Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - Morning Walk; RAIN; Staying Inside Today

Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - Morning Walk; RAIN; Staying Inside Today but Keeping Busy

You can barely see them.  It's probably just as well, as they may not approve of me including them!!

After going to sleep in my chair and to bed early, I was awake around 4:30 this morning.  I laid there for awhile before I got up to make the coffee, then put a load of clothes in the washing machine.  After reading my devotional, I made a list of things I wanted to get done for the rest of the week.  

At 7:15 we headed to the park for our morning walk.  My sister and daughter have been walking together in the park this week.  I took a picture of them yesterday but forgot about it.  That is the picture above.

It was cloudy this morning, but what was left of the sunrise was still very pretty.

I took a few pictures this morning as we walked.  The Oswego Parks & Community Foundation purchased these banners several years ago.  They feature various landmarks located in the park and community.  

In the upper left corner shows a portion of the Overlook in the park.

The buffalo (shown below) are at the top of the banner.

The sign in the background is our City Welcome Sign at the three main entrances to Oswego.

In the background is part of the Neosho River Bridge, located below the park bluff.

At the bottom is the Indian sculpture located in the park.

As we left the park I told Dean we needed to stop by the garage to pick up some fruit from the freezer, however neither of us had our key.  When we returned I told Dean I would make breakfast burritoes instead.  That was one of the things I bought yesterday at our local grocery store.  We really love the La Banderita brand of low carb tortillas.  We haven't had any in months.  I bought two packages.  They have a long shelf life (6-7-20) which is great.

It started raining not long after we returned from our walk and it has rained off and on all day, many times with some lightening involved, but other than a few heavy showers it's been just a steady somewhat light rain most of the day.

It wasn't long and we were enjoying our breakfast burritos.  It was nice to have the tortilla to wrap them in.  Timing was perfect as the clothes were damp dry just as I finished my breakfast.  I hung them in the shower to finish drying with a fan on them.  When it is sunny, the shower "skylight" provides enough heat to dry them pretty quickly, but on a cloudy day they need a little help.  I still had another load to do, and they were done before lunch.

After getting my daily chores done, I started working on the blog.  I do not like getting behind, but things happen and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.  Dean came back at noon.  I warmed up some leftovers for him and I had the last of the egg salad.  We will have chicken and noodles again tonight.  We both love them, so we won't mind eating them at least two more times. 

At 4:20pm the rain has stopped, however, I do not believe it is over.  The forecast for the rest of the evening ranges from 70-90% chance of rain.  It was 57 when I got up this morning and it dropped to about 53 shortly after we walked.  It's now at 58 and it looks like it will remain between 55-58 until tomorrow morning.  The rain just started again.  While it's not that cold, it feels like it without the sun pouring in through the windows like it did yesterday.  

Puddles of water, but the grass is Green!  😊

I decided to make no yeast rolls to have with dinner tonight.  It literally takes 10 minutes or less from the time you get the ingredients out, mix it up and put everything away.  I love EASY recipes.  (Update:  I thought I saved the same recipe I've been using to Pinterest, but it wasn't the same one.  The recipe was exactly the same ingredients but the temperature to cook it at and the time was way off.  Needless, to say that recipe is no longer in my Pinterest account.  I'll refer to my cookbook from now on, but they turned out okay, even though I had to cook them a little longer the second time around.) 

After dinner, Dean watched TV while I worked on the blog and played a few games of Free Cell on my phone.  

I've got a few break apart white chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies in the convection oven.  We'll have those with a dab of ice cream on the cookies have cooled a bit.  I'll have to make a new dessert tomorrow night.

Good night from Oswego, Kansas.

Monday, April 20, 2020 - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - Staying Busy Makes the Days Go By!

Monday, April 20, 2020 - Staying Busy Makes the Days Go By!

It was 5:30 or later before I woke up this morning.  After coming downstairs to turn the coffee pot on I checked the temperature - 51.  Not too bad.  I turned the furnace up to 72 to take the chill off, and it was soon quite comfortable.  

After having our morning coffee we headed to the park to walk.  What a gorgeous day!  The sun was shining, the birds were singing and people were walking.  Everything seems like it should be right in the world!  

We walked our two miles, visiting the entire time, as we usually do.  Another gorgeous morning.  No wind as you can see in the picture below.

No movement of the flag.

Pretty morning.

