Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #90 – Finishing Projects, Mowing and a Trip to Urgent Care

 

Wednesday, Sep 25^th, 2019…… I got going early this morning and got Rylee out and walked and fed. I left and drove back to Albany to get some wheels for the new cabinet. I stopped back at both the Habitat stores in Philomath and Albany but ended up at Harbor Freight and found what I wanted. I also had to stop and get nuts, bolts and washers for the project. It took a few hours but I got the wheels on and then called it a day. Tomorrow, I will move it into place and load it up. Lydia headed over to the senior center to play bingo and then again to the fabric store for more material for her quilting class. I’m glad to see her up and out and getting some exercise these days. She has no symptoms whatsoever from her colon issues and is feeling good. Sis is not though. She says she is still woozy and nauseous and has no energy or appetite. She’s recently finished her meds so we’re watching closely…

I took it easy the rest of the day and just did some odd jobs around the yard.  I have sooo many trash cans these days. They are all around – in both shops and the rv garage and outside by the potting shed. So, it was time to gather them all up and dispose in the container for trash pickup tomorrow. Now I was done for the day!

Lydia went off to KFC to get their family pack with the free cake. Turns out that was almost $30 so she picked up what we wanted for $16.   We ate dinner in my room and watched the latest two Guys Grocery Games we had taped. We were saddened to see that Carl Ruiz, one of Guys best friends and fellow chef as well as a celebrity judge on the show had passed away. The second show, which was a Halloween theme, we think was pushed up to today because Carl was on it and they thought they would honor him on his last show.  We watched that and then a couple of our own shows and then called it a night.  

 

Thursday, Sep 26^th, 2019…... Once we got up and going, I took butthead out for our walk and was going to fix a couple of (Jimmy Dean) frozen breakfast sandwiches, but Lydia said she would make bacon and eggs and I can’t say no to that! After that, I went out and got the cabinet installed in the rv garage and then came in and talked about our day. The plan was to mow the grass again, this time only the yard and not the field. It was too wet from the dew earlier so I came in and worked on this blog a bit and got caught up. Lydia went to Walmart to get something for dinner and I finished up in the house and went out and took care of the weed whacking ahead of mowing. After that, we were able to get the mower out and take care of the yard. Since we weren’t doing the field this time, we only used the one mower. I did the west side of the driveway and then the perimeter and around the islands in the main yard. Lydia came out about then and took over and did the rest. We were done pretty quickly. We will wait until tomorrow to pick up the clippings.  She fixed the parmesan crusted tilapia she bought earlier and fried some potatoes and cooked some green beans as well. It was a really tasty meal. Afterwards, we watched our own shows until bedtime.

Friday, Sep 27^th, 2019…...  I slept well and got up ready to go and got showered and walked Rylee. I didn’t mention this earlier but I must have found something in the tree or surrounding area that Kirk and I worked on Tuesday that triggered my allergies. I was ok on Wednesday morning but noticed redness around my nose later in the evening. Thursday morning it was even more red and was now puffy. I put on some hydrocortisone cream and took a Benadryl. That didn’t help much, other than make me sleepy. When I got up this morning, I noticed it was worse, so after our walk, I went in to town to Urgent Care. The dr. examined me and said it was most likely Contact Dermatitis. He said he saw a pattern above and below where I wore my goggles when I used the chain saw (which I didn’t notice). Even though I wore gloves, I must have rubbed my eyes and forehead with them after dragging the brush. It was also red right above the gloves on my wrists, so I think it was definitely the tree!

He prescribed prednisone for ten days. I hate that stuff, but if it will help me clear this up, I’m all in!  After that short office visit, I came back home and rested for a bit and ate breakfast. Later, I went out and got the mower and catcher ready and went around and scooped up the grass clippings. Lydia came out and bagged it and then we switched. It was good we did it when we did – the rains came a few hours later!  The grass didn’t bother me - I used a different pair of goggles and gloves on the tractor. We got that job done and settled in for the rest of the day. I couldn’t get my prescription today because the Walgreens computers were down for most of the day and when they came up, they still had to turn it in to our insurance. But I had the dosage and instructions on my paperwork so I just used some of Lydia’s prednisone to get started.  We decided to go out to dinner tonight but when it was time, we made the call to go get take out. We chose Jack in the Box and brought it home and ate and then settled in for the night.  The rains are due in today and tomorrow and this time, the temps are supposed to be way cooler. It had been down to the mid-50s at night up to now, but with this front, it’s now supposed to go into the mid-40s. Yeah, summer is over!  

