Friday evening we took our neighbour Terry and we 3 went downtown to Palm Springs and went into a store called Crystal Fantasy. It's kind of a metaphysical type store, they also sell native american style flutes, as well as some quite interesting merchandise. Once a month they hold a drum circle, and that's why we went there. It was held at 7 PM, and the leader was Scott who seemed to be a co-owner of Crystal Fantasy together with his wife. They have a pug dog.
The circle is held in a large back room located at the back of the store, there is very pretty artwork on the walls, and there were a lot of chairs set out in a circle. And drum we did. Lary and I took flutes, but the ones I had taken were drummed right out. Lary seemed to have a hardwood B flute of Mad Max that could carry over the drums, but it was very intense drumming, but very enjoyable too.
Almost hypnotic. We drummed our hearts out for 2 hours and then came home, pleasantly tired but kind of energized too. Lary played his flute a lot, and another man played his rim blown flute, as well as a cajon, and a djembe type drum. It was a very interesting time. Both Terry and I had djembe type drums, mine is bigger and a lower pitch than hers, but we both beat away on them. She also has brushes like you could use in a band to play cymbals or something like that, so she gives her fingers a rest, and uses the brushes at times. Nice sound.
Lots of fun visiting with her a wee bit on the way there, though we didn't really chat while drumming, we couldn't hear ourselves anyway. It was fun and stimulating, there seemed to be no direction, just drumming happened spontaneously, like wildfire breaking out. Some very talented and intense male drum players were there.
Saturday evening we attended the Baked Potato dinner here in the park, it was hosted by Phil and Rita, and was a big green salad that you put your own trimmings on, and later a baked potato with garlic rosemary bread. The baked potatoes were very salty on the outside, but inside they were delicious.
They served kind of chili and a cheese sauce over them, and once again, you could add bacon bits, sour cream and green onions to the potato. We didn't think we'd be full, but we sure were. Dessert was cake with berries and whipped topping, very good.
And after that there was a dance with the guitar player Daymor Moses, we sat with Bob and Jo Anne, Sharon and Chris, Mel, Monty and Coro once our mostly elderly dinner table mates had left for the evening.
The temps were in the upper 80s, so we had been in the pool nearly every day, enjoying the warm water and fun company, too. The days are slowly lengthening, so the sun doesn't disappear as early as it was doing. Because of the high Mount San Jacinto behind Palm Springs we tend to lose sunshine a bit earlier than it truly disappears from the sky. Currently it disappears from the pool at about 4:30 PM, or a bit later.
Sunday we did hardly anything, just hung around the house, reading the paper and being lazy, and in the afternoon we watched the Red Carpet for the Oscars, then the Oscars themselves. I just adore all the fashions, and of course the winners and the speeches, it's all fun. I enjoy seeing the snippets of the latest winning movies.
After dinner Sunday the wind started to come up as forecast, and this morning, Monday, we awoke to temps below 60, and a windy, cloudy day. There were wind warnings for winds up to 60 or 65 miles per hour today, erg. Dave and Wendy have been down in the San Diego area for a week, and I think they delayed their move day from today til tomorrow, due to high winds in the forecast. It's no fun moving a lengthy trailer and truck in high winds, can be downright scarey.
I forgot to say that our gas prices are now over $4.00 a gallon and seem to be increasing every day. Lary gets our gas from Von's which is a grocery store, kind of related to Safeway, and when you buy a certain amount of groceries, $100 I believe, you get seriously discounted gas at their station. So that's what we do. Another idea is Costco, but their pumps are always very busy. Today, Monday we saw gas at a Shell station for $4.35 for regular!!!! and still climbing- we guess.
We shopped today for a few things, in the weekend's paper we got a big brown grocery bag, and you could fill it at Office Max, and everything in it would be discounted by 20%. So we did that and got some stuff we needed for here.
On the way home from shopping there was dust being kicked up by the wind in the empty lots around town, and there were very inky blue/black/grey clouds in the sky. We got a few drops of rain, but not much so far. There is wind everywhere though, and at 4:30 PM the temps are down below 50 this afternoon already. Weird time of year here.
Forgot to say that both Lary and I have been reading the author J.A. Jance, she is a woman writer, and we are both enjoying her prolific writing. I am reading the series about Joanna Brady, a modern day sheriff in Bisbee, Arizona. As we know that area pretty well, it is very interesting, and the books are very interesting and enjoyable.
Lary is reading books by J.A. Jance too, but he's reading the J.P. Beaumont series, he's a detective in Seattle, also the Walker family series, they are located in S. Arizona, people with problems who solve them, also books with Ali Reynolds as the main character, she's an ex Los Angeles newscaster, who has relocated to Arizona. She seems to get involved in trouble and solve it, too. Great reads, our favourite is still Joanna Brady, the female sheriff and young single mom out on ranch property outside Bisbee.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
It was 89 degrees here in Desert Hot Springs
OMG, just watching the 11 PM news today, and it was 89 degrees in Desert Hot Springs today. It was 90 degrees in Palm Springs, how weird is that?
And gas here is $3.99 a gallon at the cheapest gas stations that we can find, ouch and more ouch.
That's it for my breaking news tonight, Thursday.
And gas here is $3.99 a gallon at the cheapest gas stations that we can find, ouch and more ouch.
That's it for my breaking news tonight, Thursday.
Coffee and donuts this morning
Today we had the usual meeting with coffee and donuts. I had given up the treasurer's job, I could manage the cash ins and outs, but preparing a monthly report for the board was more than I had the know how for, so another lady has taken it on, which is quite a relief for me. Whew, but I don't really have that much of a role now on the entertainment committee.