The Rock - in High School kids used to carve their initials on this rock.  I'm sure you could still find a few of them.  It has sure worn down over the years.

Misti and Dean made plans yesterday evening while we were at the golf course to play golf at 2 this afternoon, but while we were walking she called and suggested changing it to 11, because there was a chance of rain this afternoon. 

When we returned I made our morning shakes, washed the dishes, put a load of towels in the washing machine, stripped the bed then moved to the kitchen.  Dean had already headed to the garage and I started in on my list for the morning.  I bought some grapes and strawberries at Sam's the other day - they looked so nice, but I've not had a chance to do anything with them.  So I pulled both of those containers out as well as a stalk of celery.  An hour later I had 3 - two cup packages of cut up strawberries in the freezer, a plastic container of grapes picked and washed, and a bag of celery sticks cut up for snacks/lunch.  Next I pulled out the Instapot, added a cup of water and my steam rack, then placed a dozen eggs inside.  I left it to do it's magic.  When it was done the eggs went in an ice bath.  After I washed dishes, I made egg salad with six of the egss, and six more were made into deviled eggs.  Next I removed a whole chicken from the freezer and set it in a pan to begin thawing for our dinner tomorrow night.  After getting everything cleaned up in the kitchen, I headed back upstairs to make the bed.  By now the towels were done and put away, and the sheets are now in the washer.

I was glad it was time to sit down and have lunch.  After my lunch, I opened Dean's computer and finally figured out how to use it - it's been a long time since I've had to use his.  I inserted the CD of pictures from Christmas 2005.  They came up right away, now to try and remember how I get them uploaded to his Google photos, so I can send them to mine.  It's been quite awhile since I've done that too, but it wasn't quite as difficult as I thought it might be.  I downloaded the entire CD to Photos, then picked out my favorites and moved those to an Album, December 2005.  All in all it is faster than taking the picture with either of the photo apps I found.  It will save me much time as I go through these.  Unfortunately there will still be plenty that will need to be scanned in.

I called Cindy, but she was on the phone and said she would call me back.  I wanted to take the grocery items I bought to her.  I also took her little chopper back to her along with the pecans she gave me.  I was hoping when she put it together it would work for her, and sure enough it did.  She had to be more forceful putting it together than Dean and I did.  We were afraid of breaking it, but I was sure glad it worked, and I had not broke it.  She said it was harder to put together than it's ever been.  After she got it together, she chopped my pecans and it worked great.  That is an item I have on my "wish list".

I watched an episode of Trisha Yearwood's Kitchen while I ate my lunch.  She was making some giant meatballs.  Instead of cutting up veggies to put in it, she used a food processor.  I think I could do that with a small chopper similar to Cindy's (maybe a 3 cup rather than 2) using one veggie at a time, then mixing them.  It included carrots, celery, onion and garlic.  They looked delicious.  

When Cindy called me back, I took her stuff out and we visited for a short time.  I made a quick stop at the drug store but they didn't have what I was looking for, then I headed to our lot.  Dean and I walked it again, talking about what to clear out, etc.  We are anxious to get more of the "brushy" areas cleaned up and get grass growing.  We took pictures of the trees and bushes trying to figure out what they were.  There are several that are not familiar to either of us.

This the area where the greenery is laid down like something has been laying in it.  I took a picture of these, then checked Google Lens to find out these are lily's.  

More iris' getting ready to bloom - looks like they two will be purple.

Tonight we are ordering our "dinner" from another business here in Oswego.  Casey's General Store has pizza and sandwiches.  I did not realize until recently they had other food options.  We both decided to try the bacon cheeseburgers.  They were quite large and we'd order them again.  More than anything we want to help our local businesses.  We need them!!  I hope some of the non-essential businesses will also be able to open soon.  Time will tell.  In a small town like ours a good number of the businesses remain open which is good for our community, but the one I know many of us miss is our hairdressers.  I was sure looking forward to seeing Marla when I returned.  I'll get by, but when I hear she's back in business, I'll be one of the first to call.  

I called my step brother Mike yesterday to wish him a happy birthday, but my call went straight to his voicemail.  I didn't leave a message, as I figured he would see my missed call and call me back at some point, but I had not heard from him.  I tried to call again this evening and again it went to voicemail, so this time I left a message.  After a couple of hours I still had not heard from him so I sent him a text and asked if he was there?  He responded Yes, I'm here, are you there?  Silly guy!  He called me a few minutes later.  I told him Cindy and I had both called him yesterday and since we had not heard anything from him (which is very unusual) I was beginning to wonder about him.  Evidently his phone is the problem.  The same thing happened when his son called him on his birthday.  He may be looking to upgrade soon.  Lol!

