FROM NICE TO HOT!

We started out the month of Sept. by going to Red Lobster to celebrate Larry's

birthday with Dawn and Vince since Larry heard many of their restaurants were

going out of business and he wanted to go 'one last time'. 

I had a bruise and lump on my left breast and was able to get in to see Larry's

PCP the next day and he was most unhappy with my cholesterol numbers and

wanted me to have it tested again when he learned I was taking a new

supplement from a local heart doctor he knows. Long story short my numbers

were down over 100 points where they have not been in over 35 years! I was

thrilled to say the least! The bruise and lump turned out to be nothing of concern

after two tests so another PTL!

Todd came to see us on the 17th and since the weather was so nice, he came to

our area early and hiked the nearby mountain before visiting us. We had a great

visit. With the weather being so nice for a week I was able to get in walks each day and

improved my time each day as I got more accumulated.

Then the weather turned HOT (112º ONE DAY!) again so I went back to doing Silver Sneakers for my exercise.  

I have a new I-phone 16 after  struggling with the I-phone 12 for four years.  My body for some reason doesn't work well with

electronics and for the first week or so the new phone worked well but now has started to act like the old one!  It doesn't always ring when someone calls me or it won't notify me of a text all the time, most frustrating!

We went to see the movie “Am I a Racist” with Matt Walsh and it was hoot!

I tried to take a picture of the eclipse of the full moon but it didn't work that well as you cannot see the 'bite' out of the top left corner.

SEPT. ALREADY!

August is the month of birthdays for us.  We started off by meeting Todd and LaTia, Shane and Milli  at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate LaTia's birthday.  Great grandchildren Calvin and Milli next had birthdays on the 15th and 20th and last Larry's birthday was Aug 31st.  

                   LaTia and Milli at Texas Roadhouse

                       Larry, Shane and Todd at Texas Roadhouse

Larry has spent the entire month off and on working on the gas compressor he had years ago and got back after our old house was sold again.  He is trying to make it easier to use and it has been trial and error.  Some days were too hot and other days he was too tired but he thinks the end is in sight. 

    Larry working on the gas compressor

We went to the movies twice in one month, a new first for us!  We saw "Firing Squad " and "Reagan".  The Firing Squad is based on a true story and while a bit slow has a powerful message and Reagan was really good and makes one think about today's world situation.

We are very thankful for our new A/C and the summer was much more enjoyable with being cooler (even cold at times) inside!

I've been doing exercises inside with Silver Sneakers so I will be ready to start walking again soon when it is cooler outside. 

   The birthday cake for Larry's birthday

Not much going on this month

 So far we have caught four rats who have been eating my garden but now there is little left  of it, just okra and zucchini except the zucchini isn't producing anymore.  Very disappointing! 

One of the four rats we caught in the cage

We went to the movies again this time to see "Sound of Hope" a true story about a small town in TX where several families in a church adopted 77 children from all over TX who were considered the most 'unadopted' .  At the end they showed all the real families and the kids they adopted and how they are doing today--very inspiring!

Since it is July and half the year is gone, it is time to do my semi annual cleaning so I've washed all the throw rugs and bedspread and other items I don't wash that often and am so grateful that is behind me now.

Todd came for a visit on July 24 and we again had a great visit.  The cactus plant he gave me for Mother's Day has again bloomed and it is beautiful but lasts only one day!

The year is officially half over now

 We went to Valle Luna after church on June 2 and Larry liked it so well when Father's Day came he requested we go there again.

  Back from our Father's Day meal at Valle Luna

Todd visited us twice this month once on the 7th and then again June 18th for Father's Day. Both times we had really good visits.

Larry “repurposed” the old A/C and turned it into a fan to help bring the cool air from the bedroom into

the living area.  It is where the old front A/C was mounted on the roof and brings the hot air to the back.  This past month has been a trial and error month trying to get just the right

combination to get the right amount of cool air into the living area without freezing us in the bedroom.

I think we have finally found the right combination with a fan hanging on the bathroom door allowing

me to walk down the hall with no problems but Larry has to remember to walk to one side so he doesn't bump his head.

                   Fan on the bathroom door

      Repurposed old A/C unit now just a fan

Larry bought a trail camera and we found our garden thief was a rat (or two). We put out a steel trap with peanut butter and after three evenings caught a rat. Vince has had several rats drown in the pool.

Everything was OK for awhile but now again, something is eating on my garden so we will put the trap out again in hopes of catching the latest rat. Meanwhile we have enjoyed zucchini bread and zucchini meat loaf as the rats don't like the zucchini for some reason.

I've rediscovered our solar cooker (at Larry's urging) and we've enjoyed several meals cooked in it including salmon, hot dogs, potatoes, beets (from the garden) and carrots.

HOPE FOR A CHEAPER SUMMER

 We started May off with me baking Todd an angel food cake for his birthday and meeting them at Texas Roadhouse for lunch on the 4th.  It wasn't busy and we had a great time!

