A Thursday, Mar 8th

A busy day, we started off going to the coffee klatch this morning and the good news was the donuts were free.  The bad news was we had some kind of doctor talking about deep laser therapy.  There actually seemed to be quite a bit of interest, although he talked so fast most people had no idea what half of it was.  Then we had the park owner drone on about big improvements we can expect with Century Link putting in a new fibre optic network.
  After we got them out of the way we started moving tables and chairs to make ready for the ladies tea.  It is a total make-over of the room, including decorating; so it was a good thing there was quite a bit of help and it never took too long.  Then we had a couple of hours to do other things.  While Marg got ready and got her finger food contribution ready as well as herself, I went out to buy water to make tea.  They like to use filtered water.

  At 12:30 we all gathered at the hall to make up trays, boil water and then the people started to arrive at about 1 although it was scheduled to start at 1:30.  There was a very good turnout, about 60 ladies so the place was full.  The have a few entertaining events the main one being the fashion show where about 8 ladies in the park modeled a casual and a more dress-up outfit from a local ladies store.  The store has been part of it for quite a few years and they do the running commentary.  Many of the ladies purchase the outfits, so it works out well.  They also have a few presentations, one this year on fans and another on it being Woman's Day.  Turns out that is a pretty big deal, there were even some businesses having an "M" in their sign turning it upside down to a "W".  In fact quite a few McDonalds did it.

 There was an incredible amount of food and they drank about 10 gallons in tea water.  There were four guys, all volunteered by their wives [LOL], who served hot water in carafes and finger food on trays while the event went on.  Well and I took lots of pictures.  At the end it all had to be turned back the way the hall normally is, so a big job.
  By the time we got back to our place it was just about happy hour.  Happy was at Blanke's today, so we petty much had to go, although we were both starting to feel like we needed a rest.  They had a huge turn-out but people only stay for an hour or less.
  Back to our place for supper and after eating I was ready to sleep.  I actually napped for about a half hour and then it was time to go to the animal races.  The number of folks at the races was really down, a sure indication the season is nearing its end.  They announced that next week is the end of the races.  Again we had to go as one of the two guys who tell jokes in the break was not there and I had been asked to fill in.  The good news was the elephant won twice & you know I had my bet on it.  Marg won 5 of the 8 races, me only 3.  A much better outcome than last week.
  We are both bushed, it will not be a late night.

Wednesday, Mar 7th

The day started out very pleasant and just got better.  Marg was up before me and put her monkey bread in the oven.  I think she intended it was breakfast, but it wasn't done by the time we had to leave for Apache Sun.  It sure made the trailer smell nice inside though. 
  Gerry showed up a few minutes before 8, so we pretty much got loaded up and left.  Our group at the golf course now numbers 24 and there is a waiting list to get in.  I can't believe how well I hit my chip shots and putts in practice, that I can't duplicate in play.  I started off with my usual first hole yips and then it got somewhat better.  I was not in contention for any of the money holes, but of consolation it was a one turtle day and no one from our foursome went in the water.  I have been playing with the Wilson balls Marg won in GP at a store opening.  They are nice balls and I think my problems may have been the Calloway balls.  As it turns out the Wilsons may also be a problem  I know it's hard to believe but I think clubs may be the problem, they must not like new balls, perhaps I should ....  Ah it's just a game.  It was a good group to play with and we had a few laughs.  Like when the organizer of our group heard about my luck at bingo, she asked if I was going to be lucky at golf.  Well this was at the start and my answer was you bet, this will be a lucky day.  Well they caught up with us on #7 where I hit my ball into a tree canopy instead of over.  Her husband Gary said you'll be lucky to find your ball on that one.  LOL  Goodbye to another Wilson.
  When we got back to the park Marg had the monkey bread and coffee ready, so Gerry stayed with us for some.  He was blown away with how good the sticky buns were.  It seems Marg makes everything she tries just a little bit better.
  After that Marg went out for some groceries.  Most pressing was the finger food she has to take to the Ladies Tea on Thursday afternoon.  We were also low on some other things, so she went to 3 different places.  From the Superstition Ranch market she brought back some great fresh fruit, especially the oranges.  We haven't been eating as many oranges as usual and we both got colds.  There may be a connection there.
  In the afternoon I went to play pool.  I was probably at the top of my game today.  The guys were giving me a hard time about how lucky I was and they may have had something there.  Played for a couple hours and then headed home.  Got halfway and ended up spending a bit of time at Kenny's with 4 other guys.  This was one of those guy gab sessions - you know where the "First liar has no chance!"  Fun bunch of guys.
  Marg drove by on the way home, but  by the time I got there she had unloaded everything.   We loaded up and went for the mail, then over to the patio at the hall where it was happy hour.  We had not been to happy for quite a while, so we thought we best put in an appearance.  You can only let them talk about you for so long and then you have to show up.  LOL It ended up being a fun one.
  Back how to bbq for supper.  We had some nice potato & yams in a tinfoil and porkchops.  All very good.  The new bbq sauce we have is sure better than what we had before.
  After supper I went to play poker.  We had two tables of 4 tonight.  The pots are much smaller in a 4 person game, but the range of what you can play is unlimited.  I had a pretty hot hand tonight and I would say I probably won a nickel or a quarter.  Marg reminded my that I started playing poker about 8 years ago with $20 in coins and I still have a roll of quarters [$10] from that date and in that time I have taken out some money for other things, so poker has really not cost me anything.  I wish the casinos were more like this.
  On a closing note, I found some information on Gourlay's making golf balls.  A Douglas Gourlay from St Andrews became very well known for making quality feather balls in the 1700's.  Later his son William took over from him and later yet his grandsons: William, Douglas & John [Jock] in the 1800's.  The name became a mark of quality.  There is a Gourlay ball dated 1835 [I think] in new condition and they are quite valuable.  When you consider this is only 50 miles from Alloa/Sterling where the name is quite common.  Makes me speculate on whether there is a family connection.  I'm not sure where they found the golf balls, but they have the name Gourlay very clearly on them.  If I knew where they found the balls, like in a bush or water hazard someplace it would be reasonable to assume a genetic connection to me.

