Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - Thursday, April 30, 2020

Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 

The temperatures dropped last night after the storm moved through.  It was 53F this morning.  Without any heat on overnight I was surprised it was still 66F in Bentley.  

After turning my Chromebook on and logging in, I was able to pour my first cup of coffee, enjoying it while I read my morning devotional.

For the first time in several days, maybe even a week or more, I read the blog posts that I follow after my quiet time.  I've missed a few posts over the past several days.  I enjoy reading each one of them, seeing what longtime blog friends are doing, and getting to know  new bloggers with each new post.  Over the past two months I've added several new blogs to my list.  About half of the blogs that I follow post daily, and the other half are more sporadic with their posts.

Our forecast for this week goes from a high of 68F today to a high of 83F by Saturday, when more storms are to move in.  After that the extended forecast calls for 70's through May 13. I had to turn the air conditioner on for 2-3 hours yesterday, and I was glad it was on when the rain started, otherwise it would have been awful stuffy in here when we had to shut the door and windows.  I think the high was 78, however with the humidity, it felt much warmer.

Speaking of humidity - I have dumped our dehumidifier twice now.  We have used it for 4 weeks.  The container is about 20% full again.  When it is full, a light comes on and it automatically shuts the dehumidifier off.  

I sent my daughter a text to let her know we'd be in the park around 7 if she wanted to walk with us this morning.  Before we asked her to walk with us this week, we had no set schedule to arrive, but I like the idea of going at a certain time everyday.  We may just stick to it.  I just noticed the temperature has dropped from 53 to 51.  I believe it might be a little cooler on our walk this morning.

We arrived at the park a minute or two before 7, as the sun was well on it's way up. 

I didn't look at this picture until later.  I'm not sure what the green spot is.  

Misti pulled up not long after we arrived.  It was a much cooler morning today and the wind was blowing.  We've enjoyed visiting with Misti on these walks.

Northwest wind and cool!

It seemed like in no time we had walked our two miles.  When Dean checked our speed later we walked the second mile in 17.5 minutes.  We'd like to get back to 17 minute miles, and eventually we will.  Misti really helps us pick up the pace.

After our walk we returned to Bentley.  I made our shakes, then washed the dishes.  My left hip has been bothering me the past few days and today it's really giving me fits.  It does not hurt if I am standing or walking, unless I look or reach up.  I cannot sit in my recliner for more than a few minutes at a time.  I am sitting at the desk now and I feel fine.  Getting up or down can be a little uncomfortable.  I think I've been sitting too much.  I try to get up and move quite a bit during the day, but working on the puzzle and the pictures requires a lot of sitting.  Between the two it might be what caused it.  .

I took some things to Cindy around 11.  I made it home before Dean, then started our lunch.  He enjoyed watching Gunsmoke and I spent my time playing FreeCell on my phone when we were finished eating.  After lunch, I washed another load of jeans.  Dean had several pairs of pants/jeans/shorts from his previous working days.  He saved them all since they were either new or almost new.  I'm glad he did.  In the six years since we retired we have only bought him one new pair of jeans.  He brought two pairs back from the garage today, a size smaller than what he's been wearing!  So proud of him.

After lunch and watching two episodes of Gunsmoke, he headed to the garage.  With the wind gusts, it feels much cooler than the outside temperature reading of 65F.  I'm cold in Bentley, so I just turned on the fireplace to try and take the chill off.  I called the chiropractor to make an appointment.  I will see him at 2:30 this afternoon.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll notice a big difference

I have not seen the hummer yet today.  When I was at Cindy's I was watching their hummers "fighting" with each other.  They have so many orioles coming to their feeders.  It is so much fun to watch them.  They also had tanagers at the feeder.  

Notice the oriole on the lower right window - he/she wanted to come inside.

They have several orioles and tanagers coming and going to this feeder the entire time I was there.  Cindy found this candle holder, I believe at a flea market, and converted it to jelly holders for the orioles.  They go through several jars of jelly during the summer and into early fall.

After my appointment with the chiropractor I dropped by Cindy's once more.  Her daughter Melissa puts wording on shirts and various other materials.  I asked her to make me a shirt.  She mailed it to her mom, so I was anxious to get it.  I stayed and visited for awhile before heading home. 

Shirt Melissa made me.

I've decided I'm going to have her make me several more summer shirts, and they have to be out of the same material.  It is so soft.  I almost exclusively wear t-shirts daily, and I need some new ones.  It's hard to find anything I like in the stores.  One thing I need to do soon, is go through all the clothes we have in Bentley and eliminate a few.  Dean also needs everyday T-shirts.  A project for next week maybe?


I wanted something easy for dinner tonight.   Breakfast burritos sounded good and they were very filling.

After dinner I visited via phone with my sisters Crystal and Jody for awhile.  I miss our weekly get together's on Sunday afternoons.  We may have our first one with all four of us attending since back in December.  Cindy has a nice screened in porch (where you saw the orioles above).  If it's nice enough, she will open the windows and we'll set out there to keep our distance.

