Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #100 – Breakfast, Yard Sales and Relaxing

 

Friday, Oct 25^th, 2019…… Again, I was up early today. This time it was because we were going out to breakfast. Penny and Janice were coming by to pick us up to go to The Point in Sweet Home, which we have been anxious to try. So, I had to get monkey butt up and out and walked and then fed because we were leaving at 8:00am. Lydia needed as much time as possible so I had to get in and out of the bathroom before 7:00am. No problem. We were good to go when they got here. Sis drove us there and we had a nice breakfast. Janice is a fun person and we like spending time with her. After a nice meal, we came back to the house and they stayed for a bit to visit and play with Rylee.  After they left, I went out and worked on my newly-acquired drill press. This is not the model I want – this is a bench-top model and I want a floor model - but for now it will do. I found a spot and got it set up and did a few test drills. It does work nice. I came back in and rested. Lydia’s foot was doing ok so she decided we should to go hit Costco. We were out of everything and there are items we like to buy at Costco - like meat, bread, etc. that we can split apart and freeze what we don’t need right away. We also stocked up on some frozen foods – like tamales, fish, hash browns, tator tots, chicken breasts, breakfast sandwiches, etc. But the main reason I wanted to go was to pick up a couple of lights for the front porch. When we moved in, we saw that Walt had installed two really nice porch lights, on sensors, that we really liked. He also put them on the west side of the house on each side of the garage doors. Well, these lights have seen their better days. Even though when they worked, they were perfect and fit the house just right, they were probably installed when the house was built and are now starting to fail. When one light came on, it blinked rapidly all night. Unnerving!   I tried replacing the sensors but that didn’t help. So, I already have replaced the garage lights (with something that worked and looked pretty good). Now one of the porch lights is doing the same thing. Costco has a replacement that looks 98% like the old ones, so we decided to buy a couple of those.  The price was right, too, just $34.99 ea. I also bought a 3-pack of led flashlights. You can never have too many of those. We got the rest of our groceries and came home. On the way, we talked about going to Walmart but we would do that tomorrow. Once we got home and put everything away and rested a bit, Lydia suggested we just go on to Walmart today and get the rest of our shopping done. So, we spent the next hour or so getting that done. Later, sis came by to drop off Quincy for another sleepover. She and Janice were heading off early tomorrow to Salem to a flea market and wanted Quincy to not be alone all day. No worries, we like her visiting us!  Later, I fed the girls and Lydia started dinner. We had bought nice fresh hamburger buns and Lydia baked some of the fish and tator tots and we had fish sandwiches for dinner. Quick and easy.  Her foot was starting to hurt so we were both ready to kick back and spend the night relaxing and watching tv.

Saturday, Oct 26^th, 2019…...   Sis had texted me yesterday from an estate sale her friend Linda was working at. She found a surface planer and a few other tools she thought I might be interested in. We were at Costco at the time plus I thought the prices were too high. Linda’s employer who conducts these sales for people all around this area who are selling their property and moving out, usually sell for full price on Fridays and half price on Saturday. So, after walking Rylee and Q, I headed off to go find that sale. Everything in the house gets price-tagged by this group, and it all gets displayed all throughout the house and yard. They were selling practically everything!  Dishes, silverware, pantry items, all of it goes!  They were even selling the frozen food in the freezer! Even though I got there early, the planer was already gone. The other things I was interested in were either too beat up or overpriced – even at half off - so I didn’t buy anything.  I stopped and got gas for my truck and also got breakfast and came home and ate and rested.  We spent the day relaxing and watching tv. My sister came by and got Quincy. She showed us some of the stuff she had bought today. Later, Lydia fixed burritos for dinner and we watched our programs until we called it a night.       

Sunday, Oct 27^th, 2019…...  Nothing on the agenda today. The weather right now is clear and sunny - no rain in sight - but the mornings are still pretty cold. Since I wasn’t going anywhere today, I just put on my sweat pants and took Rylee out for her walk. When I got back and got her fed, Lydia had already made her tea and fixed herself some cereal, so I made a ham and egg and cheese sandwich for my breakfast. It was Sunday so I had a bunch of races and football and Mecum auction to take up my day. I broke up the day by going out to the rv garage and ran the engine for a while. I do that weekly. This time I fired up the diesel aqua hot and gave that time to heat up the water in the tank. Again, it is more maintenance work but at least I don’t have to worry about the exhaust from either of these since I have those directly vented outside now, it makes it easy.  I shut everything down and closed up the garage and was done outside for the day – except to let Rylee out to play and run a bit. The guy I sold our old oven to last week has been busy getting it installed. He sent me pics. He originally planned to remove the back section but decided it would be too much work so he made a decorative board for the back side.  He says everything works and he’s happy with the purchase. A win-win for both of us!

Lydia made tilapia and this time made up her own breadcrumb/cheese crust for it. I liked it! After dinner, it was more tv until bedtime.    