Tuesday, Mar 6th

What a beautiful day.  The wind blew in AJ, it always does as it comes off the Superstition Mountains, but it was not a cold wind.  As we went in closer to the centre of Phoenix, it got warmer and the wind died down.
  Before we left, Marg put a load of laundry in the machine and then we had some cereal and left for some retail therapy.  Well sort of I took a pocket book to read and Marg took her pocket book to spend.  The quest is still looking for that grandmother of the bride dress.  The challenge is daunting as she found one she loved, but could not get it in her size and although she has bought the back-up dress she is still seeking THE ONE.  We went in to the outlet mall at Tempe where they had about 6 shops that she loves, even a Nordstrom's.  The first store she went to she found 3 tops, but no suitable dress, then on to the Dress Barn, nada; then Ross's again nada.
  By then it was lunch time, so we went to one of her fav's, Ruby Tuesday.  They have a pretty nice salad bar, not one of my fav's, but the food is good.  As predicted she had the salad bar while I ordered the RT burger.  When I go to a place that has a burger on the menu they list as they special or traditional burger, I generally order it and have seldom been disappointed.  That was the case today, but I could not do justice to the mound of french fries it came with. 
  Then it was back into the breech and we went over to where the Nordstrom's store was.  Well Marg dashed in there with visions of success as that was where she got her dress of choice for Anna's wedding.  Me, well I never go into a store where tee shirts start at $100, it just isn't me.  It happened there was a Total Wine very close by so I went in there and drooled over the rows and rows of fine whisky.  I ended up not buying anything as the ones that appealed to me were better priced at Costco and I have not really enjoyed some of the lesser known ones I have bought there in the past.  They would fall into the OK category, good enough for company.  LOL  So I went back to the truck to read my duster.  Marg came out with nothing again, well you can imagine that was not as bad as it sounds.  Hah.
  From there we headed back towards home and about half way we turned off the 202 at Power road as I wanted to get a hair cut.  I dropped Marg off at Superstition Springs where she went to TJ Max and I went over to the new Mexican barber.  I was lucky as there was only one guy in the chair, very unusual.  By the time I left there were 3 or 4 guys waiting their turn, which is more normal.  There is a Van's golf store next to the barbers, so I stopped in for some short tees, you know the ones you use to hit an iron shot.  Often I use broken tees, but sometimes they are scarce so I like to have them in the bag. Kind of bugs me as they cost more than the longer ones, probably a volume thing.
  Back to pick up Marg who had a small bag with some things she needed, none of which were a dress.  I think a shower curtain and something for her hair.  Then back home.
  When we got home I remembered that we still needed water, so down to the outlet to fill the 5 & 2 gallon bottles.  It's not just that we like the filtered water better, but we prefer the water cooler given the amount of  we drink here.  The 5 gallons usually doesn't make a week.
  Supper was in tonight and we finished off the potato salad and some more of the ham.  It was good and we needed to have something fairly quick.
  Off to the bingo in the hall.  It was fairly well attended and we were close almost every game.  Well better than close actually.  I won one game by myself [$28] and split the final game, the double daub with another Canuck so we each got $61, so a pretty good night for a guy who almost never wins.

