Well, at least now we know which team the Seahawks will be playing next Sunday. Today we watched San Francisco's 49ers beat the Carolina Panthers. Then of course Forry had to watch the second game of the day when the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers. That certainly took care of most of our day.
Fortunately, the football games were over in time enough for us to watch the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the Professional Bull Riding in Chicago. There are priorities in life, you know.
The big Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction is on in Scottsdale this week, with the auctions taking place next weekend. The show is so big that much of it is shown live on TV. We've had a few RVs pull in the last couple of days with huge trailers that they've then unloaded highly polished cars from. Most of those cars disappeared today - we're assuming they were taken to the show.
Our friends Leslie and Bill are back in Florida this week at Disney World. They both ran in half-marathon and today Bill ran in the Dopey Marathon. If I am remembering right, in all the events this weekend Bill ran over 46 miles. Absolutely incredible!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Seahawks!
Well, there certainly is no debate about what we did today. We did sleep in, so it wasn't too terribly long before the football game was on. I think every resident of Washington state no matter where they were geographically today was rooting for the Seattle Seahawks to beat the New Orleans Saints. Even though there were a few scary moments, the Hawks came through in fine fettle. And this evening we are watching the New England Patriots play the Indianapolis Colts. There are two more games tomorrow, then another set of games next week to find out who will be playing in the Super Bowl.
I walked the perimeter of the RV resort yesterday. It's a little easier walking on the sandy gravel than on the pavement throughout the resort. Besides, I really enjoy looking out at the desert which is just on the other side of the rail fence.
The mesquite trees are still a bit green, but everything else is looking pretty brown.
The Verde River is all barricaded off from walkers as the banks are supposed to be undercut and dangerous. I could see a bit of it from where the bank has been eroded away.
The bushes may be looking pretty brown, but there is grass growing all over since the rains a couple of weeks ago.
I walked the perimeter of the RV resort yesterday. It's a little easier walking on the sandy gravel than on the pavement throughout the resort. Besides, I really enjoy looking out at the desert which is just on the other side of the rail fence.
The mesquite trees are still a bit green, but everything else is looking pretty brown.
The Verde River is all barricaded off from walkers as the banks are supposed to be undercut and dangerous. I could see a bit of it from where the bank has been eroded away.
The bushes may be looking pretty brown, but there is grass growing all over since the rains a couple of weeks ago.
Friday, January 10, 2014
More 25 Year Thoughts
Writing about the girls' 25 years of marriage made me think about ours. For our 25th anniversary Forry made all of the arrangements for us to go to the Virgin Islands -- to Sailing School! We tooled about the American and British Virgin Islands on a 34 foot sail boat. There was another couple and ourselves and our instructor/captain. The water in the BVIs is incredible, turquoise, clear and warm. We did a great deal of swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. Forry went on a dive on a shipwreck that I thought was a little bit deeper than I was comfortable diving. So I went visiting with our captain while the rest of them were gone. We visited various friends of his who worked as crew on some of the larger boats. It was so interesting to hear their stories of what it was like to cook or crew for their wealthy owners and guests -- and to hear how how on the hog they lived when the owners were not there.
Our final exam for the sailing school was a night sail from the island of Virgin Gorda back to the American Virgin Islands. I couldn't believe that our instructor went below and went to bed while we made the three hour trip. I really wonder how much sleep he actually got.
In those days many airlines offered flights with three stops that were cheaper then a round trip. For our extra stop we went to Martinique for a couple of days. Forry still occasionally mentions how much he enjoyed the French influence on the beaches.
Of course, the follow-up to this story is that Forry ended up buying a 21 foot San Juan sailboat that we enjoyed immensely. After it sat in our driveway in Spokane the entire 18 years we lived there, Son-in-law Todd has spent the last couple of years refurbishing it for his family to enjoy.
I took this picture this afternoon when we were out on our walk. The owners of this orange rig have been driving around the area with the top down. It looks like it's a great way to sight-see.
Our final exam for the sailing school was a night sail from the island of Virgin Gorda back to the American Virgin Islands. I couldn't believe that our instructor went below and went to bed while we made the three hour trip. I really wonder how much sleep he actually got.
In those days many airlines offered flights with three stops that were cheaper then a round trip. For our extra stop we went to Martinique for a couple of days. Forry still occasionally mentions how much he enjoyed the French influence on the beaches.
Of course, the follow-up to this story is that Forry ended up buying a 21 foot San Juan sailboat that we enjoyed immensely. After it sat in our driveway in Spokane the entire 18 years we lived there, Son-in-law Todd has spent the last couple of years refurbishing it for his family to enjoy.