While it was a busy day, it was also a very good day!





Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - Still Staying Busy!

Sun coming up as I headed to the store.

I was up and ready to leave the RV this morning at 5:55.  I realized there were a couple of other things I needed at the grocery store, and since I was going I also wanted to have them slice some lunch meat for me; a pound of Fanestil party time ham, and hard salami.  We like both of these with cheese, veggies, nuts and fruit for lunch.  I'll freeze three batches and pull them out as we need them.  

The sun was shining this morning when we headed to the park to walk.  One of the things that makes the days better right now is seeing the sun shine!  It gives me hope that tomorrow WILL be a better day!

Everything is turning green and the trees are so pretty as their leaves fill them out.

After we returned and had our breakfast, Dean headed to the garage.  Today was "clean the washer day".  I decided to put about 1/2 cup bleach in this morning.  The original instructions I received said to use a cup, but when I called the company they told me I didn't need to use it.  I was surprised at the amount of suds that were generated by using the bleach.  I'm not sure if the bleach caused it, or soap build up in the machine somewhere.  Per the manual I received I put very little soap in the machine compared to the washer I had in our house.

It takes about 1.5 hours to run each cycle, and the instructions say to run three cycles.  It took all morning to do this.  In between cycles, I cooked the chicken I took out of the freezer yesterday in the Instapot.  It was the first time doing this but it worked wonderfully!  I didn't "roast" it since I was going to use the meat for chicken and noodles.  I added a cup of water, added my trivet, then added the chicken with the breast side up.  I set it on poultry, allowing six minutes for each of the 6 pounds.  Once the 36 minutes were up I let it do a natural release.  It was wonderful.  Very tender and juicy.  I let it sit to cool in a pan.

My daughter, Misti called around 10:30 to let me know she was picking Kamron (our granddaughter) up later to play golf with her and Dean.  She wanted to know if I would want Jaxson to stay with me, if it was okay with my son Marc.  I told her it would be fine and I'd call Marc to visit with him about it.  I was sure he would be fine with it and he was, and asked if I could help him with his daily homework.  Sure, I can!

Misti came by to pick Dean up a little before 1, and Jaxson stayed with me.  I told him we had to do his homework first.  While he wasn't real excited about it, he agreed.  I tried to make it as fun as I could for him.  Thirty minutes later and we were done.  He said he was hungry.  I asked him what he wanted....pancakes.  He really liked the ones I made him last week, so of course, we made pancakes.  I got the ingredients together and he stirred it up, then I helped him put the batter in the pan, then helped him turn each one.  I'm glad he enjoys helping and wants to be involved.  While he ate his pancakes, I picked the meat off the chicken.  After it went in the refrigerator for later, I put things away while Jaxson finished eating.  

Afterwards we played "Go Fish".  Always fun with him.  Then we decided to go for a walk.  It was such a beautiful day.  We saw a bluebird, and many robins.  He loves new things.  He chattered away the entire 1.5 miles we walked and I enjoyed having him along to visit with.  He is such a happy guy.  

We were almost back to the RV, when I saw a car pull up and watched Dean and Kamron got out.  We watched while they went inside, then I came up and knocked on the door.  It was after five so we gathered up Jaxson's things, then left to take them back to Parsons.  We had a nice visit with Kamron on the way back.  We missed Marc - he's been super busy trying to get projects done as well as preparing for their move to their new home in less than 2 weeks.  I know they will be glad to have it all done and settled, so they can return to a normal routine. 

As soon as we returned I started supper, and washing the chicken prep and lunch dishes, while the noodles cooked in the broth.  You just can't beat chicken and noodles for comfort food.  It was warm enough today we had to turn on the air conditioner for a couple of hours.  It cooled down as soon as the sun started to drop.  Having the air on long enough to take the heat out was nice since I was cooking inside tonight.  I was tired once dinner and the dishes were done.  I think I may have slept in my chair for at least an hour or more before heading to bed at 9:30.  I'm thankful for the day though, getting things done, and spending time with the grandkids.  I'm thankful Dean enjoyed his afternoon with Misti, Kamron and Haleigh too.  Haleigh just rode along with them, since she's not a golfer, but it's nice they all had the chance to visit.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 - On the Run All Day Long

Sunday, April 19, 2020 - On the Run All Day Long

I'm going to say right up front that even though we were busy, busy, busy today we loved every minute of it because it was all about our kids and grandkids.  We've missed them so very much and it was great to have some happy moments with them.

