Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #59 – Back to Normal & Getting the Boat Done

  

Monday, July 27^th, 2020…… The kids got going around 7:30 or so this morning. They were ready and on the road by 8:30am. It was sure great to see them again – and both of them here at the same time!  Randy says he is already planning his next visit, maybe next month.  Today, they said they plan to stop in Ashland (OR) forest area so Randy can do a mountain bike run. Then they will head west to Hwy 101 and go that way back home. Sis brought Quincy over just after they headed out. Her painters were coming today to paint her house. They had prepped it last week and she said nine guys showed up early this morning and started in. Q needed to be someplace quiet. Guess where that was!  I left them here and took off. I needed to have a day out and chose today. I stopped at Jack in the Box and got breakfast and drove north. Destination - Cabela’s in Tualatin.  But first I stopped at the Salem La-Z-Boy to check their stock. I found one potential but wasn’t ready to buy today. On to Cabela’s.  I wanted to check to see if they had any boat seats. Mine is still back ordered. Nope. I did buy the trailer light since I can’t find the one lost in the garage!  I took the long way back through Tualatin and then through Salem. I wanted to drive out to Dallas to see if I could spot the housing tract that Paul and Alice have bought in to. Aimee says Paul told her it’s new construction and will be done in late in the fall. But I changed my mind because I didn’t know where to look, so I just worked my way back home. I rested a few minutes and then went to work on the trailer. I stopped a few times to let Rylee and Quincy out and to let butthead run in the water and get in her pool (still in the low 90's here today). I managed to get everything installed and hooked up the truck and got the trailer lights all working correctly.  I ended up ordering the new wheels and tires from Walmart.com. They will be delivered here next week. My new plan is to have Kirk and his guys follow me and the boat up to Foster Lake with them bringing the new trailer. I will switch them out and then, when I get home, I can see what else I need to add to the trailer (maybe side boards for easier loading!).  l will see what his schedule is when he comes here tomorrow.

I made some burritos for dinner and then relaxed and watched tv until bedtime.      

Tuesday, July 28^th, 2020……  This morning I slept in a bit (6:30am). Maryanne texted some photos on their way home down the coast so I heard the texts come in and got up to see.

 

 

I took the pups out for their walk/run/poop and them got them fed. Sis came by and got Quincy. I then headed out for breakfast. I stopped first at my sister’s house to see her new paint job and also to hang her address numbers above the garage. Here’s the old color (this was from the garage sale a few weeks ago)

 

And this is the new color:

 

On the way home, I stopped and got some stainless carriage bolts. Silly me, I didn’t know they had them in stainless so I bought the regular plated bolts and then found these stainless bolts last week. Duuhh!  I moved the trailer out of the garage and put it on the rv pad. I also got the boat out and the cover off. It was still clean!  I ran water in a trash can under the motor so I could see if it would start.  One pull on the choke and when I turned the key,  it started right up!  So, then I got anxious to see one of the new seats so I got inside and changed one out. I’m still waiting for that fourth one to be delivered from Cabela’s but I may go ahead and put the other two in tomorrow.  I spoke with Kirk today and asked if he would like to take a few hours off one day and go out in the boat with me. Of course, I am putting him to work – he will tow the new trailer with his truck so we can make the switch when we are done boating. He thinks Saturday will work. I will take that even though we may have a crowd at the lake on the weekend.  I also measured my utility trailer when Kirk brought it today. It has been on loan to him for some time now. It would just sit here so I’m glad to help. I needed to check to see if the new mower will fit in it in case I have to go pick it up from Tractor Supply. It won’t so I have asked him to check his friend’s trailer to see if that one is wider. If not, I will have to check into getting the mower delivered.

I had butthead out again a few times today running in the water and laying in her pool afterwards to cool off. Temps are still in the 90s so it’s good for her to cool off especially if I am outside working and she can just lay out there in her pool and keep cool.  I spent the rest of the day catching up on my laundry. While doing that, I also caught up on my taped Mecum auction shows. That was 22 hours spread over the last week but I cleared all of those so now I can watch other stuff…

Dinner tonight was a parmesan chicken pot pie. I also ate some of the leftover salad fixins and then cleaned out and dumped some of the leftovers that we have accumulated in the fridge this past week. I need to go shopping again and have to make a list.    

