Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #85 – Ready, Set ---

Monday, June 18th, 2018……   Two days to go! Today we decided to go pick up another end table for the bedroom set in the guest room. We didn’t get two because we thought it would be too tight in there. But there’s plenty of room.  We got the set at Rife’s, a local furniture chain up here. They had it in stock and because I had my receipt from last year, they said they would price match it for us! Yaay! I saved $50. We brought it home and set it in place. Lydia had already bought a matching lamp and shade so we added those and we were done. The garage door guys showed up today and got everything done. Tim and Dana finished up almost all of the painting (they had to go get the correct color for the accent trim) and did a bit of cleanup before they called it a day.  They were able to give us the final bill with all of the ‘extras’ I added over the course of the job.  These included some more rock for around the guest pad, plus the second gravel pad I added at the end, plus other misc. I also had to pay overages for materials that went up in price since the bid. No biggie – these things happen. We will give them final payment before we leave. After they were wrapping up, I got the tractor out again and went over the lawn with the sweeper in tow, to pick up all of the clippings on the lawn.  I only do this on the lawn and not the field so it didn’t take too long. I mow from the outside to the inside so the clippings are forced toward the middle so it only takes a handful of passes to pick it up. Lydia waits near the trash can and I dump there and she picks it up while I go get more. Like I said, it only takes a short time. The yard now looks like it should. We cleaned up and came in for the night, watched tv and went to bed early.  

Tuesday, June 19th, 2018……  One more day to go. Rylee had a bad night last night. She gets in to everything there is to get in to out in the yard.  With all of the construction scraps and trash left around, she has a ball.  Plus, she looks for worms and attacks flying creatures like moths and such.  She threw up a couple of times and it looked like concrete chunks or drywall bits. But she’s fine now.  The job is wrapping up so the construction stuff will be minimal so hopefully she won’t find any more of that. We spent the morning finishing up our packing. I had one or two things to add to my carry-on. Lydia went to Walmart and picked up a pair of water shoes if/when we get to go snorkeling or walk out into the water. Tim and Dana got here and started in on the rest of the painting.  All that was really left was a couple of areas of touchup plus the accent trim and the peak cap. Those are painted a dark cranberry color.  They still have the cove molding in the garage to do and Tim took off to go get that.  Tim got the last load of gravel for the area just off the guest pad and for the one next to the house.  He decided to compact it again today. Then he asked me to bring in the motorhome and drive back and forth on it.  Just as I guessed, the surface wasn't packed hard enough so I got the wheels buried in the gravel! We had to chain it up and he pulled it out with his truck!  I ended up parking the coach in the new garage, but hey, that's what it's for, right?  I just wanted to wash and wax it first. He said he will come back tomorrow to pack the gravel with some better equipment but I'm not too worried about that right now. He has a week while we're away.  The gutter guys were here today and they made pretty quick work of the gutters and downspouts.  Tim already had the below-ground portion done so all they had to do was marry up the downspouts and they were good to go. Penny went to Eugene and picked up Daisy and brought her over here to drop off her stuff and get a quick tour.  They then went to her place to show her around there.  They came back later and Daisy got settled in. Tim said he would be back tomorrow to finish up the last of the work so we thanked them and said our goodbyes for now. We for sure made some good friends with these two and I plan to use them for any more improvements we choose to do down the road.

Ok – this is the last post for a while! I AM NOT hauling my laptop to Maui. I do plan to use my word program on my tablet and make some notes as the days go by.  I will put together a week’s work of blogs and post them all (with pics) when we get back.  So, wish us well and we’ll get back to you soon.  Aloha!         

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #84 – Shopping and Lawn Mowing

 

Saturday, June 16th, 2018……   Lydia said she didn’t sleep well last night so she went to bed early last night. I took a Benadryl and followed a little later. I slept fine and she said she did too. But the white shadow was up and rarin’ to go at 5:15am again!  I took off and got breakfast and coffee/tea and then after that spent some time outside with Rylee, playing and checking out the grass to see if/when I could mow. I think later this morning will be good. So, I went out and worked in the shop and made Tim two fascia plates for the peaks of both the shop and the rv garage. One’s for the rv garage and the other one replaces the one on the shop. These get painted the accent color that’s around all the fascia on all of the buildings.  Lydia had mentioned that she wanted to go bra shopping so we decided to do that today and I would mow this afternoon.  First stop was Kohl's in Albany and they got close but not what she wanted so we decided to drive up to Salem to Nordstrom’s.  My sister was coming by to work on the blueberry cage so we asked her to check on Rylee while she was there. We went to the downtown mall which is shops connected by skywalks so you don’t have to go outside (helps in the rain and cold winters). We first went to Victoria’s Secret and still no luck. They also told us Nordstrom’s had moved out. So, we hit Penney’s where I found some shorts that I liked. No luck for her. We called sis and asked her to feed monster puppy and walked over to Macy’s. There she got lucky and found what she wanted so she picked up two for the trip. Now she knows what and where for next time. We got back home and Penny had finished her work and was relaxing on the porch and was ready to help with the lawn. I got both mowers out and fired up and she took one and I took one and we started in.  Lydia relieved me and  finished the lawn and Penny was out in the back field so I decided to go have a beer and rest.