It was still really cold this morning - in the 30's again, but it warmed up to be a gorgeous, warm day.  While it was late afternoon before it made it to 68 or so, it was so nice to have warmer temperatures.

We had already planned to go to Brett and Emilee's this afternoon to see little Jameson as we have not seen him or his siblings since right before we headed south to Texas.  He's now a little over 3 months old and from pictures we can see he has changed so much.  

I made our breakfast shakes, did the dishes, then Dean showered, while I put the dishes away.  While Dean was in the shower, Brett texted to let him know he wouldn't be home when we came over, and asked if we were still be coming.  Dean told him he thought we would since we were looking forward to seeing the kids.  Emilee needed to go to the grocery store so he wanted to know if we would stay with the kids.  Well, I'll just say he did not have to twist our arms.

I was getting ready to get in the shower, when Misti called.  She needed some help with the prom dress they had purchased for Haleigh prior to school being shut down and the Jr/Sr Prom being cancelled for 2020.  Misti wanted to take her to several places around town and take some pictures; plus, they are going to have a ZOOM meetup with Logan, cousins and friends online.  I thought it was a great idea, making a really nice memory for her.

I took my sewing kit and we made a simple adjustment that I think is going to work just fine for her, and can easily be removed later if needed.  I stayed and visited with Misti for 20-30 minutes and it was great to have that time with her.  I tear up just thinking about it.  I've missed my girl!  She sent me home with a bag of lemon cookies she had made the day before.  They were very good.

Back home I showered, dressed, did my hair, put a little makeup on - the first time in weeks, then made us a quick lunch before we left for Brett & Emilee's at noon.  Our plan was to be there by 1:30.  Logen was happy to see us.  Emilee's sister Jordan was visiting.  She had brought them some chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.  Logen shared one with us, and they were amazing!  We visited for 20 minutes or so before they both headed out, following each other.  

Before they left, we were talking about the number of things that were difficult to find, especially toilet paper.  I told them we've had no luck in finding any.  Emilee called me from Walmart to let me know they had quite a bit of toilet paper, so she picked me up a 12 pack package.  While we are okay for another week or two, I was wondering if I'd ever find some again!  Lol...not really, but I didn't want to be down to our last roll before I needed it.

Static Electricity makes for a "hairy" scene

 

Here she is - a real cutie!

Jameson & Papa

Big sister helping out.

Something captured his eye

Logen and Jameson were both happy kiddos.  Logen entertains herself very well.  Jameson slept in Papa's arms for quite awhile.  After he woke up, they played for awhile, before Papa finally let me hold him.  He sure was a happy little guy, until shortly before mom returned.  I finally laid him in the little bassinet/playpen they had, thinking he might need a diaper change.  Right away he settled down and was just as happy as could be.  I wish I'd thought to take a video of him.  He was squirming around so much with his little arms, and at his waist that he looked like he was dancing.  It was the cutest thing.  

After Emilee returned and was putting away her groceries, she asked me if we needed Lysol or anything.  I didn't but I knew my sister was wanting some.  She said they had several cans at Walmart.  So, Dean and I ended up going to Walmart in Lamar before heading home.  We only got a few things but they were mostly items we've been looking for and haven't been able to find, so it was worth the trip.

We had no more left Walmart than Matt sent a text wanting to know if we wanted to video chat later.  We decided on 6:30.  We hurried home, and was trying to get Google Duo to open so we could connect when he called in.  We couldn't get a good picture with it so we tried either Facetime or Messenger, but we finally connected with a half way decent picture on both ends of the conversation.  We really had a good time visiting with the grandkids Josh, Sarah and Sam.  They had a lot to share this evening and we all had some good laughs.  

In the middle of our visit with Matt and family, Misti called.  She and Haleigh were heading to the golf course to take some final pictures and wanted us to come out.  We talked to Matt a few more minutes, hung up with him, and then hopped in the car to head to the Golf Course.  Unfortunately the sunset was nothing special tonight.  Often the sunsets in the open area are amazing.  However, Misti wanted a picture of Haleigh with Papa and I as part of the days pictures.

