Great Start to Summer

 

I have been using my new B&D toaster oven nearly every weekend to bake cookies and cake and keep the heat out of the house so it is working well and we are enjoying homemade baked goods often.

I enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day with flowers from Dawn and Vince and phone calls from Todd, Shane and Cerét plus we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch after church.

 

For Vince's birthday we went to Olive Garden for supper and then back home for presents and to play Train.  For once Vince didn't win, Dawn did!

We had been talking about going down to one car since we just don’t drive the truck all that often (we’ve had it 18 months and have put 500 miles on it plus Larry discovered we can rent a truck from Lowe’s for $19 a day plus gas), and had thought about looking at new ones on Mother’s Day but ended up going to look on Monday May 10 and ended up trading in both the Smart car and the truck on a new 2020 Niro EV. So far we are very happy with our decision especially when we drive by the Costco gas station and see the long lines to get gas! With any new car, one has to add items to make it ‘theirs’ so we now have Tux-Mats installed. They are from Canada and really really nice! We had WeatherTech in the Smart but they didn’t show any for our new car so Larry found the Tux-Mats on the net and liked what he saw. I see Weather-Tech now has mats for our car but the back seat mats we have cover the front of the seat to protect from kids kicking it so we are very happy.

  Back seat Tux-Mat showing it covering the front of the seat

                          Front Tux-Mat

 

Larry had made more changes/improvements to the MH  and re-did the vents in the ceiling panel in the living area so we are getting a much better flow of cold air for more even temperature in the MH.

 Getting the cover ready to put back up (that was the hardest part!)

The solar panels are doing their job and the entire electric bill for both the Leones and Clarks was $60 which we happily paid.

Since we are staying in Phoenix fulltime now, Larry was concerned about the large walk gate and the post it closes on getting too much 'traffic' so he is putting in supports to make sure the gate doesn't cause any problems when it closes. He didn't want to attach it to the house because that would vibrate the house wall. The gate is next to the front bedroom and when Bethany was sleeping there she could hear the gate close and Larry doesn't want anyone to 'feel' it close too.

We ended the month with a going away pool party for our oldest granddaughter and family. It was a great time and the first time in six and a half years we were all together. At one time there were 13 people in the pool and it wasn’t crowded.

  Grandsons Shane and Alex and great granddaughter Anna

The family just before we all departed.  This was a one shot deal and it came out great!

Lots of Projects and Late Nights

We started April off with hiring José to move dirt from one side of the property to the other side because the wall was raised two blocks and we needed more 'foundation'. Then we taped all the seams on the shed trailer and Larry finished it off by painting two coats of sealant. It looks really great and we should not have any leaks for a long time!

              Larry raking the dirt José brought from the west side to the east side

          The roof of the trailer shed with the tape over the seams

 

 Larry painting the trailer shed roof

The morning sun still comes in and heats the side of the MH especially my side window so Larry fixed the outside screen we've had for years and put it over my side window. It does make a difference!

                         The screen Larry fixed over my side window

Larry made a rack for his extra long metal and moved the deck box beside the rack and it holds all his 'little' extra metal for his many projects. The place is starting to look more organized.

              The rack Larry welded together and the second deck box in its new home

The next project was two super bright LED lights for the RV cover, one over the Man Cave and the other over the MH. They are so bright you cannot look at them, much like the sun! It will allow Larry to work outside this summer at night when it should be cooler as he is happiest when he has 'projects'.

                         New light over the Man Cave

                   Showing how bright the new light is!

Since we were unable to find anyone to fix the boo-boo on the gutter (there were only a few screws actually holding anything) we ended up renting a scissor lift so Larry could repair the gutter properly. We had to deal with wind issues so ended up working until 11 or 11:30 PM the three days we had the lift. Along with repairing the gutter, Larry also hardwired the light over the MH using the lift. Since the light over the Man Cave can be reached by Larry standing on top of the Man Cave, he has not hard wired it yet but is working on it as I write. Since Larry was not able to reach the entire gutter via the scissor lift, he had to use the ladder to reach the west end of the gutter. When the wind died down after dark, he ended up painting the gutter until nearly midnight April 23. I guess the old adage “if you want something done right, do it yourself” holds true in the case of the gutter! At any rate, it is finished and done right now!

                         Larry working on the gutter

         Painting the gutter after dark since the wind had died down

         Hard wiring the light above the MH with the lift

                              Hard wiring the light over the Man Cave

                        The switch for the new light on one of the poles

We ordered sheep skin captain chair covers several weeks ago and they showed up April 23 so I put them on. They are very comfortable!

                                    Before the seat cover

                          With the new sheepskin seat cover

In between all the projects, we did make several visits to the doctor, dentist and chiropractor plus played Train with Vince and Dawn most Friday nights.

Easter Sunday we did manage to get to church and then went out for Chinese. We haven't missed a Sunday yet because we watch the service on TV but it did seem strange actually going out as it has been a long time since we last went in person.