It was short-lived though – the newly purchased 5-yr old tractor was having issues with the thick grass and was stalling out. I got it going while Lydia finished the lawn. I took the black mower and went out to help sis do the back field.  We made great progress until her mower quit! It was smoking and the blades wouldn’t engage. So, we parked it in the shop and I finished up and we were done for the day. She left a little later and we fed Rylee and Lydia went to Taco Bell and got us dinner and we ate and then relaxed from our busy day!  

           

Sunday, June 17th, 2018……  Happy Father’s Day!  Lydia wanted to take me out to breakfast and we left the house and went and picked up my sister and went to Apple Tree in town. Thanks, sweetie, for the treat! Nothing planned for today so I went out and looked at the tractor.  It fired up and so I took it out and tested the cutting system. It was engaging and working fine. I cleaned it up and put it away. I think the belts are out of adjustment so they won’t carry the load when they hit thick grass.  That must have been what got them overheated and smoking yesterday. I know the tractor has never been serviced (it was filthy and caked with dirt and grass before I cleaned it) so I will do that when we get back from our trip. But it’s good news that the whole system wasn’t blown up! We both vegged out today and tried to stay cool. It hit 85º here today so we didn’t want to do any more yard work. I got calls from both the kids. We had a nice visit. Later, we were seeing on the news that there was a storm coming down from the north and it was in Portland and they were getting thunder and lightning and rain.  The skies to the north did get dark and about an hour later we got it all too. I’m so glad that it doesn’t bother Rylee. She hears it and is startled but just ignores it after the first one. Lydia fixed ground turkey and made a sort of taco mixture but for burritos. It was really good. Later, we had a knock on the door. Lou, our neighbor down the street was missing one of his little dogs who took off running when the thunder hit. He said that he found him here in Walt’s garage the last time that happened.  We checked everywhere around the place but no sign. He left to go check the other neighbors. I walked with him for a while but we didn’t see him. He left to go the houses on his other side to check there. I’ll stop by tomorrow to see if they found him or not.  We settled back in and finished watching tv until bedtime.  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #83 – Last of the Cement, a Vet Visit, and Painting Starts!

 

Thursday, June 14th, 2018……    Maui Update – Less than a week to go! This time next week we’ll be waking up and living beach time. Look forward to enjoying those beautiful Hawaiian sunsets! Meanwhile, back in the states – we got up early again. The cement pour is scheduled for 8:30am but I couldn’t sleep. I was up and showered and out and ready to move the motorhome out to the street. I went out and got the satellite dish down and unplugged and put the coach out on the street. I did go and get breakfast and Lydia’s chai latte. When I got back the cement team was there. They backed their truck onto my back lawn and since it rained it was so soggy they buried a wheel in the grass! No worries, they just moved over to the compacted gravel pad that was done yesterday! The surface was compacted and it was solid but after they left, Tim went back over it with his compactor. This cement pour was pretty simple and went fast. They didn’t need a pumper since everything was close up for the dump chute on the truck.   

They were done and gone by noon. Lydia and I took Rylee to her vet appointment this morning. She got her last round of puppy shots and a clean bill of health. Dr. Hiett said we could cut back her amount of food a bit though. We brought her back home and Lydia took off to get her hair cut and I left a bit later too and took the tractor tire and wheel in and got a new tube put in (it was worth the $19.!).  I got it back on so it’s ready for whenever we decide to mow. So, later, after everyone left for the day, I decided to bring the rv back in, but this time I would park it on the new pad. I backed in and then headed in to the space.  I got parked with no problem but Lydia said I made a deep path with the tires on my way in. Boy, did I!

