Bootiful Time Of Year

Our grandsons, Brody and Conor are such goofballs. They were playing football in the living room and having fun.

 

Brooke wasn't doing so well the first and second day we were there. She had a negative reaction to the pain meds and caused her to get really sick. She was able to talk to the doctor and get some anti-nausea medicine and now she is much much better. Ernie has been cooking and he is pretty good. He likes to make sauces along with marinating sauces, just like Dave.

Last night Ernie got the Halloween witches out for Conor. Brody is at his dads this weekend so Conor has gotten a little extra attention. At first he was kind of scared but then just excited. He loves to have it on but the cackle goes a long way so it is on for a short time. Ernie is going to have them in the garage with smoke coming out of the cauldron so it will be cool. I can't do a video here, but I did get a picture of them. Pretty cool. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.

Had my ear checkup and stitches taken out. Everything is good and it is healing nicely.

Now that that is behind me we are on our way to storage to load the truck with the items we bought and have been storing. Tomorrow we leave to head south. With the bathroom and living area in Ron and Noreen's basement clean, now we can pack up our belongings and load up the truck so we don't have much to do tomorrow morning.

We said goodbye to Noreen this morning, Wednesday the 8th. Ron was still in bed. Now the trek home. Tonight Dave wants to get as far south in Oregon as we can before stopping. Smoke is still lingering in the air especially in Oregon. Fires are still burning in Northern California which is moving north into each northern state.

We got as far as Roseburg, Oregon for our first stop. Tomorrow we will be in California. It is pretty smoky with a thick haze.

Pretty smoky here in California. I feel sorry for all the people who can't enjoy the outdoors because of it and it doesn't look like it is going to get better any time soon. We have seen remnants of where a fire burned, but most of the fires are now toward the coast. Wine prices are going to sky rocket next year because the smoke has ruined the grapes. Bummer. We stopped in Woodland, California for the night. Good to get out of the truck and stretch our legs. So far it has been a good trip. Seems weird not stopping to see family, but I hope and pray we can next year.

Onward we go and this time we made it to Santa Clarita which is north Los Angeles area. We should be home on Sunday. We want to be able to cross the border on Sunday as there is less traffic, so our next stop is El Centro just above the Mexicali border. It is hot and we really didn't want to do running around, but we had to go to Costco to get some food items, so we don't have to mess with trying to find the Costco in Mexicali, and also go to the money exchanger on the U.S. side. First time we have exchanged dollars for pecos in the U.S. Normally we do it in Mexico. We wanted to save some time plus a lot of the money exchangers are closed on Sunday. Unfortunately the first one Dave went to would only give him a certain amount so we ended up having to go to 2 more to get the amount we will need for the months ahead in Bahia. We don't want to mess with trying to find the Costco in Mexicali. We just want to get home. After we got money exchanged; the shopping done and filled the gas tank in the truck, we were done for the day. Finally we can rest. We stayed in the same hotel as we did last year. It is only about a mile or so from the border so we should cross the border around 8-8:30am.

We are in Mexico now and we didn't get stopped and had the green light. Awesone. We do have to find a Similars pharmacy in San felipe as I need my little red anti-inflammatory pills and need to pick some up for my friend. Once in San Felipe we stopped to get gas and asked if they had a Similars pharmacy in town and the answer was yes. So now we have to find it. We drove around but didn't find it right away so headed to the malecon and that is where it was. I got the meds I needed and we were on our way home. Yahoo!! We got home around 4:00pm. We gased up the truck when we got into Bahia, and stopped at the store to pick up some ice and something to munch for dinner. Then homeward bound.

Everything on the outside of the house looked alright but the indication was there were some hefty winds this summer. The big shells I had on the front platform step had blown around and one ended up in the planter I have my aloe vera in, under the steps. But other than that everything else seemed ok. I went upstairs to check it out and open windows to get some air flowing through. I found 2 dead cockroaches on the bedroom floor but found out it was because I left a small gap between the two raps of saran wrap on the toilet bowl. No worries. Other than that it was good. The water pump worked, we turned on the propane and lit the refrigerator and stove to start the cool down process. It is hot but we knew it would be for a while. It doesn't start to cool down until mid to latter part of October. Now comes the fun part----unpacking. We unpacked some of the things from the truck, but mostly just our clothes and necessities for the night and next day. The rest we will take our time getting done.