Wednesday, July 29^th, 2020……  After walking butthead, I left and got breakfast and came home and caught up on my bills and spreadsheet.  Then I had some errands to run.  I took tables over to my sister’s friend’s house for her yard sale starting tomorrow. I will take the four carriage lamps that I have since replaced on my porch and garage. They work and I can probably get $30. for the four.  Of course, Rylee is still craving her pool runs! She will come and sit by my chair and just look at me. “Time for pool, Grampy!” And, of course, I always give in.  It’s good to keep her running which also helps with her weight. I always try to work outside after that so she can air dry and sleep in the grass. I still need to clean up the shop but found another project I want to do before I clean everything. I have a cabinet in the shop that will fit perfectly in the garage and will be used to store my fishing tubs.  But I will have to modify it and move the middle shelf for everything to fit. I got it out and up on the bench and saw what I needed for that job. It will also have to be painted but I have all of that stuff already.

Since it’s been hot up here, I don’t have that much of an appetite. I always try to will eat a good breakfast though, but maybe will only have a light meal later in the day. Tonight, I had made tuna salad and fixed that for dinner. Then it was tv until bedtime      

Thursday, July 30^th, 2020……  This morning I got up and got Rylee out and walked and then fed. I left and drove down to Tractor Supply in Junction City. I wanted to double check with David, the store manager, who is working on my Cub Cadet Zero Turn Mower which is on order, to see if it was scheduled for delivery there or at my house. It’s going to be delivered there.  I don’t have anything wide enough to haul it myself so I wanted to check on my options. David wasn’t in yet so I spoke with Brian, the assistant manager, who told me they do have an employee who works on his days off delivering with his truck/trailer. He will be getting back with me if he’s available and interested in giving me a price. They also have a trailer they rent out to customers used for hauling yard items from the store. It’s only $15.00 for 4 hours so that is what I’ll probably do. I also signed up for their member program that also reassured my getting the 10% military discount. Once that was done, I headed home and relaxed for a while. Not much else going on. The blueberries are 90% done now so I’m working now on the grapevines. Last year I didn’t have that many grapes. But this year, they are everywhere!  I think I overwatered them last season. There has been no irrigation out there up until yesterday and I will only be watering maybe once or twice a week.  Later, I went out and got burgers and fries for dinner and settled in for the evening.

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #58 – Good Old Family Time!

 

Thursday, July 23^rd, 2020……  The only thing on my list for today was to pick up the grass and take it to the mulch place. Randy helped me with that. Then I worked on wet-sanding the fenders and then put a finish coat on those. I went to install them later in the afternoon and found I needed yet two more stainless steel bolts!  Tomorrow. We decided to go to Sweet Home to Skyline for dinner, which was good. I usually don’t eat a lot of red meat and hardly ever order steak, but tonight I saw their top sirloin with mushrooms was the special and it just sounded good! Randy had it too!

After dinner, we drove around Foster Lake on the way home. I wanted to check out the boating activity so we can plan a trip there next week. Plus, we had a nice drive. Sadly, there was a boating accident there this Monday.  Two little 6-year-olds were in the water at the swimming beach and a jet ski going by lost control and the rider fell off and the unmanned jet ski hit the kids. Both were air-vac’d to Portland.  The little boy died this morning. The little girl is hanging on at this point. Investigation is still in progress but the 23-year-old rider is not being held and no drugs or alcohol were said to be a factor.  Sad day for the locals.

Friday, July 24^th, 2020……  The kids took of early this morning and headed up to Black Rock (west of Salem) to go mountain biking for a few hours. I had doggie duty but left them for a bit while I went to get breakfast and hit the hardware store and then drop off some documents Cherrelyn asked me to print for her work. I got back and got everything on the trailer. I think I am done now – except for the tires and wheels. I want to replace them so I took one off to take to the junkyard, just to see if they have anything I want and get a price as opposed to new rims. I also stopped for a while and called Tractor Supply to confirm that my order was in process. It was, so I called Angela at Cascade Supply and cancelled my order with them and threw myself on the sword. I get it – they are a ma and pa company and can’t compete with the big box stores. But I think she understood that I was going to be saving almost $500.00 (plus getting a larger tractor) and had to go with that deal. But I will definitely be taking my Pro series craftsman (and the new mower) to her for service now that I know they can work on both of them.  I also finally got confirmation today that my credit union account has been updated. I needed to spend some time online with the chat folks to have them give me visibility for the new accounts and I needed to identify and rename all of the accounts until I get everything squared away and can close those old ones. I think I’m at 99% of getting through all of the transition paperwork. I still have to finish my letter of instruction and chart all of the account numbers and passwords (more than I want to do!). Frances has a document to sign when she comes next month but that’s about it.  The kids brought back rotisserie chicken for dinner and we ate early again.  I have leftover steak if I get hungry later.   Maybe lunch for tomorrow….