I am standing at the island as I type this, but finding it hard to concentrate with the TV on tonight.  I'll proof it in the morning.  Good night all!

I am so thankful for my sisters!  God gave me some of the very best!



Thursday, April 30, 2020 - 

I slept until 5:15 this morning.  We went to bed early.  I was tired from the long day of my hip hurting.  I sleep wonderfully though.  I can set at the desk and I do pretty good, but I just can't set in my recliner.  

We walked again this morning.  The wind was pretty calm.  Misti didn't join us today.  For the most part the walk didn't bother me.  There was once or twice it hurt, but it went away almost as quickly as it came.  

We returned to Bentley.  I made our shakes.  Dean is going to golf today so, as soon as he finished his shake he headed upstairs to change clothes.  I did the dishes.  Yesterday Marc called looking for a trailer to use for their move from the old house to the new one.  I had let him know my Uncle had one.  He said he'd let me know if they would need it.  This morning  he called to say he needed the trailer.  I called my Uncle and he said that would be fine.  When Marc was just outside of Oswego, I drove up to Todd's shop.  He has the trailer here at the RV Park.  Marc showed up a short time later.  Todd helped him back up to the hitch.  We visited for a few minutes, then he headed back to Parsons.

I stayed an visited with Todd for quite awhile about a myriad of things before heading back to the RV.  It was almost noon, but then I remembered there was no need hurrying as Dean probably would not be back until 1-1:30 since he was golfing.

I needed to get birthday presents in the mail to two of our grandsons - Gideon and Sam.  After addressing both of the envelopes I laid them next to Dean's chair so he could sign them when he gets back later.  I'll mail them this afternoon.  I also needed to send a memorial to the First Methodist Church in Pryor, OK.  My sisters and I wanted to donate to Aunt Naomi's church.  She was very active there and had been for many, many years.

I still had two hot dogs left in the freezer.  I heated those up for our lunch when Dean returned.  We put them on the wheat tortilla wraps.  I really doctored mine up -- with mustard, sauerkraut, pickle relish and cheese. It was sooooooo good!

Dean left a short time later for the lot.  I told him I might be down later to take some pictures of him while he works.  At 2:00 I headed to the Post Office so I could mail the cards, and a package to our grandson in New York.  I've done pretty good this morning, until I started going up the steps at the Post Office.  By the time I made it to the top the pain had lessened a bit.

After leaving the Post Office I headed to Cindy's.  We visited for an hour or so, before I headed to the garage.  This is what I found:

This man is so happy - he loves to mow!

We walked the property again.  We have a project we may start work on while we are here in Oswego.  

From there I headed back to the RV.  We had planned to have Misti and Haleigh over tonight but Haleigh had to work, so we'll pick another night next week.  I think Dean and I might order something for dinner.  I'm just not up to cooking right now.  If I don't wake up feeling better in the morning I will be back at the chiropractor.  I have spent a fair amount of time standing today.  I feel pretty good but when I set down on Cindy's couch I had to find a way to maneuver around so I was not hurting.

When I returned to Bentley, I turned the fan on upstairs to help pull the cool air through the windows and downstairs, plus I put on the fantastic fan to help cool things downstairs.  I closed the back window where the sun was streaming in and in no time it had cooled off in here.

Next thing I knew the hummer was back and she was eating quite a bit.  They were very skittish the first day.  If anyone slightly moved, off she would go.  Tonight she doesn't seem to be bothered at all.  She must have been hungry....and then....just like that, she was gone.

Dean returned from the garage a short time later. He mowed today and wanted to take a shower.  The grass does seem to find him.  Lol!  

At 5:40 I called in an order to MJ's in Altamont, KS.  They had a special tonight of two cheeseburgers, homemade french fries, drinks (Pepsi & Dr. Pepper) and a side order of fried okra.  It was all delicious and we ate way too much. 

Afterwards we took a ride around town, then traveled south of town to the Altamont Lake and RV sites.  

On the way we passed the farmhouse my step-dad's parents lived in, Grandma and Grandpa Long.  I wish I would have thought to take a picture of it, as some of the family follow the blog.

Altamont Lake - RV park across the water.

Second RV park includes sewer hookups.

As we drove down 11,000 Road back to Oswego, we noticed a deer in the pasture to our left.  Dean slowed and as I took this picture two more deer ran past the one that just stood and looked at us.  I was able to take this picture of them.

Three deer near the tall tree toward your left.  Enlarge the picture if you cannot see them.


 We returned to the RV Park and enjoyed this sunset!

Evening Sunset

I'm feeling a little better this morning so hopefully I won't need another appointment tomorrow.  Good night!  It's been a long two days but I'm feeling more like myself.  Moving a lot today has helped.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - Morning Walk; Hummer Continues to Visit; More Irises; Thunderstorms; Brilliant Sunset

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - Morning Walk; Hummer Visit; More Irises; Thunderstorms; Brilliant Sunset

I woke up at 3am, and realized why, I was cold.  I like to leave my window open at night, if it's not too cold.  While it is comfortable downstairs during the evening, when we go to bed it's often warm upstairs.  I need to remember to close the door before we go to bed.  Our windows slide up and down upstairs.  I don't always want the window open all the way as it lets in too much air.  Years ago I discovered a wine cork propped in the window is just the right size to let some air flow in.  I've used that same cork for at least 5 years or more.  