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #99 – Another Tractor, a Carport & a New Door

Tuesday, Oct 22^nd, 2019…… Today started out cloudy and cool. The latest forecast says we have rain this morning and then 5-7 days of clear skies. I hope that’s true. It was misting when I took Rylee out. My sister had brought Quincy over to run and play. I left to go get coffee/tea and then came back and ate breakfast at home. Rylee has her first spa treatment today! We had made an appointment to get her bathed and groomed. We didn’t want her cut short or anything – just trimmed up on her feet and tail. We took her in and then headed home. I got out and Lydia took the car and went back to town for her mahjong game. I took the truck and headed out to Albany and then Corvallis and then to Eugene. I am looking for a Titan lockset for our garage door entry to the house. It was a long loop trip back to the house and I didn’t find anything. I guess I will have to use another brand.

I had found another riding lawnmower on Facebook Marketplace that I just had to go check out! It was supposedly in good shape and the price was only $250.00. It needed only a new battery and had a tire losing air.  The guy said he wouldn’t be available until after 6:30pm tonight. He lives in Salem.

Kirk came by and I had him continue his work on the fenceline behind our neighbor’s property. The pics below were taken back in 2017 as part of the online listing when we first saw the property. In the photo, the light color is our property. The dark area to the upper right is our neighbor’s (Rich & Linda) property. The straight line (at an angle) is the back fenceline where the shrubs and stuff are growing.

This one shows the fence to the left where we worked.

We pulled out an invasive blueberry plant as well as a couple of other plants growing on both sides that neither of us want. It looks really good now. Plus, we are now done with that section of the property until next spring! 

Continuing with the tractor deal – Kirk left my trailer, at my request, and I hooked it up to my truck. After dinner, Lydia and I headed north. We left at 6:00pm to be as close as possible to Salem by 6:30pm. I messaged him and he gave us the address. He was out with his family at one of their son’s football practice and we got there at the same time. The tractor 

was advertised as having a bad battery, a leaky tire, and a torn seat, but runs well. 

Those were things I could easily fix. No big deal. Turns out the battery was almost new. The problem was it wasn’t charging up from running. A bad start. Strike one. He jumped it from his truck and it ran really rough and popped a lot and took a long time to warm up. Strike two. He said that he got this tractor from a friend and that it was exactly like one he already had. He had taken parts off of it for his tractor. He showed us that the front fascia plate was missing and only the headlight bulbs were there. Yikes, the whole front trim section was missing!  Strike three. He ran it on his lawn and came back and said the throttle control had come loose and it only had one speed. He asked if I wanted to drive it and I said, “No thanks, I’m going to pass on it”. He said he’s had a lot of interest and I told him there was probably someone out there who would want it because the price was right. I personally don’t want to chase after it fixing more things than I originally planned on. We got out of there and headed home.      

Wednesday, Oct 23^rd, 2019…...  This morning the weather was really nice. A little chilly but sunny. I was up early and showered and out with Rylee before 7:30am. I went over and unhooked the trailer and moved my truck so Kirk could come and get it for his workday. Then I went out and got us breakfast. Kirk had not shown up yet when I got back. My sister called and asked if Lydia was going to play bingo today because she wouldn’t be going. She was headed off with her neighbor for the day and asked if Lydia would stop by on her way and let Quincy outside.  We would do that. I told Lydia I would go with her to play but a few minutes later I had a response for a deal going with a guy on Facebook Marketplace for a drill press he had. He was in Springfield and we made arrangements for me to go look at it. So, Lydia headed off to bingo by herself, stopping by Penny’s on the way. My trip down there took about 40 minutes and I met up with the guy at his home. I had him run it for me and checked it out pretty carefully. The tool was what I expected and worked fine. He wanted $85.00 for it - I offered $75.00 and he took it. We loaded it up and talked for a few minutes and then I headed back home. I parked the truck in the shop garage and got it unloaded and then came in and rested for a bit. A little later, I fed Rylee.  Lydia asked if we could go get burgers for dinner. I chose Bigfoot Grill and we went there and ate. Nice meal. We even got their donut holes with caramel dipping sauce to go. We had to wait so long for those they brought us some ice cream just to say they were sorry. We ended the night watching tv until bedtime.        

Thursday, Oct 24^th, 2019…...  Wow, I slept great last night!  Butthead woke me up once to go out but I went right back to sleep. Not much planned for me today. Lydia and Penny were going to meet up with Aimee for lunch. Sis called me and said her door was in and could we go get it - whenever I wanted to go. I was ready to do that but was online with a guy from Portland, working on a contract for a metal carport to be ordered, delivered, and installed on the property. I had seen the ad on Facebook Marketplace when I was looking for drill presses and contacted the guy yesterday. He and I communicated back and forth and I got more details about timeframe, any additional costs, etc. and he sent me a contract and I finished filing it out and got it scanned and returned to him. It will be 4-6 weeks before they get it delivered and installed. 