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #89 – Cleaning House and More Stuff for the Shop

 

Sunday, Sep 22^nd, 2019…… Another cloudy and rainy day. This is a small cell and is supposed to be gone this afternoon, with no rain for the next several days. Yaay! I did the breakfast/coffee/tea run this morning and settled in for the day. I did need to get up and do something so I vacuumed the house. Our central vac is out of order for now so I used the Dyson. We need to have the house vacuum system checked out. It works but with very little suction. I think it just needs service with a thorough cleanout. We each watched our own programs/races for the most part of the day. When Lydia makes soup or stew, she always makes a big pot, so we had leftover bean soup and cornbread again for dinner. I think it’s better the second day!  We watched tv and, for the most part, both of us caught up on our summer shows, so we are now ready for the new season to start!

 

Monday, Sep 23^rd, 2019…... No rain this morning. I walked monster puppy. Both our local Wilco store and our vet sell Rylee’s dog food and we needed to restock. We took her with us and went to the vet’s office this time to get her food - but more to put her on the scales in the waiting room. She weighed in at 86 lbs. I thought it would be more but over the last month we have religiously restricted her diet to her food and her doggie treats. No more people food!  She’s a husky dog and definitely can handle the weight and looks good so we’re happy. We also have been putting ear drops in the last several weeks. She has an odor in one ear that the vet spotted last year and we think it came back. We already had the medicine and Lydia and Penny, with their sensitive noses, have been monitoring it and both say it’s getting better now.  Plus, we have put the pool away for the winter (actually, I will be cutting it up since it has a few cracks after two seasons), so that will keep her ears dry and clean for now.  Later, Lydia worked on cleaning the hardwood floors and wet mopping them. I had already vacuumed all of the bedrooms but went over everything again, this time I just worked around the furniture and Rylee’s toys!  I told her that since we had our ‘chores’ done for the day, we should go out to dinner. We chose The Skyline in Sweet Home and headed there and had a nice meal. We got back home, walked monster puppy and then settled in to watch tv until bedtime.   

Tuesday, Sep 24^th, 2019…...  The weather is definitely better now! No rain is forecast for the rest of the week. It was a little cloudy and misty this morning when I walked Rylee but that would eventually go away (about 11:00am) and the skies would be clear and blue. I left and got myself some breakfast and then headed to Albany. I was heading to Lowes looking for five more clear light bulbs (for the other bathroom fixture) but stopped by Habitat for Humanity just to see what they had. I found another nice well-built cabinet that I asked the price on. It was $75. But the nice lady said that she thought it was priced too high and I could have it for $55. I also found a really nice rolling ladder for my rv garage. This one will definitely allow me to reach all the way to the top of the motorhome should I need to do that. It was priced at $75., marked down from $95. I also found some wheel chocks for the boat trailers. They were $5. for the pair.  It was their ‘Tuesday Spin and Win a Discount’ day so she asked me to spin the wheel.  And wouldn’t you know I got the highest discount on there – 40% off! Yaay! So, I got everything for $81 bucks! I had them load it all up and then went to Lowes and got the light bulbs and came home with all my new ‘stuff’. I got everything unloaded and stored the ladder in the rv garage and made plans in my head for the new cabinet. I will put wheels on it and put it in the rv garage as a rolling worktable as well as storage for the extra rv parts I currently have boxed up in the shop. Unloading that cabinet was a strain on my back so I came in the house and took some Aleve and rested for a bit.

Kirk was coming by later today. My plan was for us to go out to the back of the property and work there today. We have one tree out there that is growing pretty quickly and is now hanging down and drooping into the creek, so I want to get that removed and hauled away. Lydia went off to play mahjong, and the Aleve was working, so I took my chain saw and the truck back there. I was able to back the truck over the creek and into the tree so that I could reach the lower branches. I got 90% of that done and stacked up. Lydia got back and then had a quick lunch and then turned around and headed back to the senior center for the first of her quilting classes.  When Kirk got to the house, we went out with my ladder and he held it steady while I cut the remaining branches down. We didn’t take it all out but removed quite a bit of its branches and we got them all stacked up. The dump would be closing soon today so we plan on hauling them out there next week. I came in and showered and was done for today.  Lydia got home and later, started dinner. We had tacos and I helped with that. We settled in and watched our own taped shows and then went to bed.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #88 – Dr’s Visit & Cleaning Up the Yard

 