I took this picture this afternoon when we were out on our walk. The owners of this orange rig have been driving around the area with the top down. It looks like it's a great way to sight-see.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
25 Years!
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Twenty-five years ago the Hardt family had quite a year. We had done our part, our daughters were born seven years apart (Son Sean is in between the two girls.) But, they decided to get married within a seven month time span! They actually went to the photographer in Ritzville and had their engagement pictures taken together.
Mary Mae and Scott got married in June at the ranch. MM had not lived at home for a few years at that point, being away at college and grad school and work (she met Scott while she was working on her Masters at EWU.). She wanted to have a get-together party for all of her friends at the ranch. People came with their tents and spent the weekend, swimming and visiting. We had Texas John roast a whole pig and actually served strawberries and angel food cake instead of wedding cake. I made her wedding dress and the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses using lace that had been made by my Grandmother and Great-grandmother. It was quite a party.
Dawn and Todd got married in January after Todd had finished fall semester at Bethel College where Dawn had graduated the Spring before. They had met on a college Jan-term trip to Mexico. I made Dawn's wedding dress using some beautiful slipper satin that she had bought in Mexico while she was doing a semester abroad with Heifer Project International. Shortly after the wedding, DT and Todd headed for a second reception in Idaho where Todd had grown up and his parents still lived. Forry and I left a few hours after them and got caught in a blizzard caused freeway closure and never did make it to the reception.
So this year both couples are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage. MM and Scott live in Mount Vernon, Washington and have two children, Varick and Claire. Todd and Dawn live in Keizer, Oregon and have three children, Havela, Kyra and Micah.
We watched their lives over the past quarter century and are very proud of them and the families they have established. I am so pleased that both girls have married men that bring out the best in them. And as a bonus, we really like both sets of their in-laws as well. We are truly blessed.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Just Hangin' Around
It was just one of those days. I took care of some tax stuff and then we walked - well, I walked and Forry rode the trike - over to the office to mail a check. It was another very nice day with a few clouds floating around.
My Gossips have been languishing under Auntie Violet since we got here as the ground is too hard with too many underground lines to pound her stand into the ground. We bought some scrap boards at Home Depot a few weeks ago and glued them together to make a stand. Then they sat. You can't rush into things, you know. Today, Forry got ambitious and charged his drill so that he could make some holes in the boards.
So now, my gossiping crows can check out the neighborhood --
I think I may have to think about some paint...
I spent some time today scrubbing, sterilizing and refilling the hummingbird feeders. The lady we bought the hanging sculpture ones from said not to ever use soap or detergent on the cups as it impregnated the plastic they were made from. Her recommended regimen was to wash them well with just hot water and then occasionally to soak them in bleach water. Then, to rinse them very well with more hot water. So that's what I did.
My Gossips have been languishing under Auntie Violet since we got here as the ground is too hard with too many underground lines to pound her stand into the ground. We bought some scrap boards at Home Depot a few weeks ago and glued them together to make a stand. Then they sat. You can't rush into things, you know. Today, Forry got ambitious and charged his drill so that he could make some holes in the boards.
So now, my gossiping crows can check out the neighborhood --
I think I may have to think about some paint...
I spent some time today scrubbing, sterilizing and refilling the hummingbird feeders. The lady we bought the hanging sculpture ones from said not to ever use soap or detergent on the cups as it impregnated the plastic they were made from. Her recommended regimen was to wash them well with just hot water and then occasionally to soak them in bleach water. Then, to rinse them very well with more hot water. So that's what I did.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
A Cloudy Day and Costco
We had a heavy cloud cover today. We've had cloudy days earlier this week, but they were light clouds that burned off early on. This one stayed all day. It felt like it might rain, but it never got to that point. It did make for a glorious sunset though. This is looking towards the south.
That blob in the middle is actually a flag. You can see the lighted pole against the body of the RV. This is towards the west, behind Auntie Violet and the canopy.
We made a Costco run late this afternoon, late enough for Forry to have a Polish dog for supper. He was feeling deprived because the last few times we've gone, it's been too early in the day. Costco was very busy. I had thought that since it was after the holidays - and there's been time for returns -- that it wouldn't be so full. Guess I was wrong...
That blob in the middle is actually a flag. You can see the lighted pole against the body of the RV. This is towards the west, behind Auntie Violet and the canopy.
We made a Costco run late this afternoon, late enough for Forry to have a Polish dog for supper. He was feeling deprived because the last few times we've gone, it's been too early in the day. Costco was very busy. I had thought that since it was after the holidays - and there's been time for returns -- that it wouldn't be so full. Guess I was wrong...
