Too many Bumps

 The eye surgery July 1 lasted over an hour also as the new lens also dislodged and another lens was put in, this time sewed to the white of my eye. It is going well as I can see much better now although not as well as in May before all this happened. The surgeon had told me I would be near-sighted because of where he had to place it. It is still a bit red and swollen a little but with all my eye went through, I can’t blame it for being sore!

July 6 I hit a big bump and slipped and fell out the MH and dislocated and broke my right ankle. God

is good and at the time I felt no pain. Larry took me to the ER where the ER doctor put it back in place

and splinted it and said I needed to see a surgeon ASAP. I saw a really nice foot surgeon and one week

later I spent the day in the hospital to get my ankle repaired. Again God was good and I had no pain

while in the hospital. I have a knee walker and the challenge of getting around in very small spaces.

Larry has been a wonderful trouper, cooking, doing dishes and cleaning as well as being my ‘go-fer’.

He, surprisingly, is a good cook! He put in grab rails in the shower so I can get in and out as well as a

grab bar on the foot of the bed so I can pull myself up into bed. He had to take up all the throw rugs as

I promptly fell on the knee walker when it hit a rug. Fortunately I was able to catch myself before

hitting the floor.  

                         One of the two new grab bars in the shower

The other new grab bar in the shower plus the leg bag to cover my foot so it doesn't get wet

Basically the only places we have gone this month are to the doctor’s office (several different ones) as

the only way I can get in or out of the MH is on my fanny, each step at a time. I’m building up my arm

muscles though!

Another bump was our new car at 707 miles died because coolant leaked into a motherboard and it has

taken a month to find and get the part. The dealership called today to say it is ready to be picked up

which Larry will do on Monday.

One good thing is the temperatures have been cooler and we’ve had some rain which is most needed!

In fact I don’t ever remember three days in a row in July being below 100º!

We did go to Dominick’s 2nd birthday party in Gilbert July 24 (great grandson whose Dad is Alex) and

had a fun time.  

    

                                       Opening one of many presents

                           Singing Happy Birthday to Dominick who turned two July 28

                                       Awesome birthday cake!

                                         Shane with LaTia and Alex in the background

                                  Dawn and great grandpa Larry

July 30 was Dawn’s retirement day and Vince set up a very nice display of all her awards and badges,

pins, etc showing her 20 years as a Phoenix police officer. He took her out to eat and then we played

Mexican train with Vince winning. 

Too Hot Too Soon!

I started June off by having eye surgery on my right eye. It seems the IOC that was put in 20 years ago

for cataracts dislodged and I couldn’t see clearly. This happened in May and took almost a month to

get everything in place for the surgery. However, it did not go as well as planned so this afternoon,

July 1, I’m having another eye surgery to have it repositioned. Hopefully this time will work! Today’s

surgery is supposed to take two minutes as opposed to the last surgery which was an hour.

Our oldest grandchild, Cerét and family moved to Idaho and June 5 they had a going away party at

their house in Mesa. We had a really good time and met some of their friends. 

It is hard to see them leave AZ!

!

                                Grandson Alex nearly lost his left eye 18 months ago so we were playing around!

                            All the guys in the family

  

                               All the girls in the family

                          Larry with our two children

It has been really hot for June reaching 117º and staying above 110º for many days. Of course since

then the NW has experienced temperatures just as hot and they are not used to such high temps! Really

grateful we are NOT in OR this summer! As a result of my vision being “two vision” meaning I see

two different views out of my eyes, I have not felt safe walking at night so have not walked for the last

month and really miss walking! (It has been too hot to walk during the day.)

Granddaughter Bethany and her new beau, Dax, made a one day trip to AZ to pick up the last of her

furniture and possessions. We all went swimming in the afternoon and then went to the Angry Crab for

dinner. The pool was really refreshing and we had a fun time at dinner getting to know a little more

about Dax. The consensuses was that he is ‘approved’.

 

                         Vince and Dawn at Angry Crab

       

                                Bethany and Dax at Angry Crab

Relaxing by the pool 

Todd came for a visit on the 23rd for Father’s Day and he couldn’t have picked a nicer day! First off it

RAINED and the temp went down to 72º so we sat outside most of the time he was here as it was so

nice. We had a wonderful visit! 

                     Todd getting ready for a ride in the new car

                               Todd and his Dad

For the first time in a long time, Larry, Dawn and I won at Train (three different nights) as Vince

usually wins four out of five nights in a row. Makes the game more interesting for us but not for Vince!

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.