Aimee was not feeling well this morning and had texted and cancelled on the girl’s luncheon, so we were able to go get the door and get it installed today. Here is the before and after.  

   

If you look closely at the before pic of the white door, you can see how much the right side was sagging. We put it up in 2018 and it went downhill after that. Really poor quality and a bad choice. I was embarrassed every time I looked at it so I wanted to get it off and gone asap!  She done good on this new one!  The new door is a storm door, complete with a sliding screen and is made really well. It was claimed to be a ‘quick 45-minute installation’. It was really easy but we spent more time than that – maybe a little over an hour or so. It looks great and works really smoothly and has a keyed lock and deadbolt that locks securely.  She also bought some paint to match the bronze finish and will paint the white front door in the near future. When we were finished and had everything put away, she took me to Big Town Subs for lunch. After that, I came home and relaxed and rested for a bit. It was later in the day when we had lunch, so Lydia had leftovers and I was good and didn’t eat. We settled in and watched our own taped programs until bedtime.          

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #98 – Movies & Drs. Visit and Taxes

 

Saturday, Oct 19^th, 2019…… The weather today was nicer than yesterday. The rains are coming and going but there are bits and pieces of sunshine too. We decided it was time to move the patio furniture of the porch and get them stored away. I found some room in the rv garage and stacked up everything. I put the cushions in bags to keep them clean. Then I came in and rested and watched tv. Lydia came in and asked if I wanted to go see Maleficent, which was playing at our local theater. We went to the 2:00pm $6.00 matinee. We liked the movie. After that, we decided to order pizza for dinner, so on the way home Lydia called James Gang Pizza and ordered one for pickup.  We came home and I fed Rylee and then went back and got dinner. I went on to LetGo and OfferUp and found a few more drill presses I was interested in. I sent them questions about availability and I’m still waiting.  One lady was selling one for her friend and it was $125.00. I told them I was on a $100.00 budget and would pay that but she said his price was firm. We left it that I may call her on Tuesday when she’s back in town if I didn’t find anything else. But looking at others I am going to stick to my budget and just wait. After dinner we settled in and watched our taped programs until calling it a night.

Sunday, Oct 20^th, 2019…...  Sundays are kick back days. We got some sun and some sprinkles mixed in again today. I had Rylee out when it was nice early this morning. Later in the day, I hooked her on her leash and we walked the property line behind our neighbor’s home. Last week I had Kirk string trim all of the weeds that were along Rich and Linda’s backyard fence. I saw Rich out at his mailbox the other day and asked him if that was ok. He liked it. But he asked about some vines or shrubs that were from our side that were kind of out of control on his side now and he wanted to prune them. I told him go ahead. This afternoon I found out that one is a blackberry bush that has grown from our side and is taking over one of his fenceline shrubs. There is another one (not recognized) that I will add to my list for Kirk to take out Tuesday when he is here.

The sprinkles continued throughout the evening but stopped overnight. We have one or two more days before we are expected to have good weather again.

Lydia made pork chops with fried potatoes and lima beans and we watched her tv and got caught up on the three episodes of The Blacklist that we were behind on.  

Monday, Oct 21^st, 2019…...  Today was our dermatologist appointment. I had gotten up and showered and had Rylee out and fed pretty quickly. I headed off and got my breakfast and coffee/tea for us. Around 9:20am we left for our appointment.  I am a first-timer so I brought the paperwork they had sent me prior. We went into the same room and Dr. Horner looked at me first (Lydia’s choice). I showed him the spots on my forehead and cheek and he said they were pretty much age spots and wasn’t concerned. He froze the three areas and looked at what was left of my poison oak that is pretty much gone now - and I was done. Lydia had two spots he had worked on before and one new one. These were all warts and he gave her locals and then cut them off and cauterized everything.  They will get biopsied as procedure. She goes back in three weeks and I go back in a year. Easy peasy! We came home and she had lunch. I wanted to clean up some files on my laptop and import some photos from my phone so I spent some time and got that all done. Then I fixed leftovers for my lunch and kicked back and watched tv for a bit. We didn’t have anything else planned so we just hung around and relaxed for the afternoon. When I went out and got the mail, we saw we received our tax bill for the year. It always comes in October. This year we got reassessed because of the rv garage. Taxes went up $570.00.  Not too bad, I guess. The Oregon process allows you to pay in full in November, saving $180.00.  Plus, if you use a check, you save $115.00 over using a credit card. Lydia wrote the check and I will take it to the tax collector tomorrow.

We were both full from our lunches so we both skipped dinner.  We ended the night watching tv.  

