her at Burlington Coat / Ross's for some retail therapy.  The shop wasn't too busy so the wait wasn't bad.  The topic of the day was still the big Super Bowl game and how the Patriots came back from the big deficit and the collapse of the Falcons defense.  Well that pretty much exhausts my talking points on it.  On the way back I had to stop in at Walmart to get an airtime card for Marg's cell phone.  It had lots of minutes, but only 3 service days left.  We generally let it expire and then just get a new SIM card and add minutes when we get here.  The only negative is the phone number changes from year to year.
  Supper tonight was a bbq steak and some shrimp.  For a change we had potato pancakes for with our vegetable and meal.  It was actually pretty darn good and something we will likely do again in the future.  As luck would have it there was still enough of the pistachio dessert to round out the meal.
  After Marg went to bingo.  This is probably the first time I have missed, but just didn't feel up to it tonight.  I guess they had a good crowd tonight, but that didn't work out in her favour and her winning streak came to an end.  After she got back we had a facetime with Daniel.  What a thoughtful boy, they took subs up to the hospital to share with his mother, as it is one of her favourite things.

Monday - Feb 6th

A nice day even though there was high cloud most of the day.  I think the daytime high was about 71.
  Early in the morning Marg gathered up anything that looked like it could use laundering and ultimately did 4 loads.  A bit beyond our capacity you might say, but she managed it. 
  I went around to talk to a fellow about his email connection.  He has been trying to send me an email and it just wasn't working, so has to deal with his service provider again.  When I returned, shortly before noon Marg, made a batch of french toast, always a welcome lunch for yours truly.  It was very timely as our golf group left at 11:00.
  We went to Encanto today to play 18.  This is a course Gerry and I usually play when he is here, although occasionally I take other guys from the park here with me.  The guys came up with the suggestion that we play it and it seemed like a good idea.  When I got there my Golf Phoenix card had expired, so I renewed it and being a seniors card it gave me a rate of $31, which is pretty good for 18 holes with a power cart.  It also kept my points alive and I am nearing in on a free play.  The course was busy today, but in nice condition.  I played reasonably well, but the wheels fell off on a couple of holes.  They were fun guys to go with.  On the way back, I missed my turn so had to come back on a different part of the freeway system, it worked out fine, but took a bit longer.  I bought a new Phoenix Golf hat, my old one is getting worn and they new ones are pretty nice.
  Marg had visitors today, a couple of the wives of the golf guys, which was nice as they had a bit of a time out.  I guess they went to Bells and had lunch out at Village Inn. Apparently Marg got a top and some flax seed, although I'm not sure what that is for.  From her reports, it was a fun day as well.
  Supper tonight was in the slow cooker, good planning as it's very difficult to tell what time I can be expected.  As luck would have it there was still lots of the pistachio dessert and we had that tonight.

Sunday

Another gorgeous day and it is forecast to continue through the week.
  I got up a bit early to have a shower and breakfast before attending the church service.  It was well attended today with a good sermon.  Some days pastor Don gets a bit long winded, but not today, so that was nice.  The essence of it was love, pretty fitting with Valentines day not too far off as well as love being one of the underlying messages in Christianity.
  Marg went out to pick up a few things she needed for the party this afternoon.  Then she made a pistachio dessert to take to the Super Bowl party.  Linda & Gary have done this for quite a few years and I think this is about the 3rd or 4th time we have been invited.  Not that we are big football fans, but it generally is a fun time.
  For lunch we had the leftover sloppy joe mixture on buns.  It was still good and we had a pastry with it for desert.  Marg made some drink that everyone is talking about for herself.  She squeezed a fresh lemon into which she added apple cider vinegar and water.  It didn't sound very good and her reaction to the taste pretty much confirmed that.  She said it wasn't bad, but I guess the real test will be if she has it again.  We just finished up just in time as Kenny & Doris stopped in to ask if we wanted to go to the flea market on the trail.  We had some time so why not.  There were lots of changes from last year and we wandered around there for a little over an hour.  I bought a small cold chisel and I don't believe any of the others got anything.  It is just a small one so I cleaned it up on my grinder as well as put a decent edge on it.
  When we got back Marg gave the lady who used to own this place and her niece a tour.  Pauline has seen it since we renovated it but the niece had not and asked to have a look.  Kind of funny but the place seems to have a bit of history.  Then she finished making the dessert, it had to have a topping and then be refrigerated.  She also made some shrimp in a garlic butter for the appetizers at the party.  The Super Bowl game started just after 4, so we went and watched the end of the Phoenix Open.  My favourites did not win, but it went to something like the 3rd playoff hole. The football game was a good one and they had lots of people at their party, I think about 8 couples.    Gary had the TV out in the breezeway and everyone brought appetizers and a dish to share.  We ate well and had a few laughs, a good bunch.