Once we ate, they showered and we sat out on the back porch. Aunt Penny came over later for happy hour. I broke out the fireball and we all had a very ‘relaxing’ evening. 

Saturday, July 25^th, 2020……  No worries from the fireball – everything’s good!  We hung around the house for a bit and then I asked if they wanted to go to breakfast. I chose Skyline and we went and got Penny (Cherrelyn was working 4 hours today).  Once we got back, we dropped her off and stopped and I got the Acadia washed and then we stopped at BiMart so Randy could pick up some rafts for tomorrow.  Once we got home, Randy and I put the trailer tire in the truck.  We also loaded five tables that my sister was loaning her neighbor for her upcoming yard sale, and we took those over and dropped them off. Next stop was the Pick-A-Part in Albany. I am looking for tires and wheels for the trailer and wanted to see if they would have anything that would fit that I liked. Nope. Randy is also going to buy some four-wheel-drive suspension parts for his truck and wanted to see if they had anything here in Oregon and what the prices were. Nope. Nothing. We stopped on the way back at the local tire dealer and I got his estimate for the tires and wheels.  When we got home, we found that Maryanne had gone out earlier today to So. Main and took a couple of trash bags with her and picked up some litter along the road and in the ditch on Main and on my street. Thank you, Sweetie!   I mention this because for a long time now I have been wanting to go out and pick up cigarette butts along Oak Creek Way (my St.). They are all of the same brand and are strewn all up and down from my house to the beginning of the block. I think (since we can find no one on this street who smokes) that they belong to the paper delivery guy. So, I went through the bags Maryanne got and fished out about 25 of these butts and put them in a clear baggie and enclosed a note asking if they belonged to him. I taped it all on the newspaper box and will wait and see what happens when he comes tomorrow…

Maryanne went to the fridge and found enough stuff to make chicken and cheese nachos for dinner. I had eaten the rest of my steak for lunch but these were still yummy!  Tonight, both Penny and Cherrelyn came over and we moved the party to the front porch where it was cooler and used up a bunch more of the fireball. They went home and we called it a night.  

Sunday, July 26^th, 2020…… When I went out with Rylee this morning, I found that the cigarette baggie was gone!  I’m hoping he got the message and will help us keep the street clean from now on! 

Today the kids were going rafting on the Santiam. They had heard from Sis about a put in spot and from there you can ride almost 45 minutes down to near where she lives. Cherrelyn wasn’t up to going today and I had already passed so I stayed home and watched the dogs and the three of them went. They said they had a great time. Penny took a fall on the rocks going down to the water but she’s ok. They said the water was super cold but refreshing on the 90º day!  They still owe me pics which I will post when/if I get them.

Meanwhile, I counted up the remaining items on the boat. I need just one more bolt and then I have to wire in the new undercarriage light bar (if I can find it in the garage). But that’s it! Job will be done. We were going to take the boat out tomorrow but the kids decided to head back for home tomorrow morning. Their cat-sitter bailed and they had to call around to get someone else to fill in, so they will cut the time short up here by one day. No worries for me though – I still needed to check out the boat and charge the battery, check the gas, and then clean it up – that would have put me on it as an all-day job. I’m ok with next time. I had a late lunch today and the kids brought back a meal for themselves from Carl’s Jr so all was good. Maryanne had gone out and picked a BUNCH more blueberries and we munched on those and were good for the day.  We sat around and watched tv until we were tired and they headed to their motorhome and Rylee and I went to bed.  Oh yeah, good news!  The little girl in the boating accident was released from the hospital and is home today and doing well. Thank God!  