Thursday, Sep 19^th, 2019…… This morning we had a schedule. I got up and out with the Q and then monkey butt, and then went and got breakfast/coffee/tea. I worked a bit on the blog and got the last one posted. By then it was time to load up and head to Salem for my sister’s Dr’s appointment. I dropped them off and found a parking spot. The doctor removed her drain tubes and she was good to go. She can now shower and with some restrictions can get back to her life. After that, we headed over to the Salem Best Buy and I got two more car chargers for our phones. I had found one there when we got our stove that I liked. It is a fast charge 27-amp charger and really works well for us when we travel. That completed, we went just down the street and had lunch at Red Lobster, courtesy of my sister’s credit card.  They have all-you-can-eat shrimp going on right now so we all tried that. It was yummy! Thanks, Sis!  We got back home and rested from our outing. Later, Sis gathered up her stuff and Lydia took her back home. We kept Quincy here. So now Penny can relax and take a nice long shower and get some quiet time today and tonight. Once Lydia got home, we were in for the night.  No dinner tonight, just cheese and apples (I had grapes!). We watched our tv shows for a bit. Treasa texted me asking for the name of the campground we both stayed at in St Ignace in Michigan when we were there in 2012, going to tour Mackinaw Island. I found it in my 2012 trip book and sent it to her.  Of course, I had to keep reading and finished each logged-in report for the entire 3-month trip! That was some serious reading!  I went to bed but had a hard time falling asleep. Butthead got me up around 2:30 to go outside (forgot to let her out when I came to bed!) and I had to try hard to go back to sleep again. I’m sure tomorrow will be a slow day.     

 

Friday, Sep 20^th, 2019…... Surprisingly, I was up before 7:00am! I showered and waited for sis to come over. She was going to take Quincy out her for her run/walk. So, in the meantime, I took Rylee for our usual walk and got our newspaper. She got here and they had their walk and Rylee went out to play with them a bit. Penny was told she wasn’t supposed to hold a leash so she fixed up two leashes and attached it to her waist. She doesn’t need it here but put it on to get Quincy out to her car!  She will try that out tomorrow when they walk at home. I went and got coffee/tea while Lydia made sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast. No rains yet but it’s cloudy. The forecast is 10% chance of rain. The grass is still soggy but I think it’s ok for the mower to be on and the grass clumps should come right up. But I waited until the afternoon just to give it more time and then went out and got that job started. I did the area back of the garage by the grapes and then started on the west side of the driveway. But wait - after one pass I had to quit! The grass there was still way too soggy and made some serious tracks in the lawn as you can see in the pic below…

I went over to the grass area next to the garage and dumped the partial load I had which Lydia was quick to pick up while I put the tractor away. I think by the time the grass is dry, it will be time to just mow it again!  The way things are going, the lawn will probably need mowing a couple more times this season.  I think we will need just one more mowing of the ‘west 40’ so Chuck has been given the green light to come do that whenever he chooses. Next week we are supposed to have warmer days with no rain.

I didn’t have anything else planned today but I needed to do something. So, I got out the large ladder and moved the hanging plant brackets out closer to the front of the porch. That way, they can get more sunlight. We have already added the devices my sister gave us that will allow Lydia to pull them down to be able to water them easier.

Lydia fixed a casserole for dinner which was very good. We settled in and watched our own taped programs until it was time for bed.    

  

Saturday, Sep 21^st, 2019…... Absolutely nothing on the agenda for me today. Sis wanted to go to the local car show in town but Lydia didn’t care to go and I just wasn’t interested this time. She sent me pics and it looked like they had some interesting cars but I still opted out. The weather was actually pretty good. Today was sunny all day (but still not enough to work in the yard). Lydia left later to go get some fabric for a quilting class she has signed up for at the senior center. I don’t think I went outside except to walk and play with Rylee. Just a lazy day. Lydia got home and got some white beans soaking. She had ham and potatoes and onions sliced and ready to get cooking with the beans and had that on the stove cooking for some time into the evening. She added some cornbread and we had a great dinner. More tv and finally bedtime.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #87 – Hanging Lights & Picking Grapes

 

Monday, Sep 16^th, 2019…… This morning I decided that since it was raining, I would work inside the house and install the bathroom fixtures. But first I had to take Quincy out for her little walk/run/poop out in the field. Lydia or Penny lets out the monster puppy after we work our way back to the back field. They go through their ‘field tests’ to get treats and then they come back in and get wiped down and then get their breakfasts. Then we can eat. I went and got coffee/tea and then came home and ate my breakfast burrito from yesterday. The lights were pretty easy to do. Simple disconnects and rewiring and I was done. J&J didn’t have the clear bulbs that Lydia wanted so I used what we had. These pics are from the next day after I picked them up and installed them. The old fixtures had three lights each and these have four.

  

Much brighter light and the clear bulbs make it even better so even us blind squirrels can find our nuts every now and then. Boy, that came out wrong!

The rains let up a bit and were off and on all day. Still way too wet to pick up the grass. Forecast is for more of the same for the next week or so. So, stay put grass, I’ll come and get you later!     

My sister wanted to take us out to dinner tonight and we chose The Depot in Albany. I love their seafood especially their scallops. The girls had the combo plates. It was all good (because I got Lydia’s oysters too!). Thanks, Sis!  We came home after stopping by Penny’s house to pick up more of Q’s dog food and rested for the evening.