Monday, Mar 5th

Happy Birthday Brennan - 23.  How the years have flown by on us.  Hope you have a great time in Vancouver on your special day.
  The nicest day in a while down here in Apache Junction.
  Marg went to the Fort with the gamblin' gals and they had a car full today.  Well they would have but at the appointed hour one of the gals they thought was a maybe wasn't there, so they left.  It turns out she was just late, so she missed out.  Last week when Marg didn't go they had a big winner, but sadly this week they all donated.  That is kind of the way it works especially on bingo.  She reported that her problem hip was not so much a problem today and that made for a pleasant day.
  I went with Stan to Encanto where we met up with Gerry for 18 holes of fun, fun, fun.  There were some moments today, you know those shots or holes that make you want to come back.  But when I looked at the score card it was evident I really struggled.  I blame it on my weakened condition from having that cold for the last couple of weeks.  I did lose one ball, but that is not at all a high count for me, I am capable of pounding more into the murky depths of the water hazards.  Stan drove today and traffic was very light, I think he must lead a charmed life.
  When I got back to the park, there was a package for Marg, from Amazon, on the step.  Good thing people here are so honest.  There was also a bill for pest control stuck in the door.  I had forgot they were coming to spray around the trailer for critters.  When we bought this place we had lots of critters around, like ants and even a couple of cockroaches out back, but we've had none since this outfit has been spraying the outside 3 times a year.  I had a bit of time, but almost fell asleep when I sat.  It was very warm out today and I may have a bit of sunburn on my arms and neck.  Now for those of you in the winters nasty grip this probably is not drawing a lot of sympathy, but down here in the Valley of the Sun it can be a problem.  But I did manage to get the cart down to the main gate so she could ride back to our place as it is quite a hike from there.  Well her & Lynett ride on the seats and I kind of stand on the back and hang on.
  Supper was some nice ham Marg had and the potato salad.  Life is good.  An update on our colds, well we may have turned the corner on them, fingers crossed.

Sunday, Mar 4th

Happy birthday to our 19 year old granddaughters, Paige & Haylee.  Thanks for the facetime today it was sure nice speaking with you.  I hope your birthday cards get there soon.
  Got up in time, but did not feel up to going to the church service.  We are mostly trying to limit our group function time until we are totally over these lousy colds.  We are going on 3 weeks now.  As a result not much to report on today.  After I charged the batteries up, Marg took the golf cart for a ride to throw out the trash and recycle stuff.  The batteries were really run down, probably the lowest I have seen them so it took more than an hour to charge it up.  Then she did a load of laundry and hung it up on the patio.
  We sat around the house today and tried to get some rest.  It was a very nice day in the sun, so I sat out back on the patio for a few hours, amid the laundry.   Marg also made a potato salad, one of my favourite things about summer.  Well technically it is winter here, but with a daytime high of 25C, it seems like summer.  
  Oh yes, Stan came by and then Mickey regarding the golf yesterday.  It seems I won 5 holes, so had 5 skins, not 4 as earlier thought.  Stan came by to give me the $3 difference from Mickey but he wasn't certain of the reason. He also informed me he would not be accompanying us for golf on Monday.  Tried to get another player without success, so we will be 3.  Then the lady across the road had sent Marg a couple of pictures of her grandson and asked it I would post them.  Then I put the activity calendar for March on the site.  I tried doing it with the electronic file, without success, so now I just scan it.
  Supper tonight was bbq, a nice New York steak.  The only negative is they don't butcher like I am familiar with from home.  The steak had a nasty piece of gristle running through it, something you would not see in a meat cut of that caliber at Blackmans.  Anyway it was good especially with the potato salad accompanied by tomatoes and guacamole.
  That was pretty much it for the day. 
 