This afternoon Lary went over to the Canadian Snowbirds Assn. meeting at a casino, and I stayed here and helped with poker. It was very interesting to see what goes on, and us 3 volunteers were very busy. One lady was the floor person, responsible for organizing the players when some of them drop out. The winners pots were up to 6th place, and the players pay $11 each to play. Today there were 53 players. There is also a pot that goes to the person with the highest hand overall during the afternoon.
It has warmed up eerily here, we had mid 80s today, but it is supposed to go down in temps soon. It has been wonderful though, lovely pool time, and very warm days.
Lary carved Wednesday afternoon, and I had a pedicure, which was great.
We have some local wild birds that I think are cactus wrens, and they are trying desperately to nest in our aluminum canopy, every day Lary scoops out their nest makings, and every day they drag it all back in again to their special spot.
Unfortunately it is right above our car, and we don't really want all that fallout, so we went to the hardware store, 2 in fact, and bought some wire screeening that we will install to prevent them building there. It's a pity- but they have a ton of natural places to nest right here all around us, so we are doing the tough love thing. Hmmm, lots of work for us tomorrow to put up a long 14 foot length of screening.
Tonight we went to the Village Fest street festival, and sauntered up and down the main street of downtown Palm Springs. We only bought licorice and fudge, nothing more, but it was very crowded, and busy. It is hot still outside, tonight the warmth brought out a ton of folks, the restaurants downtown were full of folks, the sidewalk part of the restaurants was full with diners.
This afternoon Lary went over to the Canadian Snowbirds Assn. meeting at a casino, and I stayed here and helped with poker. It was very interesting to see what goes on, and us 3 volunteers were very busy. One lady was the floor person, responsible for organizing the players when some of them drop out. The winners pots were up to 6th place, and the players pay $11 each to play. Today there were 53 players. There is also a pot that goes to the person with the highest hand overall during the afternoon.
It has warmed up eerily here, we had mid 80s today, but it is supposed to go down in temps soon. It has been wonderful though, lovely pool time, and very warm days.
Lary carved Wednesday afternoon, and I had a pedicure, which was great.
We have some local wild birds that I think are cactus wrens, and they are trying desperately to nest in our aluminum canopy, every day Lary scoops out their nest makings, and every day they drag it all back in again to their special spot.
Unfortunately it is right above our car, and we don't really want all that fallout, so we went to the hardware store, 2 in fact, and bought some wire screeening that we will install to prevent them building there. It's a pity- but they have a ton of natural places to nest right here all around us, so we are doing the tough love thing. Hmmm, lots of work for us tomorrow to put up a long 14 foot length of screening.
Tonight we went to the Village Fest street festival, and sauntered up and down the main street of downtown Palm Springs. We only bought licorice and fudge, nothing more, but it was very crowded, and busy. It is hot still outside, tonight the warmth brought out a ton of folks, the restaurants downtown were full of folks, the sidewalk part of the restaurants was full with diners.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
This is a copy of the tourist information about Calico from their website
Calico is located on highway I-15 at Ghost Town Road Exit
Open daily 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. except Christmas Day
Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. With its 500 mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miners packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. It became a "ghost town."
Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950's, architecturally restoring all but the five original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.
Today Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system visited by people from around the country and all over the world. The park offers visitors an opportunity to share in its rich history and enjoy the natural beauty of the surrounding desert environment. Along with its history and attractions, Calico Ghost Town has shops,restaurants and offers camping and outdoor recreation not available at most of our other park facilities.
The old abandoned mines are very dangerous, and must not be approached for any reason!
Calico Attractions
Maggie’s Mine Replica of a mine demonstrating conditions in where the miners worked
Mystery Shack
Crooked house where water runs uphill
Lucy Lane Museum
Artifacts, photographs and documents from Calico’s origin.
Calico-Odessa Railway
Take a tour of Calico on the type of train used to cart silver from the mines!
Gold Panning
Kids get the feel of old West panning on weekends
Activities
Mountain Bike Trails
In addition to Camping, Calico Ghost Town offers a variety of mountain bike trails to explore. Ranging from beginner level, there are trails for every skill level to explore. Trail lengths range from two to thirty miles.
Calico's trails provide scenic panoramic views with unique geologic formations.
Signature Events at Calico
Civil War Re-enactment - President's Day Weekend, February 18-20, 2012
The North battles the South as cannons roar and bugles trumpet. View pictures from previous events in the photo album.
Open daily 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. except Christmas Day
Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. With its 500 mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miners packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. It became a "ghost town."
Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950's, architecturally restoring all but the five original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.
Today Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system visited by people from around the country and all over the world. The park offers visitors an opportunity to share in its rich history and enjoy the natural beauty of the surrounding desert environment. Along with its history and attractions, Calico Ghost Town has shops,restaurants and offers camping and outdoor recreation not available at most of our other park facilities.
The old abandoned mines are very dangerous, and must not be approached for any reason!
Calico Attractions
Maggie’s Mine Replica of a mine demonstrating conditions in where the miners worked
Mystery Shack
Crooked house where water runs uphill
Lucy Lane Museum
Artifacts, photographs and documents from Calico’s origin.
Calico-Odessa Railway
Take a tour of Calico on the type of train used to cart silver from the mines!