 

Tuesday, Sep 17^th, 2019…... Rainy morning again. I got the dogs out with no problem and headed out to get breakfast for us all. Today was Mickey D’s. I found out they can make an egg and sausage and cheese breakfast sandwich without the bun! Instead of a wrapper, they just put the whole thing in a little box. My sister is doing her keto diet and doesn’t want to eat bread, so this worked out for her and she knows she can go there again when she wants. A little later, I headed off to Lowe’s to get some sanding discs for my angle sander. These are for knocking off the rust on the trailer. I found each one was $8.97 but they had a five pack for $8.97. Guess which one I bought! The checker thought that they forgot to unwrap the pieces before stocking them but she said that was on them, and that she was going to give me what it scanned for - $8.97!  Score!  I also found those clear light bulbs and bought eight of them.    

Kirk came today and lucky for him it was not raining. I had him weed the blueberry bed. We talked about a plan for re-installing the five poles around it, which he and I will do together. While I was out there, I started picking the grapes. These guys are ready! They are small grapes and we are told they are just called table grapes, but they are really sweet! I picked a bowlful for us

and some for Kirk to take home.  Meanwhile, Lydia and Penny left to go to Walmart to pick up stuff for spaghetti for tonight and a few other things we needed. She and I caught up on Guys Grocery Games and then later, we watched the finale of America’s Got Talent. We picked our top five in order so we’ll see tonight who is closer (but we both agreed that Kodi Lee would win).    

Wednesday, Sep 18^th, 2019…... Just a goof off day for us. I had the dogs out and worked them a bit in the back yard. My sister took some pics….

  

and then came in and ate breakfast. Later, I worked on my bills for a bit and then went out to work on the boat trailer some more. Those discs I bought are perfect for what I needed! I got a few parts sanded down and went out and disassembled a few more pieces and started on those. I had the tv on out in my shop so I just kept working away. Finally, I quit for the day and came in and cleaned up and rested and watched tv.  Lydia made burritos for dinner and we watched our tv programs until it was time for America’s Got Talent. We all three had picked our final five and the order we liked them. We all got Kodi right as the winner. It was a no-brainer! But we all missed on the choir. I had picked Ryan and the Voices of Service and the girls had V Unbeatables. I think Emanne and Ryan will be stars soon.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #86 – Surgery Went Well and Mowing Between Rain Showers

 

Friday, Sep 13^th, 2019…… Like I said in my last post, we had to get up early this morning. I had set my alarm for 4:00am but Miss Butthead woke me at 3:51am - because I didn’t let her out last night I guess – so I shut the alarm off and went in and showered and got dressed. I decided to go ahead and walk her even though it was still dark. I think I scared the paper delivery guy when he came down our street and saw this big white dog walking in the road!

We left Lydia and the dogs and got going - about 4:35am - and stopped for coffee (for me), and got there with plenty of time to park and go to the check-in desk and get the process started. She got to her pre-surgery room and got ready. They weren’t going to take her in until 7:30 so she told me to go on home. We will head back up there and be back in the waiting area around noon. We left about 10:30 because we needed to stop in at Best Buy and get a couple more car chargers for the cell phones. I had found and bought one there before that I liked that has quick charge technology (27 watt/5.4-amp power) and we wanted to have one in each car.  But the timing could have been better. The dr. had called me and said the surgery went well and that she was doing fine and would be in recovery for 1-2 hours. That meant that we needed to head over to the hospital and that put us back in the waiting room around noon. Well, it turned out we had plenty of time!  We sat in the waiting room until after 1:30 before they finally let us go back to her room.  It took some more time, but once she completed her recovery and was awake and pain free, she was ok to be released.  She was doing well on her meds and the jello they gave her didn’t cut it so she spent the time on the way home deciding where she wanted us to stop for dinner. She chose Tony’s Tacos and we were going to get it to go but changed to Taqueria Dos Arbolitos as we drove by it. We went in and took a booth and ordered to eat there. It is now my favorite Mexican restaurant in town! After a great meal, we got her home and back in bed so she could sleep off the last of the surgery meds. Lydia and I took her car back to her garage. We also turned on the sprinklers as she asked and also got her mail. We got back home and relaxed too and watched tv until bedtime. I went in to bed super early and I never heard her come in at all!    