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #97 – Both Rain & Sun and Another Drs. Visit

 

Wednesday, Oct 16^th, 2019…… No rain yet. I got Rylee out and walked and fed. Later, I took off and picked up breakfast/coffee/tea. After we ate, I headed off to Albany to Home Depot and Lowes. Kirk had given me some string trimmer cord off his coil for my trimmer. I used it up but saw how much stronger it was and made note of the brand. I found it at Lowes and bought a roll for my use. I also wanted to look for a lockset for the entry door from the garage to the house. I am slowly converting them all from polished brass to brushed nickel. The same key works the front door so I wanted to get a smart key system. The one in there now was made by Titan and neither store sells that brand. I will check with Jerry’s in Eugene next time we are down that way. When I got home it was raining pretty good. I couldn’t use the tractor on the soggy lawn to pick up the grass so I was done for the day. Lydia left a little later to go play bingo. I kicked back and watched some of my taped programs.  Later, she made steak burritos for dinner and we settled in and watched our programs until bedtime. 

Thursday, Oct 17^th, 2019…...  Today, the weather was yucky. It started out cold but got comfortable without a flannel shirt a bit later. Still too wet to pick up the grass clippings. I got the monkey butt out and walked and fed and then fixed breakfast here. The winds came a bit later in the day. We have several trees that now have all their leaves on the ground. I will be going out there when it dries out to get those raked up. The large trees out back are dropping their leaves in mass right now too. I’m glad they are way out there and blow right off the property! No raking! 

Lydia came in this morning and said she was having an issue she needed to have looked at. She has found blood in her stool. So, she made an appointment to see our dr. this afternoon. We were both concerned that it might be a result from her colon resection surgery so she spoke with her nephrologist as well as her colon surgeon before going in. Our dr. had her see one of his associates who listened to her history and then did a preliminary exam and found it was only her hemorrhoids that had come back. He has referred her for outpatient surgery to band them. She’s had this done before and it is done in the drs. office. No big deal. We left there, super relieved that it was only a minor issue. Whew! 

Before we had left for the drs., she had a sandwich for lunch and I fixed the rest of the burrito meat.  It was filling.  Later, when it came time for dinner, she was hungry and fixed the rest of the stew. I had some crackers and cookies and that was it for me for the night. We watched Guys Grocery Games and got caught up on those and then went to bed. The rains came just after dark. It came down really hard for a short time and then just off and on drizzle for the rest of the night.

Friday, Oct 18^th, 2019…...  What a big difference from yesterday!  The weather is really nice today. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. This morning, my sister came over to walk Quincy and, after walking Rylee and after we fed both of them, we took off to go to Shirley Mays for breakfast. We got out there and found it was closed for the day so we ended up at Kevin’s. Once we were done and back home, Penny took Q home and we rested for a bit. Even with the nice sunny day, the lawn was still too wet to run the mower and grass catcher over. So, Lydia and I took Rylee out for a car ride. In the past, we have just had her out in the back of the Acadia, with the seats down, leaving her that whole large area to be in. She’s ok for the most part but doesn’t have anything to brace her when I stop or corner hard. My sister had given us a harness that gets hooked up to the back-seat belt so she is locked in. So, we tried that out today. The harness is a bit small but works and she got used to it but shook for a while since this was all new to her. We drove to Corvallis (I needed to go to BofA) and to a park by the river. Lydia walked for a minute or two but since there were no benches she came back and sat in the car and rested her foot. Rylee had a nice walk and ride back home. This time we left her loose in the seat. She did ok with this as well and laid down all the way home.  When we got back, I had looked at a few emails that I had sent for drill presses I had previously found on letgo, and OfferUp.  I decided to wait until next week to go look at the one I’m really interested in.  Later, we met up with sis at Tony’s Tacos for dinner. It was another of their half-price-combo special days and, even though it was just after 4:00pm, it was packed!  But we waited in line anyway and got seats and had a nice meal. You should have seen the walk-in line and the drive-thru line when we left! When we got back home it had just started to sprinkle and by the time we went to bed it was raining pretty good.     

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #96 – Mowing the Yard and Making a Sale!

 

Sunday, Oct 13^th, 2019…… Another quiet day. I got up, showered and had Rylee walked without waking up Lydia. She still has had a tough time sleeping and wakes up with aches in her ankle area in the middle of the night. She uses a lidocaine cream which she says really helps, and takes a couple of Tylenol and then can go back to sleep.  I went out later and got us breakfast and that was about it for the day. My oven guy (Vern) called this morning and he’s really interested. He can’t get cash tomorrow (Columbus Day) so we made plans for him to come down on Tuesday.  It’s a 100-mile one-way trip and he seems interested enough to make the drive, so maybe we can do a deal. I spent most of the day watching football (Nascar race was rained out) and Mecum Auction. Lydia relaxed and lounged around, keeping off her foot. She made stew for dinner and it was perfect, given the weather!

Monday, Oct 14^th, 2019…...  After taking Rylee out walking in the cold, I hit the ground running and headed off to get breakfast. My race was on this morning so I taped and watched that. Later, I went out and helped Lydia clean up the inside of the oven. She worked on that and I scrubbed the oven racks in the laundry room wash sink in the house. They were really grimy but cleaned up pretty well. We put everything back and I put a cover over everything and we were done with that task. Now if he comes, we can show him a clean product. Lydia fixed spaghetti for dinner tonight and we watched our shows until bedtime.    

