TURNED OUT TO BE A 2 ‘VEST’ DAY:))

  

WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE A PAIR OF CARDINALS FREQUENTING OUR BACK YARD

The ALCO chain of stores announced this past week they are going out of business.  Of course to most folks that means one thing………‘bargoooons’.  Kelly wasn’t up to driving to Wickenburg & back so I quickly put on my chauffer’s cap & off we went first thing this morning.  Even I went in & browsed the aisles.  Have had it in my mind for awhile to pick myself up a vest of sorts.  Sure enough I found one with 20% off the already lowered price.  A tad big for me but who cares the price was right & it was the last one on the rack.  It’s lined, made tough, & has 4 pockets which is always a bonus for me.  We did take advantage of other bargains & left the store loaded down.

Kelly wanted to stop at the Double DD Western ware store down the road but I wasn’t keen on that.  Been in there once & it’s way to expensive for this guy’s taste.  Kelly insisted I come in & look for another vest, a lighter summery one.  Heck I already just got a vest.  Oh well in I went & gol darn it if I didn’t come out with another vest.   Kelly said early Christmas present.  All leather & just the kind of vest I had in mind.  Thanks Santa:))

 

A quick stop at Safeway, CVS Pharmacy, & the Health Food Store netted us a bunch of ingredients for a new ‘Power Shake’ plan we are starting plus Kelly was able to pick up a few things reader’s had mentioned which might help with her medical condition.  All & all it was a successful shopping venture & I never even got to get irritated or impatient not even once.  And I ended up with 2 new vests.  Now how’s that for a good day eh:))

Can’t remember the last time Kelly cut my hair but it had to have been way back early in the summer or maybe it was last March before we left Arizona.  Anyway I held out for as long as I could again before going under the scissors Friday morning.  Kelly really shortened it up this time in hopes we can maybe get away without cutting it for another 7 or 8 months or so.  My hair seems to live it’s own life of extremes.

THIS IS BEFORE THE HAIRCUT IN OUR BACKYARD…THERE WASN’T ENOUGH HAIR LEFT TO TAKE AN ‘AFTER’ PICTURE:((

The 2 photos below are an example of what you can do using the ‘Retouch’ tool in your Picasa 3.9 photo editor.  Notice the small Mesquite tree leaf stem around this House Finch’s eye in the first photo.  Second photo shows that stem removed.  With a little patience & a touch of experience you too can have fun improving your photos.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I'm high maintenance ... I take aspirin for the headache caused by the Zyrtec I take for the hayfever I got from Relenza for the uneasy stomach from the Ritalin I take for the short attention span caused by the Scopederm Ts I take for the motion sickness I got from the Lomotil I take for the diarrhea caused by the Zenikal for the uncontrolled weight gain from the Paxil I take for the anxiety from the Zocor I take for my high cholesterol because exercise, a good diet, and regular health care are just too much trouble.

TREE OF BIRDS

I sat quietly near the tree of birds camera on my lap.  Only one feeder hung today but it was enough to bring a whirring of wings like tiny helicopters blades flitting by my ear.  A bevy of Quail came in trusting my stillness.  No feathered flyers touched down on my shoulder & no white splotches on my cap.  Pheebs lay stretched out beside my chair paying no attention to columns of ants carrying bits of Mesquite leaves to underground homes some distance away in a Prickly Pear patch.   Sun at my back cap pulled down & eyes closed at times I listened to the days overhead feathery flutterings.  An occasional short sharp shriek brought to my ears sounds of quick disputes at the feeder hastily resolved by the size of the shrieker or the defiance of the shrieked at.  Sun’s rays as hot as the cool air.  A southerly breeze resolved Mother Nature’s discrepancies making for a fine couple hour’s sitting under my tree of birds………………..

  

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A man goes to his local bank and asks for a loan to start a chicken farm. The loan official asks him what exactly the loan is for-it is to buy new chicks. The loan is okayed but a week later the man is back, seeking another loan to buy new chicks. The loan officer asks "What happened to the first batch of chicks?", to which the man replies, "I don't know! I can't figure out if I'm planting them too close together or too far apart."