Saturday, Sep 14^th, 2019…… Except for butthead getting me up twice last night (once to pee and once to go out), I slept well. I was up and moving early today. I had been keeping track of the weather because I wanted to mow the lawn today.  Rains were in the forecast but the sun was out and the front was probably going to bypass us. That was good but the grass was still way too wet, so I killed time by watching tv and playing with the doggies. Lydia and sis left to head over to Albany to pick up our light fixtures, which had come in.  I did go out and test the grapes. They are ready. We will all go out after the rains let up to pick a bowl full. Finally, it was time to go out and mow. I got the mowers out and gassed up and we started out in the field, which was pretty dry. I left her out there and ventured over to the lawn and got that done and then went back out to help in the field. We got the mowers cleaned off and put away and then came in and showered and relaxed for the rest of the day. Lydia put in a Stouffers lasagna (which I do not like) as an easy meal. We finished up the day with all three of us watching our own taped tv programs before calling it a night.    

Sunday, Sep 15^th, 2019…... I had planned on picking up the grass clippings today but that plan changed when it started raining even before we got up. Rain is forecast for the next several days but if/when I get a break, I will go out and get the grass swept up. Nothing else planned so I took off and got coffee/breakfast. Lydia texted that she was making bacon and eggs. Too late! I had already been to Jack in the Box for carryout.  But that could go into the fridge for tomorrow. We had a nice meal!  Penny is doing well but still moving slowly. She maintains a close watch on her drain tubes (no issues).  She has had some other issues with meds today but got most of that resolved after a trip to the store and after a few bathroom breaks.  While they were out, they also stopped by her house to turn off her sprinklers and get the mail.

It sprinkled and/or drizzled pretty much all day, so we stayed in and kicked back. Quincy is ok with short trips outside to pee but poor Rylee has enough energy for the both of them! I play with her around the house (she runs me ragged!) but she still needs her outside time. Hopefully tomorrow we can get out for a while.  We had leftovers (I made cheese quesadillas for me) and watched tv and that was about it for the evening.     

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #85 – The Boat Fits! & Birthday Wishes from Friends and Family

 

Tuesday, Sep 10^th, 2019…… Today I was excited! Today we were going up to Foster Lake to temporarily swap out the boat trailers. Problem was it was supposed to rain on and off all day! I waited a few minutes this morning until the morning drizzle stopped and I could walk Rylee. We made it but a bit later, it came down again. I took off and got coffee/breakfast and gas for the truck and when I got back it had stopped. Lydia had left to go play mahjong and I went out and got my floor jack and pulled one of the wheels/tire off the new/old trailer. It wasn’t holding the air I added just a day or so ago so I knew it had to be fixed. I dropped it off at the tire place and went on to the junk yard around on US20. I was looking for the front rim and the forks off a ten-speed bike for an art project I want to try. This guy has so much stuff, it was easy to find what I needed. I headed back and picked up the tire. It was only a valve stem and he didn’t charge to replace it. I got it and the bike rim home and got the tire back on the trailer and moved it around, facing down the driveway, ready for later. I also hooked up the boat to my truck and got everything I needed out and ready to go when Kirk and Caleb get here later in the afternoon.   My sister came by with Bill and Debbie and he and I waited for Kirk and Caleb and then helped them hook up the new/old trailer to Kirk’s truck and they followed us out to the lake. There was nobody else on the ramp (or on the lake either) so we were able to back both trailers down into the water at the same time. It only took a few minutes to move the boat onto the other trailer. I had Kirk move it back and forth until we had it where I wanted it. It fit perfectly!  

We reversed the process and loaded up again and left for home. Good thing too because right after we got on the road the skies opened up. I don’t think I have seen it rain as hard as it did today since we have been up here! It lasted a few minutes and then it was dry again until we got home. We unhooked both trailers and Kirk and Caleb left. Bill and I got the boat pushed back in the garage. The girls had gone back to Penny’s and would meet us at dinner (Pizza Schmizza) and they said they were on their way. But we had to change out of our wet shorts. I had to loan Bill a pair of mine and we left right after that. The rains caught up with us on the way in to town but stopped just as we were getting there. Lucky us!  We had a nice meal. 

They were heading out towards home early tomorrow so I lucked out that he was here to help today.  Once we said our goodbyes, we headed back home and went out with Rylee for a while and then came in and relaxed and each watched our own taped shows. Then I came in and watched America’s Got Talent which Lydia had on the living room tv. Once that was over, we both decided to call it a night. Busy day…..     

Wednesday, Sep 11^th, 2019…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  The big 7 Oh!   Even though the weather was forecast for rain and gloom, it turned out to be a bright sunny day. Today started out with a text and the texts and the calls went on all day. I am so blessed that friends and family remembered and sent me their best wishes. Thanks to you all!   We didn’t have much planned, other than going to dinner tonight. I left to go get breakfast. Starbucks sent me an email saying I get a drink and a breakfast sandwich on them today, so I definitely took advantage of that!  Later, Lydia went off to play bingo and - between texts and calls, I relaxed and had nothing on the agenda. But later, I found I needed to get up and do something so I went out and started pulling parts off the trailer to bring it into my shop to clean and rebuild and prep for paint. I’m in no hurry but I also want to get into it already! I quit to come in and get cleaned up. Sis came by and we took off to go to The Point, across from Foster Lake. They have a nice menu and the food is pretty good. Thanks Lydia and Sis!   We now need to think about heading up there again soon to try their breakfast, which we keep forgetting to do. We got back home and relaxed and later watched the America’s Got Talent results show before calling it a night.          