               Texas Roadhouse with Shane, Todd, Milli, LaTia

                          Todd's birthday cake at Texas Roadhouse

We had one meal of fresh peas from the garden and then I had to take the plants out because it was just too hot for them and there were no new flowers.  Something has been eating the leaves off first all the carrots, then the broccoli, then the cauliflower and now the Brussel sprouts so they are history.  However my one cherry tomato plant produced 500 tomatoes and is now dying.  There were 50 green tomatoes but whatever ate the leaves off the other plants ate most of the green tomatoes.  I'm so grateful 'it' didn't find the cherry tomatoes until after I harvested all those ripe tomatoes!  The zucchini plant is huge and has produced 7 zucchini so far.

                 Some of the bounty from my garden

Dawn and Vince took us out to Cracker Barrel for Mother's Day and then a few days later we took Vince and Dawn out to Texas Roadhouse for Vince's birthday.  Todd visited us the day the mini split arrived and that was good timing as he helped Larry unpack it and move it around.  He also gave me a cactus for Mother's Day that has a lovely 'trumpet' flower, something I've never seen before.

            Vince at Texas Roadhouse for his birthday

                                Mother's day gift from Dawn

                                      Us at Cracker Barrel

Trumpet flower on the Mother's day cactus from Todd

                                       Todd visiting on May 15

We made the decision to replace the RV A/C's with a mini  split A/C in the ceiling of the bedroom.  Larry did all the re-working except for the refrigerant which needed to be done by a licensed HVAC fellow.  Larry ran into all kinds of problems but we are praising the Lord for finding some serious mistakes so they are fixed now. 

Inside unit of A/C installed in the ceiling of the bedroom

Outside unit of the mini split A/C on the back of the MH

Larry building the frame for the mini split outside unit

 May 24 the HVAC fellow came out and hooked us up and BOY! what a difference!!   I checked last May one days usage against this year's usage with the new A/C and we used 40 kwh last year and 10 kwh this year!  That will really make a difference on the electric bill!

ALREADY HARVESTING

We started April off with rain and then some hot weather, way too soon! I saw a snake which I'm told is a good snake that will kill mice and rats. Todd visited us on April 2 and we had another good visit. On the 5th of April the

temperature dropped 20º which was most welcomed! 

   Beautiful AZ sunset I had to share
 

                                          Snake I saw

I again used Free Tax USA to file our taxes and am most happy with them. AZ had our refund in our bank five days after I filed which certainly was nice.

Since some windy days were predicted, Larry got busy and put up the last two guy wires to help our RV cover from swaying in the wind. He bought new drill bits and they made all the difference and the job went much easier than before. He is grateful that job is done! We did have quite a bit of wind afterwards and Larry could see the difference from our window when he looked out and compared the posts to the neighbor's wall.  

              Putting up the last guy wire

 It's getting hard for Larry to get up on the scaffolding!

My garden is doing well and we have enjoyed radishes, cherry tomatoes and zucchini from it. The zucchini went from three small leaves to a nice sized zucchini in 30 days! The peas will be ready soon and fresh peas are my favorite veggie so I'm looking forward to that.          

                       Peas about ready to harvest

                             Lots of ripe tomatoes

     

                       My first zucchini in 30 days no less!

GARDEN GROWING

 I started March off by planting my garden. This is the third year for my garden.

             My cherry tomatoes from last year

                                  Radishes

                Cauliflower and broccoli

                 Beets and Brussel Sprouts

                                 Peas

On March 3 we went through the car wash and it took off the driver's side wiper arm.  It got a little ugly and the manager called the police because we weren't leaving until we had the broken wiper arm in our hands. Someone else from the company came and he retrieved the broken wiper for us. The police arrived later and were very nice. We received the claim form and have had notice it was oked so we had the wiper replaced at Kia in Peoria. The day we went to Kia, Larry had a VA appt. so after his appointment we headed to Peoria and it started raining and was a real downpour!   I was petrified since the wiper on the driver's side was missing but as long as we were going 30-35mph the wind took the rain off and Larry could see OK. Anyway we made it OK and got it fixed and of course it stopped raining as we were driving home! The car wash people have promised a check this week.  

                    The mangled wiper arm

Todd visited us on the 12th and we again had a great visit. I'm so grateful we are again talking and

communicating when there were several years when the relationship was strained.  

       Todd and Larry just before Todd left

The 23rd I washed the driver's side of the MH (the side I see all the time) and just before I was finished,I was looking up to see if I missed any spots and tripped over Larry's rolling stool. Thankfully I didn't break anything but I did mess up my glasses (Costco fixed them for free) and I have several ugly bruises on my face and leg that are healing.   

                       Nice and shiny again

Larry worked inside as it was too windy to work outside so he finally put in 12 volt LED lights over

my stove and boy! what a difference!  I love them as I can really see better now to cook. 

                     Old light over the stove

               New LED lights over the stove

March 29 I harvested my first radish so that was really quick!  My cherry tomato plant (from last year

that survived the freeze we had) has gone wild and I have hundreds of green tomatoes and nearly as

many blooms. The peas are doing well and so are the beets so I'm looking forward to some good eating later on this summer.

                         My first radish this year