Saturday, Feb 4th.

Happy birthday Anna, this is a big one dear.  Looks like you had lots of fun with the family today.
  It was a nice day here in the valley.  The mornings seem cool with the desert air, but it was a gorgeous warm day, definitely shorts and t-shirt day.  As it was a travel day for the gamblin' gals I had to either get up early or be prepared to make the bed.  LOL  Anyway I got up to go for breakfast in the hall.  It was the crew that named themselves the Canadians this morning and they did a fine job of it.  They offer corned beef hash as their unique dish.  Each crew do this to kind of set themselves apart.  I like it but not for breakfast, so for me it was the usual bacon, eggs, pancakes.
  By the time Marg got to the car, they were all patiently waiting for her so they could depart.  There were 5 of them today and the dish of the day was a large red pottery bowl, so another successful addition to the Arizona kitchen.    Apparently the bingo didn't pay off today, but the casino was friendlier and she broke even there.  None of the ladies won at the bingo today and there were no reports of any other success. 
  After breakfast I went to a couple of park sales just down the road from us, but never found anything worth taking home.  Well I never even got out of the vehicle, it was that kind of day.  With a bit of time on my hands I went to Harbour Freight, but again could not convince myself I needed anything there either.  Back to the park where I spent about an hour messing with old pictures.  I have a 32gb memory stick they gave me so I could share some of my pictures from around here, but I never finished it, all the while watching some of the Phoenix Open.  Apparently the had almost 250,000 spectators today, a number greater than the city of Scottsdale where it is held.  The last I saw we still had a couple of Canadians in the money, Graham DeLaet is having a pretty good tournament.  A bunch of green clad Saskatchewan fans have been following him around the course.
  After lunch I went to play pool.  The place was empty, but I had agreed to meet Gene there and we played for about 90 minutes.  I must have been at the top of my game today as he generally beats me more than half the time, but the shoe was on the other foot today.  A nice change.  Then I went home to vacuum for a bit.  We have so much dust here and no Roomba, so I used my shop vac to do under the bed and get the dust bunnies.  Then I did the front step as it is covered with an indoor/outdoor carpet that everything sticks to.  It will look good for a couple of days and then stuff will start getting caught up in it again.
  Then it was off to happy hour by myself and met Marg half way there.  She stopped to talk with one of the ladies who is ill with Valley Fever and just getting over it.  It has all the symptoms pneumonia and is treated with prescription medication.  She had it for a while before becoming too weak to ignore it and ended up in the hospital for 3 or 4 days.  Left untended it can get pretty serious, in fact it is fatal to dogs that contract it.
  After happy we had supper at home tonight.  A little after supper we went for a walk to check the mail [we hadn't picked it up for the last 3 days] and then did a lap around the park.  It was a short walk as Marg's hip has been bothering her.  The good news is the foot seems much better so we changed the bandage without any problems showing up. 