I was able to go back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 4:30.  I headed downstairs to make the coffee.  I forgot to prep the coffeepot before I went to bed.  Fortunately I had filled the Brita pitcher earlier in the evening so I didn't have to wait for it to run through before I could add the water.

It was 60F outside by 6am and the birds are chirping away.  I love listening to them.  I hope our hummer keeps returning and brings a friend or two with him.  So far we've only seen a male at the feeder.  We've seen blue jays, blue birds, and cardinals in the trees out our front door, and of course robins and other common birds.  I'm pretty sure I have heard an oriole but I haven't seen it yet.  While we were walking in the park Friday we saw our first oriole of the year, however, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture.  They are so pretty.

Our forecast today is calling for late afternoon and evening thunderstorms, with temperatures reaching 78F, then dropping to 51 overnight.  At least we will be able to walk this morning.  We met Misti in the park at 7 and did our two miles.  It was nice to visit with her while.  She likes to pick the pace up and we did the 2nd mile in under 18 minutes.  I can't believe we were walking 17 miles per minute and a few times under 17 per minute.  We need to step it up!

I thought we were out of fruit for our morning smoothie/protein shake, however I remembered I froze some strawberries a week or two ago.  With those, I had enough with the remaining mixed berries for this morning.  However, when I went to get ice later I found a bag of frozen mixed berries on the other side of the freezer, so we will be good through April.  We've spent much more on groceries than normal this month, but we did not dine out as often or buy as much fuel either.  All in all, the expense overall probably will not change too much.

I looked up and there was our hummer.

Our hummer!

Dean headed to the garage around 9:30.  I started looking through pictures while he was gone.  The tub I chose to bring home is mostly snapshots.  Many of them I'll sort by child, including a date if I have it, scanning in the best ones for our own memories, and giving the originals to the kids to do with what they want.  I've kept most of the pictures in the original envelopes, and most are dated.  I've added several new pictures to the album in Photomyne.  I'm still learning.  Today I discovered you do not have to take pictures one at a time for a group.  Instead you can lay as many on an area as possible and take a picture of the whole lot.  The program will crop each one and they show up perfectly in the album.  It is amazing.  If I find a CD I will download it directly to my Google Photos, and divide the pictures up with the kids.  It's going to be a long process but I've found it to be a little simpler than I expected.

When Dean came home for lunch he brought me some more irises.  These are a light purple.  Since it is supposed to storm here, I followed him back to the garage after lunch to cut several more.

Our hummer has been back numerous times today.  It was just on the feeder several minutes ago for well over a minute.  I took pictures but it was too far away to get a good one.  I believe this was the female - it had no color to it.  We've see both the male and female today.

Dean just walked in the door (4:12pm).  He was only here a minute or two when it started to rain.  It didn't last long.  I think most of the storm is supposed to go south of us, and I hope they are right.   The skies are sure dark and the wind is starting to blow but not too bad.

Outside our back window to the south.

Taco soup is what's for dinner tonight.  It's easy to make.  It makes enough we can easily get at least two meals out of it.  We like to add cheese, and for me a little Tabasco sauce too.  Of course we must have saltines as well.  

It almost didn't fit in my pan.

With a little cheese, Tabasco  & saltines!  Yum!

I had plenty of soup, so I sent Todd (my cousin and RV Park owner) a text I had some for him if he'd like it.  He said yes he would; he'd be by soon.  The storm moved in about 5:15 or so.  There were a few big gusts that gave us a couple of big shakes, then the rains came.  It sounded like it was hailing, but I could not see any on the ground so I think it was just very heavy rain drops.  Todd has been so busy.  The park is still full, with workers coming and going for various projects in the area.  I'm glad for him, and yet again he's on the run all the time.  A one man show!

Todd didn't make it here before the sky opened and it poured.  (He just picked the soup up at 6:55.) The rain didn't last long - maybe 40 minutes.  While he was here he told us we had just under an inch of rain in that short time.  We were keeping an eye on the weather report on TV, and a few places on the map where it indicated conditions could result in a tornado, but I don't believe any ever materialized.  We are thankful for that.

I was sitting here waiting for the last of my pictures to download to Google photos when I happened to glance out the back window.  Another beautiful sunset that made these trees burst with color.

 The sun shining on the trees east of us.

Sunset behind the trees.

What a beautiful evening it turned out to be.  Thank you so much for following along.