I left it there and opened the slides and hooked up the power and the dish but I will show Tim tomorrow to see what we can do to fix this.  Maybe we need a larger compactor. My sister is coming over tomorrow to help me finish up the weeding in the blueberry cage. I think I had a problem out there weeding. I have always been allergic to grass and weeds and I now have a serious rash on my wrist. I think it came from the first time I was out there. It’s been a week and it’s still really red and broken out and bumpy and it itches like crazy.  I have been putting nyacin cream and hydrocortisone cream on it but it’s not getting better. Lydia said it looks worse so I decided to head over to urgent care this evening to have it looked at.  I got there and found they are not open 24 hours and I had just missed them. I think I’ll go back tomorrow morning. I want some kind of treatment started so it gets better before the trip. We finished up the night very quietly. Rylee always gets a little lethargic after her shots so she settled down pretty early and we got to relax a bit.   

          

Friday, June 15th, 2018……  We had a nice night sIeeping. Rylee got a lot of sleep yesterday and was awake and ready to go about 5:15am so I took her out to potty and fed her but we went back to bed for a while before getting up for the day.  I ate breakfast and waited until the urgent care opened and went there. Wow, was it ever easy! I was fifth in line and got signed in and seated and in about 5 minutes I got called in. I met the staff physician, Dr. Tim Hindmarsh, who, turns out, his brother, Dr. Rick Hindmarsh, is my across-the-street neighbor. He looked at my wrist and thinks it was either a plant allergy (like I thought) or possibly resulted from rough housing with Rylee, who scratched me with her dirty paws (which probably came from the grass or flower beds). I got a prescription for Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream, which he said should clear it up pretty quickly. That done, I headed back home and by the time I got back, my sister had finished weeding the blueberry cage. Thanks, Sis!  I then asked Tim about the gravel pad. He told me they needed to pack the gravel some more so I will move the rig back out and let them do that but not for a few days. They got started on the painting today.  They color matched the walls, trim, and accent pieces on the house and shop and went and got the paint. They then got started taping the windows. Dana told me about the 20+ yr. old airless paint sprayer Tim got from his parents and the great job it does on these jobs. Tim used it for about 25 minutes before it started smelling and burned up and then stopped. So, now he will always be reminded that it was my job where he had to retire his old sprayer! They got all of the walls done today and some of the trim. Dana has to work at an archery event tomorrow but Tim will come and finish the job. The garage door gets installed on Monday and the rain gutters get installed on Tuesday. There are a few areas where Tim will need to work on but that should be a wrap. What prefect timing because we leave on Wednesday!  Lydia worked on putting her outfits together so she can start packing. I think she’s happy with what she’s done and actually got most of it in the suitcase. We (she) decided that we were going out to dinner tonight.  We chose burgers at the Bigfoot Diner but when we got there they were setting up for an outdoor rock band and it was chaos.  So, we finally came up with the idea to go try the 1847 Bar & Grill, which is located in the Best Western Premier Hotel and Suites in town.  We heard it was the best and we liked everything we had so we will definitely put it on our list for future places to dine. The weather here tomorrow is supposed to be warming up. They are even predicting temps in the 90s by next week. Summer’s definitely coming! Problem is our yard is still soggy from the really hard rains we got the beginning of the week.  But I think I can still mow the lawn so that is on the plans for tomorrow.               

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #82 – More Cement Prep and a Decision is Made!

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018……  Today started out cloudy and drizzly but cleared up pretty quickly. Tim & Dana worked more on getting the approach pad ready for the pour.  They laid the rebar and finished setting the pour forms.  That pour is scheduled for Thursday. I finally made the decision to have them add material and labor (should be around $1200.) for the second guest pad. Rather than a cement pad (@$2800.) I went with the compacted ¾ stone and stone dust, which will hold the weight of any rv should we ever have the need to park more than one guest. I won’t have 30-amp there until way down the road but I have been using the 20-amp circuit for my rig which is parked next to the pad now with no worries. Dana will order the rock delivery for tomorrow. The garage door guy is still on his job and won’t be available until Monday, which means he can run his scissor lift over the new concrete with no problems. My sister spent the night with Quincy so we could see how sleeping arrangements would go. We gated our bedroom door (it never gets closed) so monkey butt couldn’t get out if/when she got off the bed (she didn’t). But after all day here with both dogs, sis has decided that Quincy should spend the nights in her own house. Rylee is just too anxious to play and she bothers Quincy almost all the time. Daisy will go to her house and take her to the river or the canal or bring her back here but she will sleep there. We also divided and conquered today. Penny and I tackled the blueberry weeding and Lydia worked on her backyard flower bed weeding. We each got about 3/4s finished before we called it for the day. While we were resting, sis got some more news. Her ex sister-in-law, Paula, who lives in Bend, said she is available to come stay at her house for at least a few days.  That means that Daisy will only have one dog to look out for as long as Paula is here. She can go over and walk with them to learn the area for when Paula leaves. Good news! Penny left a little while later and I went out and started my own project – I am transferring the existing flagstones in the guest pad area to various places around the yard.  Some went out front to give us access to water, or across the flower beds to the lawn. Most of them went back behind the workshop for use down the road. I got four wheelbarrows of stones moved before I called it for the day.  Lydia did go back out and pulled some more weeds, but she gave up after a bit and we came in and watched America’s Got Talent before we went to bed.  

