Catching up-June 29, 2013

I haven't had time to post so I am going to try to catch up. Thursday night part of the Colorado crew ate at Henry's in Loveland. It's always been good. They have changed their menu but it was still very good. Friday night we decided to go to the Rib House in Longmont. They do have very good barbecue there. It is in the midst of a housing section which has fabulous houses and beautiful trees. It rained a little while we were eating. Then as we started to leave, the skies opened up and it poured both rain and hail. The two of us and Hannah had to stop to let the hail pass. Those on motorcycles had to find shelter at a McDonald's. We came on home. They arrived safely a little later.

Here are "my boys". From the farthest out, JD, Josh, Shawn and Derrick.

 

 

I took this near Longmont. I liked the sun shining through the clouds in one spot

while it rained in other spots. It was much brighter than it shows in this picture.

 

Today begins the moving of the 20,000 pounds of rock. I am thinking I will stay inside and work. I don't think I would be a good rock mover.

 

In case I don't have time to post tonight, please let me take this moment to wish you a very blessed Sunday. Rest and enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks and more-June 26, 2013

Derrick had rocks delivered today so he could put them around the new building and also change the driveway leading to it.

It doesn't look like a huge pile of rocks, does it? That's 10 tons.

A mere 20,000 pounds. Jerry says they will know how much it weighs when they start moving it.

 

We had coffee with the neighbors this morning. We were so busy talking it almost became lunch! We had lots of good laughs.

 

As we were bringing Hannah to our coach to play tonight we saw a great sunset in its early stages. You know me and sunsets. Bear with me as I share another picture.

 

When I was young that streak was called a vapor trail from an airplane. Then it became a contrail. Now it is a chem trail. Call it what you prefer, it is still interesting to me to see them appear and disappear across the sky.

 

It was a very hot day today but we survived it. It was not a record breaker, but still very hot.



Super Moon-June 25, 2013

Jerry took this picture of the super moon at 4:00 AM on Sunday. No, I don't know why he chose to do that. I slept through it. I will say that is points out how dark it is out here in the country. I think you can see one light from a distant city toward the bottom. It was actually like daylight here. We have really enjoyed watching this super moon.

 

Update on the new memory foam mattress: We are going to be able to adjust to it! It is quite different but very nice.

 



Another update: We have a new microwave installed. The ones that go in coaches are a microwave/convection oven combination so they cannot be bought at Wally World. Duh. Very expensive. We ordered one several weeks ago. It was badly damaged. Returned and ordered another one. When the second one arrived a man at the store called and said not to bother coming in. It was destroyed beyond use. A third one was ordered. It has a few dents and dings on it, but they are not where other people can see them, so we kept it. It was quite a strain for two grown men to hold that 85 pound oven almost above their heads while trying to get it bolted to the wall. It was very hard work, but they succeeded. It looks nice. It is different from the original one so I have to read the book before I use it. Life is just one challenge after another. That way we don't get bored.

We are still alive and kicking in Derrick's side yard. Working hard but enjoying our stay. Surely one day we will get bored and become tourists once again. Ya think??

A wedding-June 22, 2013

Today we attended a wedding for Jerry's nephew's son. It was west of Longmont and it seemed to be miles from humans. But it was really only 48 miles from here. It was a most unusual wedding but we really enjoyed it. The setting was very pretty. The bride and groom were glowing with joy and happiness and they made a really good looking couple. At the reception we had the opportunity to visit with family that we only see once a year or so. Hannah had a blast at the reception. She stood on Derrick's lap and danced and clapped her hands to the music. The bride sang a song to her groom and Hannah was almost thunderstruck if that makes sense. Then when the song ended Hannah decided it was her time to sing. So much fun to watch!

Alex and Jenny

 

This adorable little ring bearer tripped on the aisle runner, bless his heart,

but he never dropped the ring pillow. He never cried. He picked himself up and continued forward.

What a cute little boy.

 

On the way home we were fortunate enough to see this year's super moon.

This is the largest full moon this year because the moon is closer to the earth than at any other time.

Very pretty.

 

 

I hope tomorrow is a wonderful day for you and yours.