Monday, April 27, 2020 - Morning Walk; Cleaning; Phone Call; More Cleaning; Laundry; Dean Golfs;

Monday, April 27, 2020 - Morning Walk; Cleaning; Phone Call; More Cleaning; Laundry; Dean Golfs;


We went to sleep with the windows slightly open in the bedroom last night.  It was just a little stuffy inside.  We sleep better if it is a little cooler at night.  I woke up when my phone went off this morning at 5:30.  This staying home all the time is not good for me.  I sleep later than I prefer.

At 7:15 we got around to walk.  Cindy had to work this week, so there was just Dean and I and some friends walking in the park this morning.  I meant to call Misti to invite her to walk with us this week, but forgot to do it.  I'll call her later this morning and invite her to join us the rest of the week.  (I did that and she is going to walk with us in the morning for sure, at 7am).

Morning sunrise in the park

These irises are so pretty.

These pink and yellow irises are pretty as well.

After we returned I made our shakes, using a bag of frozen mixed berries this morning.  One of my favorite fruit choices.  I am about to run out of frozen fruit again.  It looks like I will be doing one more grocery trip this month.  It's frozen and fresh fruit/vegetables that I need the most.  I do have a few other things on my list but they can wait until after the first of the month.

We have been eating apples almost every day for lunch and as I've mentioned before we eat peanut butter with them.  Dean doesn't really like peanut butter however lately, he has acquired quite a taste for it.  If I could just convince the grand-kids that it really does work to keep tasting something, wouldn't that be great? 

Dean left to go to the garage at 9.  When he left I started cleaning - washing dishes, dusting, vaccuming, then changing the sheets and washing the ones I took off the bed.  It felt good to get that done and things spruced up a bit.  

About half way through my work, I stopped and called my cousin to visit a bit.  She had sent me a text yesterday after reading the blog, and I didn't have time to respond when I saw it. I forgot about it until later in the evening, so I wanted to follow up with her.  We had a really nice visit and it was good to catch up.  She keeps in contact with a few other cousins and she also brought me up to date with them as well.  Actually Martha is my dad's first cousin.  They were not too far apart in age and her son, Randy and I are close in age.  I loved going to her mom and dad's, Aunt Inola and Uncle Bill's, with my Papa and Nana Blackledge when I was younger.  Aunt Inola was Nana's sister.  Sometimes Randy would be there visiting and it was fun to have someone to play with.  

While working on the puzzle I had piled things up on the desk.  This morning all of it was put away.  Now it is nice and neat, just the way I like it.  (It probably won't last long, but it looks good right now.)  

I was working on the blog when Dean returned a little after 11:30.  He wanted to empty the tanks before he ate lunch.  Once he was finished and had cleaned up, I made our lunch.  We are out of celery and almost out of carrots, so I added a few more things to my list for tomorrow morning.

We will warm up the two leftover hamburgers for tonight's dinner.  I'll make some baked beans to go with them later this afternoon.  

Dean called our grandson Tucker this morning to see if he wanted to play golf this afternoon.  They decided to meet at the golf course at 1:30.  It looks like it could rain so I hope they are still able to play.  If not, they could always come back here so we could all visit.

After we scared the hummingbird off twice yesterday, we were talking about it later.  I suggested it might be nice to put the bird feeders out at the lot.  I would enjoy coming down there to sit outside near the feeders while I either read or work on the blog.  We might do that soon.  If he needs me to help him with something I'll be nearby.  He submitted a request to Dig Safe to have all of the utility lines marked.  He has decided he wants to get the water hooked up.  He wants to power wash the concrete around the garage, then he wants to paint it a dark gray to match the metal siding we recently added.

He recently ordered a rubber strip to go on the floor below the overhead door on the north side.  For some reason when it rains really hard, it is leaking under the door somewhere.  He got that put down last week, but he's still seeing a small amount of water.  It was a major improvement, but still somehow a small amount of water is slipping in.  He's got a few more ideas and I'm sure one of them will work fine.  He's got a good mind for figuring out problems and fixing them. 

It's 2:00 and all of a sudden it has started to really thunder and lightening.  I hope they get off that course right away.  It's also starting to rain.  Hopefully, they show up here before too long.  We've talked to Tucker but we haven't seen him for awhile so it would be fun to visit with him before he heads home.

Dean sent a text they were at the garage and they would be coming to the RV soon.  Good, I'm looking forward to seeing Tucker.  They arrived a short time later.  They never even made it on the course because it was lightning.  So they went to the garage to hit a few golf balls into Dean's net.  We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Tucker and catching up with all he's been doing.  I sure wish I had taken a picture of him.  Tucker drove Dean back to the garage where he had left the truck.  He returned a short time later.

I mixed together the ingredients for the baked beans. They went in the convection oven to bake for 30 minutes.  When the beans were close to being done I put some butter in my small frying pan and warmed up the hamburger patties on the lowest heat, turning them after a few minutes.  Our dinner was really good.  It didn't take long to do the dishes after such an easy meal.

We decided to take a ride to Altamont this evening.  We enjoyed just riding around and looking at houses.  

It looked like it was raining in the west as we headed that way.  

