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 10th. 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 10th. 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 29th. So I will finally get this done and then we can head south. I will have to go back for a checkup on October 6th 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 21st and we are staying 3 days here at the park and leaving on the 24th. 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 6th. 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 5th. 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 6th of October I won't need it covered anymore.
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