Our Haleigh Bug - love this girl!

I am so glad that I decided to buy a loaf of bread at Walmart.  I planned to freeze 4 slices to a bag, so we will have it when we want to have a sandwich.  We try not to eat bread often, but sometimes a sandwich is satisfying and so quick.  Since it was now between 7:30-8:00, I was sure glad we had some.  When we returned home, I made us each a grilled cheese sandwich, along with some pringles it was a perfect meal.  We were both pretty tired after such a full day. 

We are so thankful for family, especially our kids and grandkids.  It was a very special week getting to see most of the grandkids.  

Saturday, April 18, 2020 - What a Gorgeous Day it Turned Out To Be!

Saturday, April 18, 2020 - What a Gorgeous Day it Turned Out To Be!

It was in the low 30's when I woke this morning, causing a pretty heavy frost overnight.  We set the furnace a little higher than normal last night since it was so cold, although I had to turn things up quite a bit this morning to take the chill off downstairs.

There was not even a thought between us of walking this morning.  The weather is supposed to take a change for the better so hopefully we can start up again this week.  Before leaving for the garage, Dean went out to hang the hummingbird feeder on our back window where we can both see it from our chairs.  It's still a little cool out, but I decided to try it since there have already been sightings within 30 miles of us both to the east and west, as well as several areas north of us.

Today was a very frustrating time for me working on the blog post.  I could not get any pictures to post to the blog.  The pictures I took with my phone would not upload to google photos.  I tried several things throughout the day.  They finally showed up in the photos on Google Photos, however when I selected the ones I wanted to go in my April 2020 album,  the picture itself would never show up - just a gray space.  I restarted my phone, my computer, and even tried to post the picture directly from my phone but that did not work either.  I finally turned the computer off and left it for awhile.  When I came back to it later it still would not bring the pictures up in the album, and I still could not get the pictures to post from my phone.  This morning (Sunday, April 19) it worked as if nothing was ever wrong with it.  Has anyone ever had a problem like this? 

My phone also gave me fits yesterday.  My son and his wife are in the process of going through items they own...what they want to keep and items they want to get rid of before they move to their new home in 2 weeks.  They created a Facebook page where they provide a picture and the price for items.  I was looking at it to see if there might be anything we wanted.  I could scroll down maybe 5-7 pictures and then it would not go any further, with a circle arrow just sitting there spinning at the bottom.  I restarted my phone numerous times and it remained that way.  I finally had to use Dean's phone which worked fine.  I would think it was a Facebook problem but it worked fine on Dean's phone.

I spent quite a bit of time messing with it.  I had already cleared the cache from the apps on my phone a day or two before, but I did it again.  I have quite a bit of gigabytes remaining on my phone, so that was not the problem. A mystery!

Between that and laundry I kept myself busy most of the morning.  Shortly before noon I was thinking about lunch, when I remember I didn't have any more lunchmeat.  I had planned to call our grocery store here and have them slice a pound of it for me, but forgot to do that with the photo issue I was having.  I started going through the pantry trying to find something else to fix.  I had bought a box of Zatarain's "Dirty" Rice a month or so ago.  I decided to try it today.  It said to cook a pound of ground meat (hamburger, sausage, etc.), then add the rice to the meat with 2.5 cups of water and let it cook for 20 or 30 minutes.  I didn't use a pound, but added about 1/4 pound of sausage that I froze awhile back, and about 10 minutes before it was done I added a drained can of red beans, and a cup of frozen corn.  Dean had to wait a little longer than normal to eat, but we both thought it was pretty good.  Good enough we had seconds.  It is something I would buy again to have on hand.  There was enough left we can have another small helping each.

Dean did want a couple of things Marc was getting rid of, so we drove to Parsons after lunch to pick them up and pay him.  They have spent their weekends packing things up and going through the house and his shop.  They have one more weekend to work on it before they move on May 1.  We told them we would be glad to help them anyway we can.

On our way out of town, we decided to stop at Walgreen's to see if they had any toilet paper.  Nope!  It's just crazy how difficult it is to find it.  We are still good, but I don't want to wait until I really need it and then can't find any.