 

 

Mattress update-June 21, 2013

The first night with the new memory foam mattress was the longest night of our lives. It was like sleeping on stacked logs. We were grumbling and contemplating bringing the old mattress back. We walked the floor and sat in the dark in the living room. Last night was so much better. Thank goodness! We will probably love this thing in a few short days. The old one is gone for good, headed for the county dump soon. I am trying to get ready to go across the street and help the neighbors with their garage sale. I'm not fond of garage sales but I am fond of the neighbors so I said I would try to help with collecting the money. This afternoon and evening we will keep Hannah. Tomorrow more garage sale. Then in early afternoon we head for a family wedding west of Longmont. We have a busy weekend on tap. It sure makes the time fly. Enjoy your day and plan a fun weekend.

New mattress-June 19, 2013

We made sure we started setting up our new memory foam mattress before 9:00 this morning. It takes a minimum of 12 hours for it to plump up to its fullest. An RV king size mattress ships from the factory in a box that's about 2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft. It weighs 85 pounds. So we tugged and pulled and got it out of the box. The minute we cut the shrink wrap off of it, we could hear it taking in air. Very quickly it started getting full. The real work was getting the old one out of here. We were determined and once it started going down the steps there was no stopping it. The new mattress looks wonderful and we are excited to get rid of that custom made mattress that was in here when we bought the coach. That was a back breaker. Will let you know tomorrow if it was worth the wait and all the hard work.

Another sunset-June 18, 2013

Please allow me to share yet another sunset picture with you. I simply cannot resist taking these pictures. We were headed into the house to say "Night, night, sleep tight" to Hannah when this caught my eye.

 

We are all going to a family wedding this weekend so today was our first day to go shopping. We took care of Hannah while her mother shopped. We walked her through so many stores that little girl should know how to shop by now. It was really hot today and some of the stores were too hot to stay in, so we had to seek shade outside so we could feel the breeze. We grabbed a bite for lunch and came home and dropped in our tracks. We will spend the day tomorrow setting up our new mattress which arrived late yesterday. It is a process. I'll explain it tomorrow.

 

 

 

Father's Day-June 16, 2013

We had fun sharing our son's first Father's Day with him and his family. Good food and good times.
I hope all father's had a great day. They are appreciated.

I wanted to share pictures of Derrick's garden with you. It is really nice and we look forward to harvest.

Brown paper still in place due to high winds.

 

Asparagus has already gone to seed. It was harvested a week before we arrived.

 

 

One of two grape vines.

 

The strawberries are planted next to our coach. We are keeping an eye on them. I think we may have waited too late to plant them this year. But they will definitely be back next year.

 

Old Chicago-June 14, 2013

Old Chicago is the pizza place, not the city in Illinois. That's where the Friday night wrecking crew ate tonight. It was this set of Hoffmans and the other set of Hoffmans plus Josh (#2 son) and JD. I'm thinking about adopting him, too. We had such a good time and enjoyed every bite. We devoured food like we had not eaten in weeks. Little Hannah was sitting across from me and as is our custom she and I were communicating in our insane way. I happened to glance to my left and there was a lady sitting at the next table who was looking at me like there was something mentally wrong with me. I did not let up. Why should I? Then she leaned way back and looked around behind our table only to discover Hannah. She seemed very relieved that I was not really crazy but actually communicating with an adorable little girl. I nearly ruined her meal! This outing came after Hannah spent nearly three hours at the outlet mall earlier today. She was completely worn out and fell asleep the minute her body was settled into her car seat. I could have done the same but I was driving and thought better of it. She is going to be one well dressed and very spoiled little girl. As we were leaving I noticed the pretty flowers lining the exit/entrance and snapped a quick picture. There's beauty all around us but so often we do not take time to smell the roses.

I found red and purple to be a unique but very attractive color combination.

Dragging-June 13, 2013

We are dragging this morning. We spent 7 hours with Hannah last night. We played with her the entire time. She crashed and was sound asleep by 9:15. We didn't get to crash until about midnight. We have not recovered yet. We now know without a doubt why old people can't have babies! They'd never survive. It is cloudy today so hopefully we can get a lot of outdoor work completed when we get moving this morning. Hope you all have a great day.

Things-June 11, 2013

I have not had time to post like I wanted to, so I'll try to catch up now. As hot as it is, we still have snow capped mountains to look at. It is not every year that we can see this much snow this time of year. It was 100° yesterday and so far today it is 99°. The wind is strong and it's a hot dry wind. Still we can see this.