Tuesday, Oct 15^th, 2019…...  The weather is supposed to change later tonight or tomorrow. We are seeing showers in the forecast for the next several days.  So, I decided to mow today. Lydia said she would help but I didn’t want her using her foot so I did it all. Kirk and Cooper came over to work in the flower beds on the weeds. He asked if I wanted him to get the other tractor out and help with the mowing. But I was halfway done so I finished it up myself. Vern had texted yesterday that he would be leaving Portland area around 2:30pm. He sent me text saying he was on the road now and would see me soon. It was after 4:30pm when he got here. I guess he was ready to buy because it didn’t take long before he handed me $2000 in cash and I helped him load it up in his van. This is a high-end stainless-steel appliance and is super heavy!  I warned him we may need help but he came alone. But he did have a work van and a wide long ramp, and with my dolly, we managed to get it loaded up with very little issues. He headed back home and I came in and handed Lydia the cash.  It was late so we decided to go out to dinner. My sister had asked if we wanted bbq and that was fine so we met her at Oregon BBQ for a nice meal. Later, we came back home and settled in for the night.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #95 – Colder Temps and Going to the Movies

 

Thursday, Oct 10^th, 2019…… I slept in late this morning. I did wake up super early again and almost got up (again) but didn’t and was able to go back to sleep and found it was 7:45am before I woke up again. I got Quincy out and walked and then Rylee joined us. It was chilly! The morning temps have sure dropped in the last few days. This morning it was 32º! We fed them and I headed off to get breakfast. Neither of us had any plans today. I wanted to move the boat into a corner of the shop garage so I could get my truck in there at night. As I said, it is cold at night. There was frost on the truck this morning so today was a good day to move stuff around. While I was out there, I got all of Lydia’s fall stuff down so she could get it all set out. She spent some time working on that, resting her foot several times, until she had it all done. I came in and worked on my monthly bill spreadsheet and then went back out and took the last part off the trailer and cleaned it up. Next was the fenders. These won’t get the bedliner paint like the trailer – they will be spray painted a different color, so I sanded them down to bare metal so I can put primer on later. After doing all of that, I came in and rested and watched the first showing of Mecum Vegas. We decided to have leftovers for dinner. We both had French dip sandwiches the other day at Skyline and we each brought half home. Lydia also had my sister’s baked potato so dinner was easy. We watched tv until bedtime.

Friday, Oct 11^th, 2019…...  Wow, it’s cold outside!  It showed 33º outside at 7:30 this morning. My neighbor had his lawn service already here when I was out with Rylee and he was ready to mow even with frost on the grass!  Of course, monkey butt doesn’t care about the cold. She walked along with her breath frosted but didn’t care.  I came back in and fixed breakfast. Then I answered an ad on OfferUp for a drill press. No response yet. Lydia and I decided to go to Eugene to the show to see The Adams Family. We also wanted to go to Costco so we did that while we were there. It was time again to go to Newman’s for seafood. Our treat in Eugene! We knew they had another restaurant in the downtown area and we wanted to go find that one. Turns out it was almost as small as the newer one! You still order from a counter and seat yourself at an outside patio table. This place did have a nice store though. Plus, there were tables in the store to eat at when the weather is bad. It was nice and we ate outside. Once we got home and got butthead fed and walked, we settled in and watched tv until calling it a night. 

Saturday, Oct 12^th, 2019…...  Not much planned for today. The weather is just ok. Not rainy but not warm enough either. Lydia’s ankle has been achy at night, causing her to not sleep well. I left her in bed and got my shower taken and slipped out with butthead to do our walk. When I got back, she was up for the day. After doing the rest of my morning ritual (reading the paper, doing the jumble, and sending a pic of the jumble to sis), I headed off to get us breakfast/coffee/tea. The dr. had given Lydia a couple of elastic bandages to wrap her ankle but I wanted to find the ankle wrap we already have. I searched and searched but no luck, so I went off to Walmart to get another one. This way, she can change them out and use whatever is more comfortable. I also picked up a bunch of stuff from her list for dinner tonight and for tomorrow too. Tonight, we’re having steak sandwiches and mac and white cheese. We hung around the house and got caught up on programs we had taped.  Later, she started dinner. She doesn’t want any help and has figured out she can use her office chair to sit on in the kitchen between stirring the food. The meal was great and I got everything cleaned up and we settled in. Around 8:00pm, I got a text from a guy in Portland who was interested in the oven. He asked a few questions and I went out to the shop and took a few more pics of it to send him. More to follow, I hope.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #94 – Visiting and Touring With Friends

 

