Another Sabbath Day

Of course, since it was Sunday, we were up early. I had some poppyseed mini-muffins in the freezer that I took out, stuck in the microwave for a minute, and served for breakfast. It works a lot better when I think about Sunday breakfasts ahead of time.

It was windy on the way over to Menno. The wind gusts were pretty nasty. Many farmers have been out in the fields during the last week or so, so there is a certain amount of loose soil. As the wind hit that loose ground, it picked it up and then we had DUST! The wind gusts were localized, so these were just individual little dust storms, not the rolling clouds of dust that mean an actual dust storm. It still wasn't pleasant driving.

Today was the last Sunday before our Interim pastors arrive. Keith Schaeffer has filled the pulpit for us many times over the past four months. It's been great having him. He's often mentioned his addiction to Snickers bars, so this morning the children each brought him one when it was time for the Children's Story. Then at the end of the service, Board Chair Dennis presented him with a huge Snickers bar and several other small momentos. We will certainly miss him.

Saturday All Day

The sun was shining this morning and the birds were singing. It was a lovely day to wake up to. But, as has been usual all month long, by late afternoon it was overcast again. By the time we went out for a walk, it was almost chilly. It was nice while it lasted - we were able to have all the windows open for a good share of the day.

It's always a good day when you can talk with family. We were able to chat today with both Daughter Dawn and Granddaughter Havela - and even heard some chatter from Greatgranddaughter Kahlyn from the back seat.

We've noticed quite a change in the activity around the park. Our neighbor, whose trailer has sat empty all winter, has been here with his boat the last couple of weekends. The three fellows who moved trailers in a couple of weeks ago that sit empty all week, have shown up on Fridays with their boats. We watched our neighbor clean and filet a whole mess of fish this afternoon. I think that many of the folks who come here to stay, do so because of the fishing.

Girls' Day Out

The women of our Bible Study group have been taking turns having a Girls' Day Out with our friend Dorene. She gets picked up at her house, then taken into her massage appointment in Moses Lake. After the massage, it's on to the hairdresser for her weekly hair appointment. Then they get to go out to lunch.

The roads were so bad this winter, I really couldn't participate as far out as we are. But, now that it's nice, I could take my turn. But the way the day went, I maybe shouldn't have offered! I managed to get lost getting over to her house on a Road U, so we were late getting to her massage appointment. The hair appointment went fine, then we went to lunch.

We had a good lunch, enjoying a chance to visit and catch up. When I went to pay the check, I discovered I didn't have my wallet! Panicked, I called Forry who said my wallet was on my chair at home. I was trying to figure out if there was someone around that I could get to come bail us out. While I was on the phone, Dorene went through the pockets in her purse and found her "mad" money. Fortunately, she had enough to pay for our lunch!

I guess it's a good thing I didn't get pulled over anytime this morning. Oh my, it was definitely one of those days!

Koffee Day

Thursday morning is Koffee Klatch Day. The ladies meet over at the Clubhouse at 9 AM for coffee. We've had as few as three, but this morning there were thirteen of us. Pat brought some delicious apple cake to share. There is no structure to the gathering. On rare occasions one person talks, but most of the time, there are multiple conversations going on at once. It gets a bit crazy at times.

The walk to and from the Clubhouse was very pleasant. It was a bit chilly in the shady spots, but the sun was out. There were blackbirds accessing the bird feeder over by the Clubhouse and killdeers along the road.

I didn't sleep well last night, so laid down and tried to take a nap during the baseball game. At least I tried, but it wasn't too successful. At least the Mariners won again today!

Wednesday

It was raining when we went to bed last night and was overcast and chilly this morning. We got a bit ambitious and did some overdue housecleaning this morning. It takes two of us to vacuum. We each do a bit - it hurts our backs - then the other one takes over for a bit. Between us, we get the job done. We had all the laundry from yesterday to put away. The heavier sweaters were it even dry yet, so they'll have to hang for a while longer.

We went into Moses Lake late this afternoon; mailed the 1/2 tax payment off to Adams County and picked up some more nyjer seed socks at Lowes. We picked up a few groceries, then went to Denny's for an early dinner. Bible Study started at six at Monroe House. It was a long session tonight as there seemed to be so much going on in our little community.