        

Wednesday, June 13th, 2018……  Rylee got me up early wanting her chew toy. That settled her down for 30 minutes and by then I was ready to get up and feed her. I got showered and going. Lydia volunteered to make egg sandwiches which I took time to enjoy before I went to work. Today Tim & Dana got a delivery of rock and went to work on my second guest pad. Tim used the bucket on his tractor for the rest of the flagstones and we got those moved in a couple of trips. They got another load of rock later and by the end of the day, it was done!  I told Tim I wish I had made the decision to do that at the beginning of the project because I could have parked my coach there and it would have been out of the way for everything. I do remember how wet it was so maybe they couldn’t dig the site. Oh well, it’s good to go now. I also managed to remove the tire and wheel from the Husqvarna tractor so I could check it for leaks. Yep, can’t see it but I hear it. I will get it up to the Les Schwab tire store in town and see if they work on mower tires. If not, I think Coastal Farm and Ranch has them. I just don’t want to change the tube myself!  We did take a break and took off to go to Sweet Home. We needed to hit Dollar General for a new cell phone case for me and I needed to go to the Elks Lodge to correct my address. For some reason, they retained the old Calif. address on file and I just got the June newsletter re-routed from the Calif post office! They didn’t open until 3:00pm so we went to DG. They have a closeout sale on these cell phone cases and they are out.  We drove back through Brownsville to the DG there. Same thing. When we got back home, I took one of Lydia’s old needles and some thread and stitched it up until I can find one I like. We decided to stop at the A&W drive-in in Sweet Home and we enjoyed a tasty ‘linner’. Later, we had some cheese and crackers and that held us till bedtime.       

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #81 – Visitors and Cement!

Sunday, June 10th, 2018……  We got up about our normal time this morning.  Rylee slept on a blanket on the floor on my side of the bed. When I got up around 4:30am to pee, she wanted up but we all went right back to sleep! I got up and going and took off to get breakfast. Today was just McDonald’s 2 for $4.00 sandwich deal and coffee. I got Lydia a yogurt parfait and then went to Starbucks to get her a Venti Chai Latte.  After she got dressed and got going, she worked on an upside-down cake with triple berries in it. Meanwhile, I dusted the house and straightened up a few rooms that were cluttered.  Penny brought John and Mariglee over and we had a nice visit. Then it was rest and relax for the day.  I had some shows taped in the guest room so I watched those and Lydia watched her shows and napped a bit.  Of course, we both had to entertain the monster puppy off and on between her meals and nap times. Did I mention she’s grown a lot! She goes to the vet for her 4-month checkup and final shots and I haven’t weighed her but I’m guessing she’s 35 lbs now. We’ll see on Thursday.      

       

Monday, June 11th, 2018……  Ok, I weighed Rylee this morning.  I was close.  She’s 34 lbs. What a pig!  The concrete pour today was on!  I waited until just before they were supposed to arrive and then texted Dana to make sure before I started up and then moved the motorhome out on the street so the cement trucks and pumper could get in easier. This is round two of three separate pours.  Today they did the 16’x48’ guest pad plus the pad coming out of the east side pedestrian door. Pour number three will be the approach ramp which will tie in the building and pad to the existing blacktop driveway. I’m still debating whether to spend an estimated $2800 for yet a third parking pad close to the house. That amount would be for concrete. Or I can opt for an estimated $1200 to put compacted decomposed gravel there.  I have another week to make up my mind but I’m leaning toward the gravel. While the guys were pouring the slab, Tim and Dana worked on sanding the drywall joints inside the garage that the tapers left pretty rough. I was not happy! I don’t think this is Dana’s job. And I think Tim is going to call him back out to fix some of the wrinkled joints.  Now that I had the motorhome moved out, I could cut the lawn in that area. So, I took the new mower out and found that it had a low tire.  I got my compressor out and aired it up and cut that small area, which only took about five minutes.  But I noticed an hour or so after parking it back in the shop that the tire was down again, so I will have to pull it and find and fix the leak. My sister came over later in the day to eat with us (she actually went out and picked up and paid for dinner at KFC).  She is staying the night so we can see how best to work out sleeping arrangements for the two dogs. We’re both hoping that her friend can come in from Bend to stay at her house with Quincy.  Even if it’s only for a few days, that would make it easier for Daisy to deal with the dogs. Speaking of the dogs, they are not happy. The concrete needs a few days to cure before anyone can walk on it – even dogs, so they are restricted from running the full backyard. We ended the evening with Quincy cordoned off in our bedroom until bedtime when we brought Rylee in kept her on the bed. We put up the gate in our doorway in case she jumped off in search of Quincy.    