It feels good to be back and it is a beautiful sunny day. It is going to be a hot one, but I keep cool by having a wet cloth around my neck. I unpacked my suitcase and other things then had to take a gatorade break and sit down. Dave was pulling the rest of the totes and stuff out of the back of the truck and putting them in the garage so I can retrieve the items at my leisure.

After a full day of caring things up stairs from the garage, there still was more to get and put away. No hurries.

Finally all the items are put away and now I can concentrate on organizing my clothes. We had looked for a 5 drawer chest while in Washington, but didn't find one. I have been using a plastic 4 drawer cabinet for some of my clothes and that was going to go into the bathroom closet if we got the chest. But since that plastic one got damage when we had the wall blown in from the wind storm, we bought another one to replace it. Well I decided that the damaged one was still usable so I would have that and the new one placed on top of it so now I will have 6 drawers. Don't need a chest now. So I finally got my underwear and socks out of the bathroom closet and most of my clothes into all the drawers. I took advantage of getting rid of some of the clothes I haven't worn for a long time and probably won't. They can go to someone who can use them. I reorganized the shelves in the bathroom and it looks so much better and we can tell what is in there. So nice!!

Well it is off to town. Dave and I are getting gas in the little black truck and 2 jerry cans. I am picking up some groceries to last about 3 or 4 days. I will do the bulk of my shopping on Friday.

Dave and I are relaxing a bit and trying to stay cool. Our new neighbor went into the bay and asked me to join her and her friend. So I noodled around out there in the bay for a while. Boy did it feel good and refreshing.

It is Friday already and I am heading into town to buy the bulk of my groceries. Have to stock up again. I can't leave hardly any food items on the shelf here in the summer as it gets too hot. I took inventory before leaving Bahia this time so I knew what I had and what I had to buy. Before the pandemic I used to shop on Saturdays, but I don't want to shop when there are a lot of people in town so thought Friday would be good. However, a lot of our American friends were arriving that day so there were a lot of Americans at the stores. It was good seeing everyone but didn't want to linger too long. No virus here and the Mexican people are taking it seriously. I think some of the American people think that since they are here they don't have to wear their masks. I still do and will remain doing it when I shop until the pandemic is over. We now have food enough for meals for a week. I will go into town every Friday.

Went into the bay again by myself and it was marvelous!! So cool and refreshing. Then 2 days after that I was back in with my neighbor bobbing around.

One of my good friends came down to her house down here from Oregon and she wanted to get together to play train. I was leary so I declined. Maybe next week. Most of the Americans will have gone through their quarantine by then.

Dave and our gate guard, Tito, went fishing and caught 12 fish. 11 Yellow Tail and 1 grouper. Tito took the grouper and 4 yellows and we had the rest. We weren't able to clean them right away due to having to rinse down the boat and flush the engine and then put the boat back in the big garage. So they did dry out a little which makes it a little more difficult to filet, but Dave did an excellent job. We had two full zip lock bags of filet fish that went into the refrigerator to keep overnight and then Dave will finish cleaning them up the following day. Whew!!! That was a lot of fish but we are so happy we have some now in the freezer. I so glad they went out today because it is supposed to get windy for the next several days.

We found out that the propane truck came by just before we arrived back home. Bummer. It will be another month before he comes out again----maybe. We can take our large and small empty cylinders into town and get them filled and the price isn't that much different. It is just easier to have them filled at the house by the truck.

There were 11 ladies that showed up for Mexican Train on Tuesday. We sat outside out of the wind. It was a windy day and had been for a couple days so there was a light dusting of sand on the tables, but it is to be expected here in the desert. After train I did some grocery shopping then went home.

Today, the 27^th is my youngest son, Jonathan and his wife, Susannah's 8^th year Anniverary. Yay!

It is starting to cool down now and be chilly at night. That is always good. The blanket is on the bed and had to put the comforter on for one night only. The temperature is pleasant enough to sit outside on the deck and read my book.

We had Dave's fishing his filet glove soaking in water overnight, so yesterday I scrubbed the fingers to get the fish particles off then poured the water out and refilled the bucket and put the glove back in for another overnight soak.