Laundry!

I don't know how many loads of laundry I did today, but it was a lot. Many of our clothes from this weekend weren't really dirty, but they were damp. We had gotten caught in a couple of downpours in Tacoma. The last one, Sunday afternoon after the Bull Riding, was a doozy. We were drenched by the time we got from the Tacoma Dome to the car in the parking lot!

It was nice today! We had sunshine most of the day and it got up to 72 degrees. I went out to hang a new bag of nyjer seed in the tree in my bare feet! After the winter we've had, I'll take it!

I spent some time sorting, discarding and filing the mail we had picked up at Daughter Mary Mae's last week. I added up the parcels and wrote a check for the first 1/2 property taxes that are due the end of April. I got caught up with the homework for tomorrow's Bible Study and spent some time reviewing the lesson I'm going to teach Sunday.

Then I settled in to re-read Daughter Dawn and Todd's missives from Bolivia from back in 1990. They were in one of the old files I found when I was cleaning out the study at the church. Shortly after they finished college, they had gone as Mennonite Central Committee volunteers to work as Ag Specialists in Bolivia, where they lived and worked for six years. What memories re-reading their letters home brought back!

Home Once More

We drove into Sun Desert RV Park about six thirty this evening after a lovely weekend away. We left Thursday afternoon arriving at Daughter Mary Mae's in Mount Vernon just in time to go out to dinner  with her and Scott and Granddaughter Claire. Claire was our chauffeur - it's hard to believe that our youngest grandchild is old enough to be driving!

From Mount Vernon, we went to Tacoma where we attended the Tacoma PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed time and meals with our friends Leslie and Bill who drove down from Bothell to Tacoma - twice! - to meet up with us and go out to eat.

As a bonus we made connection with an old friend from our National Rural Health Association days. Rob and Dennis have moved to Washington from Kansas City. They were on their way from their new home in Olympia to a Oldtime Radio show in Seattle and stopped by on their way to take us to lunch at a favorite tea house they have discovered. Such a delight to spend time together and get caught up.

The Bull Riding was terrific. We actually enjoyed the Sunday performance more as there was no concert. The Saturday night show included an eighties group called Warrant. We are not fans of heavy metal - especially as loud as they were! But in spite of the noise, the bulls were terrific. We were pleased that Stormy Wing won.

Wednesday Project

My self-imposed task today was to finish cleaning out the pastor's study at church. Linda came to help. She is planning to paint, so we took down shelves, pictures, etc. We went though the files I didn't get to last week and did a lot sorting and discarding of stuff. We got rid of many out-dated papers and empty boxes. Then we moved the desk and file cabinets out into the sanctuary so they would not get in the way of the painting.

When we finished in the study, we took a load out to the dumpster, then went over to look at the new windows being installed in the parsonage. The contractor started last Monday and has many of them finished. They are looking nice!

Forry and I headed back into Moses Lake and went to Denny's for dinner before it was time for our Bible Study class over at Monroe House. It's been a couple of weeks since we've met due to Holy Week and I missed a session due to a Board meeting, so it was good to visit with everyone.

Home Day

Sometimes it becomes important to just stay home. Seems like we haven't had a quiet day for a while, so today was it. I finished laundering Forry's jeans and sweatshirt from our visit to the farm plus a load of underwear.

It rained again during the night and was overcast this morning. Then the clouds burned off and there was a bit of actual sun. Next it got windy and a bunch of very black cumulonimbus clouds startd coming over. We began to hear thunder rumblings that came closer and closer until they were right overhead. And it poured! Great big drops of rain and even a bit of hail! About fifteen minutes or so later, it was all gone and the sun was shining again. It's been a long time since we've been in a thunderstorm.

I grilled a steak for dinner to split with Forry along with some dressing. I had bought a jar of pickled asparagus at the Mercantile. I served some spears with dinner, but they were so hot that neither of us could eat them. I think my brother is going to be gifted with the rest of the jar!

Monday, Monday

I spent the morning on the telephone. Everyone I talked with was in a very talkative mood! I got quite a few things taken care of though.