---

Very early one morning two birds are sitting at the side of a large puddle of oil. They see a worm on the other side. So...the one flies over and the other one swims through -- which one gets to the worm first? The one who swam of course, because "Da oily boid gets da woim."

WORD CAME TODAY AN OLD FRIEND HAS PASSED AWAY

BASHAS' supermarket in Wickenburg had a Thanksgiving Day dinner deal going today.  Turkey, dressing, & all the fixins come in containers to be taken home & heated up.  We were in the Jeep & off to Bashas to pick up our Thanksgiving dinner about 9:30 this morning.  Nice to get out of the house & see some scenery going by the window.  Half a cart load of groceries & we were home again by 11.  Yes we do have a 21 pound frozen turkey in our freezer but Kelly said we’ll save that for another time when she’s feeling up to preparing a big turkey dinner.  Update:  The turkey dinner from Bashas’ turned out to great & we came away with no complaints:))

KELLY HAS BEEN DOING A LOT OF READING & MEDICAL RESEARCH ON HER COMPUTER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS

 

YUP GOT MY DAD’S HAT ON

I am well into my latest Kindle book, UNBROKEN by author Laura Hillenbrand.   It is described as a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption.  From the first few pages I could tell it was well written & that writing style has continued consistently through the book so far.  These are the types of reality books I enjoyed so much years ago.  I’m not a reader of fiction.  

RELAXING AFTERNOON ON OUR FRONT PORCH

We have a nice shaded porch on the front of our house & it’s a great place to sit, grab some zzzzz’s, do a little reading, or just sit quietly & watch the world roll by.  It was especially nice doing all of the above this afternoon with a nice southwest breeze cooling our 80 degree temperatures.

<<< NOTICED THIS LITTLE FELLOW ON MY BEDROOM MAT THIS AFTERNOON

Later in the day we could hear loud voices out front on Ghost Town Road.  An old 1981 school bus painted pea soup green was angled off into our neighbor’s driveway.  Recognized the old beater of a bus right away as the fellow who had made Kelly’s walking stick last March.  His name is Arky & it was while Kelly was picking up her walking stick that day a three & a half foot Diamond Back Rattlesnake came slithering up to them.  You can read about that encounter here…..KELLY'S CONVERSATION WITH AN ARTISAN.  But back to today…….Arky & his friend Barbara were headed on back to their desert camp at the end of Ghost Town Road when his old bus just quit & rolled to a stop in front of our house.  That’s when we heard all the loud talking as Arky talks quite loud.  They had 3 little dogs with them plus more dogs back at their camp & Barbara was worried about them.  Kelly fired up the Jeep & drove Barbara the half mile up the road to their boondocking site.  Luckily our neighbor Rick across the road came out & with a length of chain was able to hook his pick-up truck to Arky’s old bus & tow him back to his camp.  Luckily Arky is one of those handy mechanical fix everything guys so didn’t seem to worried about what ever was wrong with his old bus.  I gave him our phone number in case he needed us to go get any parts for him.

ONE OF ARKY’S 3 DOGS WASN’T HAPPY WITH ME TAKING A PICTURE OF HIS DAD’S BUS

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF ARKY HAS TO REMOVE THE ENGINE HOUSING……….OMG!!

OK RICK I’M A READY TO GO

 

SAFE TRAVELING GUYS

We met Doug & Dolly last winter when they dropped in to see us in Congress.  It was their first RV trip & Doug was so happy to finally be in the great southwest.  Had been a dream of his for quite awhile.  Doug just retired a few days ago & already he has their Class C headed back to the southwest.  Dolly decided to keep the home fires burning so Doug’s off on his own for the winter.  Lots of adventurous travel ahead for him.  MISS ADVENTURE TRAVELS

And a sad email from my good friend Jim Eifert in London Ontario late this afternoon.  Readers may remember my post from last September entitled, SATURDAY'S DAY OF SADNESS & LAUGHTER.  Our long time friend Helmut Hell who we had gone to visit that afternoon passed away today.  His long struggle with cancer is over & Jim writes he passed away peacefully in his sleep.  I had known Helmut since high school days.  A hard working fellow who dropped out of high school then went on to own his own brick laying business.  Very financially astute Helmut always knew the value of dollar, had a great sense of humor, was down to earth & was not afraid to tell you what he thought.  Helmut was instrumental back in July of 2010 in reuniting me with some of the old home town Tavistock gang.   I wrote a post about that meeting entitled, SOME OF THE OLD 1960'S GANG GETS TOGETHER.  No doubt Helmut will be greatly missed by family & friends & I’m so glad Jim & brother John & I got to say good-bye to Helmut when we did.  Take take my old friend & if those pearly gates need any brick work done I know you’ll be right at it…………..