After returning to Bentley, we at the last two pieces of carrot cake.  Dean said the icing was perfect.  He said I didn't need to change it, but he was glad the cake was gone now as well.  While the flavor is great it is way too dry.  I hope it turns out better the next time I make it.

After washing the dishes I set down in my chair, and there was our little hummer back at the feeder.  He stayed for awhile but not long enough for me to get my phone ready so I could take a picture of him.  Hopefully I can get one soon.

It's nearly 8.  My eyes are starting to get heavy and I want to read a view of my fellow bloggers blog posts from the past couple of days.  Good night all!

Sunday, April 26, 2020 - Slow Start Morning; Online Church; Visitors; Finishing the Puzzle; Dean Golfs; Outside Grilling

Sunday, April 26, 2020 - Slow Start Morning; Online Church; Visitors; The Puzzle is Finished; Dean Golfs; Outside Grilling

We slept in this morning - it was after 6:30 before I got up to turn on the coffeepot.  We stayed at Cindy and Elmer's way too late last night, but we sure had a good time laughing.

Dean headed to the garage fairly early.  I did my morning chores, before I showered.  I was trying to get done in time to set down and join our online church at 11:00.  I was about half way through it (maybe a little more) when Haleigh stopped by.  She wanted to borrow some vanilla.  She decided to make french toast this morning and couldn't find any at home.  I sent her home with a new bottle I bought in Mexico earlier this year.

She stayed and visited for about 30 minutes or so and it was nice to have that opportunity with her.  I don't get to see her often enough.  I suggested she and Misti come over to have hamburgers for dinner.  After she left I worked on the blog for awhile, then I moved to the puzzle.  My goal is to complete it today so I can have the table and desk back.  

Dean returned at noon for lunch.  While we were eating I saw our first hummingbird on the feeder outside the back window.  I told Dean it was there.  When he leaned up in his chair to look, the hummer must have seen him because away he went.  I'm just excited one finally showed up.  I hope there will be more to follow.

Cindy called to see what I was doing this afternoon - I told her I'm only working on this puzzle.  I told her I was determined to finish it today so I can put it away.  I have enjoyed working on it very much, it just takes up a lot of room.  

When Dean returned from the garage he brought me two pieces of paneling we had left over from a lake RV project over 15 years ago.  He doesn't throw anything away, but today I was glad he had it.  It allowed me to put pieces on two smaller boards, and I didn't have to dig through the box of puzzle pieces anymore.  That was a real plus, as I started finding pieces much faster.  

Elmer called Dean and they are going to golf at 3:00.  I texted Haleigh that it might be closer to 6:30 before we eat.  Later, she texted Misti was home and hungry.  She didn't want to wait to eat that late, so I told them we'd get together another night this week.  

Cindy came over and helped me finish the puzzle.  I left it out until Dean got home so he could see I really did finish it.  Those boards sure helped get it done.  

The puzzle is done.  The light colored item to the right is one of the boards Dean brought me.

Afterwards, we visited for another hour or so.  The hummingbird showed up again.  When I told her it was there, she leaned up from Dean's chair and again it flew away.  I think we need to move the feeder to a place we can both see it without moving.  I gave her a piece of the carrot cake, and she agreed it needed more wet ingredient added.  She thought the idea of adding a small can of crushed pineapple would probably work fine.  It will be awhile before I try it, since we need to have something that isn't so sweet for a few nights, so we don't raise our sugar level too high.  It will be back to sugar free pudding for a few nights.

Dean returned from golf around 6 or so.  He turned the grill on, and I made the hamburger patties.  While he was cooking them, I sliced an avocado and tomato. We used our Banderita tortillas to wrap the burger and veggies in.  They were absolutely delicious.  I still had a few Pringles left so we added those to our plates and it was a perfect meal.  Later we had another piece of cake.  We have enough for one more serving tomorrow night.  It's too good to throw away, but I'll be glad when it is gone. Lol!!

It was 7:15-7:30 by the time we ate and I cleaned up, so I missed calling in to our evening church service tonight.  Next week we need to plan better!

I finished up work on the blog for the previous two days and posted it.  That was a good feeling.  I had quite a few pictures to make changes to so it took awhile to get it all completed but it's worth it.  I will enjoy looking back on these posts in the future, with reminders of good times an good friends.

Saturday, April 25, 2020 - Morning Phone Call, Breakfast Pickup, Puzzle Craziness, Afternoon Phone Call, Dinner Leftovers, Visit with Family, Rain and Rainbows!

Saturday, April 25, 2020 - Morning Phone Call, Breakfast Pickup, Puzzle Craziness, Afternoon Phone Call, Dinner Leftovers, Visit with Family - Phone and In Person, Rain and Rainbows!

My son Marc took this picture of the rainbow at their house from his shop.

Cindy and I often talk early in the morning and today was no different.  We visit about a number of things and just enjoy our visits.

We could tell it was going to be a beautiful morning.  Even though we have had quite a bit of rain it has been mostly showers here and there.  Those are great.  I don't even mind the rain during the day, unless I need to get out for some reason.  I can always find something to do.