End of day 43.....      

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #80 – Another Tractor, Final Electrical, and a Little Rain

 

Friday, June 8th, 2018……  This morning I got up early and played with Rylee, then fed her and went back to rest until I had to get up and get ready.  I was supposed to meet with Kirk today to go get our new co-owned tractor. Linda had arranged to get my name put on it as sold so we needed to go early in case something was wrong with it and we didn’t want it. The estate sale started at 7:45am in Lacomb, a little town about ten miles from me. I got there right at 7:45 but I guess they opened early!  My tractor was on hold for me but I wanted to look around too. They had a chain saw in one of the pictures on Craig’s List but as I pulled up, someone was carrying it over to the pay station. There were people eyeing the tractor too but I was the only one who could look at it. The guy started it up and it ran fine.  It’s a 2013 Husqvarna lawn tractor with a 48” deck.  The guy never cleaned it and also ran into something so that the front cover was bent. Kirk and I looked it over and decided to buy it. These things sell new for $1900. so it was well worth the $325. ea. that we paid for it. This sale was run by an estate service so I even got them to give me a receipt which Kirk can use as a business expense. I actually paid for it all but we owe Kirk for the yard work he’s been doing at the house which will equate to at least his $325. share. We got it loaded on my trailer and we brought it back to my place and unloaded it.  Lydia took off for her appointment with her nephrologist and then she met Penny and her neighbor for lunch. I stayed outside and talked a bit with the insulation guys who showed up to shoot the stuff in the attic.  That only took a few minutes and they were gone.  I came in and had a bottle of water and rested for a while (if you can call having a puppy resting!) and then went back out and got some soap and hot water and a scrubber to go clean the mower. When I was done, I took it for a lap to set the cutting blade close to the other one then took it back to the shop and parked it next to mine, and I gotta say, it looks pretty good!

Now Kirk can come get it whenever he has a job big enough for a riding mower. Meanwhile, Lydia and I can have races!  While I was outside working, the electrical inspector showed up. I guess the electrician told him the work was complete and he came the next day! Wow! He checked everything and wrote off the permit so we’re good to go for that now!  Later, Lydia got back and curled up in her recliner and took a nap.  I guess she’s still not caught up on her sleep! She said she had an excellent visit with the dr. and everything was fine. We went out later for fast food and then came back and relaxed and watched tv. I did go out and adjust the sensitivity of the motion lights on the small doors on the garage. They were coming on even during the day when someone walked too close. It may take a few tries to get them right. The security light at the top of the entrance does a really nice job and that’s good to know because I have another one to replace on the shop entrance when I get around to it. I had to do another round of tug-of-war and playing ball in the backyard with white lightening before we came in for the night to relax.  

Forgot to post a pic of the garden wagon so here it is…

       

Saturday, June 9th, 2018……  This morning the weather came in. It sprinkled a bit yesterday as was predicted, but today we got some serious rain! We even got thunder and lightning!  I’m happy to say that although Rylee was curious, she was not afraid of it at all! One thing I did find out since this was the first measurable rain we’ve had since we got her, she really likes running around on the wet grass and the wet driveway.  She does the Rylee 500, going as fast a she can until she drops down, exhausted! Of course I have to towel her down before letting her back in the house! Kirk went over to do my sister’s lawn this morning and then he was coming over here.  The rain was coming but he wanted to continue work here so he headed over.  The skies were really dark so we waited in the shop and he checked out the mower.  Then it came down! We were trapped in the shop for 30 minutes or so and then the sun came out for an hour.  He got to work fast and got a lot done before the skies darkened again. He left just as it came down. Tomorrow is predicted with sprinkles and Monday is supposed to be sunny and warm again.  Good thing – the cement pad pour is still on for Monday morning. We finished out the day cleaning up the house.  My sister is bringing her neighbors over.  First off, she wants to show them our place, and second, she’s asked them to be Daisy’s contact in case she needs any help with anything while she’s up here. Lydia worked on the wood floors and I vacuumed. Once I put the vacuum away I was done for the day and sat down to rest and watch races I had taped. She went to the store to get goodies for tomorrow and also got stuff to make tacos for tonight. We watched tv until bedtime.         

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #79 – Three Weeks to Go! And Lydia’s Birthday!

 

Wednesday, June 6th, 2018……  Three weeks from today we’ll be on a plane to Maui!  Yaay!