Saturday, Mar 3rd

Finally a day to brag about, the weather was more like what we expect here.  Not certain how warm, but I saw 25C registered on the truck.  Shorts and no coat day.
  We had a bowl of oatmeal this morning and then invigorated by it we went to a few park sales.  At the first one we came across a guy selling a lot of tools that were very good quality.  I looked it all over and chatted him a bit about what great stuff he had.  Then I picked out a few things that came to $14, so I asked it $12 would be OK which he accepted.  Then as he was putting them in a bag, he said you should have this and could use that and when he finished pretty much doubled what I had bought, then asked if there was anything else I needed, a neat guy.  We stopped in the clubhouse and Marg got a few things, I got 3 pocket books and they said everything was half off, so I tall came to a dollar.  Very good deal.  After we went to a couple more sales, but nothing, so we headed home.
  Got close to home and decided to stop at Hackers for lunch.  Marg had a burger and chips. The chips here are not the kind you find in bags in stores, they thin slice potatoes and deep fry the discs, they are to die for.  I had a half Rueben and cole slaw, we were both well pleased with our choice.  Marg had Raspberry ice tea with her burger, so they gave her a take away one when we left.  I didn't want any more soda to go, so I declined, but it is no extra charge.  Just another unique feature of the place.  It was crowded at lunch, but with just the two of us we got in fairly quickly.
  When we got back I decided to play pool, so we started out on the cart as Marg came along to get the mail.  We got about half way there and had so many visitors that I got out and walked to the pool room, my wife the social butterfly.  There was only one other guy and we had some good games, but had to quit early as we had both volunteered to help at the hall  Well he volunteered and my wife volunteered me.  It was to decorate the hall.
  There was a pretty good sized group to help and we made short work of it.  We set up a western type bar that was used as a photo prop.  We hung cowboy boots from the ceiling, wanted posters on the wall, cowboy hats, you name it.
  After we went to Denny's with Kenny & Doris for supper.  It was funny both Marg & I ordered a version of a club sandwich, her's with a salad, mine with a bowl of fresh fruit.  It was quick and good and having had a large lunch we were not that hungry, so even doing our best could not finish it.
  Shortly after we got back and it was time to go to the hall for the dance.  It was a fun event and the turnout was pretty good.  Even though we could not dance due to Marg's hip, we enjoyed ourselves.

Friday, March 2nd

A much nicer day today.
  We got up early and were at the pharmacy in Walgreen very early in the day.  Marg got a few things she needed and some medications to help her battle the lousy cold, including a few boxes of tissues.  I think her cough is showing signs of abating, but she is still not out of the woods with the cold.  Oh darn, I may have spoke too soon, there she is barking again.  I seem to be over it, but now just have a chronic cough.  Although I have suffered from this in the past it has been a long time since it last happened and while not anywhere near like a cold is annoying.
  I was supposed to take pictures of the new executive for the tenants association, but there must have been a miscommunication so it never happened.  I usually do this for them and put it on the associations FB page.  Marg did up some pork chops and put them in the slow cooker, so I know that supper will be looked after.  Lots of folks eat out on Friday, but it looks like ours is looked after.  With the unpredictable time I will be back, the slow cooker sure simplifies things.

   I had a golf game scheduled with 3 other guys in the park and we left at 11 AM with the plan of having lunch at the course, then some putting/chipping practice before the game.  The course was in very nice shape, it was my first time playing here this year.  I started out a bit shaky, I always get the first hole yips and managed to hook my first tee shot over the fence and into the parking lot next to the course.  No one came around yelling and swearing, so I guess it was OK.  Then I hit the next ball off the tee and had the longest drive in the foursome and in the best field position, but by then any hope of a decent score for the hole was long gone.  We ended up playing skins, so everyone gave a dollar to the winner, when there was one clear winner on a hole, you know 2 tie, all tie.  I won 4 skins [all on the back 9], so I ended up losing $2 to Mickey who won the most skins.  It was a fun day, but I was all in by the end of the round.
  Marg did up the laundry as it was so nice out and she could dry everything in the sun.  She had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. Mostly people stopping by to ask how she was and see if she needed anything, one even to ask if she was up for a casino road trip today.  She did manage to get away to Safeway for a few groceries.  I guess they had some really good deals today, the New York steaks she got look great and at a price you can't beat.
  By the time I got home supper was ready and waiting and I was good and hungry.  Well done Marg.