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #57 – Banks, Swimming, Buying a Tractor & a Happy Anniversary!

 

Monday, July 20^th, 2020……  Today we needed to take care of some business. I needed to get Randy on my bank account so I called BofA and got an appointment. We also needed to fill out a request for change on the credit union account in SoCal. They are allowing me to just complete the form and scan and email it to them. We took care of that this morning. Then we headed off to the hardware store to get some more stainless fasteners and navy blue spray paint for the trailer fenders. On the way, I wanted to stop by Cascade Outdoor Power Equip. and check on the zero-turn mower and maybe buy it.  I had seen that they had moved it from where I previously saw it but when I asked, they said someone had come in the next day and bought it. They would look into getting another one and would call me. Bummer!  Here's what I am looking at:

We got back and worked on the trailer some more. I got the first and second coats of navy blue on the fenders. Looks good.  Dinner tonight was at Dos Arbolitos. On the way into the restaurant, we saw some wild turkeys just hanging out under a shady tree.  

We had a nice meal and headed back home to visit and rest and sat outside in the evening shade until it got dark and we went in and called it a night.   

Tuesday, July 21^st, 2020……  This morning I made us all bacon and eggs for breakfast. After cleaning up, Randy and I headed off to Corvallis to the bank and got that business done. Then I drove us down toward Eugene, stopping at Tractor Supply to see what they had in Cub Cadet inventory. They only had the ZT1 (I want the ZT2) but David, the manager, is going to try to order one for me. He checked and they don’t have the ZT2 in a 54” size, so I opted for the 60” model. He will be contacting me if he can get that one going.  Then we left and went to the La-Z-Boy showroom in Eugene. I am looking to replace Lydia’s new La-Z-Boy recliner, which I bought her this past Christmas. It’s just too small for me when I use her room to watch tv.  Sis wants it so we will work it out. But the showroom in Eugene didn’t have anything that I was willing to buy today. I plan to check the Salem store when I get time. We got back on the road and got home a while later and came in to the air-conditioned house to rest.  Weather is in the high 80s this week.  I got a call today from Cascade Outdoor. Angela, one of the owners, has already got the order placed for the ZT2. It is $3899. everywhere and I also have a triple bagger catcher on order. She said it would be 7-10 days.  So, now I have a conundrum – the 60” at Tractor Supply is $4199.  BUT, I can get my military discount (10%), which brings it down below Cascade’s price – and this is for a larger model. I want to buy local and support the businesses here in town, but for the price I’m going with TSC.  But - I haven’t heard back from him yet so I don’t know if he can even get the tractor or not so all of this is up in the air at this time. But I’ll figure it out.

We decided to do a ‘linner’ tonight and we chose The Growler which was really good.

Wednesday, July 22^nd, 2020……  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY and MARYANNE! I’m so glad they chose to be here to celebrate it with me!  We started the day out with Maryanne and Randy heading off to Corvallis to drop Maryanne at the athletic center for a swim. On Monday, they had ridden their bikes up the big hill by me house here and had met some locals who they spent some time with. The lady invited her to the pool today so Randy drove and then went around the area for an hour or so to wait. Meanwhile, Penny and I mowed the lawn here. We got that wrapped up and they got back and we all rested in the shade. They have been fans of Coburg Pizza from their past trips up here, so they wanted to do that for their anniversary. Cherrelyn is working late hours so just the four of us went to dinner. Forgot pics inside, but I took this photo of the sign outside that shows us redneck farmers can practice social distancing too!

Once we got back home, we settled in to watch the sun set. Penny went home brought Cherrelyn back about 6:30 and we all had a great time sitting outside and visiting. Of course, we had to keep Rylee happy and, in her pool, to keep cool. Chuckles and Bella don’t much want to go in the water but Rylee will just lay in it. We sat out until it got dark and the girls went home. I watched tv until bedtime. Fun day!      

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #56 – Looking for Trailer Parts & The Kids Are Here!