Gold Panning
Kids get the feel of old West panning on weekends
Activities
Mountain Bike Trails
In addition to Camping, Calico Ghost Town offers a variety of mountain bike trails to explore. Ranging from beginner level, there are trails for every skill level to explore. Trail lengths range from two to thirty miles.
Calico's trails provide scenic panoramic views with unique geologic formations.
Signature Events at Calico
Civil War Re-enactment - President's Day Weekend, February 18-20, 2012
The North battles the South as cannons roar and bugles trumpet. View pictures from previous events in the photo album.
Calico Ghost town, California and re-enactors
Well we had a super time up at Calico. Saturday was a lovely warm day, and 2 battles of the Civil War era took place, the union won in the morning, and the south won the afternoon battle. Calico is up in the hills as it was a silver and borax mining town, closed in the late 1800s. Then in about the 1950s it was bought by the owner of Knotts berry farms, and rebuilt. Today it is a county park, with a campsite just below it.
The campsite is very busy with ATV folks rushing around in various gas guzzling machines. Up the hill in the ghost town- this weekend it was full of people in period costumes, the 2 sides of the Civil War, lots of soldiers, officers, a military band, and Abraham Lincoln who gave the Gettysburg Address, and looked very convincing. There were also sheriffs, shopkeeper women, a saddle maker, and 2 mountain men, very impressive in long leather coats and pants, with fur hats, and their nice chatty and informative female companion.
There were 2 tent villages of troops who stayed for the whole long weekend. They fire rifles and handguns, pistols, and there were cannon for both sides. They held parades, a small theatre group put on some amusing skits, we did some leather tooling, some folks panned for gold, others enjoyed the beer garden with a nice folk singer there. There are places to get snacks and meals in the village, plus a sweet shop and a couple of places to buy coffee and ice cream.
Today Sunday was a totally different day as it was very chilly and windy too, we nearly left before the first battle of the Civil War, but in the end we lasted til it finished just after noon. The wind was whistling around and folks were huddled up quite a bit against the cold weather that had descended on the village. Our car temp read 9 degrees just after noon, brrrrrr. So we left.
There are quite a few gift and souvenir shops, a quilt shop, a music and gift shop, and a candle making shop. There was quite a lot to do, but today all we wanted was a hot chocolate as we really weren't dressed for the cold, a leather jacket would have been perfect today.
It didn't take us that long to get home, we were back here by 3 PM or so. There is quite a bit of snow on the local mountains, but not that low down, here in the valley it isn't very cold at the moment, thankfully.
The event is well worth a day visit if you are down here on President's Day weekend, entrance is $10 per adult per day, and Saturday the town was full of folks enjoying the activities. There are military parades, inspection of the troops, color guards, all the buildings are open with printing presses going, the blacksmith making iron tools, a rope maker making rope, candle making. There was Civil War era dancing yesterday, it was really neat, round dances with intricate patterns of dance, good for meeting new folks, all in all a nice family day.
I believe the town is open year round, it is only a few miles outside of Barstow, on the road to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is only another 150 miles from there or so.
We really enjoyed our weekend, it was well worth the drive for us, but today we should have had some warmer clothing in the wind and at that altitude. We thought the altitude was likely about 3500 feet or so, and on the way we had passed through a lot of Joshua tree cactuses along our route, in the Mojave desert.
Tomorrow Monday is President's Day here, a long weekend for many folks.
The campsite is very busy with ATV folks rushing around in various gas guzzling machines. Up the hill in the ghost town- this weekend it was full of people in period costumes, the 2 sides of the Civil War, lots of soldiers, officers, a military band, and Abraham Lincoln who gave the Gettysburg Address, and looked very convincing. There were also sheriffs, shopkeeper women, a saddle maker, and 2 mountain men, very impressive in long leather coats and pants, with fur hats, and their nice chatty and informative female companion.
There were 2 tent villages of troops who stayed for the whole long weekend. They fire rifles and handguns, pistols, and there were cannon for both sides. They held parades, a small theatre group put on some amusing skits, we did some leather tooling, some folks panned for gold, others enjoyed the beer garden with a nice folk singer there. There are places to get snacks and meals in the village, plus a sweet shop and a couple of places to buy coffee and ice cream.
Today Sunday was a totally different day as it was very chilly and windy too, we nearly left before the first battle of the Civil War, but in the end we lasted til it finished just after noon. The wind was whistling around and folks were huddled up quite a bit against the cold weather that had descended on the village. Our car temp read 9 degrees just after noon, brrrrrr. So we left.
There are quite a few gift and souvenir shops, a quilt shop, a music and gift shop, and a candle making shop. There was quite a lot to do, but today all we wanted was a hot chocolate as we really weren't dressed for the cold, a leather jacket would have been perfect today.
It didn't take us that long to get home, we were back here by 3 PM or so. There is quite a bit of snow on the local mountains, but not that low down, here in the valley it isn't very cold at the moment, thankfully.
The event is well worth a day visit if you are down here on President's Day weekend, entrance is $10 per adult per day, and Saturday the town was full of folks enjoying the activities. There are military parades, inspection of the troops, color guards, all the buildings are open with printing presses going, the blacksmith making iron tools, a rope maker making rope, candle making. There was Civil War era dancing yesterday, it was really neat, round dances with intricate patterns of dance, good for meeting new folks, all in all a nice family day.
I believe the town is open year round, it is only a few miles outside of Barstow, on the road to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is only another 150 miles from there or so.
We really enjoyed our weekend, it was well worth the drive for us, but today we should have had some warmer clothing in the wind and at that altitude. We thought the altitude was likely about 3500 feet or so, and on the way we had passed through a lot of Joshua tree cactuses along our route, in the Mojave desert.