Thursday, Sep 12^th, 2019…... Today is my ex coworker, Barbara’s birthday. I think I mentioned this before but she and I are only about 6 hours apart in age. I was born late in the evening on 9/11 and she was born early the next morning on 9/12 - in Illinois - so we factored in the time zones.  Also, we discovered that she was born and raised about 15 miles from where my parents grew up in Illinois. Small world!  Wonder if our parents knew each other??? I sent her a text message and we invited her up for a visit whenever she can get away.

Today, it was nice and sunny even though the forecast was for rain. It was way too wet to mow today but I was able to get out and do all of the weed trimming, so at least that is done for now. My sister brought over the rest of her things today and later, brought Quincy as well. Her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, and – until it gets postponed again – she will be here for a few days for recovery. We still need to go back and put her car in her garage but no hurry on that. Lydia fixed a new casserole recipe from an old cookbook. It was kind of like a version of a turkey dinner. I didn’t care for it as a regular item on her list, but it was ok and I can eat it again. After dinner, I did the dishes and we all relaxed and watched tv before turning in. We are getting up super early tomorrow morning and will be leaving for the hospital in Salem and we have to check in by 5:45am. So I turned in early.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #84 – Brewfest & More Visitors

Saturday, Sep 7^th, 2019…… Today was beer day!  This is the fifth annual Lebanon BrewFest. This will be our third. But first up was breakfast. We met Penny and Janice at Kevin’s and ate a nice meal and made our plans. When we left to come home, we drove down Main St.  They were cleaning and getting ready to close it off to traffic for the afternoon/evening festivities.  We know where to park and when to go. The weather is kind of cloudy and cool. Rain is forecast around 5:00pm. We will go get sis about 12:45 and go park. The activity goes from 1:00pm-8:00pm but we go early to avoid the crowds and the weather.

We picked her up and got around to the entrance and parked and went in. They charge $20. per person and you get 3 beer tokens. We had each always gotten 5 more on top of that . This year we got 3 more to start. We headed in and walked around, first to check out who was there and what kind of beer they have to offer. My sister likes the more robust stouts and I like the wussy light pale ales and lagers. But you can always find enough to sample so it’s a fun day.  Lydia had a few tastes and found some variations that she liked, like raspberry beer. Yuuck! But she was our designated driver so she took it easy and only had 1-2 tastes. We found the turkeys from the Quirky Turkey Contest. They were available to silent auction winners - no we don't want a turkey! 

We split up the tasting tour by heading over to the food trucks. This year they had five carts but we always choose Stick a Pork in It and/or our friend Brian’s Chau’s Little Vietnam truck. We bought from both trucks and shared. It was all good. We found a table and relaxed for a while before finishing up our tasting. 

Lydia drove Penny home and we came home and rested from a fun afternoon! It was still early but we knew we wouldn’t want dinner so we snacked a bit and watched tv and called it a night.

Sunday, Sep 8^th, 2019…… Sundays are usually kick back days and today was no exception. Besides, it was raining a bit. After taking Rylee out for her morning walk, I just hung around my tv and watched Mecum Auctions and Nascar and F1 races while Lydia watched some of her taped programs. We had leftovers for dinner and that was our day.

Monday, Sep 9^th, 2019…...  Rain is here now for a few days. This may put a damper on my boat/trailer exchange project for tomorrow. We’ll see…

By the time I got up and going, my sister came by with Q and while they were here, she got a text that her friends, Bill and Debbie, who were up here from Calif. visiting family, were just coming into Lebanon and were on their way to her house. So, she fed Quincy and left her here to go meet them. Lydia and I took the dirty white doggie with us into the shower and she got cleaned and all of the pool/grass smells off of her. She’s clean, white and fluffy but that will last a day at best!  While she was in the house staying clean and drying out, I went out and worked on cleaning up the shop. I was also looking for an extra sewer support that I knew I had in my motorhome stuff in the shop racks. I found it and set it up under the exhaust line I had finished installing for the coach. This takes it up off the ground and makes a straighter shot out the vent. 

Also, here is a photo of the outside vent  before and after paint.

I also took some measurements for another project - I am thinking about buying a metal roofed carport for the boat for the summer heat and the winter rains and possible snow. I can buy a 12’ x 15’ x 7’ one in kit form for around $800.  