We headed into town in the early afternoon for a much needed shopping trip. We stopped at Bob's Cafe for brunch as we were totally out of breakfast food at our house. Then it was a round of stops at Lowes, the Posr Office, and the grocery store.

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike grocery shopping? My aversion is certainly getting worse.  It was exceptionally bad today as we haven't really stocked up for a while. Then we had to come home, haul it into the RV - and put it all away! Yuck!

At least we had leftover asparagus quiche and ribs, courtesy of Sister Sherry, to look forward to for supper...

Easter!

Home again! Feet up! Already missing Sister Sherry and the mastiffs.

What did we do the last two days, you ask? What we always do, cook and eat! In between, we checked out the yard with all the spring blooming bulbs. We fed the miniature horses and the donkeys - and the llamas; gathered the eggs; watered the chickens and horses; watched the new baby chicks following their mother around; and petted the mastiffs.

Today we made the lemon curd and whipped cream filling for the lemon cake Sherry made yesterday.      I brought in some garlic chives for Sherry to incorporate into the crust she was making for the quiche we were going to have later. Forry shredded the gruyere cheese, we sliced the rest of the asparagus we bought yesterday; sliced and sautéed some leeks; sliced some mushrooms and crumbled up some of the sausage patties we had had for breakfast. All this was added to some very fresh eggs and cream, some nutmeg, salt and pepper and added to the par-baked pie shell. Once baked, we had an incredible meal. It was so good - a perfect spring feast!

To top off a perfect day of eating and visiting, we listened to the Mariners beat Texas. It was a cliffhanger with the lead changing back and forth until the very last inning!

We drove home after the game, arriving just about sunset. Life is good!

Extra Passenger

We were getting ourselves organized to head down to Sister Sherry's by Touchet for the Easter weekend, when Brother Pat called and told us he had a passenger for us. Seems he had caught a stray cat in his skunk trap. He asked around the neighborhood, but no one claimed it or recognized it. So since Sherry has been short of cats, he thought we should take down to her. We met him at the Fishing Area parking lot at the intersection of Road M. He handed over a carrier with a very quiet striped kitty.

The valley of the Touchet River was gorgeous as we drove through it today. Everything is so green and lovely. Sherry met us at the farm gate with her younger mastiff Keiko San. We talk on the telephone frequently and are in email contact pretty much daily, but we had not seen her in person since Thanksgiving. So, happy hugs!

We settled the new cat in the shop with food, water and a heat lamp, then settled in for a chat. Sherry fixed a supper of spare ribs and fresh asparagus that we had picked on the way at the Mercantile. Today was a very nice day!

A Day at Home

Clouds, clouds and more clouds! It was overcast and fairly windy all day. Then towards sunset those fast moving clouds moved away and we had sunshine. It's supposed to be nice all weekend. I've got my fingers crossed that the weatherman knows what he/she is talking about!

Today was finally a stay-at-home day. We really should have gotten groceries, but we figured we could get by. Forry drained the tanks and I did a lot of small chores that had just sort of piled up.

We had a whole bunch of brilliantly yellow goldfinches at the Nyjer seed bag this morning. At one time there must have been a dozen of them. As it got windier, the little birds had quite a time hanging on to the bag. It's a good thing they don't get seasick as that bag was really swinging with the wind.

Forry and I have always eaten a lot of sweet peppers. I usually buy at least six every time we get groceries. I cook with them and we often eat them sliced and salted in lieu of canned or frozen vegetables with meals. Brother Pat convinced me to try a bag of Sweet Mini Peppers. The seeds for these tasty little critters had been developed by the seed company he works for. They come in a two pound zip lock bag and are they ever good! It's always fun to find something new to eat - especially something that doesn't need any "fixing."

A Very Busy Day

Thursday morning. So it's RV Park Koffee Klatch morning. It was breezy but sunny when I walked over to the Clubhouse. I don't know what was in the coffee, but lordy, the ladies were in a bitchy mood this morning. I heard more griping about just about everything than I've heard all winter!

Early this afternoon, Forry and I headed over to Menno to clean out the Pastor's Study. It has not been done for several years. There was just a lot of very old stuff that no one had gone through for a very long time. Forry removed paper clips and shredded papers while I emptied out shelves. It was a pretty dusty job.  We made our way through the file cabinets, but there are still a couple of shelving units that I need to sort through.