Tomorrow Monday is President's Day here, a long weekend for many folks.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Off to a battle from the Civil War Era tomorrow at Calico, California
Well, the days have been flying by since I joined the entertainment committee here in the park. Today was donuts and coffee and the usual business meeting. For the next two weeks I will also be doing the newsletter for the park, which should be interesting.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at our clubhouse, it was from 10 AM to noon, put on by Mel and Monty, and a good crowd, we were asked to not all show up en masse, and it appears that the message was taken to heart. Fun to visit a bit with the neighbours when eating breakfast.
Monday we attended a Board meeting here in the park which was interesting, they run the infrastructure things about our park. Then in the afternoon we went over to the park across the street, Caliente Springs, and hopped on a special bus called the MooseMobile or something like that, where we attended a talk all about cruising to Alaska with Holland America. It was interesting. We already have an Alaska cruise booked but it won't happen til next year, as we booked to go with some American friends that we met on our Hawaii cruise last year. Interesting to learn more about Alaska.
Tuesday Valentines Day I went off to the podiatrist again, to get casts made of my feet for orthotics. You squish your foot down into a box of dense pink foam to make the mold impression, and those molds get sent away to Tennessee to make custom orthotics. I decided to do all this down here as the podiatrist in Nanaimo doesn't seem able to help my foot problems. After the podiatrist appt. we went over to Jackalope Ranch for late lunch, Lary had ribs, I had a chicken quesadilla, we were well before dinner, so it was quiet. There was to be a special dinner later on for Valentines Day but we didn't stay for that, too expensive and likely too busy also.
Weds. Lary went over to carve on his blue jay at Catalina Spa, and I went too, to visit Wendy. Our husbands were carving together, so we ladies visited, then the men came home to Wendy and Dave's trailer, and we had Happy Hour together. When we came home it was blowing and rainy.
Each day of the week I have gotten up at 7:30 or so, and gone up to the clubhouse here for a power walking program, it seems to be doing some good, as I don't huff and puff as much as I did before, and my tummy seems to be decreasing in size too. Hooray.
But today Thursday I got up and went up for coffee and donuts. After the business meeting I went over to Mel's place to watch him do the newsletter for the park, he is going away for a while, and I'll be taking over for him while he's gone. It was interesting to see his setup, with his computer in his shed, and a printer there too.
After that we went over to Annie's for our flute lesson, this time there were 5 of us, and we had a nice time planning a performance up at the San Jacinto and Sta Rosa mountain monument that we will give in early April, at an art show up there.
Last night it poured quite heavily with rain, reminded me of Vancouver Island, and this morning Mt San Jacinto just behind Palm Springs had snow down to about halfway on the mountain, and the temps had of course dropped quite a bit, too. It is pretty seeing the mountain covered in snow, and we need the rain down here for the water supply. But I love the warmth and bright blue skies better than grey ones.
Tonight as I write this it is blowing quite hard once more, but no rain so far today. We are going up to Calico, CA, north of Barstow tomorrow for the weekend. There will be a historic reenactment of one of the battles of the Civil War, so that should be very interesting. Calico was a silver mining town, and was quite prosperous in its heyday. But now it's a sleepy little cowboy type ghost town with a few buildings reconstructed there. We are looking forward to the trip a lot, last time there we really enjoyed ourselves with Georgette and Harold. It's a long weekend, Presidents Day weekend.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at our clubhouse, it was from 10 AM to noon, put on by Mel and Monty, and a good crowd, we were asked to not all show up en masse, and it appears that the message was taken to heart. Fun to visit a bit with the neighbours when eating breakfast.
Monday we attended a Board meeting here in the park which was interesting, they run the infrastructure things about our park. Then in the afternoon we went over to the park across the street, Caliente Springs, and hopped on a special bus called the MooseMobile or something like that, where we attended a talk all about cruising to Alaska with Holland America. It was interesting. We already have an Alaska cruise booked but it won't happen til next year, as we booked to go with some American friends that we met on our Hawaii cruise last year. Interesting to learn more about Alaska.
Tuesday Valentines Day I went off to the podiatrist again, to get casts made of my feet for orthotics. You squish your foot down into a box of dense pink foam to make the mold impression, and those molds get sent away to Tennessee to make custom orthotics. I decided to do all this down here as the podiatrist in Nanaimo doesn't seem able to help my foot problems. After the podiatrist appt. we went over to Jackalope Ranch for late lunch, Lary had ribs, I had a chicken quesadilla, we were well before dinner, so it was quiet. There was to be a special dinner later on for Valentines Day but we didn't stay for that, too expensive and likely too busy also.
Weds. Lary went over to carve on his blue jay at Catalina Spa, and I went too, to visit Wendy. Our husbands were carving together, so we ladies visited, then the men came home to Wendy and Dave's trailer, and we had Happy Hour together. When we came home it was blowing and rainy.
Each day of the week I have gotten up at 7:30 or so, and gone up to the clubhouse here for a power walking program, it seems to be doing some good, as I don't huff and puff as much as I did before, and my tummy seems to be decreasing in size too. Hooray.
But today Thursday I got up and went up for coffee and donuts. After the business meeting I went over to Mel's place to watch him do the newsletter for the park, he is going away for a while, and I'll be taking over for him while he's gone. It was interesting to see his setup, with his computer in his shed, and a printer there too.