Monday, Oct 7^th, 2019……  Lydia is still hobbling around. I have severe itching on my forearms. They say that poison oak takes a long time to go away. I can’t wait! I got up early, showered and got dressed and walked Quincy and then let Rylee out to play with her. The weather started out cloudy and cool which was kind of nice. We have had the heater on and the house was actually too warm for me so the time outside was refreshing. Lydia showered and we both got ready. We were headed off to Albany to Elmer’s for breakfast with the girls. Jerith has been here before. It was the first trip for Luzmila. We had a nice time. Lydia stayed with them so they could run over to the pumpkin patch to redeem our free pumpkin, thanks to Aimee, our realtor. I took the Acadia to get the oil changed so they actually beat me home. I had them clean and polish the headlights because they were getting kind of cloudy. This place uses a spray product. The coating was sticky and needed to be in the sunlight so the uv rays could set it. I was skeptical when I saw it applied, but later, it looked like it’s dried pretty clear. The guy said to bring it back if I wasn’t 100% happy with it. I got home and the girls were at the house. Penny gave them the nickel tour and then they left to go shopping and spend the afternoon touring and resting. They came back for dinner later. Lydia was making lasagna. I went to Safeway and got dessert and then to the liquor store and replenished my supply of Fireball. Hey, I gotta be a good host, right?  They brought wine and were good for the evening. The meal was excellent!  Lydia’s lasagna is my most very favorite meal of all time. We make a loaf of hot buttered sourdough bread each time. The girls brought salad.   

Tuesday, Oct 8^th, 2019…... This morning the weather was gloomy. It was supposed to rain but just stayed cloudy for most of the day. The girls did their thing today, while we hung around the house. I went out and took off the remaining parts off the trailer and got them cleaned up and the rust knocked off. I have one more piece to remove and work then the trailer frame gets some attention. Kirk and Cooper came by later in the day and they got some weeding done along the driveway plus some weeds whacked along our fenceline with Rich and Linda behind their house. I think Walt used to go along with his cart and sprayer and keep those weeds down. I have a backpack sprayer and will need to do that but probably won’t have to this season. The girls came by to meet Kirk and then we made plans for dinner. We left a short time later and picked them up and headed off to Skyline in Sweet Home and had a nice meal. We toured Foster Lake beforehand and they both liked it. We made plans for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nicer. Lydia has a Dr’s appointment and will stay home for that, but I am driving the rest of them up to see Silver Falls. It’s good that Lydia is not going since she can’t be walking too much right now anyway. We got back home and settled in for the night.

Wednesday, Oct 9^th, 2019…...  I was up super early this morning. I think the itching got me. It’s still really bad. I showered and got Rylee out for a walk in the dark. She managed to bark at everything so we cut it short. I came back in and fixed my breakfast and then headed over to pick up the girls. The weather today started out chilly and overcast. But the forecast today was for warm and sunny so by the time we got about a third of the way, it cleared up and was nice. But still cold in the shade. The drive was nice for them and they really enjoyed the falls. Because of the recent rains, there is a lot of water in the river, so the falls were running well. 

Luzmila and Penny went down and did the loop. Jerith chose to stay behind so I stayed with her up in the sun at the top. After the girls got back, we took a pic at the sign,

and headed back the way we came. We had spotted a Chinese place (Happy Dragon) in Stayton on the way up so we stopped there and had a nice lunch (thanks, girls).  Once I got them back home safe and sound, I came home and rested. Lydia had her physical today (everything is doing well - dr. was happy - her ankle needs a lot more time before it heals) and took pics of my arms with her 

so Dr. Simmons could send in a prescription for me for itch cream (clobetasol). I already had some and it’s not the cure-all I wanted so I will still need to get help from the dermatologist appointment on the 21^st. Since we had gone out to dinner with the girls last night, Lydia had to cook the salmon/crab she had out from yesterday. I ate a light lunch so it worked out well. Penny brought them over later with Q so she could stay the night.  We said our goodbyes and they left to go home and have their dinner. We really enjoy having folks come visit. I know these two ladies are special to sis, and we were glad to be able to spend time with them too!

I watched the Dodger game (sad time!) and then Lydia and I watched The Masked Singer (didn’t guess the eagle - Dr. Drew) and then Survivor and then the 1^st. behind the scenes show of the Brady Renovation House. I let the dogs out one last time and we called it a night after that. I slept well.      

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #93 – Screen Shopping and Visitors

 

Friday, Oct 4^th, 2019……  I got up early this morning and got Rylee out and walked and fed. The weather is kind of chilly (45º) in the mornings but warms up to the low 60s during the day. I’ve switched from sandals to tennis shoes but I’m still in shorts. A long sleeve flannel shirt works for now. My sister came by this morning to help me pick grapes. Lydia has a quilting class today and needs time to get things sewn up for that. I didn’t want to chance getting any more allergic reactions so I asked Sis to help. Problem was, we couldn’t find any more grapes! What we did see were tiny and won’t be ready for a while, if at all. So, Lou doesn’t get any this year. I got Lydia off and running to her class and relaxed and watched some of the Barrett-Jackson auctions that are held this week in Vegas. The Dodgers played their second NLDS game this evening but got beat. It’s tied right now 1-1. While Lydia was out, I ate my leftover hamburgers and didn’t want dinner. So, she fixed something and I eventually ate leftover rice. That was just enough. We watched tv and both of us ended up going to bed early. 