We  stayed at Menno for tonight's Seder meal. There were about thirty people in attendance. Diane and her crew prepared an a delicious meal. It was an excellent way to spend Maundy Thursday evening.

We drove home under a starry sky. There has been many cumulonimbus clouds building up as we drove to Menno, but they had all anvilled out and cleared out by this evening.

And More Rain!

I heard rain on the roof during the night. AND it has rained on and off ALL day - mostly on. There are puddles in all the roads around and through the park. The maintenance guys mowed the lawns again yesterday. With all the rain, they are greening up nicely. I even saw a few dandelions behind Auntie Violet. The willow trees are leafing out into a pretty yellow green. The birch trees behind us are also beginning to leaf out. The little tree in front of the RV is showing its brilliant red leaves.

I went out during a short lull in the rain and hung a new bag of niger seed for the finches. We saw one of the red-headed ones there for a few minutes, but it was just too wet for most of them to come out. The first bag I had put out was completely empty when we got home last night.

What do you do on a very rainy day? Bible Study was cancelled for tonight, so we decided not to go in and get groceries. I did some cleaning up at my desk, putting some stuff away in the files. It is so much easier to get something out than it is to put it away...!

I took a couple of boneless chicken thighs out of the freezer and used them to make some chicken noodle soup. Some dried parsley flakes, egg noodles, a couple of carrots, some celery chopped up along with a bit of garlic. I added some lemon juice when I served it for a bit of zest. It was good and hit the spot on a damp night.

Driving Day

We made a trip in to Moses Lake late morning, then headed on up to Spokane. It is so strange to see the "wetlands" from outside of Sprague Lake to outside of Spokane. There are small lakes in places I've never seen water before. The ditches along the road are filled and the fields look pretty soggy.

We made a short stop at Costco and picked up a couple of inexpensive sleeping bags to use at camp. I think we gave all of ours away. Forry thinks there may still be a couple yet down at the ranch... We stopped at the storage unit in Spokane to get Forry's other walker. We want to loan it to our new interim pastor to use after his hip surgery.

Our last stop was at my favorite place to eat, Gordy's Szechuan. We enjoyed our usual appetizer of Sesame Seed Shrimp then shared one of tonight's specials,  Beef Medallions and Fresh Asparagus in Black Bean Sauce. We always seem to finish by sharing a dish of ice cream topped with their house chocolate sauce with orange rind - so good!

We returned home in time to catch the third inning of the Mariners/Astros game. They're in the 7th and are behind 6-3. Hmm, I don't like that!

Sunshine and Clouds

This seems to be the pattern of our days. It rained - again - during the night. This morning the sun was shining. Then the clouds started coming by and coming over. It was quite warm in the afternoon, then the sun would go behind a cloud and it was chilly. By the time the sun set, we had occasional pink clouds flirting with the beautiful full moon.

The finches are back! I bought some bags of niger seed when we were in town the other day and hung one in the little tree by the RV. This morning the finches had found it.

They are such bright yellow colors and the white and black of their wings and tails is very new and crisp. It's such fun to watch them. By this evening they had the bag down to almost its last quarter!

We watched the Mariners first home game this afternoon. Paxton did a wonderful job of pitching. It was so nice to see them get their act together for the home crowd.

Other than watching the game, I did a couple loads of laundry and some paperwork and that was about it for today.

Rest Day

We had gone to bed early last night, so it was much easier getting up this morning. Evidently, I didn't go back and check last night's blog posting. After Sister Sherry said something, I looked and sure enough I had to post it today...

The sun was shining, sun glasses were very necessary! So nice. There was a good turnout this morning for Palm Sunday. It was a delight to have Sally Dyck speaking this morning. She was here from Chicago both to visit her parents, Al and Marge; and to preside at Rose Bauer's Memorial Service yesterday. Sally grew up at Menno and is now a bishop in the Methodist Church. Sally's brother Bill was Worship Leader. When I glanced over, I could see a very happy smile on their mother's face.