Happy Halloween!! It is Dave's birthday so I made him a waffle and bacon for breakfast, baked brownies and cleaned shrimp for his dinner tonight. The Mexican people are not into Halloween but tomorrow and the next day they will be celebrating the day of the Dead.

You know that glove we've been soaking, well while I was peeling and deveining shrimp, Dave asked me what I did with the glove. I told him it was still in the bucket soaking. Nope it wasn't. A coyote got it out, bad of me not to put it up so coyotes wouldn't get in the bucket, and had taken the glove out. Dave found it in the yard with 2 finger tips missing. LOL!!! It's still usable, but he definitely needs a new one.

Enjoy Halloween and happy trick or treating!!!

 

Preparing To Head South For The Winter Months

Well now that I am 68, my body is telling me I am getting old. Phifft!! In my mind I'm not. My left shoulder has been bothering me a lot lately. Actually it started a few years ago. I had been able to do the plank exercise to strengthen my core, but then my left shoulder started popping and crunching. So I quit. The other day Dave and I were in the store and I reached over to my left shoulder for whatever reason and found a bump. It felt like bone. It hadn't been there before. So now I need to go to the doctor and have it checked out.

I called the doctor and they scheduled me for an x-ray for the 10^th. It is a few days longer than I wanted to get in but I have to take what I can get at this point.

That evening, well actually early in the morning I woke to pain in my left shoulder. It hurt and I have a high tolerance for pain. It was completely numb and took a long time to get the blood flow back. So that morning I called the doctor and asked to be seen sooner than the 10^th. They got me right in and took an x-ray. It is tendinitis and degenerative arthritis. The bump? Arthritis. Doctor gave me arm exercises to do so I do those for both arms. Some I can't do now until I get home as I have the stretch bands there, but what I can do now will help. At least I know what I am dealing with. I just don't want my shoulders freezing up. Now I have more exercises added to my routine. No worries.

I have been collecting pears that have fallen from our friends pear tree. Unfortunately it has a blight which last year resulted in the leaves having black and orange red spots on them. It wasn't treated last year so now the fruit have black spots, cracks and don't get real big. If they don't do something with it this year they will lose it. I've been picking up the good pears and throw the others in the compost bin.

Today I pealed and cored the ripe pears; cut them in slices sprayed lemon juice on them to keep them from browning and freezing them on a cookie sheet. Noreen did that last year and they freeze really well that way. Did the same for the blackberries we picked. They don't stick to each other in the ziplock bag that way. We have more pears to do but have to wait a few more days for them to ripen. They are great tasting sweet pears. We also need to pick more blackberries.

Now that we are house sitting for Ron and Noreen while they are on a boating vacation, we have the trailer in their backyard and I water their plants. It has been hot here, upper 80's to 90's so things are drying out fast. They also have a garden which is almost finished producing.

Dave and I are shopping for the items on our wish lists. We make them every year and sometimes we can get most of the items, and other times not. Depends on money. So far I have been able to get most of the things on my list this year. What doesn't get bought this time, goes on the list for next summer. We start with the most important things, the needs, then if we can we can work on the wants. We do pretty good. A lot of my needs are food items I can't get in Mexico. Like baking flour. Mexicans have flour but it is heavy and doesn't do well for making bread and cookies. So I get bread and all purpose flour, and Tahini for making hummus, and other things we like to have on hand. When those necessary things are bought then I can focus on the things I want for the house. I finally bought 2 soft kitchen mats for the Bahia kitchen. A runner for just inside the patio glass door. Then I get my art supplies and that comes out of the money I make on the mobiles. Dave has his list and tries to find what he needs at a reasonable price.