Saturday, Oct 5^th, 2019…... This morning I was up early and, after walking butthead, took off and got breakfast and coffee/tea. Penny had brought Q over for her walk. We talked a bit about her front door screen. I had installed one for her last year that didn’t survive so much. It failed at the joints and the one side has sagged so much it’s painful to look at! She had decided long ago to replace it and I was happy to help. That day was today! We headed off to Lowe’s/Home Depot to shop for one. She wants a security-type door with a window/screen for air. We didn’t find anything at Lowes but they had what she liked at Home Depot. Problem was the specific one she wanted with the handle/latch she liked was not in stock and had to be ordered. She placed the order so now we have approx. two weeks to wait to get that going. Oh yeah, she took some pics of the planter that I made.

I came back home and found Lydia was gone. She had left me a text that I missed that she was going to Urgent Care to have her sore foot looked at. It’s been swollen and sore for a week now and it is time to have it checked out. Since it was Saturday, there was a good crowd in there ahead of her so the wait was long. She got in and they x-rayed it and didn’t find anything broken. Simple sprain. They told her to stay off of it for several days.

Later, we called and then met my sister for dinner at Bigfoot Grill. They now serve a pretty full menu and we wanted to try their steaks. I had top sirloin, Lydia had filet mignon, and Penny had ribeye. They were all good. They don’t do baked potatoes (yet) but they do cut/roasted potatoes, which I thought were excellent!  Pricey but we will order from there again.

Sunday, Oct 6^th, 2019…...  Slept in this morning. Lydia took some valium some time during the night. She rarely uses anything other than Tylenol but she needed some assistance to sleep. So, she was relaxed and we both slept in which was kind of nice. I walked Rylee and when I got back, she had out stuff for pancakes and sausage. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and once I got everything cleaned up, were pretty much done for the day. I put on my sweat shorts and never left the house. We just kicked back and enjoyed the relaxing day. Sis came by and dropped off Quincy. Her friends, Luzmila and Jerith are flying in today so she wanted a night or two without the dog in the house. No problem – Q loves it here at her second home! Later in the afternoon, Chuck brought his tractor over and cut the west 40 field down. He had some time today so he wanted to get it done while the weather was nice. I think we are good now for the winter season for that field. I still will need to mow the yard and the back field a few more times since it’s green and growing with the rains we’ve had.  That will soon change…

Lydia fixed tilapia and potatoes and veggie medley and we had a nice meal and watched our programs until bedtime.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #92 – Chores and a Stove for Sale

  

Tuesday, Oct 1^st, 2019……  Rash is still bothering me. My face looks better than yesterday but my arms still itch. I walked Rylee and then headed off to my dentist appointment this morning. Just a cleaning so I was done pretty quickly. I stopped and picked up breakfast and came home and ate. Lydia had already had her breakfast. I didn’t feel like taking the screen door apart today so that’s on hold for now… We didn’t have anything else planned except a trip to Costco for a few things. Kirk and his helper came by today and loaded up his truck and trailer and hauled the brush off to the dump. I stayed well away from that job!  Later, Lydia made salmon and crab (that we had just bought from Costco and split into a couple of packages) for dinner along with veggies. We watched a couple of episodes of Hollywood Game Night and then our own shows before calling it a night. I am keeping track of the MLB playoffs up until the Dodgers play. I’m still rooting for them to win one finally.

Wednesday, Oct 2^nd, 2019…... Today, I started out with no plans for the day. But that soon changed.  Lydia left for her nail appointment, and I went out to the shop and finished up a project (planter) for my sister and then took some time to post our old oven on Craig’s List. 

I need to get it out of the garage and just didn’t get to it until now. Hopefully, it will sell. Then I went out and removed the sliding screen door so I could replace the screen. Lydia got back as I was working on the spline and helped and that went well and we got the project finished. We got it installed and now it fits and closes better with no gaps. Dinner was hamburgers and Red Robin steak fries. A little later, Lou came over with some apples from his orchard. We will get grapes for him for tomorrow.

Thursday, Oct 3^rd, 2019…...  We decided to go out to breakfast this morning. So, I got Rylee walked and fed and we left to meet my sister at Kevin’s. I love that place and we got filled up today! After that, we were not planning anything for the day so we went back home and kicked back. But after a while I needed to do something. I had a few chores to take care of to keep me a little active today. I went out and gathered up all of the auto sprinkler timers – one in the blueberries and the others on the two large islands. Last year I forgot to do this and they broke during the freezing winter weather. They are safely tucked away for now. I also got the shop cleaned up after the planter and screen door projects. I am also thinking how I can move things around in the shop so I can keep the boat and the truck inside for the winter. I am still looking at metal carports and may do that for the boat but just in case…  

Later, Lydia made beef cube steak and gravy over mashed potatoes for dinner and we settled in and watched our programs before calling it a night.    