As I was looking at the pictures I want to scan to Google photos yesterday, I was reminded that several of the packages have a CD included.  When we were at the garage the other day, Dean commented on an item he found - it was a CD reader that could be plugged into a USB port on a computer.  I'm not sure if it will work on my Chromebook, but we decided to go to the garage and get it.  Hmmm...we went through box after box, and could not find it.  It was frustrating to say the least!  It was getting quite warm in the attic portion of the garage, so we left after spending nearly an hour looking for it.  I now remember one place we did not look, so we will go back tomorrow and check it out.  Hopefully, that will be where it is.  After all of our searching I sure hope it works!  

It reached the upper 60's yesterday - I think 68 was the high.  What a gorgeous day it turned out to be.  Dean grilled a chicken leg and thigh on the grill, along with sweet potatoes.  I heated up some carrots inside and we had a wonderful dinner this evening.  Other than looking at Marc's Facebook page I haven't been on Facebook much at all, so I enjoyed looking at different things my friends have posted over the last several days, and I did not seem to have any problems with it tonight.  One item my friend posted was of a woman sewing masks for people for the Coronavirus pandemic.  I laughed so hard I could have cried.  It is on YOUTUBE and is titled DIY Face Mask Tutorial With Kay.  Check it out if you need a good laugh. I had tears, and my neighbors probably wondered what was going on if they heard me.

Around 8-8:30 or so I said to Dean, I wonder how Logan (our grandson in the Navy) is doing.  A short time later Dean said, why don't you call him, so I did.  He didn't answer but about 15-20 minutes later he called us.  Talk about a way to end a wonderful day!  It was just so good to hear his voice and to catch up with him.   

Thanks for following along with us.  We love it when you leave comments.  

Today we are so thankful for the sunshine!

Friday, April 17 - What Happened to the Weather?

Friday, April 17 - What Happened to the Weather?

It was 46 degrees when I got up this morning.  We keep the furnace set at 68 overnight as we like it cool when we sleep.  When I get up, I turn the furnace up, as well as the fireplace to warm things up.  Normally it warms up within 10 minutes or so.  Around 7:15 I asked Dean if he wanted to walk.  I'm not sure either one of us really wanted to, but we changed our clothes and headed to the car.  I didn't realize it had rained, but it definitely had.  It felt cool outside, but we continued our drive to the park.  When we saw the flag flapping towards the south, we looked at each other, shook our heads, and left!  Yes, we are wimps!  With the wind it would have felt much colder there on the bluff than back at the RV Park.

When we returned I made our morning shakes, did the dishes, made the bed and set down to finish the Wed/Thurs blog post.  It was a busy two days so the blog was set aside quite a bit.  I noticed the temps had dropped to 40 when we returned.  (At 3:30pm it had only reached 45).  

Dean left to go to the garage about 10.  I read the blogs that I follow and commented on a couple, before starting to work on my blog post for today.  So far today, I've been a bit lazy, but don't feel too bad about it since I have nothing pressing to do.

Dean returned for lunch at noon.  I heard him pull in, so I started pulling things out of the refrigerator to make lunch.  Yesterday I bought a tub of Raspberry Chipotle Dip at Sam's.  I highly recommend it - it is  delicious!  Very creamy - and is great with crackers and veggies.

I mixed up some hummingbird syrup - using 1/4 c sugar and 4 parts water.  It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow with a high of 65, so we will put the feeder outside a window we can both enjoy watching.  We loved watching the hummers at our sticks and bricks.

Dean told me he was pretty sure he heard a turkey at the lot the other day, as well as some owls.  I am looking forward to being there to enjoy them too.  Besides the iris', there is something else very similar to iris foliage.   I'm not sure what it is, but it's soft and thick.  Something has been laying in the middle of it.  It is something fairly large for the amount of foliage that is flat on the ground.  We wonder if it might be a deer.  I told Dean we should get a field camera so we can see what animals show up there.

I watched a little TV this afternoon, but found it hard to stay with it.  It was so cold today I didn't even open the blinds.  It was just not warming up inside as much as I wanted it to.  

Our thermostat is on the wall as you go up the stairs, so when it gets warm upstairs the furnace shuts off and it is still cool in the living area.  I put a fan on the dresser in the bedroom, pointed it about 2/3's of the way towards the ceiling (it swivels up) and within an hour we were actually feeling somewhat comfortable downstairs.  I've put the fan on the floor in the living room before to move the air around, but this worked better to move that warm air downstairs.