 

Today as we headed to Loveland for lunch with dear friends, Ed and Mary K, I wondered out loud why the sky was so hazy. Now we know. There are a number of fires burning in the state with the biggest one being in Black Forest, close to Colorado Springs. We just watched live as a multi million dollar mansion burned to the ground. I am horrified and I'm sick at my stomach. Please pray for all in the path of these gigantic flames. I hope this is not a summer of fires. It is such a helpless feeling to watch and have no way to help. Even the helicopters are having trouble flying in this wind.

There's also a fire burning in Rocky Mountain National Park which is in this northern part of the state. I hope this state doesn't burn up.

Due to the wind Jerry and I went out and put brown paper around some of the tender plants in Derrick's garden. The wind sort of pulled the air out of our lungs. We were glad we could help while he was at work.

Tomorrow night we babysit while Hannah's parents go to a Rockies game.

We opened our front door a couple of minutes ago and could barely breathe. This is going to be a rough ride. I hope the fires are out quickly.

 

Busy day-June 8, 2013

We're still sticking close to Derrick's house, excuse me, Hannah's house. Once we get settled into a routine we'll start playing tourist again. There's so much work going into Derrick's garden that we surely want to stick around for the harvest.

We were awakened by unbelievable wind this morning. That's not our favorite way to be awakened. It howled all day long. I will add that it was not predicted in any way. It made for a restless sort of day.

I wish you all a very restful and blessed Sunday. Take time to smell the roses.

On The Border-June 7, 2013

As has become our tradition, we ate at On The Border with several of Derrick's friends whom we call friends, too. Hannah managed to hang in there with us for quite a long while. The food was excellent as it always is. Our waitress was fun and efficient. The company was the best.

L-R: Mike, Mark, JD (in front), Josh, Shawn

 

Shawn is a "leftover" from kindergarten days at Carrie Martin Elementary. My, that's been a long time. The other young men are newer friends to us, but just as important. I bet Shawn has never been called a leftover before. Bless his heart. It was a really good evening.

Too Much Like Work-June 5, 2013

 

There are four of these flower boxes beside our coach. Someone who shall remain anonymous thought these little green things were flowers and that we should leave them until they bloomed to see what they are. Jerry and I had a board meeting today and made an executive decision that these are WEEDS and should be removed. Two hours later we had all four boxes cleaned.

 

Wow, this one actually has vegetables in it! We bought a strawberry plant yesterday so we could have some fresh strawberries this summer. We are thinking about buying a couple more. The more strawberries the better.

 

This was so much like work we think we earned our keep!

 

Rain!-June 4, 2013

We took the Cute Red Vehicle for a routine oil change today. They said next time we have to change the cabin air filter and the engine air filter. At the price they quoted us, we need to start saving now. Good grief. It was a beautiful afternoon and then out of the blue came a big rainstorm. A little thunder but no lightning. It rained quite a bit and we are happy. We bought a nice strawberry plant today and put it in one of the flower boxes next to the coach. I am sure the rain was good for it. We heard the pomegranate tree singing in the rain. Now the cooler weather moves in for a couple of days.
I'm just checking in so you know we are still alive and kicking!

More Sunday-June 2, 2013

I just have to share a few pictures with you. Today was a wonderful day with family. The weather was perfect. And we all had a good time. I am going to have to get some stronger vitamins to keep up with Hannah!

Looks like a nice lazy river, doesn't it? It isn't. It's the irrigation ditch

from which Derrick gets water for his acreage, lawn and garden.

 

We planted these irises over 30 years ago at our house on 42nd Street.

They now thrive at Derrick's house. I always loved them. Still do.

 

If you've followed this blog you know that on all previous visits we parked in Derrick's driveway.

This year we chose the side yard. We like it better because we have a better view and

we have a flower garden!

 

Tonight's sunset from our front door. It needs no additional comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday-June 2, 2103

We had a very busy day yesterday but we did not go anywhere to take pictures. Hannah and I have developed our own language which makes everybody else laugh. Do you know what energy it takes to crawl around on the floor with a 9 month old? Well, it takes a lot. We overslept this morning so I am in a rush. We got the call to make pancakes before I knew it was daylight!

I wish you a very blessed and restful Sunday. The weather here is just wonderful and we plan to relax while enjoying it.