With Rylee sleeping with us, we slept in again this morning – if you call 5:30am sleeping in!  That’s my normal time that I have been used to for many years, but Lydia likes to sleep a little later.  I get up with her most days but this morning Lydia took her out and played with her and fed her breakfast.  I got up and showered and dressed and then took monkey butt out for her little walk to get the paper.  I halfway expected to see contractors out there early but that didn’t happen.  It was 10:00am before anyone showed up. The insulation guys cancelled again (supposedly now tomorrow) but the tapers showed.  They were a little slow in setting up but the two-man crew got going and got 75% of the walls and ceiling taped.  They use what is called a bazooka taper which is a tool that dispenses mud and then rolls tape over that in one swipe. The other guy comes along and does the finish part and smoothes all of it up.  I’ve seen faster work but, hey, this is laid-back Oregon! Tim and Dana laid rebar for the rv pad and then formed up the man door on the east side for the pour. They won’t be back tomorrow because it is supposed to be busy. The tapers, the insulation guys and the electricians are all on the calendar for tomorrow.  We’ll see who shows up, and when! Meanwhile, we are continuing to get ready for the trip.  I still want to try and find another hard-sided carry-on to match our larger one. There are many brands and styles so I’m not worried about finding one. In all of the prep to get ready, I got a wrinkle thrown in. My sister’s housekeeper was telling us about one of her client’s upcoming estate sale that she will be working. It’s now this weekend.  I told her we are looking for another lawn tractor and these folks have two for sale.  She got back to me with a price and some more info and I called Kirk, and we decided to go in half and buy it together.  He can use it on any jobs he needs and store it here. I went online and looked at their ad on Craig’s List and saw pics. I will be going there on Friday with my truck and trailer to pick it up. It’s hard to spend money now before the trip but this is a bargain and something we can’t afford to pass up! Later, I went out and started pulling weeds in the blueberry cage. They have taken over and you can’t even see the plants! I cleaned up around one of the four but had to quit because it was causing me too much pain in my sore knee. But I think if Lydia and my sister help, we can manage to get it done.  Penny brought Quincy over earlier and they are doing really well together. We sat and worked on logistics for when Daisy has both dogs.  We are worried that Rylee will be hard to get settled down if Quincy is in the house all night with her. We had to come up with where each dog, and Daisy, would sleep. On top of that, Sis may have some help coming for a portion of Daisy’s time here.  If so, then Daisy would stay here with Rylee and Quincy would be at home. Another thing we’re thinking about is have Quincy stay here during the day and then sleep at her own home at night.  Penny says Quincy will be fine alone at night. We’ll figure it out.

Thursday, June 7th, 2018……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYDIA!!  We started the day as usual but when Lydia turned on her phone, she had tons of messages and tweets.  She heard from both the kids and from others who called to sing to her! – don’t quit your day job guys! She had opened her gift early because UPS dropped it and rang the bell so she saw what it was – sis and I went in and got her a garden wagon that she asked for to pull along when she works in the flowerbeds. This thing holds 265 lbs and has fat tires so it will roll easy on the grass so I think it will work well.  The mudders showed up first thing this morning.  He said he needed Tim’s scaffolding and wanted to be sure he was first on the job! They only took an hour or so and finished the job.  I’m guessing they will be back to sand because everything looks really rough! The electrician came back today as well and got his work 100% complete.  He was short one 50amp outlet but he made a quick trip and got one and installed that and was on his way.  No word on the insulation guys.  Lydia took off later in the day to get her mani/pedi.  Penny came over so we could leave for dinner when she got back. It was around 4:30pm when we left.  She returned Janie’s call on the way to Spoleto’s Italian Restaurant in Sweet Home. We had never been before and Lydia chose it for tonight.  I ordered the spaghetti and meatball dinner and both Lydia and penny got the Garlic Chicken Pasta dinner. I ordered a spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer for all of us, which was really good.  I wouldn’t get the spaghetti again because I don’t like the red and green bell peppers they put in the sauce. But the girls liked theirs. We got back home and sat outside and watched Rylee chasing moths and bees and entertaining herself. Penny went home and we relaxed the rest of the night. Lydia went to bed early. She was up the night before and couldn’t sleep so tonight she was super tired and ready.   