The floor of the slide where our chairs and desk are located gets so cold.  I have a little knee pad I used when pulling weeds from our flower bed.  I put it on the floor with my feet on it.  It helps some, but when it dips into the 30's it's hard to get this area warmed up.  I noticed my friend Patsy talked about this same issue.  I asked her what tips she had found to help and I'm going to give them a try for next year.  Our weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday show highs of 64 and 66, with the remainder of the month being in the 70's.

It was about 2 when Dean left for the garage, but he returned a couple of hours later.  It was just too cold to be outside or even in the garage very long today.  

We decided to use the last of our polish sausage I bought at Aguilar's Meat Market in Mission, TX.  I sauted them in a small frying pan--it was too cold to grill.  We had a few chips with it.  I bought some sauerkraut so I will enjoy that on mine, as Dean does not care for it.  As I was cooking the sausage, the fire on the stove went out.  Dean had to go out and switch the propane tank over.  I'm glad it happened now and not in the middle of the night.  

After supper, he watched TV, enjoyed some chocolate pudding for a snack and I played some games on my phone, until I fell asleep in my chair.  Lol!  

I'm thankful the weather is taking a turn towards warmer temperatures, and I pray all of you are able to enjoy it very soon as well.

Wednesday, April 15 - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - We've Been Busy

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - Morning Walk and Another Busy Day for Us Both

It felt much colder when we walked this morning - at only 38 degrees; however, we managed to get our 2 miles in.  As we headed back to the RV Park, I noticed the Dollar General store didn't have any customers.  I dropped Dean off and went back so I could get a couple of birthday cards, plus I wanted to see if they had any toilet paper, paper towels and/or Dawn dish soap.  I managed to get cards and Dawn, but there were no paper products at all on the shelves.

The packages we received yesterday included the protein powder for our morning shakes.  I like chocolate but Dean prefers vanilla.  I made his first vanilla cream shake this morning with strawberries.  I took a sip to see how it tasted - and it was delicious.  

This morning before Dean headed to the garage, he cut the file rails to put in our file drawer.  The ones were had were at least 2, maybe 3" to short.  In addition, one of them was cracked.  The new ones are much sturdier.  

My daughter stopped by to drop off a sign my son was going to get rid of.  I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, Marc and his wife have sold their house north of Parsons, after buying a house in Altamont, approximately 15 minutes from us.  Marc and Jen had an online sale of items they were getting rid of.  This sign came up and I spoke up quickly that I wanted it - he didn't even charge his mom for it!  

My plan was to put it in the garage for safe keeping.  It is leaning against the end of the coffee counter a perfect fit.  I may leave it there - securing it if I do.

I made out the last of the birthday cards this morning.  Dean dropped them off at the post office on his way to the garage.  I noticed the dehumidifier had shut off and was full, so I emptied it.  

It seems like laundry seems to be an issue here lately.  I did two more loads today, and will have another one tomorrow.  With Dean working at the garage every day, often spending part of the day burning brush, his clothes need to be washed right away to get rid of the smoke smell.  In a small area smells like that can take over quickly.

After lunch, Dean headed back to the garage.  He spent most of his time cutting more brush and stumps today.  

Between washing, drying and folding clothes I grabbed the Endust and my dusting rag and moved through Bentley getting rid of the dust that seems to accumulate much faster than I think it should.   Lol!  After resting a few minutes I pulled out the vacuum and took care of the floors.  We are good for another week, or so!

The evening went fast after doing the dishes, then showering.  By the time I was done drying my hair, I had a hard time staying awake until 10.  


Thursday, April 16, 2020 - Shopping Trip; Jaxson Comes to Visit; Fun at the Lot; Surprise Finding; Quiet Evening

I was up at 5 to turn the coffeepot on, before getting ready to leave by 6.  When the coffee was done Dean and I enjoyed a cup of coffee, before heading to Joplin.  What a gorgeous sunrise we got to enjoy on our drive this morning.

We arrived at Sam's within minutes of 7am.  There were several cars but it was not crowded.  We quickly gathered all of the items on my list, scanned the items in on the Sam's app I have on my phone, paid on my phone, showed the QR code on my app to the attendant, she scanned one item and we walked out the door.  No contact with anyone.  We buy bulk nuts here every couple of months (almonds and peanuts), almond bars (Dean loves these for snacks - one box will go to the garage frig), and I was able to get two fresh rotisserie chickens while we were there.  No toilet paper, but I did buy a package of paper towels.  We prefer using 1 ply toilet paper for RV.  We found some at Walgreen's in New Mexico.  Maybe we need to revisit a Walgreen's somewhere.