 

Friday, July 17^th, 2020……  I was up and running early today. The weather here is hot but not unbearable. Actually, I enjoy this time of year. I had Rylee out and walked and then went off to the store. I had a few things to get from a few places. I stopped and got breakfast and then headed back home. After a while, I went out and worked on assembly of the bolts and parts on the trailer. I bought some wiring cover to clean up the exposed wires and then decided to go ahead and paint the u-bolts used to attach the winch assembly. I had wanted to find new ones but no one here has them in either of the two sizes I need. Cabela’s has one size but I think I will just paint these and use stainless steel bolts. I am about 90% done with the assembly.

I heard from Randy and Maryanne today. They are on the road in the motorhome, heading up here. They are coming up the coast and should arrive sometime on Sunday.

Cherrelyn wanted to take us out to dinner tonight so I chose Loafers in Albany. They came and picked me up and we got there and she and I went in and put our name in while sis parked the car. We got seated outside and waited for a bit before someone decided we needed service!  But the guy was quick to take care of us and got our drink orders to us and checked on us often and got our appetizer out quickly. The meal was delicious. I brought home mac and cheese for lunch tomorrow.

They dropped me off at home and I took Rylee out for a bit then came in and crashed for the evening. I forgot to take my omeprazole before we headed out to dinner (Lydia always carried some with her for us) so I paid the price later in the evening with some acid reflux. Lesson learned!    

Saturday, July 18^th, 2020……  I slept in a bit since I had such a tough night last night.  But all is good now. Today I spent some time on the blueberry cage netting, going back and adding some more staples and tightening up so the loose areas. I think I’m good now. I came back in and closed up the house so the air conditioning could take effect. One more trip to Ace Hardware and Coastal Farm looking for those u-bolts. Nope. So, I put another coat of paint on the old ones. Today we got close to 90º so I had butthead out in the pool and chasing the water hose. She needs the exercise and that helps her get cooled off!

This pic is from the porch so you may have to zoom in to see her!

After dinner, we went out again to the pool and then I went out to the shop and cleaned it up a little. That gave Rylee a chance to run around the yard and dry off a little before coming back in the house.  We spent the rest of the evening watching tv and relaxing until bedtime.     

Sunday, July 19^th, 2020……  I got up early again this morning and got breakfast on the way to Walmart. I needed eggs and also bought a new winch for the boat trailer. I decided not to take the old one apart since a new one is only $32.00. The kids texted that they were on the coast, in Florence, and were heading up to Newport and then over to Lebanon.  They showed up around 10:00am and we got the rv parked and hooked up. They are planning on staying out there tonight. Sis came by and we all sat outside and visited for a while. Cherrelyn is up in Portland with her son today, so we all decided to go out and do a linner. We chose Pizza Schmizza, which is always good. We got back and came in the house and rested and watched tv until bedtime. Both Chuckie and Bella are getting along with Rylee, which makes us all happy. I’ll take some pics for tomorrow.    

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #55 – Moving In and Finishing the Blueberry Cage

 

Sunday, July 12^th, 2020……  I wanted to pick up the grass today but wasn’t in any hurry. Sis left to go home but stopped to pick up Cherrelyn and Larry some breakfast.  Cherrelyn has texted that the movers cancelled on her. I guess they didn’t know she was in Lebanon. They were in Medford! Anyway, it was now up to her and Larry to unload the truck. I was going to go over in an hour and help but when I got there, they had everything unloaded and in the house. They did have some furniture that I would be taking back to store at my house and left those on the truck. We worked on getting things arranged and then they followed me back and dropped the stuff off and we stored it in the corner of the rv garage. They left the truck and Cherrelyn drove Larry back home. After she returned, her and Penny came back over and we took the truck back to U-Haul and then we went out to Game Time for dinner. They dropped me off and headed home so she could finish making her bed and getting clothes and things put away. She also had to make sure she had the internet up and running so she could work tomorrow. Meanwhile, I relaxed and caught up on all of my races from yesterday and today. Mecum Auctions are now up and running again (they are in Indy for a week) and I have all of them taping starting yesterday.  I decided to let the grass dry out one more day. Will plan that for tomorrow.     

