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.

Trip to Town

We ran into Moses Lake this afternoon to take care of some banking business. Ended up bringing home some KFC chicken for supper.

It was gorgeous today. The sun was out, the wind wasn't blowing - it was just plain nice. Our neighbor up in the mobile home portion of the RV Park even started his lawn mower this morning. We left before he actually mowed his lawn, but he did get it out of his shed and ready to go.

There was lots of activity around the park today. Our immediate not-very-neighborly neighbor is packing up all of the stuff (and there's a lot of it!) and moving it over to the "C" section, on the very edge of the park. So evidently the rumor I heard at Thursday's Koffee Klatch is true and he is moving over there. Another fellow that left last fall is moving back in down the lane from us, along with his large boat.

When we went into town, we noticed quite a few RVs parked down at Mardon Resort, in spots that have been empty all winter. There are boat trailers and small RVs parked in the Public Fishing areas as well. Forry said he heard at the Men's Coffee that there was a fishing derby this weekend. I think spring and fishing season have both arrived!

Coffee!

I look forward to Thursday mornings and getting together with some of the ladies in the RV Park for coffee. I picked up my sweater to put on as I went out the door, but ended up just carrying it. I was beginning to think it would never get warm enough to walk outside without a wrap. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the coffee was hot. It's not yet warm enough to have our coffee out on the deck, but I'm sure that day will come as well.

The fellows were meeting over at Darrell's this morning. As the weather gets nicer and more fishermen and families start showing up and staying at Mardon, I sure the Cafe will start opening earlier for breakfast and they can go back to meeting there.

Mike, one of the very nice Maintenance Crew guys, and his wife are expecting a baby early this summer. Much of the discussion this morning involved planning how to incorporate a baby shower into this month's potluck plans. I guess there's going to be a money tree. Mike is the one who chipped us out last winter when we had the ice storm and didn't dare step out on the icy steps with their quarter inch thick layer of ice.

I baked some Yukon Gold potatoes,  broiled some lamp chops, and chopped up a head of cabbage to drop into heavily salted boiling water for a few minutes. I had a couple of mini-pies I had picked up at the store yesterday. We ended up with a pretty good dinner.

Wednesday Working

It's been a busy day. I got my shower out of the way early, then got organized to head into town. The recycling/trash center closes at 2:45, so we needed to get going as it's on the other side of Moses Lake. We got there; got weighed in and got our number tag; then drove over and backed into Bay 5. I stayed in the car. After straining my back last week, I wasn't about to help Forry with that darn chair. Turns out, all he had to do was open the rear door. The workman reached in, grabbed each piece and casually tossed them in the pile! He said he used to move furniture; hated it; but knew just how to handle it. We drove back over the scale, gave the lady our $6 and left.

After we got back into town, we stopped by the grocery store. From there we went to a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese place, Tree Cafe, that I spotted last week. There were no other customers dining, but three different people came in to pick up take-out orders while we were there. The food was very good! Nice crisp vegetables and good flavor. I think we'll eat there again.

Last stop of the day was at Monroe House for Bible Study in Dorothy's room. We had a smaller group tonight, there were three of us missing. But it was a good session. Forry and Stan went over to the bowling alley while they waited for us. Oops, I guess there was one more stop. We had to pick up DQ ice cream sandwiches for sustenance on the trip home.

Tuesday

Another Yo-Yo day, overcast and cloudy, then a few glimmers of sunshine, then more clouds and gloom.

We slept in this morning. There's something about this cloudiness that's just not very inspiring.  We spent most of the afternoon watching the Mariners play the Diamondbacks in Spring Training. Felix Hernandez pitched a great two innings. Probably the last we'll see of him until Opening Day. He really looked sharp and ready to go. The game went downhill from there while they kept bringing in the other pitchers who are hoping to be part of the Bullpen. There are still a couple of slots that haven't been solidified.

The clouds moving through came with wind. It was gusty most of the afternoon. I went out to scatter wheat for the quail and the wind did it for me. The doves are also taking advantage of the wheat. There's a pair that hang out in the little tree just for that reason.

A Sunny Day

Oh, what gorgeous sunshine we woke up to today! The willow trees are turning a yellowish color - you can see the beginnings of their leaves coming. The little tree in front of us has reddish buds. I'm not sure yet if they are for flowers or leaves. The birds are quite noisy early in the morning. There are a couple pairs of killdeer that are quite noisily "protecting" their nests. There is not yet any sign of life in the grasses we planted last fall. I hope they survived the cold winter.