We also made a quick stop at Walmart to pickup a call in order.  Again, they had no toilet paper.  The young man brought the grocery bags out and put them in the back of the car.  No contact with anyone.  We enjoyed a slow drive on a back road through the country on our way home.  It was very relaxing.

We were about 20 minutes from home, when Marc called.  He was running some errands and wanted to know if Jaxson could stay with us for awhile.  I had a moment of hesitation, but said yes we would.  It would have been a long day for him in the car with dad.  I had the groceries already taken care of before they arrived.  

We took him to our property so he could see Papa's garage and all of the work he has done at the lot.  We had a great time outside looking at the trees, and all of the work Papa has done.  He loved the flowers.  He found a maple seed and had a great time throwing it in the air and letting it fly down.  He had to explore the garage and see what there was to do.  We were blessed with a beautiful spring day!

When we left the lot, we drove through the park.  I was afraid Jaxson would want to play on the park equipment, but when I explained why he couldn't he knew what I was talking about and didn't argue or even sound too disappointed.  He loves the lookout, but someone was on it, so Papa suggested we go down to the river instead.  He was excited about going across the bridge and down to the dam.  It was especially fun because we got to watch a guy on the other side of the river catch a fish.  He really enjoyed that.  

When we returned to Bentley we opened the door and windows to let fresh air and the sunshine in.  (We still have two small windows open and it's almost 9:30pm.)  

Jaxson can be a picky eater, so I asked him what he'd like to have.  He likes chicken strips, but I didn't have any. I asked him if he liked pancakes, he said - yes he did, so as I supervised he mixed the pancake batter.  I got the footstool for him to stand on, then he scooped three small amounts of pancake mixture in the pan.  When they were ready, I helped him turn them.  I cut the pancakes up for him, then he put on the syrup.  It was a fun time for us both.  He enjoys helping out.

Clowning around!

We played "Go Fish", he colored some pictures, and then wanted me to draw him a picture of a Jumbo 747.  He amazes me at the things he is interested in.  I drew it and then he "fixed" it for me - his drawing was far better than mine!  He's very patient with me if I don't draw things correctly, showing me how it really should be.  He really has an eye for detail. I was surprised to see he was using his left hand to write/draw with.  I don't remember ever noticing that before.  My dad was a leftie, and so was Misti & Marc's dad.  

We ended up taking Jaxson back to Parsons, as Marc didn't have time to get back in time to pick him up before he and Jaxson had a meeting on Zoom with one of his teachers. They were getting it set up, so I just ran in and back out, but I was able to see Kamron for just a bit.

When we returned to Oswego we drove to the garage because I remembered something else I wanted to look for.  Last year I bought a hummingbird feeder that attaches to the window with suction cups.  Since we will be parked here for awhile, I wanted to get it up and see if we could attract a few.  I checked the migration map, and there are already hummers showing up near us.  While at the garage, Dean commented he still had not found the thermometer he had hanging in the garage, and the one we had outside at our previous home.  I have some really nice wind chimes I received as a gift from the city when I retired.  We have them stored in a special container.  I asked Dean if he might have put the thermometer in there, since the outdoor thermometer and the wind chimes were near each other.  Bingo - we found them!

For dinner tonight, I boiled some macaroni then added the remaining spaghetti sauce I made the other night.  Later we enjoyed chocolate pudding.  I worked on the blog until late.  At 11:30 we were both still awake, wondering why - when I realized what the reason was.  We stopped at McDonald's in Parsons on our way home and both ordered iced tea.  While we do drink caffeinated coffee in the morning, it is only 2 cups.  If we drink tea at home it is always decaffeinated.  We've done this a few times and every time we drink caffeinated pop or coffee after lunch we have a hard time going to sleep in the evening.  We've got to stop doing that!


I checked the forecast through the end of April.  It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow (Friday) with an overnight low of 31.  However, after that the forecast is mid to upper 60's, then in to the 70's through the end of April.  Overnight temps in the low 40's, then jumping to mid-50's.  We are sure looking forward to those temps - even if it does rain occasionally during that time.

I am so thankful for this gorgeous day, allowing us to be outside, as well as being able to open the windows, providing us with much needed sun and fresh air.