After that we went over to Annie's for our flute lesson, this time there were 5 of us, and we had a nice time planning a performance up at the San Jacinto and Sta Rosa mountain monument that we will give in early April, at an art show up there.
Last night it poured quite heavily with rain, reminded me of Vancouver Island, and this morning Mt San Jacinto just behind Palm Springs had snow down to about halfway on the mountain, and the temps had of course dropped quite a bit, too. It is pretty seeing the mountain covered in snow, and we need the rain down here for the water supply. But I love the warmth and bright blue skies better than grey ones.
Tonight as I write this it is blowing quite hard once more, but no rain so far today. We are going up to Calico, CA, north of Barstow tomorrow for the weekend. There will be a historic reenactment of one of the battles of the Civil War, so that should be very interesting. Calico was a silver mining town, and was quite prosperous in its heyday. But now it's a sleepy little cowboy type ghost town with a few buildings reconstructed there. We are looking forward to the trip a lot, last time there we really enjoyed ourselves with Georgette and Harold. It's a long weekend, Presidents Day weekend.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Nice night out with friends
Survived the carpets being cleaned, the guy was prompt and efficient, there isn't much room inside here, so we had pretty well moved everything that could go outside onto the patio in preparation for the shampoo job.
That meant side tables, bedside tables, and all loose things, and we sure have plenty of those!!!!! In the end all that was left was the sofa, the bed and the kitchen table, and Roger the carpet cleaner was here for less than an hour. Carpets turned out great, unfortunately our roads in the park are seal coated with black goop which comes right into the house on your shoes, and gets all over the rugs and the lino floors. So then we sat outside waiting for the carpets to dry, as it was over eighty the carpets dried quickly, and Roger had lent us his big carpet dryer blower, so we had everything back in place by the time our friends arrived for Happy Hour.
Then off to the casino together for dinner, it was eerily quiet there, but it gave us lots of time to chat and enjoy strolling around checking out what was on offer. There was no big bowl of fresh shrimp, which I really normally enjoy a lot, so that was disappointing, but other stuff was good, roast beef to die for good.
We came home and were walking down our street around 9 PM or so, on the way home when some friends of ours asked us to sit on their patio with them, and chat. We had such fun, an impromptu happening, with yummy wine from Bob and Joanne. It was warm enough to stay out there til about 11 or so, though Bob fired up his propane patio heater for us all. The warm evenings aren't really typical this month, normally at dark it gets quite chilly quite quickly, so this was a treat.
Today I Di went to a podiatrist as I have a sore toe, my toes seem to be curling over more and more, and twisting, so that I walk on the end of them instead of on the fleshy under part. That makes calluses and apparently I had a corn which was somewhat painful.
He feels that wearing sandals really aggravates this as you need to curl your toes to hold them on. Hmmmmm. He is right too. So he removed my corn and a bit of my toenail which he said was overgrown somehow too. No blood though thankfully.
And I will go back next week to get casts made for new orthotics, as he says the ones I have aren't doing the job anymore.
Lary was very busy completely emptying our shed, and weeding out things that we "inherited" from the previous owners, and putting it all back in again. He was exhausted, today was very hot again. He sorted out and got rid of quite a lot of stuff, and repacked the shed with some space to spare, what a concept. Windy cooler weather is unfortunately on its way soon. Yuck.
The big bummer is that once more somebody cut through one of our entrance pedestrian gates, and stole a golf cart, so here we go once again with security issues. It was about 3 to 3:30 AM when it happened, and people feel that it was loaded into a truck once it was on the road outside the park. What a drag for everybody to have this worry about our things being stolen. It was taken from quite close to us this time.
Bummer indeed. The park took measures to beef up the strength of the gate, hope that does the trick, but if it's the same group as last time, this won't be the end of it.
Ah me, what a nuisance and a drag for everybody.
Another piece of news we heard is that a lady in Catalina Spa park, just kind of down the road from us, was bitten by a rattlesnake a few days ago. She moved her lawn chair, and the snake struck. There goes my theory that it's too cold for rattlers at this time of year. Yoicks.
Aren't I just full of good news today. Hmmmmm.
That meant side tables, bedside tables, and all loose things, and we sure have plenty of those!!!!! In the end all that was left was the sofa, the bed and the kitchen table, and Roger the carpet cleaner was here for less than an hour. Carpets turned out great, unfortunately our roads in the park are seal coated with black goop which comes right into the house on your shoes, and gets all over the rugs and the lino floors. So then we sat outside waiting for the carpets to dry, as it was over eighty the carpets dried quickly, and Roger had lent us his big carpet dryer blower, so we had everything back in place by the time our friends arrived for Happy Hour.
Then off to the casino together for dinner, it was eerily quiet there, but it gave us lots of time to chat and enjoy strolling around checking out what was on offer. There was no big bowl of fresh shrimp, which I really normally enjoy a lot, so that was disappointing, but other stuff was good, roast beef to die for good.
We came home and were walking down our street around 9 PM or so, on the way home when some friends of ours asked us to sit on their patio with them, and chat. We had such fun, an impromptu happening, with yummy wine from Bob and Joanne. It was warm enough to stay out there til about 11 or so, though Bob fired up his propane patio heater for us all. The warm evenings aren't really typical this month, normally at dark it gets quite chilly quite quickly, so this was a treat.
Today I Di went to a podiatrist as I have a sore toe, my toes seem to be curling over more and more, and twisting, so that I walk on the end of them instead of on the fleshy under part. That makes calluses and apparently I had a corn which was somewhat painful.