Friday, Feb 3rd

A nice day in the valley and a good day to hold the park sale.
  Marg was up early to get ready for the day. She had told the other kitchen gals she was bringing in a monkey bread [pull-apart buns], so she had put the dough out last night to cook this morning.  Apparently she made a double batch so there would be lots.  Anyway it came out of the oven looking like a million bucks all high and golden brown, so after it cooled she took it out of the pan.  It was the big angel food pan she bought a while back.  After she went to get dressed and returned to the kitchen, to her horror, it had fallen - big time.  It was just too heavy.  To try and salvage it she put it back in the oven to brown the sides or whatever.  Well after a short while she opened the oven and the place filled with smoke.  So with the smoke alarm blaring, the cursing started.  Needless to say there was no monkey bread for the workers, but I did try it and I thought it was still OK. 
  It was off to the rec hall to get the sloppy joe stuff made up and ready.  I stayed a the park model to sell our two items.  Well only one actually as it turned out Marg had given the warming table away.  It was priced at $3, so we'll never see that money.  About noon the headboard had not sold and I don't believe I even saw anyone even look at it.  So I left to walk around the park and take pictures to post on the Tenants association FB site, kind of hoping someone would steal it.  After I got back to post them, that cursed thing was still here, so I changed the price tag to FREE and went for my sloppy joe and pie.  Picking up Kenny on the way, upon arriving I discovered I was the victim of a very successful patio sale and the pie was sold out.  You cannot imagine my disappointment, well if not then imagine Kenny's wife having held out a piece of pie for him.  After sitting down with my sloppy joe, he shows up with his and a slice of pie.  My only reaction was to ask Doris if she would take Marg under her wing and teach her how to save a piece of pie for her mate.  Well at least the sloppy joe was good.
  Shortly after I got back home and a guy came up asking if the headboard was really free.  When I confirmed it he asked if he could have it so that he wouldn't have to bang his head on the wall any longer.  Another successful sale by yours truly.  At least I never had to deliver it.  LOL
  Meanwhile back at the rec hall, I guess Marg won two of the prizes with the draw tickets I had purchased and put in her name.  Another success story about my ability to pick winners.  I think she said one was a large bottle of wine and the other she brought home was a scent burner.  You know one of those things you plug in with some scent in it that makes your house smell like the scent while you hope the place doesn't burn to the ground while you sleep.  The other, the bottle, well it is going to the super bowl party on Sunday, I guess.
  When she got home she was glad to see I had sold the headboard, as she thought it would be a tough sale.  Again under-rating my selling skills.  It was then that she spied the lump of dough on the stove and without hesitation threw it in the garbage bin.  Well that was a learning experience.
  By then it was happy hour, so we went down to share our day with the group.  Nothing too exciting, well some old guy wanted to move a shed, but it looked kind of hopeless.  My advice was they get the guy with the forklift for $100 and take the easy way out with it.
  After we went out with Kenny & Doris [you know the lady who has a way with pie].  We quite often go for fish on Friday, so we opted for Long John Silvers.  The fish was good and the company better.  It was a great way to end the day.
  Oh Marg's foot, well it seems to be doing OK.  Her feet were sore, but just from standing, the toe was much improved and never opened up, so the butterfly band-aids seem to have done the trick.
 

Groundhog Day 2017

Well a bit of a confusing message.  The groundhog in Wiarton never saw it's shadow, so that means an early end of winter and early spring.  The one in PA saw it's shadow and decreed that there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  I take it that our route home could be in wintery conditions but as soon as we get to the border the sun will shine and flowers will bloom.  ;>))
  It was a nice day here in the Valley and it's good timing as the park-wide patio sale is tomorrow.
  Marg & I both went to the coffee klatch this morning.  Our table was second last one drawn and I had a couple of guys kidding me about that.  Well in fairness that's what I do to them when I am an one of the first tables drawn.  I offered one of the early guys 2 bucks to bring back 2 extra donuts to try and beat the system, but he was having none of it.  Then a surprise another fellow bought an extra donut and dropped it off for me.  It was really funny because there was a lot of groaning at our table, so I got in line anyway after giving it to Marg.

  With the park sale being tomorrow, the raffle will be held then so the prizes were all out on display.  This is probably the biggest selection of prizes yet and they were all laid out to attract raffle ticket buyers.  It worked on me and I bought some in Marg's name as I never win at these things.  It's kind of a standing joke that people buy tickets so they can win back what they donated. 

  

  After coffee Marg went with the crew to the kitchen where they fried up tons of hamburger and chopped and diced the ingredients to get the ingredients to the very popular Sloppy Joe's ready.  They will sell a large number of these to both park residents and visitors.  There will also be baked goods and pie for sale tomorrow.  It will all be staged so that people are there for the raffle draws and food sales culminating in a successful sale.


  The park sale actually starts today so that all the people working at the event can tour the park and get in on the great deals.  I went back to the park model where I put prices on our two items we wanted to get rid of: a headboard and a warming tray with 3 pots to keep food warm for larger gatherings.  Then I went and delivered handbills to all the units on our street [happy hour lane], it had details of the Saturday morning breakfast and the ice cream social on Sunday.  These are mainly for the benefit of the new people in the park [day campers] but also serve as reminders to the longer term residents.  Marg went to help Lynette put some things out and she still had some of Bud's tools that she wanted to sell.  Gary had stopped in to visit me, so we went down to help give them an idea of what she could ask for some of them.  I went back to keep an eye on things at our place in case anyone wanted to buy one of our two good deals.
  Marg went to look at other people's good deals.  After a while a golf cart showed up here with 3 little side tables that they were delivering for her, so I knew she was still out there.  Then the park manager showed up with Marg on the cart.  At first I thought he was just being courteous, but then I saw the blood soaked paper towel on her foot.  Apparently she dropped a drinking glass on her foot while loading the tables on the other golf cart, then sent them ahead while she tried to clean up the broken glass.  Well it caused quite a stir and other people stepped in to help clean up and although she started walking, they got her the ride home.  There was a lot of blood and it was flowing freely, so I wanted to take her to urgent care to get it looked at, but she wasn't having any of it.  I managed to get it cleaned up a bit and put on enough Band-Aid's [plasters to my UK family] to get the bleeding under control.  I think it was at this time I sold the warming trays, well gave them away actually to a friend of Marg's.  Shortly after Linda showed up with Sherry [retired nurse] and some butterfly Band-Aids.  Apparently my job was inadequate and Sherry cleaned it up and used the butterfly version to hold the cut together.  Then it evolved into a mini-happy hour with a couple of the ladies sharing a root beer cooler and Kenny & I having a whiskey.
  After they cleared out, we went to happy hour. All this time, Marg just drank water, but I had a beer.  After happy, Lynette gave Marg a ride home and being left to walk home I did just that.  We went out to eat at the Village Inn and coincidentally both had turkey dinner.  Marg's side was a salad while mine was strawberry/rhubarb pie.
  Think positive thoughts and keep Vanessa in your prayers tonight as she is back in the hospital to deal with a some problems she had yesterday.