Dean had mentioned yesterday that maybe we should order breakfast tomorrow, so I asked him if he still wanted to do that.  Of course he said yes.  I called Circle C and ordered Dean's normal request - 2 eggs/medium, has browns, sausage and wheat toast.  I wanted something different so I chose biscuits and gravy.  I was surprised how hot they were when Dean returned with them.  Granted it's not far to the cafe, but it seems like food cools quickly when you pick it up.  Not the case with this.  

After doing my morning chores, I put in a load of laundry, then set down to work on the puzzle I started.  I worked on it off and on throughout the day as I had time.  It is 1,000 pieces.  Much bigger than I typically do.  I'm addicted to it - and now I just want it done!  Lol!  

About mid-afternoon my cousin Jim called.  We had a nice visit, and reminisced about his mom and our Blackledge family.  He told me several stories about various aunts and uncles.  I would love to get with him and his wife Wanda sometime to go through Aunt Naomi's pictures and hear more of these stories.  I knew all of the great aunts and uncles but we were once removed in the family tree so we didn't hear all of the stories that he and his siblings did.  I'd love to scan pictures of each of the greats for a family tree too.

When Dean returned at 5, we had the last of our leftovers - I finished off the chicken and noodles and he had the orange chicken.  (That means I have to cook again!)  Afterwards, we had a piece of the carrot cake.  Despite the dryness the taste is really good so we are not having too much trouble eating it.  LOL!

Cindy called to invite Dean and I out to their house this evening and we had a great visit.  One thing about it is we always end up having a great laugh.  With Cindy, we always seem to laugh so hard, and at times I can hardly catch my breath.  She's so much like our dad.  He liked to laugh too.  Love those moments.

While we were there the wind came up, and then we had a nice rain shower.  While it was raining, the sun came out and we began searching for a rainbow.  There it was right outside their picture windows on the east side of the house.  Oh, wow, it was a double rainbow.  I tried to get a picture from inside.  It's not great, but I found two family/friend who posted pictures as well, so I'm going to include those too.

My friend Carolyn posted this - at their house - you can see the double rainbow in this one.

This is my picture taken from Cindy's front window.  The main rainbow is within the edge of the trees.  There are so many trees it was hard to get a good picture.  It looked much better in person than this picture shows.

I'm thankful for the beauty in our world - sometimes we have to look for it - but it's there.  Look at the green grass, the trees, beautiful rainbows, glorious sunsets.  God is so good!

Thursday, April 23, 2020 - Making a List and Checking it Twice....It Made Me Get Things Done

Thursday, April 23, 2020 - Making a List and Checking it Twice....It Made Me Get Things Done

Taken from the door of the RV as
 the sun was coming up this morning.

The temperatures this morning were about the same as yesterday, low 50's, however today there was more wind, so it was a bit breezy for our morning walk.  Usually after the first mile, if I have a jacket on, I'm ready to drop it at the car as we walk by.  Dean dropped his off, but I kept mine on until we finished walking this morning.  

The irises are blooming in the park, and the wind was blowing again this morning.

Cloudy skies.

It was a beautiful morning but still overcast - leftover from yesterday's rain I guess.  We headed back to Bentley and I made our shakes.  This morning we used frozen peaches with the vanilla protein.  They were delicious.  

After doing the dishes, making the bed, and just straightening up I hopped in the shower.  Late yesterday I made a list of things I wanted to get done in the next day or two.  I had three places I needed to stop today, besides the other items on the list.  Dean left for the garage and after my shower I left Bentley to run some errands.  First stop was at Dollar General to buy a new notebook.  I like notebooks that will fit in my purse.  I use them for all my notes, to make lists for to do's, groceries, info on new accounts I open and the passwords (for instance  Pizza Hut and Casey's, so I can order online, pay for it, then all I have to do is pick it up), phone numbers (which I eventually add to my phone), addresses, etc.  It's like a little day to day diary so to speak.  I'm about to run out of space in my last one.

Notebook - this is much smaller than it looks here.  The one I'm currently using is in the corner above.

I stopped at the drug store, found what I needed, paid and left (I was the only one shopping in the store, with two ladies checking out) then returned to Bentley.  As I was walking to the door, I realized I forgot to stop at the Post Office.  It was almost lunch time.  Since Dean would be returning from the garage soon, I decided to wait and do that later.  I am going to my sister's later today, and the Post Office is right on the way.

Dean continues to cut weeds, brush, limbs around the yard.  The lot is looking nicer all the time.  Many of the trees are overgrown and need major trimming, and some need to be removed.  The underbrush has grown for several years with no one mowing the area, so there are many small trees and thick areas of weeds.   He is trying to clean up all of the trees that we want to keep for shade.  Many of the trees had heavy vines growing on them.  The vines have apparently been growing for many years.  They are thick, even killing some trees and parts of others.  He sprayed the vines last year, then cut them near the ground to kill them.  It's really sad so much of it has grown out of control.