Monday, January 6, 2014
Blog 2 Print
One of the things I have done every year since I started blogging five years ago was go to Blog 2 Print and have a bound copy of that year's blogs made. I would usually wait until March when they would have a 15% off sale. This year, they started the year off with their sale. The offer expired today, so I have been trying for the last week to get the job done.
I was getting very frustrated as I kept getting kicked off the web-site. It would either not load the book for me to proof it or when it would and I would change something (like having ten pages listing the title of every blog...), it would give me an error message or a "page unavailable" message. Of course, customer service was not open over the weekend for help. Then today, everytime I called I was told by a mechanical voice that "all customer assist persons were presently busy with other customers." Then hold music would come on for precisely two and one-half minutes and then disconnect. After the fifth time that happened, I remembered something I had read and quickly hit the Operator button. Sure enough, I got a real person!
Turns out the problem was with Windows Explorer. I should have guessed that it was a browser issue myself as I write and post the blog on Firefox since Windows Explorer doesn't work with it half the time. What a difference a browser can make! I ended up having to divide this year's book into two volumes as it was too many pages for one. I guess I must be getting long winded or something!
I spent the biggest share of my day fiddling around trying to get the book taken care of. I really am the only one who looks at it once it's printed. My thought is that someday one of my great or even great-great grands will find the books, my diaries as it were, a rich resource of what life was like in the 2000s for ancestors who were crazy enough to live and travel in a motor home.
I was getting very frustrated as I kept getting kicked off the web-site. It would either not load the book for me to proof it or when it would and I would change something (like having ten pages listing the title of every blog...), it would give me an error message or a "page unavailable" message. Of course, customer service was not open over the weekend for help. Then today, everytime I called I was told by a mechanical voice that "all customer assist persons were presently busy with other customers." Then hold music would come on for precisely two and one-half minutes and then disconnect. After the fifth time that happened, I remembered something I had read and quickly hit the Operator button. Sure enough, I got a real person!
Turns out the problem was with Windows Explorer. I should have guessed that it was a browser issue myself as I write and post the blog on Firefox since Windows Explorer doesn't work with it half the time. What a difference a browser can make! I ended up having to divide this year's book into two volumes as it was too many pages for one. I guess I must be getting long winded or something!
I spent the biggest share of my day fiddling around trying to get the book taken care of. I really am the only one who looks at it once it's printed. My thought is that someday one of my great or even great-great grands will find the books, my diaries as it were, a rich resource of what life was like in the 2000s for ancestors who were crazy enough to live and travel in a motor home.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
That Cold Snap...
Every time we turn on the news the last couple of days, or I read weather comments on Facebook, it strikes me again how fortunate we are to be in Arizona these days. This Arctic Blast that is hitting the rest of the United States so far has spared us.
The pictures of snow piled high and of blizzard style winds whipping across highways make me shiver just looking at them. Though at one time we had and enjoyed snowmobiles, I have no desire at this point in time to brave the cold. I whine about having to put on long pants or a jacket!
One year, many years ago, we went with Son Sean and a group of Flying Farmer friends to Yellowstone Park in mid-winter with our snowmobiles. We stayed at Harrison Hot Springs where we watched the snow flakes falling as we soaked in the hot water. We watched Old Faithful erupt in clouds of steam in a snow-covered field. We shared the park roads with shaggy bison with their heavy winter coats. I got pulled out of "tree wells" by friendly Canadians who later showed me how to drink their Rye Whiskey. It was a memorable trip.
We also had a group of friends who spent time with us at the camp the Mennonite Churches of Washington own near Leavenworth, Washington. That was when we began winterizing the cabins so the camp could be enjoyed in the winter-time. Camp Camrec would have a whole line-up of snowmobiles outside the lodge. Alas, those days seem to be gone. Nowadays, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing seem to be the activities of choice.
Forry's memories of cold winters have much to do with heavy insulated coveralls and going out to feed the herd of cattle that we had. Those Hereford cows would hear the pick-up coming with its load of hay and come running. I can recall him coming back into the house with a red face and chilled fingers in spite of his gloves and heavy clothes.
I think, that without a doubt, I prefer warm weather!
The pictures of snow piled high and of blizzard style winds whipping across highways make me shiver just looking at them. Though at one time we had and enjoyed snowmobiles, I have no desire at this point in time to brave the cold. I whine about having to put on long pants or a jacket!
One year, many years ago, we went with Son Sean and a group of Flying Farmer friends to Yellowstone Park in mid-winter with our snowmobiles. We stayed at Harrison Hot Springs where we watched the snow flakes falling as we soaked in the hot water. We watched Old Faithful erupt in clouds of steam in a snow-covered field. We shared the park roads with shaggy bison with their heavy winter coats. I got pulled out of "tree wells" by friendly Canadians who later showed me how to drink their Rye Whiskey. It was a memorable trip.