But I’ll probably choose a slightly longer one to get everything under cover.  As an alternative to that plan, I measured the overhang area next to the shop and my boat will fit in there. Problem is I like all of the under-cover space that I have used up under there now and would have to move it elsewhere. I have the room for the carport so I’ll go that route. A bit later, Penny brought Bill and Debbie over and we gave them another tour since they had been here close to 2 years ago. After a nice visit, they took Q and left to go back to Penny's to get their dinner in the crockpot.  We hung around and relaxed. Lydia finished up her laundry (after we did some maintenance on the washer filter) and got that chore finished. We each fixed sandwiches and relaxed for the afternoon. She did get out some shrimp to thaw for some kind of noodle casserole for dinner, so I’m looking forward to that!

Yep, dinner was yummy!  After dinner and I took Rylee out - but not in the pool yet. It’s cooler outside now. Still trying to rain off and on. The weather looks the same for the next three days. We watched two more Guys Grocery Games (still more to go!) and then the debut of A Very Brady Renovation on HGTV.  Don't worry if you missed the first show - they have it repeated many times.  We also watched the latest Master Chef to get that one caught up and then went to bed.        

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #83 – Recycling, and Exhaust Vent & Ordering New Bath Lighting

 

Wednesday, Sep 4^th, 2019……  I slept in a few minutes later than usual this morning. Rylee has finally quit bugging us to be fed super early. With Quincy here for a lot of the mornings, I guess she is getting used to eating after they play and run around. That’s ok with me! I got dressed and walked her and then went out and got coffee/tea/breakfast. Once we ate, we added some more plastic bottles to the bags I already had loaded into the truck, and we took off to the recycle center in Albany. Each of us ran two bags through the machines, and we ended up with a total of $57.00. Not bad, but it is really our money that we originally spent when we bought the water/soda/beer bottles. But it goes back to our pocketbooks in cash and that’s cool! We came back home and rested for an hour or so, then Lydia went off to the senior center to play bingo. I worked on my blog and also did my monthly input on the bill spreadsheet. Once that was done, I rested for a bit then went out to the motorhome garage and started working on the exhaust plumbing that will exit out a vent pipe in the garage wall. It took a few minutes to get everything marked out but after that, it was pretty easy. Lydia was back from bingo and came out and helped align and push the vent pipe through the outside and inside walls. I was done in less than an hour and cleaned up and came back in to the house.

   

Lydia and I made tacos and we watched last night’s America’s Got Talent show and then the results show after that.  Lydia went to bed but I stayed up while longer and watched a couple of my taped shows before getting tired enough to go to bed. 

Thursday, Sep 5^th, 2019…… Another beautiful day? It was supposed to be clear and sunny but we woke up to a light rain and cooler temps. But, after I got out of the shower and got dressed and went out with the monkey butt, the weather turned. It was sunny and getting warmer. By 10:00am it was really comfortable! We had nothing planned today so I watched some of the Thursday Mecum Auctions (they are in Dallas this week). Lydia was in her office catching up on some of her taped shows. But later, we got bored and took off to go run a few errands. First stop was Rife’s, where we got our dining room table. They haven’t contacted us yet about replacing the leaf that had some damage so we took our paperwork to them to complain. They will process it asap and hopefully by next week we will get a replacement. Next stop was J&J Lighting in Albany where we ordered two light fixtures for the master bath. These were a bit more than Costco but we decided that we both liked them better, given the décor we have now. Costco’s were a bit too modern for the room.  We headed back home and relaxed for the day. Oops, I relaxed. Lydia did several loads of laundry. She got a casserole put together and in the oven as well. Later, we ate and watched tv until bedtime. 

   

Friday, Sep 6^th, 2019…...  I have been keeping up on the news up here with tv and the paper. The other day I spotted an article in the paper about a woman who drowned while rafting on the Willamette River near the Buena Vista Ferry crossing. It turns out that it was the same day that we took Raymond and Frances across the river on that ferry. We saw several groups of rafters going down the river in groups, like the woman did. They hit a tree snag in the river and she went under and was trapped in the snag and drowned. Makes you wonder if they were the ones coming by when we were there….