He feels that wearing sandals really aggravates this as you need to curl your toes to hold them on. Hmmmmm. He is right too. So he removed my corn and a bit of my toenail which he said was overgrown somehow too. No blood though thankfully.
And I will go back next week to get casts made for new orthotics, as he says the ones I have aren't doing the job anymore.
Lary was very busy completely emptying our shed, and weeding out things that we "inherited" from the previous owners, and putting it all back in again. He was exhausted, today was very hot again. He sorted out and got rid of quite a lot of stuff, and repacked the shed with some space to spare, what a concept. Windy cooler weather is unfortunately on its way soon. Yuck.
The big bummer is that once more somebody cut through one of our entrance pedestrian gates, and stole a golf cart, so here we go once again with security issues. It was about 3 to 3:30 AM when it happened, and people feel that it was loaded into a truck once it was on the road outside the park. What a drag for everybody to have this worry about our things being stolen. It was taken from quite close to us this time.
Bummer indeed. The park took measures to beef up the strength of the gate, hope that does the trick, but if it's the same group as last time, this won't be the end of it.
Ah me, what a nuisance and a drag for everybody.
Another piece of news we heard is that a lady in Catalina Spa park, just kind of down the road from us, was bitten by a rattlesnake a few days ago. She moved her lawn chair, and the snake struck. There goes my theory that it's too cold for rattlers at this time of year. Yoicks.
Aren't I just full of good news today. Hmmmmm.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Off to see some entertainment tonight at Catalina Spa
Well, I have been trying to get a handle on the treasurer's job, yoicks, think I have it mostly under control, but am finding out more about the position every day.
Paulette gave me a hand today, and I waded right in to the material that I have now for the treasurer's position. People are turning up at my door, it's enjoyable to meet more and more folks here in the park. Unfortunately the computer stick that she gave me with her material on it doesn't sync with our computer so I have to input/draw up some spread sheets. Erg.
Tuesday morning Lary helped with the soup luncheon that is put on here every 2 weeks on a Tuesday, he washed a lot of dishes/pots of all descriptions. Hot sweaty work for him. There was chili, corn chowder, cheese and broccoli soup, and ham and split pea soup, so lots to choose from. Also fresh tasty bread from Costco, and ice cream for dessert if you wished. I think there were well over 100 people for lunch, they can come in from other parks. I talked to a lady from Desert Hot Springs who came for soup.
Weather was a bit cloudy, overcast and cooler on Tuesday, today Weds. it's a bit warmer, and warming up more each day to almost 80 this weekend. Clear full moon last night, tonight it's very bright up in the sky.
Tonight Weds. we went over to see the entertainment at Catalina Spa, Wendy and Dave were there also, it was Ron and Opal Erickson, from Branson, Missouri. Quite a nice couple, at times the backup music on their computer seemed a bit loud and overpowering for the singing, he played guitar, steel guitar, acoustic guitar and a banjo. Quite a talented player. They both sang, she harmonizes very nicely.
Their favourite style is gospel music, which I confess is not really my favourite, but it sounded nice, and the audience sang along to some well known songs. They did some audience requests as well, and finished with God Bless America, very touching.
Tomorrow coffee and donuts with a business meeting, now I am on the inside so to speak, and will have to collect, count and record the funds from the morning coffee sales. Then we are having our carpets shampooed, and later having friends Di and Howie over for Happy Hour, then going out together for dinner. Promises to be a busy day for us.
Paulette gave me a hand today, and I waded right in to the material that I have now for the treasurer's position. People are turning up at my door, it's enjoyable to meet more and more folks here in the park. Unfortunately the computer stick that she gave me with her material on it doesn't sync with our computer so I have to input/draw up some spread sheets. Erg.
Tuesday morning Lary helped with the soup luncheon that is put on here every 2 weeks on a Tuesday, he washed a lot of dishes/pots of all descriptions. Hot sweaty work for him. There was chili, corn chowder, cheese and broccoli soup, and ham and split pea soup, so lots to choose from. Also fresh tasty bread from Costco, and ice cream for dessert if you wished. I think there were well over 100 people for lunch, they can come in from other parks. I talked to a lady from Desert Hot Springs who came for soup.
Weather was a bit cloudy, overcast and cooler on Tuesday, today Weds. it's a bit warmer, and warming up more each day to almost 80 this weekend. Clear full moon last night, tonight it's very bright up in the sky.
Tonight Weds. we went over to see the entertainment at Catalina Spa, Wendy and Dave were there also, it was Ron and Opal Erickson, from Branson, Missouri. Quite a nice couple, at times the backup music on their computer seemed a bit loud and overpowering for the singing, he played guitar, steel guitar, acoustic guitar and a banjo. Quite a talented player. They both sang, she harmonizes very nicely.
Their favourite style is gospel music, which I confess is not really my favourite, but it sounded nice, and the audience sang along to some well known songs. They did some audience requests as well, and finished with God Bless America, very touching.
Tomorrow coffee and donuts with a business meeting, now I am on the inside so to speak, and will have to collect, count and record the funds from the morning coffee sales. Then we are having our carpets shampooed, and later having friends Di and Howie over for Happy Hour, then going out together for dinner. Promises to be a busy day for us.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Coffee then Flute lesson at Annie's
Thursday was a nice coffee morning at the park, then off to Annie's for our flute lesson in the early afternoon. It was just us two this week, and we had a great class, Lary and I hadn't been playing our flutes much in Hawaii, Lary being sick and I just didn't feel like it.