Still rearranging

The 3rd of March we finished the second shed and then set about to put together and install the shelving we purchased from Home Depot.  That was a job!  Next I ordered several enclosed totes from Walmart and we also went to Target to get two clear drawers for my clothes in the motorhome.  Then we began filling the sheds and are still  making changes.  Unfortunately there are still items we cannot find even though we have looked and looked.  It is amazing to me how we can lose things in such a small space!

          She and He sheds with one of the deck boxes between them

We also ended up with two Deck Boxes to put our hoses and other items from the water bay into and one is between the house and the motorhome.  The other one hasn't found a permanent home yet (this one shown).

Larry began taking the Hydra-Lift off the MH on the 15th in preparation for taking it to Mesa, AZ for our buyer.  The buyer and his son came over on the 16th to help load the Hydra-Lift on the rented trailer and then the 17th Larry took it in the trailer to Mesa where he met the buyer.  Since he was gone the entire day, I was able to get a lot of deep cleaning done while he was gone.

                HydraLift on the back of the MH 

                     Hooking up the HydraLift

                   The HydraLift was finally off

   Our buyer and his son helping load the HydrLift onto the trailer

Stacy from AZ Awnings R Us came out and replaced the torn slide toppers on March 23 but I didn't get any pictures as it rained off and on for the entire time.  At one time it was really raining hard and they had to get under the the side of the house to not get drown.

Larry replaced the resin in our water softener and then reworked all the fittings beside the house to our water bay.  So nice to have soft water again!

      Setting up the water softener and new carbon filter

The Deck Box between the house and the MH with our hoses and other items stored away

The month of March was a crazy month with yo-yo weather, cold then hot, then windy, then cold, then windy and now today, April 1 it is HOT at 91º.  Hopefully this hot spell will be short lived but if not we are hoping the RV cover will help us stay cooler than last year.  We still have lots of rearranging to do and don't want hot weather.

Lots of Activity!

   

After months of inactivity, February was the month of much change. Feb 4 APS came out setting off the final phase of our project so we ordered 16 ton of rock delivered on Friday Feb 5. We quickly realized we could not move it all in many days so Larry called about renting a Bobcat and we were very blessed as he called at 2 PM and we had the Bobcat delivered by 3PM! Normally everything is already reserved on Fridays for the weekend since the rental place is not open on the weekends the equipment is for all weekend so that's three days of use for the price of one day. With Vince and Dawn's help we were able to get all the rock spread by Sunday afternoon AND were able to move the motorhome back onto the pad under our new RV cover! I'm SO glad to be back 'in place' and out of the front yard!! Monday morning the rental place called to see if we still wanted them to pick the Bobcat up and that it would be around 1 PM before they would come so Larry decided to rent a trailer from Home Depot to take the yard trash (cut from around the east wall with the Bobcat on Sunday and racked into a pile) to the dump, saying loading the trailer with the Bobcat would be easier than doing it by hand. The rental fellow arrived early as we were still using it to load the trailer and he asked if he should come back later and we'd be charged for an additional day. We said no he could have it. Then he did a wonderful thing for us. He got into the Bobcat and finished loading the trailer and then drove off with it to load it up for return! We thanked him many times. Next it was off to the dump where we waited in line for 45 minutes just to get in. Then we had to unload the trailer which was a job and a half. We were so tired as we had worked all weekend and then Monday morning without breakfast getting the debris out of the trailer was almost more than we could do. All of a sudden two fellows from the landscaping company to the right of us who were also emptying their trailer came over with a blower on one fellow's back and the other had a broom and they finished cleaning out the trailer for us!

                                                        Rental trailer at the dump

                                                            Backing in the Motorhome

                                                                   Loading rock

                                                Rock spread on the RV pad

                                Dump truck unloading the 16 ton of rock

                                              Beautiful AZ sunset!

How very wonderful of them we couldn't thank them enough and when I went to get them some money from the truck, they were gone having left immediately after their good deed. As a result of their good deed we were able to get the trailer back within four hours so didn't have to pay for a full day's rental. Another big Praise the Lord!

Once again Larry removed the tires from his Man Cave so it is easier for him to get in and out of it and he bought cinder blocks to put around the bottom of the trailer (Man Cave) to help keep the wind out as well as critters.

                  Covered tires mounted on front of the Man Cave

              Putting the removed tires on the rack

I got ambitious and washed the MH using waterless car wash since it was so yucky and discovered in a wind storm Saturday Feb 21 both slide toppers had ripped so we are getting an estimate to have them repaired.

We also ordered two sheds, his and hers, and Larry picked them up Thursday Feb 25 and we finished putting one of them together Saturday February 27. It took us two days and was a challenge but we should get the next one done faster since we now know what NOT to do!

                                  One shed finished

                 After the first day

                       Getting the shed pieces ready

Also on Saturday the 27, our Granddaughter Cerét, her husband Alen, Calvin, Anna and niece Millie (three of our great grandkids) came for a visit. It was great seeing them again and meeting Anna for the first time.

                       Alen, Calvin and Cerét

               Anna in the toy box

                     Dawn, Cerét, Larry and Anna

                           Larry, Calvin & Ellen

                                  Great grandma and Millie

February is a short month but we really got a lot done and are so grateful for all the help and are thankful to God for His provisions and love!

          Ending with another great AZ sunset