I queried people on Facebook yesterday about whether it was time to take off the flannel sheets. I took the majority opinion and put them back on last night. And sure enough, it got really cold.

The Mariners had a very good game going when we got home this afternoon - until the 9th inning anyway! I couldn't believe the Bullpen gave it away - AGAIN!

We had taped the PBR in Montana today, so watched it after the baseball game. It was fun to see JB Mooney win this one. I think it's his first win this year. And better yet, he's healthy, which means we'll get to see him ride in person in Tacoma in two weeks. He was convalescing last time we saw the PBR live in Arizona.

Weird Weather Day

It was overcast and a bit windy when we got up this morning - and chilly besides. Then as the day went on the clouds began to disappear. Then another batch would come over. Then there would be some sunshine. Then clouds again. Finally, there were a couple of hours with no wind and some sunshine. About sundown, the wind picked up again. It's like it just can't make up its mind what to do next. When we watched the weather on TV, we could see that there are lots of clouds and stormy weather swirling around out in the Pacific Ocean. We may be looking at this sort of weird stuff for a while.

Curious, I posted a note on Facebook querying whether it was time to take off the flannel sheets. The majority of folks seemed to think it was too early. To my surprise, a couple of people said they left their flannel sheets on the bed all year, saying they absorbed sweat and made for a cozy light blanket...

Felix Hernandez pitched against the Angels tonight. He threw 100 pitches. The score is 3-0. We'll see what happens when the Bullpen takes over.

Wind!

It rained again during the night and it was overcast when we got up this morning. There was a bit of a breeze early, but it got windier the longer the day went on. By mid-afternooo it had gotten very gusty. It rattles the covers on the slides when it blows that hard. It's not the most pleasant sound to listen to.

Not sure what was happening with the neighbor's plans to move after his wife got here on Saturday. Mid-morning he drove up in his truck (which he's had parked down in the storage lot); hooked up his trailer; and drove it away. A while later, he came back in his pickup and dug up the pole that had his TV satellite antenna. And just like that, he was gone and Site A11 was empty.

By sundown the wind finally began to die down. Most of the clouds were gone and the almost full moon was showing its face. It may end up being pretty chilly tonight.

We are watching the Mariners game. They've certainly not had a very good start to their season. They only won one of the four games they played in Houston. Now they are down 5-1 in their first  game in Los Angeles in the 8th inning...

Coffee

Even though it was overcast and felt like more rain, the walk over to the Clubhouse for this morning's Koffee Klatch was nice. It was warm enough to only need a sweater. I met Pat on the way over - she was walking also.  The fellows were all up at Jerry's house.

I heard a great deal about our neighbor, who has been "sort of" moving to the other side of the park for the last week or so. Evidently he was supposed to be moved by the first. Then he convinced the managers to allow him another five days, which would have been yesterday. He has moved over his two boats, all of his pots and his lawn chairs. There was also a whole bunch if other stuff in addition to whatever was in his shed that he moved over. But the trailer was still here, slides out and still hooked up. Evidently he told the managers he couldn't move it without his wife, who won't be here until Saturday.  I got quite a chuckle out of the discussion and how much everyone seemed to know all about what was going on.

Another Fifth wheel pulled in while we were at coffee and moved into A4. The "A" section now only has one empty spot, though there will be two if our neighbor ever gets moved. All of the new arrivals since the first appear to be here for the rest of the summer, so I guess we won't be seeing a lot of movement in and out. Perhaps they had best get busy getting the "E" section finished.

Sorting Stuff

It was another overcast day today. Just not any sunshine to be seen.

I've been sorting out winter stuff and putting it away. In the process I've discovered I needed to wash some of the jackets and hoodies. So back to doing laundry. I think I still need to go out to the car and collect the mittens and snow boots that are stashed in the back seat. Now I need to figure out where I am going to find a place to put them all away.

I spent some time this afternoon making a poster to put it the mailboxes at church on Sunday. We are using an idea I saw in Oregon several years ago. We are having a "Pounding," a grocery shower, for our Interim pastors who will be arriving the first week in May. We are asking members to bring a "pound" of food for the shower. It could be a five pound bag of sugar, or a ten pound bag of flour, or a can or two of beans or corn etc., or a box of oatmeal or other staple item. There is space in the refrigerator and freezer for perishable items.