We worked on making a signature refrain, and then making it into a kind of song, varying it then coming back to the signature notes once more. It worked great, and Lary and I were doing it together, learning to listen to each other, and make the flutes complement each other.
Guess the Groundhog saw his shadow somewhere in the US, so 6 more weeks of winter, erg, though we have had a mild, warm and mostly sunny winter to date, with little wind, and even less rain. Hooray, except that California needs the rain.
Friday I used my new sewing machine to make some fleece bags to cover our flute stands in the living room, protecting the flutes from the sun and light, I also made a bag for Lary's new native american style hand drum, and a new flute bag for a new friend here in the park.
We had Happy Hour over at Sky Valley RV Park with Diana and Howie, friends from Nanaimo. And then we had our monthly Flute Circle evening at Annie's, not many folks there, maybe 14 or so, and nice playing. Lary and Chip did a lovely duet on their Jon Sherman A flutes, such a lovely clear sound. Lary and I both played our John Stillwell flutes, as their previous owner Helaine was there to enjoy the sound of them once again. We had about 3 or 4 turns each I think. It is really only 1.5 hours long. Some didge playing, Al throat singing, playing an alabaster bowl and blowing the didge. Quite a bit of percussion backup for texture to the music. Annie played a cigar box guitar that somebody had given to her, it is electronic and sounds quite nice, the body is really a cigar box. Folk art supreme.
Saturday we went to one of our nearby parks, Sky Valley, for their bazaar, bought a few books, a pair of earrings, and toured their park model show homes. Prices were maybe between $32,000 to $45,000 or so, to be installed there in their park. They were Cavco trailers, nice ones, about $10,000 makes a big difference in the design and quality of the unit. Park models have only one bedroom, one bathroom, and are about 400 square feet or less. Good for a couple, for a seasonal home....In good weather where you can spend lots of time outside.
After that we spent a couple hours at the pool here in the warm sunshine, and then attended a Roast Beef dinner at our park clubhouse, and a dance. The guitar player entertainer sang, a one man band, very nice, and everyone danced a lot. Nice evening. We helped serve dessert and do cleanup, and went back the following morning for the finish up cleaning the hall.
Sunday was Superbowl Football Game day, we took a bag of chicken wings, and there was a crib tournament going on in the clubhouse. We all watched the football game when it started, it was good, a very close score, and we had lots of munchies to eat that everyone had brought. There weren't that many folks watching the game in the clubhouse. Yummy snacks, the best in my opinion were double stuffed baked potatoes that Evelyn S had made from the previous night's leftover baked potatoes.
There were a couple of football score pools going on too, with cash prizes.
Monty came to me and said that the new treasurer for the Entertainment Committee found that the job was too complicated for her, and he asked me if I could do the treasurer's job. A lot different from the secretary's job, much more work due to the many functions that go on here weekly. So that kind of surprised me, but I accepted the new position, with some misgiving, but plan on using my banking years background to help me. I will meet with the past treasurer, Paulette, on Weds afternoon to get some advice and help with the books/ledgers/funds.
Today Monday we attended a Board Agenda meeting, they were setting the agenda for next week's monthly Board meeting. It was interesting to hear the concerns that arose from the floor and the board members, some of the board members are new to the board.
Then we had an Entertainment Committee meeting, and kind of planned/reviewed next year's entertainment, and reviewed the planned food events, etc. Seems that our funds are used for meals, entertainment, decorations, and kitchen costs, sometimes clubhouse expenditures, too, so a bit more complex than even I had realized. Ah me.
Weekly we have coffee and donuts and a business meeting Thursdays, every second week there is a soup luncheon put on on Tuesday, about every second weekend there is a dinner dance Saturday, and there are brunches, an ice cream social, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas and New Year's dinners, Board dinner, bingo dinner, AGM and luncheon, casino night, you get the picture, the entertainment committee is quite busy throughout our half year stay here in the desert.
The Board looks after funding and direction for the infrastructure of the whole park, kind of the physical plant overall. Our meeting was interesting, informative, and Monty and Pat had some great ideas. We had an overall recap of the recent rummage sale, which involved nearly all members here in the park to put it on. Big organization, and we were coming up with a few changes/modifications for next year's rummage sale toward the end of January, 2013 on a Saturday.
The treasurer and I swapped materials, I brought home all the material that the treasurer uses, counted the money and looked through some of the material. It is quite a lot, nearly half a car trunk full. Yoicks, lots of reading, counting, etc.
We went over to visit Wendy and Dave this afternoon as they are back at Catalina Spa RV park nearby. Great that they are back. We 4 are going to Johnny Mathis this Saturday evening over at Agua Caliente casino, Lary will drive, and we'll likely eat there at the nice buffet.
We worked on making a signature refrain, and then making it into a kind of song, varying it then coming back to the signature notes once more. It worked great, and Lary and I were doing it together, learning to listen to each other, and make the flutes complement each other.
Guess the Groundhog saw his shadow somewhere in the US, so 6 more weeks of winter, erg, though we have had a mild, warm and mostly sunny winter to date, with little wind, and even less rain. Hooray, except that California needs the rain.
Friday I used my new sewing machine to make some fleece bags to cover our flute stands in the living room, protecting the flutes from the sun and light, I also made a bag for Lary's new native american style hand drum, and a new flute bag for a new friend here in the park.