Wednesday, Feb 1st

A gorgeous day in the valley.  I think the daytime high got up to the mid 70's with almost no wind.  It was what a nice summer day is like in Grande Prairie.
  I went golfing with the group from the park at Apache Sun this morning.  I picked up a couple of guys, although they each played in different foursomes.  The group I played in was just 3 of us and they were fun guys.  It showed in my game today and although I had a 7 on the first hole, a par 5, I hit the ball off the tee very well.  In the end I carded a 41, the best I have had this winter season.  Oh yes, almost forgot, never lost a ball today.  LOL
  Marg made brownies for the bake sale on Friday, then went to water aerobics and they had good numbers this morning.  The pool was quite a bit warmer than yesterday and it is starting to show the effect the sun is having on it.  They had a pretty good workout and the long break they had during the cold weather has left her not accustomed to it, so she is feeling a bit beat up by it.  It won't take long though and it will get better as long as she doesn't overdo it.
  We just sat down for lunch and she asked me to look at her invitation to Patti's Groundhog Day get together, as she had her hands busy with lunch.  Looking at it I said it starts at 12 o'clock, so she quickly got everything out of the way and took off to Patti's.  So I sat down and ate, including some of what she made herself, but there was too much for my lunch.  Shortly after she showed up back at the door, even more tired from hustling down to the event, where she found herself alone, something was wrong.  So then the tired lady went back home.  She then looked at the invitation and saw that is for tomorrow and then still hungry went to look at her lunch.  Well you can see how this is going and nothing I could say seemed to make it any better.  In the end it all worked out, she made a bit more lunch for herself and I got the heck out of the way.
  I went and played some pool this afternoon and it also went fairly well.  I think I played ok and the second group of guys I played with were quite a bit of fun.  One of the guys kept getting phone calls, so I said something like you have a busy social life.  Joe is from another park, but is a regular player at ours and is a very good player.  He's a little bit different and usually keeps to himself, seldom tries to make a funny.  He and I have played a lot and he really loosens up quite a bit, anyway he says - well I am very personable and popular, then smiles.  My reaction - well what are you saying about me then, my phone hardly ever rings.  His reply, you shouldn't leave yourself open by asking questions like that.  Well we all had a laugh.
  Marg went out to Ross's and got a couple of pictures for the bathroom, she had one from the estate sale the other day.  The pictures in the park's bathroom were all stolen, so she gave them ours and had to replace them.  Does this seem odd to you, well if it does, you really don't know her.  Then she had to get supper started.
  By then we had company, so missed happy today.  First Linda came by with some Irish & British theme tea towels that she thought were perfect for Marg.  While she was still here Another couple came by and she has a special relationship with Marg.  She has been going through some difficult personal stuff and was sort of becoming reclusive, well as much as you can with Marg in your life.  When she came out today she said to her husband the first person she wanted to see was... well that's why she came to our place.  It was the kind of visit you can't just cut short as it was important to a friend.  By then supper was well ready, so we were scrambling a bit.  That's when I'm at my best coming to the fore to help.  I set the table and got out some condiments, then made coffee.  Which I really ought to do more often.  After I cleaned up the spilt coffee grounds and got the coffee pot working supper was running a bit later.
  By then I was late for poker and took off but forgot my phone at home.  So when the guys started to phone and ask why I wasn't there, lucky Marg had something to do, answer it.  Well that's just me, always thinking of her.  LOL  Well it was a better night at the table and I left ahead a bit tonight.  She got some nail trimming things done, so a winner for her as well.  So all in all a good day. Eh?