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #78 – Garage Work Progresses & Ordering B-Day Gift

 

Monday, June 4th, 2018……  This morning I got up and moving pretty early.  First task today was to go to Walmart.  I needed some things for projects plus I got a knee brace that I wanted before our trip. I hit that section first and chose the third of four kinds that they had.  I had tried on two of the others when we were last there and wore them around the store but they weren’t comfortable so I didn’t buy anything.  This time I liked the one I chose and bought that one and wore it out of the store and ended up wearing it all day.  It made a difference but I was getting better anyway.  I just want to be sure to have full range of knee motion for the bike ride on Maui. I also looked for a garden wagon that Lydia wants for her birthday.  She enjoys her time out in the garden and she has seen these wagons used to carry her tools and also to haul clippings and such. Walmart sells them but only online so when I got back my sister went to Amazon and found one Lydia liked so we ordered it. I also bought another metal wrought iron plant hanger for the yard.  Lydia bought one of those bug zappers from QVC and it really works for us in the backyard so she went in and ordered another one for the front yard.  We needed another hanger so I got one. I got that one installed and plugged in and working so that’s done.  The drywall tapers didn’t make it today.  Something about one of the crew being out of town.  Dana said they will be here Wednesday, same day as the attic insulation guy. But they shouldn’t be in each other’s way.  Tim worked on a few small jobs while Dana worked on cleaning up the jobsite. Then they started prepping and laying out the area next to the garage for the foundation for the guest pad.  It will be 16’x48’ with 50amp and water. I’m also having him prep the area around it for gravel rather than try to maintain the small patch of field grass that’s there now.   

End of day 40....

Tuesday, June 5th, 2018……  Rylee was quiet this morning and didn’t get me up until around 6:30am so that was nice.  Once I got up and ready for the day I went out and worked in my shop for a bit.  Haven’t done much out there lately but I did want to clean it up a bit. Tim and Dana worked some more on the rv pad. He also moved the big pile of dirt from the garage excavation. My first plan was to have him haul it off but he suggested that he can distribute it out behind the garage and that will create a better drain field away from the building. It agreed and it worked and it looks good. I’ll have him do the same to the Walt’s old burn pile which he can also use his tractor to distribute out in the west forty. I still want to go out there with my truck and relocate all of the old logs that Walt left from a tree he must have cut down a few years ago.  He’s dumped old pallets out there and it’s overgrown so it needs help. But I’m still trying not to put any unneeded stress on my healing knee.  Later, we ate dinner and watched two of the four Guys Grocery Games we were behind on. Then we went off and watched our own shows until bedtime. Rylee got another full night on the bed with us.  Right now, even though she’s over 30 pounds, we hardly notice her on the cal king bed!    

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #77 – Walking Dogs and Moving Tables

 

Saturday, June 2nd, 2018……  Rylee slept in her area last night.  But since I went to bed early last night, I woke up early and went in and got her and put her on our bed.  Once I was up and walked Rylee out to get the paper, I got a text that my sister wasn’t feeling well and asked if I could walk Quincy if she brought her over. She did and we held Rylee back until Quincy and I were back from our walk out on the street (I take her out on a leash on the street which I can’t do yet with butthead until she gets her last round of shots). Once we fed Quincy, we let them out to play.  Quincy is doing a lot better with Rylee but still gets nervous when Rylee gets around her rear end. Penny felt better and wanted to see if she could walk them both at the same time on leashes. Daisy will be needing to figure out how she wants to walk each of them.  Quincy does well but Rylee is still learning and I use a long retractable leash and don’t require her to heel. So, it was tough to get them to walk together. Daisy will have to deal with that.

We had plans today to make an exchange with my sister with our dining room tables.  We still don’t have a dining room table but we have the one in our kitchen that seats four. She has a small space but has a table larger than ours, which would be a better fit here. We were going to swap them out today, but, given her not feeling well, I decided to do it another time. So, that left us with just a few projects to do today. I wanted to run the sweeper to see how it will work in the yard. Plus, I needed to work on my checkbook a bit.  l did the checkbook first. Next is the lawn. I waited until the grass had dried out a bit (weather is going to get to the high 70s later in the day) and then went out to hook it up. I guess I waited too long because now the weather was too hot! (it got into the low 80s). So, I decided to wait for another day. Besides, the grass clippings aren’t going away.  They’ll be there when I’m ready. We spent the day and the evening just hanging around the house, watching tv. I actually fell asleep (not something I normally do during the day) and Rylee actually let me sleep! Lydia came in later and asked if I would like KFC for dinner and she would go get it. So, that was our meal and then it was more tv until bedtime. I did stay up until 11:30pm, which is way later than normal (usually go to bed around 10:00pm or so) but I wasn’t tired because of the nap. Lydia brought Rylee up on the bed and when I came in poopyhead was restless.  I’m guessing it was too hot for her on the covers so I took her off to her room for the rest of the night.     