Tonight was the Church Board meeting. We had music with the first part of the meeting as the Music Team was practicing. There is a great deal of activity going on with new windows and doors being installed over at the parsonage; the PNMC conference we will be hosting in June; and the arrival of our Interim pastors in May.

I drove through a couple of rain showers on the way home tonight. Seems like we're going to continue to have wet weather...

Laundry Day

It was overcast and chilly this this morning. Very discouraging after the absolutely beautiful day we had yesterday. It seems like Spring is acting like a big tease. We have a lovely day, get our hopes up, then she swings back to nasty wet and cold!

I folded and put away the clothes I had hung to dry yesterday, then promptly washed a couple more loads and hung them up to finish drying. My little Splendide washer/dryer works best if I wash a load, dry it on the shortest cycle, then hang it to finish drying. There's very little wrinkling that way.

i spent some time this afternoon working on preparations for tomorrow night's Church Board meeting. I printed off the agenda and last month's minutes. Then I worked on the Devotions I am in charge of this month. I think I've got everything ready.

Dinner tonight was a hamburger for me and a cheeseburger for Forry. I had thought about broiling a steak and baking some potatoes, but neither one of us were that hungry. Add some chips and life is good.

It Smells So Good

I know it is finally Spring! Why? Because the maintenance crew mowed the lawn today! It was warm enough to have all the windows open. It smelled so good!

Almost as if I had been thinking about him - and I had - José knocked on the door this morning. He has followed us around since we first parked in Moses Lake early last Spring. He washes and waxes the rig for us. He lives in Othello. When we told him last summer we were moving to Sun Desert, he just grinned and said we'd be even closer for him. José is an incredibly hard worker, as well as fast. He spent a little over three hours, even going up on the roof.

Of course, since José washed the outside windows, I had to get busy and clean the insides. What a difference it made! It was an absolutely gorgeous warm day today, with the sun shining into the windows. I even got a couple of loads of laundry done.

I got aggravated enough at my laptop today to go on line on the iPad to figure out why I could not get onto the Internet with it. It connects just fine, but has not been able to make the next step. I had tried all of the trouble-shooting tips. Turns out there were a couple of articles I found on how to fix this glitch with Windows 10! I had to go into the Command area as administrator, but it worked! What a relief.

All in all, it was a very nice day!

They're Back!

I had trouble getting going this morning. I think I fell back to sleep after the alarm went off on my phone...

So we had to hustle a bit to get to church in time. It was busy as we went by the Dam. There were lots and lots of rigs and trailers. But we didn't see many boats out on the lake - think it was just too rough out there. The wind was gusting and there were some hefty waves. About half the RV spaces at Mardon are filled as well.

When we got to Menno, we were welcomed with hugs from our friends Dennis and Colleen. They had just returned to Ritzville from their winter vending season in the Southwest. It was so good to see them! We usually meet up with them several times during the season when we are in Arizona. We've missed them greatly.

We drove into Ritzville after SS and met Dennis and Colleen at the Crab Creek Cafe and caught up over a long lunch. They've got a couple more shows, then they'll be here for a while, while Colleen gets some new knees. It will be great having them here for most of the summer.

Games

Unreal! Another month has gone by! I'm not sure where it's gone, but it is officially April. It was sort of a blah day; overcast, but not raining, windy. There was a lot of activity in the park today. In our area, there are four new trailers, each with a boat. They've set up camp all together in the sites on the end of the row.

I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't seem to convince my brain to stop making lists and go back to sleep. I finally got up just before six. Sat in my chair and watched the sun come up. I think maybe I will be going to bed early tonight.

We watched the last Mariner's Spring Training game early this afternoon at Salt River against the Diamondbacks. They played the same team in Peoria last night - two tie games. The team is looking good and the fellows seem anxious to get the season underway.

After the baseball game, a short interlude and it was time for the Final Four and the Gonzaga game. It was a bit of a cliff-hanger, but Gonzaga won by four points. Now we are watching the Oregon/N Carolina game to see who the Zags will play for the National Championship on Monday.