Ron and Noreen returned from their trip. The gal that invited them to cruise with her and her boyfriend, ended up not being able to leave when they wanted due to a lot of repairs she wasn't aware of that needed to be done before leaving the dock. The repairs were taken care of and they were only delayed a couple days in leaving. Now the boat is running fine so they were able to get underway. The weather was looking really warm and sunny skies so it should be a great trip. Well it didn't quite end up that way. There was a freak wind storm and they were tied up to the dock at a resort named Alderbrook Inn. Dave and I got married there. The storm came up so fast there was no preparing for it and the boat, 52 feet along with the dinghy got slammed into the dock.. The dinghy which was fiberglass not rubber, was taking on water and getting ready to sink. So the guys went into action and took care of it so it would be alright. They were able to secure it behind the big boat. The big boat got a little ruffed up but nothing major. It just scared everyone to death. Finally the wind died down and everyone could take a breath! We've had storms sneak up on us like that so we know how it feels. Then just after that fires were raging in eastern Washington and the wind was blowing it to the west. Plus with the smoke from the fires in Oregon and California it made it worse. So the smoke settled in and air quality became dangerous. So if you think about it, it wasn't pleasant. Even 52 foot boats are limited in space below and you couldn't go outside. One saving grace was they had an enclosed back deck so that helped some. It was awful anyway with the pandemic but having the smoke keep us inside wasn't fun either. So unfortunately their boating vacation wasn't the best. They made it work and they did have a good time.

Brooke and the kids are back to school. Well not in the actual building but learning from home. Brooke has set up an office where Ernie used to have his, and she does her lesson planing and teaching from there. Conor goes to preschool 3 days a week which is really good for him. There are few kids there and the environment is totally safe. Conor needs that interaction with others and schedule so it is good for everyone. Jonathan's boys, Cameron and Jonathan Jr., are learning at their day care facility. They each have their own cubicle to work on computer programs. So at least the kids are learning. Gives them some structure and discipline.

Ernie left to go fishing at Sekiu with Brooke's grandfather and another guy. Sekiu is up north towards Neah Bay and they will be fishing out in the Straits. The air quality is better up there.

I got a call from the office where I am going to have my ear surgery. They got the referral letter and have scheduled me for September 29^th. So I will finally get this done and then we can head south. I will have to go back for a checkup on October 6^th and then that is over.

It has started to rain so everyone is glad about that. It is beginning to clear the air. The fires everywhere are dying down which is a good thing. I am hoping by the time we head south all those fires in Oregon and California will be out.

We had hopes to be able to wash the trailer and treat the top but that didn't happen due to rain and bad air quality. So now we will just wait and see what the weather holds and if we have a couple sunny warm days, then we can get it done and get the cover on it. Otherwise we will just let it dry, cover it and wait until we come back to wash it.

We left Ron and Noreen's backyard and headed for Kitsap Memorial State Park for 3 days. It isn't far away but they have everything we need there. We really didn't want to move the trailer but we don't have anywhere to dump the tanks so the next best thing was to go to a State Park and do it. 

 

We arrived at our camp site around 2:00pm and it didn't take Dave long to park the trailer. He does really well. Then it was time to hook up and get the trailer level and secured. Unfortunately the weather forecast is calling for rain for the next few days. Oh well. It is pretty dry so they need it. It was cloudy when we arrived but warm.

 

We are so thankful for the clean air. We take so many things for granted and when we don't have those things it makes you stop and think just how good we have it.

When we were finished getting the trailer set up, we registered and walked to the beach. It is beautiful here on the Hood Canal and even though it is a cloudy day, the sun is trying to peek through the clouds. Very peaceful! 

 

It is September 21^st and we are staying 3 days here at the park and leaving on the 24^th. When we leave here we are taking the trailer to the dealers to have them winterize it for us. Dave did that last year and had a difficult time and it isn't expensive so why not. Saves in aggravation and frustration. Then when that gets done we head back to our friends backyard. There we will give it to them to winterize it and then the trailer will go back to the backyard. Then that is when we start packing the rest of our things to take back to Bahia.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny warm day!!! Hardly any breeze so I took advance of the nice weather and took the rugs outside to clean and then swept and mopped the floor. I wanted to get the dirt out that had been tracked in earlier so I could walk around barefoot. Once that chore was done I sanitized the shower.

Our grey water tank has a foul smell and the tank indicator isn't reading accurately. Dave finally called the parts department at the trailer dealership and asked what we could do to get the sensor working again. He recommended pouring very hot water down the drains filling the tank. There is also a solution that can be bought to pour down the drain filling the tank full of water and letting it sit for 24 hours then drain it the next day. Before we do that we figured we might try and put a box of baking soda down the drain and pour hot water after it. I used baking soda on the boat for cleaning all the time and it worked great and is good to alleviate odors so we thought we would give it a try. We did that and then drained the tank but the sensor didn't change. It is still reading 3 dots when it should only be reading one. So now we will try the solution the maintenance guy recommended which means Dave needs to go buy it.