I spent some time on the computer, getting the accountant changes into Quickbooks; paying a couple of bills and doing some filing. I made some phone calls for clarification of a couple of things and Forry sold some wheat. I've already figured out that April is going to be an expensive month with both income tax and property taxes due.

We went out for a walk later this afternoon. Forry made it all the way around the loop. We met a couple of the neighbors we hadn't met yet as they are usually gone. He works at a cold storage plant and she is a housekeeper at the Othello Hospital. We sat out for a bit, but every time a cloud came over, it got chilly. There were some huge cumulonimbus clouds around, but they disappated without getting us wet again.

Today is Sunday

Today is Sunday which means we were up early. After our beautiful sunshiny day yesterday, I was disappointed to see cloud cover. The forecast had predicted it wouldn't cloud up and rain again until late this afternoon. Obviously, the storm moved in much more quickly than expected.

We had breakfast, got dressed and headed for Menno. There were more than twenty rigs with trailers in the two Public Fishing Area parking lots. We saw several boatloads of fishermen out on the lake. Most of them were very bundled up.

There was not a lot of traffic on the freeway, but we did see several RVs - going in both directions. From what I am reading on the RV blogs, the northern movement of the Snowbirds has begun. Though I don't think many of them are too anxious to come to this rainy country. I heard on the Seattle news today that the I-5 area has, since October, already gotten more than the year's normal annual rainfall!

Keith Schaffer spoke at Menno today. We have greatly enjoyed having him as an occasional speaker during this period of time we have not had a permanent pastor. He has been a blessing for us - and he has a great sense of humor.

We stopped on the way home and picked up chicken for dinner. Then settled in to watch bull riding on TV. It was hard to stay awake and there may have been a nap or two in there somewhere as well.

Wins!

The Mariners beat the Royals today in Spring Training. Gonzaga beat Xavier in their Elite Eight NCAA basketball game, so next week they will play, for the first time ever, in the Final Four. That certainly took up a good share of our day. I did a couple more loads of laundry and that was about it.

The sun was out this morning and although there were a few clouds scudding across the sky, none of them stuck around. It is so nice just to bask in the warm sun - even though it shows up the dirty windows.

Friday

It was one of those days. We slept in a bit, but not really late. We watched the Mariners win another Spring Training game where Kama pitched a great three innings. Forry drained the tanks. I washed a load of clothes. I scattered wheat for the quail. It was a typical lazy retired folks Friday.

Late in the afternoon we headed in to Moses Lake and to the accountant's office where we signed our income tax forms so that they could be electronically filed. We stopped at the post office to get some mailing envelopes, then picked up a few groceries.

Our last stop was to meet up with Brother Pat and Cindy at Simmer. Simmer was a new restaurant to us, but I'm sure it won't be our last meal there. We started with a delicious crab cake appetizer. The menu is very eclectic and very fresh. Pat had a very tender pork chop; Cindy had prawns and grits; Forry had chicken and waffles; and I had duck breast. Everything was so good!

The restaurant is not very big and it was packed. We saw some good-looking plates going by our table. The service was excellent and friendly. But better than the food, was spending quality time with Pat and Cindy.

Coffee - and Corned Beef and Cabbage

We started the day out with coffee gatherings. I went over to the Clubhouse to join the ladies and Forry went over to Darrell's to meet with the guys. I took a coffee cake over with me to share.

This is the fourth Thursday of the month, which is Potluck Dinner Day in the RV Park. We had decided a couple of weeks ago that we would celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little late. We'd all chip in on the cost and Pat would make corned beef and cabbage. Pat was already getting things ready this morning  when we got to the Clubhouse for coffee.

We didn't do a lot today, I finished scrubbing up the stovetop and the area around the sink. We headed back over to the Clubhouse about 4:30. The smells were delicious! Pat had a roaster full of cabbage quarters, another with carrots and red potatoes, and a third with the corned beef. In spite of agreeing that we would only bring desserts (letting the cabbage and corned beef be the main attraction), there was a full spread of food.

I cannot believe that at our ages, neither of us have ever eaten corned beef. It was actually pretty good., especially with the cabbage. I don't think I would want to make it, but I would eat it again.

I brought our soiled plates and silverware home and stuck them in the dishwasher and went ahead and ran it. We were sitting quietly, watching the Gonzaga basketball game when the drain hose sprang out of the sink and splattered water all over! Including into my newly cleaned stovetop! It's a good thing Gonzaga won their game - and now proceeds into the Elite Eight - as otherwise it would have been a pretty discouraging mess.