Dean has spent hours cleaning up this area. 

There were two sunken containers that we assume had some type of fish in them at one time.  When Dean tried to take them out, he found out they were full of mosquitoes.  He sprayed them a couple of times to kill them.  After it appeared they were gone, he finally got the ponds dug out of the ground.  Now he has two large holes that we will eventually fill with dirt.  They were full of water after yesterday's rain.  There are several native rock laid around this area.  We are not sure if we'll keep this area for a garden area or what.  There is still quite a bit of work to do.  All the rock needs to be removed and stacked aside, so he can get all of the small tree stumps out of there.  I have some friends that are amazing gardeners, and I hope to get some ideas on what to do in this area.  

The light purple irises are blooming now.

I called to inquire about a survey of the north and south sides of our lot this morning.  We have neighbors to either side of us.  Before we do any work to tear out or plant things, we want to know where our property lines are.  We will probably put some type of fence on the north side, with trees and bushes along the south.

I had half of the chicken I used to make chicken noodles leftover, so tonight I made orange chicken.  We really love this easy dish.  It's a bit high in sugar, so we don't have it often.  It's a treat when we do though.

I went to my sister's later this afternoon, then stopped at the Post Office on my way home to get the mail (the prescription I've been waiting on).

My daughter gave me several puzzles this afternoon, so I have something to fill my time (when I don't have anything else to do).  They are addictive to me.  Once I start them, it's hard to leave them alone.  



Friday, April 24, 2020 - Morning Walk; Sad News; Evening Rain; Amazing Sunset

It rained in the night and early morning so I didn't think we would be able to walk.  Fortunately, it quit a short time after I got up.  After our coffee, we decided we should head to the park and hope we could get in our 2 miles.  We were able to get in 1.9 miles before we made it to the car.  It never poured but it was raining enough we wanted to get out of it.

We had our morning shakes, then Dean headed to the lot.  I did all of my morning chores, then I selected one of the puzzles Misti gave me and set about working on it.  Oh my goodness, I would get up to go do something, and before I knew it was hovering over it again, trying to find a few more pieces.   I put the border together except for a few pieces I didn't find the first time through and tried to work on a certain area for while.  I finally had to go through the box piece by piece to find those remaining border pieces. 

Around 9:30 or I so I received a text from my cousin that my Great Aunt had passed in her sleep last night.  She has been in a assisted living facility for several years.  She turned 97 in March and was the only remaining sibling of my dad's father.  Aunt Naomi was very special to us.  She never missed one of our family reunions and loved visiting with all of the families.  We will certainly miss her.  

Aunt Naomi with my granddaughter Kamron and grandson Jaxson, June 2019.

 Kamron has an "old soul".  She enjoys visiting with older people, possibly because her mom's Aunt Sis watched her when she was just a small girl.  She connected with Aunt Naomi last year at our reunion.  I will cherish this picture!

Aunt Naomi with her cousins, Jane "Elmore" Becker, and Dave Elmore and his wife Irene.  My great grandparents Elmer Blackledge and Mary Maude "Elmore" Blackledge where Aunt Naomi's parents.  Dave's parents were George and Ruth Elmore.

Aunt Naomi with Dave's wife Irene.

My Papa (Merle) had several siblings and I loved them all, but we spent quite a bit of time around Aunt Naomi and her husband Noe.  Besides an older daughter, she had two younger boys Jim and Joe who were close in age to Cindy and I.  They lived in Pryor, OK, a little over an hours drive from Chetopa, KS where my grandparents lived.  We made several trips there on Sunday afternoons to visit for a few hours, and we both enjoyed spending the day with our cousins.  The family maintained the farmhouse that my great grandparents owned for many, many years.  Several times a year, the family would gather there for weekends.  It was always fun for us as it was out in the country, so there was lots of room to run and play.  Those get together's went on for many, many years. 

Dave's mom (In the picture above), Aunt Ruth Elmore, put together a few family reunions and they were always well attended, but as her health declined we didn't have any for awhile.  My sisters and I used to gather at my dad's for his birthday on June 3.  Over time, he started inviting family (both the Blackledge's and the Duncan's - his dad and mom's families) to attend his birthday gathering.   The gathering started getting larger, so my sisters and I started inviting everyone to join us at the park in Oswego (where we walk) the first Sunday in June - keeping it in conjunction with Daddy's birthday.  We did that until my dad's health began to decline.  With COPD he couldn't take the humidity we often had, so we started holding the reunions at the Community Center.  For my sisters and I, we have now lost all of our great aunts and uncles.  I feel very blessed to have had them around for so many years and we have enjoyed such a rich heritage with them.  Spending so much time with my grandparents at a young age, gave me the opportunity to know them all and have a great respect for them and the importance of family.  Times have changed though, and I wonder how many years we will be able to continue our gatherings.  I hope we still have many more reunions in the future, but as we age, where will it go?