Nothing on the agenda today. Lydia worked some more on her laundry and I played with butthead. I had noticed that the exhaust vent I recently installed was glaring in the sun so I set out to fix that. I have extra house/garage paint so I put a couple of coats on it. Much better. Lydia made a trip to Walmart and got stuff for steak burritos for dinner. My favorite! After that, we watched our own programs until bedtime.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #82 – Saying Goodbye & Getting Chores Done

 

Sunday, Sep 1^st, 2019……  Last full day with family. We slept in this morning. Sis came by and was here when I took Rylee out for her walk. She fed Quincy and stayed a while but needed to go home and eat and shower. We were leaving when she got back here. Raymond (with a little help from Oma) made us grilled cheese and ham sandwiches for breakfast. They were very good! Frances set up our crockpot and put a roast in to get going for the day. Once we had everything cleaned up and sis got back, we headed off to Foster Lake. We had heard that the fish hatchery there was a good place for kids so off we went. We were not disappointed! They had every tank filled to capacity with chinook salmon. These little guys were probably only 4-5 inches long. We were lucky to be there right on time for the daily feeding. The guy let Raymond throw feed into the tanks. The fish boiled on the surface trying to get some food!

He told us they would all be released in the Santiam River in November. As they head downriver, they will smolt, which is a stage in their life cycle where they begin to adapt for life in salt water. Eventually, they will return up the same river to this very hatchery. There are two fish gates/ladders that they swim up to. Some are captured and used to breed new hatches of eggs as the cycle continues. The fish gate on the other side is open, but the one on our side of the river is closed - they have a big iron grate blocking it off. But that didn’t stop the salmon from trying to get in.

We also got to feed the trout, which twenty or so are held in a couple of smaller tanks. I think these are just for viewing. There are more contained in a large glass fish tank out in front of the office. All of these guys were huge!

We took a few more pics... 

and then we left there and headed back to town for lunch (Taco Bell). We were all going next to the Albany Carousel. But the girls had also talked about going wine tasting while Frances was here. I came up with an idea – Frances has been to the carousel so Lydia and I would take Raymond there and Penny could take Frances to the wineries. We came home and split up. Our trip to Albany was fun. Raymond picked out two of his favorite animals (Zulu the cheetah, and Cheyenne the horse) and rode both of those. Aunt Lydia picked a short one that she could get up on!

Next, we visited the souvenir shop and he also got to smash a penny in the machine. He liked that so much that we bought him an album book to collect any future pennies he gets. We came back and later, the girls got back. We rested a bit and then they finished up the crockpot dinner. It was tasty! They both went in to pack their suitcases and prep for tomorrow. Their flight out of Eugene is at 6:00am. They need to check in and go through TSA and then board at 5:25am, so we needed to have them there closer to 5:00am. It’s close to an hour’s drive so we needed to leave around 4:00am!  So, we all made an early night of it.

Monday, Sep 2^nd, 2019……  I don’t know about Frances and Raymond, but Lydia and I couldn’t sleep for hours. I think I remember looking at the clock at 1:30am! But we got up and going and made the drive down to the airport and had them there at 5:05am. We said our goodbyes and then headed home to rest for the day! Raymond kept saying that he didn’t want to go home. I think he had a good time. Frances texted later saying that they got home a little after 10:00am. She sent me one more pic she took of us with the tractor.

Like I said, we kicked back the whole day and did nothing else. Both of us had leftovers for lunch so neither of us wanted dinner.

One other thing to note – we FINALLY got our Directv blacked out CBS channel back! Nexstar and Direct signed a multi-year agreement. It was just one or two days short of 8 weeks! Thank goodness it was rerun season. We are now ready for all of the fall shows to start. 

   

Tuesday, Sep 3^rd, 2019…...  This morning I got up and going early. I stopped and got my breakfast and then went to pick up my sister. We both needed to go to Home Depot. I needed to get some self-closing hinges as replacements for the broken ones on the door going out to the garage; and she needed to get the 12 x 12 pavers that Kirk and Caleb will be installing in the near future. We got back to her place and unloaded those and I came home and installed the hinges and was back in business in no time. I also went out with a cutoff saw and knocked down that big spike I used in the garden last week to tie the tree to. Kirk and Caleb showed up later and this time worked for a few hours on the weeds in the flowerbeds and along the French drain. I set up a date for next week with them. Instead of working on my yard, he will come over with his truck, hook up to my new old trailer and follow me and my boat up to Foster Lake. That way, I don’t have to make two trips plus I have two extra guys to help unload the boat and try it out on the new old trailer. We will test fit it and then move it all back and bring both back home. If the new old trailer works out, I can then move it into the shop and tear it down and clean it up and repaint it. Once that’s done, I can then go back to the lake and make the changeover permanent. Kirk and Caleb get paid for their normal time with me, but don’t have to pull weeds. They just have to change into shorts and water shoes!

Sis came over later and brought more clothes for when she stays here. Her surgery is now set for Sept. 13^th.  She anticipates she will need to be here for 4-7 days.

Later, Lydia made baked chicken and we settled in and watched all of the Master Chef episodes so we’re now caught up. I wasn’t sleepy so I stayed up and watched a few of my taped shows before calling it a night.