We had Happy Hour over at Sky Valley RV Park with Diana and Howie, friends from Nanaimo. And then we had our monthly Flute Circle evening at Annie's, not many folks there, maybe 14 or so, and nice playing. Lary and Chip did a lovely duet on their Jon Sherman A flutes, such a lovely clear sound. Lary and I both played our John Stillwell flutes, as their previous owner Helaine was there to enjoy the sound of them once again. We had about 3 or 4 turns each I think. It is really only 1.5 hours long. Some didge playing, Al throat singing, playing an alabaster bowl and blowing the didge. Quite a bit of percussion backup for texture to the music. Annie played a cigar box guitar that somebody had given to her, it is electronic and sounds quite nice, the body is really a cigar box. Folk art supreme.
Saturday we went to one of our nearby parks, Sky Valley, for their bazaar, bought a few books, a pair of earrings, and toured their park model show homes. Prices were maybe between $32,000 to $45,000 or so, to be installed there in their park. They were Cavco trailers, nice ones, about $10,000 makes a big difference in the design and quality of the unit. Park models have only one bedroom, one bathroom, and are about 400 square feet or less. Good for a couple, for a seasonal home....In good weather where you can spend lots of time outside.
After that we spent a couple hours at the pool here in the warm sunshine, and then attended a Roast Beef dinner at our park clubhouse, and a dance. The guitar player entertainer sang, a one man band, very nice, and everyone danced a lot. Nice evening. We helped serve dessert and do cleanup, and went back the following morning for the finish up cleaning the hall.
Sunday was Superbowl Football Game day, we took a bag of chicken wings, and there was a crib tournament going on in the clubhouse. We all watched the football game when it started, it was good, a very close score, and we had lots of munchies to eat that everyone had brought. There weren't that many folks watching the game in the clubhouse. Yummy snacks, the best in my opinion were double stuffed baked potatoes that Evelyn S had made from the previous night's leftover baked potatoes.
There were a couple of football score pools going on too, with cash prizes.
Monty came to me and said that the new treasurer for the Entertainment Committee found that the job was too complicated for her, and he asked me if I could do the treasurer's job. A lot different from the secretary's job, much more work due to the many functions that go on here weekly. So that kind of surprised me, but I accepted the new position, with some misgiving, but plan on using my banking years background to help me. I will meet with the past treasurer, Paulette, on Weds afternoon to get some advice and help with the books/ledgers/funds.
Today Monday we attended a Board Agenda meeting, they were setting the agenda for next week's monthly Board meeting. It was interesting to hear the concerns that arose from the floor and the board members, some of the board members are new to the board.
Then we had an Entertainment Committee meeting, and kind of planned/reviewed next year's entertainment, and reviewed the planned food events, etc. Seems that our funds are used for meals, entertainment, decorations, and kitchen costs, sometimes clubhouse expenditures, too, so a bit more complex than even I had realized. Ah me.
Weekly we have coffee and donuts and a business meeting Thursdays, every second week there is a soup luncheon put on on Tuesday, about every second weekend there is a dinner dance Saturday, and there are brunches, an ice cream social, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas and New Year's dinners, Board dinner, bingo dinner, AGM and luncheon, casino night, you get the picture, the entertainment committee is quite busy throughout our half year stay here in the desert.
The Board looks after funding and direction for the infrastructure of the whole park, kind of the physical plant overall. Our meeting was interesting, informative, and Monty and Pat had some great ideas. We had an overall recap of the recent rummage sale, which involved nearly all members here in the park to put it on. Big organization, and we were coming up with a few changes/modifications for next year's rummage sale toward the end of January, 2013 on a Saturday.
The treasurer and I swapped materials, I brought home all the material that the treasurer uses, counted the money and looked through some of the material. It is quite a lot, nearly half a car trunk full. Yoicks, lots of reading, counting, etc.
We went over to visit Wendy and Dave this afternoon as they are back at Catalina Spa RV park nearby. Great that they are back. We 4 are going to Johnny Mathis this Saturday evening over at Agua Caliente casino, Lary will drive, and we'll likely eat there at the nice buffet.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Not much going on today, except power shopping
Monday Helmut and Terry came over to visit us here at our park, then we went to the new restaurant very near our house, and had a nice lunch together.
It was a warm day and we went to the pool after that, for a lovely dip.
Tuesday wasn't much action, today Wednesday Lary and Dave went to their carving class, doing the ongoing project working on carving their blue jay birds, and Di and Wendy went out shopping and to a nice French restaurant for lunch.
Then Wendy and Dave had Happy Hour at our place.
Tomorrow Thursday is the coffee donuts and business meeting at the clubhouse, Di is now part of the entertainment committee.
In the afternoon we have our flute lesson over at Annie's. Should be fun, we haven't had a lesson in ages, it seems.
It's been warm here, but today was perhaps a bit cooler, maybe high 70s instead of 80s. And we had a bit of wind late this afternoon, in Desert Hot Springs.
It was a warm day and we went to the pool after that, for a lovely dip.
Tuesday wasn't much action, today Wednesday Lary and Dave went to their carving class, doing the ongoing project working on carving their blue jay birds, and Di and Wendy went out shopping and to a nice French restaurant for lunch.
Then Wendy and Dave had Happy Hour at our place.
Tomorrow Thursday is the coffee donuts and business meeting at the clubhouse, Di is now part of the entertainment committee.
In the afternoon we have our flute lesson over at Annie's. Should be fun, we haven't had a lesson in ages, it seems.
It's been warm here, but today was perhaps a bit cooler, maybe high 70s instead of 80s. And we had a bit of wind late this afternoon, in Desert Hot Springs.
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