I prepared our light lunch when Dean showed up almost on the dot at noon.  He prefers something light since he'll be going back to the lot to work afterwards.  After an episode (or two) of Gunsmoke he left. 

We were out of "desserts/snacks".  I was inspired by a fellow blogger, Patsy, to make a carrot cake after I saw a picture of hers in a recent post.  I googled a recipe for one that would fit an 8x8 or 9x9 cake pan.  I decided to go with the bigger pan, which ended up being a mistake.  It was just a bit too much pan for the batter the recipe made.  After it cooled, I made the cream cheese frosting, which tasted better after it had set in the refrigerator all afternoon. 

I worked on that crazy puzzle all afternoon, in between doing a chore - cleaning the bathroom.   I had to make myself get up.  I told you they were addictive. 

A little after 4, I decided to drive to the lot to see what Dean was up to.  We've had so much rain I parked near the road.  I didn't see him working anywhere, so I walked down to the garage.  The side door was open, so as I approached I said, Hello.  He immediately started laughing and said you caught me doing nothing - again!  I rarely find him doing nothing, but it's not the first time he's been sitting in his black office chair, with his feet up watching TV.  That's what he did in the sticks and bricks house too.  Of course, he'd worked all day long outside, so I think he deserved a chance to rest.

I wanted to take some pictures of the lot, so we walked out to take a look.  Just to give you an idea of the undergrowth and how it's grown up around the property.

to the north from the garage.  The trees go clear to the highway - probably 100' or more.  We will eventually weed out the underbrush and smaller trees and try to save the larger ones if we can.  If not, we'll leave some of the smaller ones.  We will leave a strip of several feet to provide a break between us and the highway.

Heading toward the west - there are some nice trees in here, but many of them are several trees grown together like the one on the right.

The pine tree in the front on the left will be taken down.  It is in the way of where we plan to park Bentley - but the one behind it we will try to save.  The one in front doesn't look to bad in the picture, but it's pretty rough looking close up.

Believe it or not, there is a large pine tree in the middle of this, it has trees growing up around it.  The tree is wrapped with poison ivy roots that killed the pine tree.

Deer tracks - they must have visited last night or early this morning.

The two trees above are ones Dean spent cleaning up today.  There was all kinds of underbrush and weeds around them, like the one below.

These are other trees on the lot that still need to be cleaned up.

I took this picture while standing across the road from the lot.  It is one of the biggest areas that will require clean up.  We will take this tree down as it is also a mess.  This is where the drive to pull Bentley on to the lot will be.  The area behind this is pretty level and is plenty large enough to park Bentley and build a house.  Much of the remaining lot slopes to the east and south.

Notice the concrete pad next to the tree.  We have no idea what this is.  The property has sewer access, so we are not sure what it is.  Could it have been a well, an old septic tank, or what?  Dean is going to get a hold of a previous owner to see if he can tell us what it is.

A close up of the concrete pad.

This is the east side of the property.  Not too far behind the garage (maybe 50 feet) the land slopes down quickly.  The property beginning at the highway going south for .75-1 mile is on a bluff.   The strip of land right along the highway on our property drops at an easy slope, so we can walk almost to the bottom of the bluff.  I believe that strip was part of the old highway.  Some of the homes further south have amazing views of farmland below.  Since our property does not go that far east behind the garage, (it remained with the original property owner) we will probably never have that kind of view. 

These pictures are closeup of the areas where Dean took out the old "fish ponds".  Small trees had grown wild here for years.  You can see all of the stumps that he is going to have to remove.  You can see some of the native rock in the top picture.   

I headed home, and Dean arrived a short time later.  I warmed up leftover chicken and noddles for our dinner.  We had 2 biscuits left from a couple of nights ago, so we each had one of those as well.  After cleaning up, I was back at that puzzle.  

According to the time on this picture it was 5:40 when Dean commented on the cloud outside the back window.  I was so engrossed in my puzzle I had not noticed.  

(Sorry for the lights from the RV reflecting in it).  

In a short time the wind came up, then here came the rain.  It continued for an hour or more.  

At 7:00 I pulled out the carrot cake and cut each of us a piece.  Well, the flavor is great, but the cake was dry and very disappointing.  The cake needed to be in a smaller pan, but I still think it would have been dry.  I like pineapple in my carrot cake, so I think next time I would add a small can of crushed pineapple.  The icing was okay.  It called for 3 oz of cream cheese, and I think 4 would have given it a bit more creaminess, and cut the sweetness of the powdered sugar just a bit.  It is edible but that's about all I can say for this one.  Live and learn!

I was back at the puzzle, when Dean said, Wow, there must be an amazing sunset tonight.  I looked up and out the back window - it was glorious!  I had to run outside to take pictures (at 7:55pm). 

These are the photos the the east (you would have thought the sun was shining in a blaze).

These are the photos to the west (no sun visibly shining), but it was peeking through somewhere.

What a way to end the day!

I am so thankful for our Heavenly Father who provides us with such amazing beauty!  He really put on a show for us tonight!  I am still in awe!