GROANER’S CORNER:((  One morning a local highway department crew reaches their job-site and realizes they have forgotten all their shovels.  The crew's foreman radios the office and tells his supervisor the situation. The supervisor radios back and says, "Don't worry, we'll send some shovels ... just lean on each other until they arrive."

A QUIET DAY HERE

Kelly did manage a short walk this morning but has spent much of the day resting.  Her & Pheebs jeeped themselves to the library & back about mid afternoon.  An appointment at Wickenburg’s Medical Center is now in the works & will likely happen next week.  And yes Kelly tested positive for the Epstein Barr virus (Mono) two summer’s ago.  Thanks to readers again for their concern, suggestions, & opinions.  It is why I entitled my post ‘What Would You Do’ Tuesday night.  Nothing wrong with asking for thoughts & opinions.  Readers have always been helpful.  There are a multitude of people out here with a whole wealth of experience & knowledge & it’s always good to hear people’s thoughts.

We were aware of the ‘cash’ for medical service having experienced that one time in Elfrida AZ a few years ago.  Kelly had already called the clinic here in Congress to verify the cheaper cash rate & they said yes it is always in effect.  Thanks to several commenters for mentioning that though.  It is the kind of information which is helpful to everyone.

With most every fine weather day the same as the day before it isn’t leaving me a lot of leeway to continue my grumbling weather reports.  Darn, I miss that. 

Spent my morning hauling everything out of our shed & cleaning up the floors.  It was also a good time to purge all the unnecessary stuff that I had accumulated in the past couple years.  Thursday I will put back in only the necessary stuff needed.  Tuesday I did 2 loads of laundry & this morning I did my sheets.  Oh how I love that fresh smell of laundry that has been hung out on the line to dry.  Always takes me back to my earliest years when my Mother would hang wash out & how fresh it would smell when it came back in.  No automatic dryers back then.  Well at least not for the poor folks.  Remember those cold winter days when laundry on the line would sometimes freeze stiff as a board.

It was a piece of luck I clicked on the Yacht club’s harbor lake cam in Grand Bend Ontario this morning & saw ongoing preparations to install the new light house beacon at the end of the pier.  Didn’t take the crew long in hoisting up the new tower into place.  My first memory of walking out to the end of that pier dates way back to the early 60’s.

 

CRANE IS FIRST POSITIONED AT THE END OF THE PIER AS A PICK-UP BACKS OUT THE NEW BEACON

 

 

CRANE SWINGS LIGHT BEACON ONTO IT’S CONCRETE FOUNDATION

A JOB WELL DONE & A BEACON WELL DESIGNED

I thought RETIRED ROD'S latest post was a good example of something I have blogged about several times over the years.  It’s not something that really happens to us a lot because of our boondocking preferences but it does happen to people frequenting RV Parks.  How many times have you just pulled into your allotted spot, exited your vehicle & started your set up routine only to hear ‘Howdy Neighbor.’  Or your hooking up to leave & somebody wanders over & starts talking to you about your RV.  When that happens your attention to what you were doing is broken.  Whether you know it or not you are now at risk of forgetting something or doing something wrong in your normal routine.  How many totally avoidable accidents could have been avoided by people being considerate enough to leave other people alone while they concentrate on what they are doing.  It’s easy enough as it is in these Senior years to forget things without distractions being added on top to complicate matters even further.  In other words, ‘don’t bug your RV neighbor until it looks like he’s finally sitting down & totally relaxed enough to be seriously bugged’.  Seriously……………   

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The salesman at the electronics store was pitching a high-definition television to a customer.  A fellow shopper, overhearing the spiel, mentioned that he'd upgraded his regular TV to high-def.
"How did you do that?" my husband asked.
"I dusted off the screen."