I was going to sit outside and read my book and when Dave left to go to the trailer dealership to get the solution, I found out he had the chairs in the back of the truck. Oh well. It isn't comfortable for me to sit on the hard picnic table bench so I went inside to read with windows and the screen door open to enjoy the fresh air. When Dave got back we poured half the solution down the drain and filled the tank almost full with water. We are going to let it sit overnight. Time will tell.

Well I am glad we had such a beautiful day yesterday because today is awful. It was raining when we got up and hasn't stopped yet. We are getting downpours and it is windy. I am glad we aren't in a tent!!

Since it is a rainy day it is perfect dusting and cleaning the bathroom; counters and stove. So now I am done with cleaning.

Dave went to our storage unit to get my hiking boots, rain jacket and 3 crates. It is supposed to rain tomorrow too so I need to stay as dry as possible and the crates are for packing food items to take back to Bahia with us. When he returned with the crates I packed up food items and other things to make less work for tomorrow when we get back to our friends backyard and start unloading the trailer.

The trailer is ready to be transported to the dealership. God was blessing us with hardly any rain. I expected us to get drenched but glad it didn't happen. The winterizing took about an hour and then we were back in our friends backyard and this time it will stay for the winter. We are so thankful they are allowing us to keep it there over the winter. We do pay some rent for electricity but it is worth it and we know they will check on it during the winter to make sure it stays dry and warm inside.

We took the filled crates and put them in the truck and will take them to storage when we get a chance. We have already packed a lot of things up that were bought and sitting in the storage unit so we don't have much more to do. We got a lot done this afternoon and not much more to go. Now we just wait until the weather clears, hopefully, so we can wash the trailer. Just last minute things to get out of the trailer and then it will be closed up for the winter. Dave ordered tire covers for the trailer so those are on and secured.

Today Dave took the truck down to the Chevy dealers and had the normal maintenance done to it. Oil change, tires rotated, wiper blades replaced, etc. We have about 5 more of those left on our maintenance plan. Dave wasn't sure how long it would take for them to get the truck in as they were booked up but told him to come first thing when they open and they would try to fit him in. He was first in line so he didn't have to wait all day thank goodness. So now we have piece of mind that the truck is taken care of for our long journey home. After he got home, I left for the laundromat. I had the bedding and bedspread to wash and a few other items. So now that is done and closer to the finish. It poured this afternoon and now the sun is out and it isn't raining anymore. Supposed to be nice after this so we are looking forward to it.

Tomorrow Jon and the boys are going to go to the driving range so the boys can hit a few golf balls. We will meet them there. The boys are excited to have us watch them. That will be the last time we see the boys until next summer.

We met Jonathan and the boys at the golf coarse driving range in Bremerton. Jonathan Jr. has one heck of a swing and posture. Cameron did pretty well but lost interest early. We were there for an hour and not long after we got there the wind picked up and it was getting chilly. We had a good time and it was great seeing them again.

We finally got the trailer and awning washed and the roof treated. We finally got sunny weather. We have gotten everything we needed too out of the trailer and now we can cover it. 

We had to get a new cover because last year the one we had was too small. So the trailer has a heater and 2 dehumidifiers inside going so it will stay warm and dry this winter. So the cover is on and we are done until June of 2021. 

Today I had my ear surgery. Great doctor and staff! They had to take 3 grafs before they could tell me they got all the cancer. So now I am stitched up and have a bandage on my ear. I get the stitches out and no more bandage on the October 6^th. The day after my ear surgery we left Ron and Noreen's and went to Ernie and Brookes. We will be there until the October 5^th. It will be fun to have some time with the grandboys before we leave.

My ear doesn't hurt which surprised me but it does get a sharp twinge of pain but goes away quickly. After 48 hours with the bandage on, I was able to remove that bandage and take a look at my ear. It has a dip along the edge but it looks pretty good. I put Vaseline on it and then Dave put a clean bandage on. When I get the stitches out on the 6^th of October I won't need it covered anymore.