Sunday, June 3rd, 2018……  No plans today. Oh yeah, we wanted to get the dining room tables exchanged today, so we did that.  It only took a few minutes to load and unload and set up each of the tables in the new locations.  We have the space for the round table and she found that the rectangular table fits better in her space. Both parties are very happy with the exchange so I think this is permanent.  

Before and after...

After at my sister's.. the round table took up a lot of room. This is better..

  

We got back home and rested a bit.  I watched my taped weekend racing events and Lydia watched her (Hallmark/TCM) shows. Plus, she’s taped a bunch of Andy Hardy shows and Mr. Gildersleeves shows and some old Nancy Drew shows so she’s been enjoying those now that the regular fall shows have come to their season finales and we’re caught up on them. I wanted to work on some info sheets to leave with Daisy, who will be staying here at the house during our trip, so I rummaged through my stuff to get a plot plan of our street and added the info for each neighbor just in case she needs something.  I’ll give her a pecking order for who to call first. Penny came back over again to walk the dogs (another turn around the yard with both dogs on leashes). We ended the day eating steak burritos and catching up on Guys Grocery Games and Property Brothers shows that we watch together.        

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #76 – New Lawn Sweeper and Drywall is Done

Thursday, May 31st, 2018……  This morning I decided to go to Albany and make my Habitat For Humanity visit.  I like to look around and see what they get in.  I used to go every week but haven’t gone that often since we got butthead and I’m working on her training and keeping her occupied. I also needed to hit Lowes to pick up my lawn sweeper. I got up and showered and dressed and took Rylee out to get the paper.  That’s leash walking time.  She’s doing really well. I can’t wait for her to get all of her shots completed so I can take her out for longer walks. Lydia is feeling better so I was ok to take off. But first I went out and got breakfast and Lydia’s venti chai tea latte (with 6 pumps chai) and brought that back to her. Then I took off and got my errands run.  When I got back, they were there working on the drywall again.  Tim has a tough time getting the panels up by himself.  Dana is too short and doesn’t have the strength to muscle those panels.  But he has a system and it works and they make good progress even by themselves. They should finish the drywall tomorrow. I worked on putting the lawn sweeper together then we met my sister at Ixtapa’s to buy her dinner because today was her last scheduled day of radiation! Imagine riding over 100 miles 25 times for this 12-minute treatment! Hopefully, she’s done with all of that and can concentrate on recovery from the treatments. She looks very sunburned and I can’t imagine the discomfort and itching she is going through. But she’s tough and will handle it well.      

Friday, June 1st, 2018……  First day of June. We’re now in countdown to Maui.  We leave on the 20^th so only three weeks to go!....  Lydia went to bed after I did last night and decided to just let Rylee sleep on the bed with us.  It was fine and she got up with her this morning and let her out with no issues. I was up and online early this morning. I had to authorize the transfer of funds out of my account to cover the next to last progress payment to Tim & Dana. I pulled out enough to pay the last payment as well. To date, the work left to do:  inside - final electrical (Thursday), finish drywall, install garage door, blow insulation in attic, and tape drywall. Outside - paint, install rain gutters, prep and pour concrete approach, prep and pour 16 x 48 guest pad.  I’m not sure how long all of this will take but they should be close or maybe even done before we leave on the 20^th.  

Today we decided to go to Salem and exchange some items at Sears.  My sister has an appointment with her surgeon today so we all went together. We even took muttley with us.  She likes to ride in the car and doesn’t get sick like Bailey did. That’s a plus! While we waited for Penny to get out of the drs. I took Rylee out for a walk around the grounds so she could pee and poop. Success on both levels! I gave her some water and treats. Once Penny got out, we drove over to Sears. We took turns going in so one of us was always with butthead in the car. We then made a quick stop in Albany so sis could drop off a document at the local social security office and then headed home.  We fed monkey butt and then we left to go eat linner at Pizza Schmizza. It’s on Main St. in town and on the way, we passed the many chairs that folks had set out to reserve their spots for the Strawberry Festival Parade tomorrow. We’ve seen many of these small-town parades on our travels around the country so we have no desire to go to this one.  But it’s a big deal for the locals though.  They have a crew that makes a giant strawberry shortcake (which they claim is always a world record) for folks to eat. They also have a carnival at the local rec area (Cheadle Lake).  Again, we’ll pass. Tim and Dana were still working when we returned so I spent some time with them. They got all of the drywall in and screwed down. Monday the drywall tapers will be here to do their thing. Interesting process but more on that on Monday. Insulation for the attic is scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday. The electricians will be back on Thursday.  So, all is moving smoothly as this job gets closer to a finish. We spent the rest of the evening getting caught up on tv shows and both of us went to bed early.