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #91 – Dealing With Itchy Skin and a Bad Dog!

Saturday, Sep 28^th, 2019…… Doing ok this morning. Still have the swollen face but it feels a little better.  Sis came by and brought Quincy to walk and play with muttley. She left the Q over here to avoid any conflicts because Kirk and a friend were coming today to lay down the pavers in front of her side gate. We had no plans today. I went and got us breakfast burritos and coffee/tea and we hung around the house most of the day. It has been cloudy and cooler today. Rain is coming. I watched a couple of races and later, we went out to get pizza. This time we chose James Gang. Since it was Saturday afternoon it was really crowded and noisy so we decided to order for take out. That still took over 30 minutes! Plus, some guy came in and picked up his order of 15 pizzas! He was dressed nice so we think it was for a church group or some family party.  We got home and dug in!  James Gang is no 5-star place – it’s pretty basic and shows its age. We still like Pizza Schmizza better, but I think I am now going to rank the pizza at James Gang higher. We really like the crust! The rains showed up as we were driving home but it is just sprinkles, hardly enough to turn the wipers on for! It did rain a little harder right before we went to bed. 40% chance tomorrow.  Between showers, Lydia let Rylee out to pee/poop and she saw Ollie out and took off.  I brought her back but she’s in trouble! 

Sunday, Sep 29^th, 2019…... Nothing on the agenda for today. It is raining lightly right now and it’s expected to be like this for most of the morning. I got monkey butt out for her walk. But she’s on a tight leash after yesterday. After we got back, I stayed home and made coffee and breakfast. Lydia worked a little bit on cutting fabric for her quilting class tomorrow and I watched tv most of the day. The blotches on my face are red and swollen right when I get up, I guess from lying down, but go away after I’m up for a bit. But they are still noticeable. I still have blotches on my wrists and forearms and one on my hip. Those really itch but the prednisone is supposed to kick in and help with allergies and skin issues. I already have a dermatology appointment on the 21^st to remove some moles/skin tags on my face, so I will definitely be talking about this rash!   Sis came by later today to watch tv with Lydia. During our blackout of CBS stations here last month, she had taped some shows in the motorhome because that is LA feed and was working. So, they made time today to go get caught up on their shows out there. When they came in, sis asked if Mexican food sounded good. Of course! We went back again to our new favorite place, Dos Arbolitos. This time, Lydia and I ordered their wet burritos and these are what we got…

It was delicious but we couldn’t eat it all!  Both of us brought half home. Sis left us and took Quincy and went home. Later, Lydia let Rylee out again and despite all of the work to get her to come back, she took off and headed out to the high grass way back behind the shop! I know she just wants to run and play but she needs to listen to us!  I was not happy because I had to go get her turned and headed back to the house. She did, with her tail tucked in. She got her butt whipped!  She knew I was mad!  When she knows we are mad at her, she looks so sheepish and so much wants us not to be mad, but we have to show her we are not happy with her when she ignores us! She worked her way back to my room and stayed at my feet and napped before bedtime. When we did go to bed, she waited a few minutes, then slowly worked her way to lay down on her blanket on the floor beside me.   

Monday, Sep 30^th, 2019…...  During the night (I think it was about 1:30am or so), Rylee wanted out again. She did – on the rope – and then came back in. I wiped her feet and she came in and got up on the bed and cuddled up to me. She had her lesson and I can’t stay mad forever so all is good again. But now you know why I call her Butthead!

When we got up this morning, I showered and got going with her walk and breakfast.  Then, I took off and got coffee and my breakfast before heading over to my sister’s house to do some chores she had saved up for me.  I was there a short time and got everything done that was on her list. Then I headed off to Albany to get some more ‘dog rope’. The clothesline size I had was working well and was light so she could run with it attached, but it gets wet and then baked and eventually breaks down. She can snap it easily and I have to tie it up, so it was time for new. I hit our discount store (Wheeler Dealer) and found what I wanted, then went over to Lowes and got some more screen for the back sliding door. If you remember, some time back, we took out the doggie door and re-screened. But I had used a heavy-duty pet screen and it was hard to make sure the frame was squared - and it turned out to have a gap at the top of the door. This allowed room for bugs to get in, so I needed to replace it again. I got back and got everything unloaded. I had brought back a 20-inch log that sis wanted cut in half and each piece hollowed out enough to put a plant in there. I figured I could use a spade bit and found one that worked pretty well. I got about half of the first one dug out this afternoon.  But I will put that on hold and work on the screen first thing tomorrow.

Lydia made chicken and rice for dinner and we watched the last (or so we thought) of the Brady House Renovation series. It was a nice project and I think they did it right. There are two more ‘after-the-show-behind-the-scenes’ specials coming so we’ll be watching those as well.  We also watched DWTS. Lydia headed for bed but I wasn’t tired so I watched tv while I worked on this blog before calling it a night.