We also had a group of friends who spent time with us at the camp the Mennonite Churches of Washington own near Leavenworth, Washington. That was when we began winterizing the cabins so the camp could be enjoyed in the winter-time. Camp Camrec would have a whole line-up of snowmobiles outside the lodge. Alas, those days seem to be gone. Nowadays, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing seem to be the activities of choice.
Forry's memories of cold winters have much to do with heavy insulated coveralls and going out to feed the herd of cattle that we had. Those Hereford cows would hear the pick-up coming with its load of hay and come running. I can recall him coming back into the house with a red face and chilled fingers in spite of his gloves and heavy clothes.
I think, that without a doubt, I prefer warm weather!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Bills
Today I sat down at the computer and paid all of our bills including our usual donations. I guess I have considered myself somewhat technologically savvy since I use the computer and the Credit Union's Billpay to do it all. Then I was talking to our youngest daughter on the phone tonight and sort of felt like a relic as she said theirs were all on auto-pay, so she didn't even have to do that much...
Thinking about it, I think it's a control issue on my part. I'm just enough of a skeptic to worry about whether or not there will be sufficient dollars in the bank to cover the payments. Now, I know that checks get deposited very nicely every month from both Social Security and my retirement account, but I guess I just don't quite trust it will happen. I need to physically see that there is money on that bank statement so that I can pay the bills.
It's a strange feeling to come to a new awareness about one's self. You'd think when you get to be as old as I am, you'd know yourself pretty well. I think it just goes to show that the Good Lord's not finished with me yet...
I am looking forward to TV this evening for the first time in a while. The Professional Bull Riders are having their first competition of the 2014 season at Madison Square Garden this weekend after having finished their winter hiatus. It's been frightfully cold in New York. I do hope those bulls are keeping warm!
Thinking about it, I think it's a control issue on my part. I'm just enough of a skeptic to worry about whether or not there will be sufficient dollars in the bank to cover the payments. Now, I know that checks get deposited very nicely every month from both Social Security and my retirement account, but I guess I just don't quite trust it will happen. I need to physically see that there is money on that bank statement so that I can pay the bills.
It's a strange feeling to come to a new awareness about one's self. You'd think when you get to be as old as I am, you'd know yourself pretty well. I think it just goes to show that the Good Lord's not finished with me yet...
I am looking forward to TV this evening for the first time in a while. The Professional Bull Riders are having their first competition of the 2014 season at Madison Square Garden this weekend after having finished their winter hiatus. It's been frightfully cold in New York. I do hope those bulls are keeping warm!
Friday, January 3, 2014
Watching Birds
Anyone who knows Forry and me, knows that we spend an inordinate amount of time either looking for, or watching, birds. It has been quite nice since we set up the canopy. We can sit outside in the shade and watch the antics of the hummingbirds who have found our two feeders. There are now three of them -- we think all of them males -- who stop by for nourishment.
They alternate between the big glass feeder with its faded plastic flowers and the new hanging sculpture one we bought earlier this fall at the Fountain Hills Fair.
This Gila Woodpecker is the other patron at our feeders, though we haven't seen it at the feeder as much lately --
This picture is blurry, but it's the only time I have caught two of the hummingbirds at the feeder at the same time. Usually, one will be eating and the others will come scolding and dive bombing to chase him away.
When we walked over to get the mail and take our daily constitutional, I spotted this Greater Roadrunner. (Notice how green everything is since it rained...)
It wasn't very happy I had spotted it, and took off with its topknot folded tight to its head...
It hopped into the bushes and pretended I hadn't seen it!
It was an absolutely beautiful day today. It was in the mid-eighties with lots of sunshine. I think it was the warmest day we've had for a while and I heard lots of air conditioners running in rigs as we walked by.
They alternate between the big glass feeder with its faded plastic flowers and the new hanging sculpture one we bought earlier this fall at the Fountain Hills Fair.
This Gila Woodpecker is the other patron at our feeders, though we haven't seen it at the feeder as much lately --
This picture is blurry, but it's the only time I have caught two of the hummingbirds at the feeder at the same time. Usually, one will be eating and the others will come scolding and dive bombing to chase him away.
When we walked over to get the mail and take our daily constitutional, I spotted this Greater Roadrunner. (Notice how green everything is since it rained...)
It wasn't very happy I had spotted it, and took off with its topknot folded tight to its head...
It was an absolutely beautiful day today. It was in the mid-eighties with lots of sunshine. I think it was the warmest day we've had for a while and I heard lots of air conditioners running in rigs as we walked by.
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