Monday, July 13^th, 2020……  With Cherrelyn working from home, my sister gave her some quiet time this morning and went with me to the recycle place in Albany to help me run my bottles and cans through the machines. I picked her (and her two bags) up and we went and prepared to wait in line. They are only letting in so many people at a time into the building. But once we got there, there was no line, so we got everything run through (I made $52.30), and then stopped by Lowes on the way home so I could get a few last pieces of wood for the blueberry cage. By the time we got back, the lawn was dry enough to pick up. We made quick work of that and got everything loaded in the truck and took it to the yard waste place to dump.  Easy peasy!  I dropped her off at home and came back and rested for the afternoon. Later, I wanted to work on the trailer a bit. I got all of the parts together and lined up where they went.  I had taken a bunch of pics so I kinda knew where all of the pieces would re-attach.  Once I figured out what I needed, I went to Wilco in search of some replacement stainless steel nuts and bolts. I will wait until tomorrow to get those started. Tonight, I fixed tamales for dinner and then settled in and watched tv until bedtime

Tuesday, July 14^th, 2020…… I didn’t get all of the stainless yesterday so the plan today was to go to Coastal Farm and Ranch and see what they had. I found almost all of what I needed – at least for the time being – and also got netting for the blueberry cage and brought all of that back home. I pulled the trailer into the shop and went to work on the trailer ball assembly. And then I put the rolling jack assembly together and got that on. I started replacing all of the bolts that we had previously painted with the new stainless ones. I managed to cross-thread one of them so now I need to grind it off and start again! What a waste of a fastener! I went off to Ace Hardware and found some more of the stainless that I needed. On the way I stopped off at the local lawnmower supply company in town and looked at the zero-turn mower that I want. I missed the $100.00 off sale and asked if they would honor it now. The owners were not in and the guys there couldn’t make that happen so I will go back next week and check again.  I got back home and started in doing some cleaning in the house. I vacuumed and dusted and straightened up everything because Aimee was coming by for a visit today. She stayed for a couple of hours and we had a nice talk. She was working for our friends, Paul and Alice, to maybe find them a home in the area, but they chose something in Dallas (just east of Salem). She tells me they bought an owner-owned house under construction and it won’t be done until November. Dallas is not that far away so it will be nice when they get in and settled and we can go back and forth for visits. It was nice to see Aimee again. I went back to work on the trailer but had to take a break and stop to let Rylee play in the pool and chase the water hose for a while. It was a nice break because it’s been hot up here this week. 85º today and then a few cooler days with sprinkles. But in the 90’s next week!      

Wednesday, July 15^th, 2020…… I got up and walked Rylee and fed her, then made scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Then I headed out to Walmart to stock up on groceries and sodas. I always tell the landscape guys to help themselves to the drinks in the fridge in the garage and that supply needed to be restocked. After I got everything home and put away, I went out to work on the blueberry cage. 

I got the last of the braces up and then laid the net out to see how I was going to install it. I will wait until sis comes over because it’s a two-person job.

Nothing much on the calendar today. I did make a call to the credit union and they are going to email me a form for my account changes. I stopped by the DMV to turn in Lydia’s handicap placard and her license. They stopped me outside because everything now is by appointment only. But they took the placard and said they were already notified by the state and the license info is in the system and I could just shred that now.    

Thursday, July 16^th, 2020…… I was up early and showered and walked and fed Rylee. Sis came by and brought Quincy to run and after that we got the net up and stapled all around the posts so the blueberries are now caged up and are now safe from the deer (and hopefully from the birds too). 

We have already made the first pick off the bushes and got about 50% of them. Some still need a few more days. Penny had taken a bunch of blueberries home and made a “crockpot cobbler”, which came from Lydia’s recipes. She brought some of it over yesterday and it’s on my menu for tonight!  After getting the cage done, we cleaned up and headed off to Kevin’s for breakfast. After that, we came home and she got Quincy and left. I rested for a bit and played with the butthead.  Still working on the trailer. I find that every time I want to put a part on, I need to get another fastener. So, I took off yet again and went to Wilco and got a few more items. I tried to print out he credit union forms on the printer, but I needed ink cartridges so I will need to go to Walmart tomorrow for those.

Dinners are not memorable so I struggle to remember what I had last night!  Tonight, I wasn’t hungry so I had swiss cheese and pepperoni on crackers. I know but I got to eat the cobbler for dessert! I must say it was tasty but I think I prefer the old-fashioned baked cobblers over the crockpot type. I finished up watching my Mecum Auctions until bedtime.      

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #54 – Neighbor’s Yard Sale, Painting, Mowing, & Birthday and Anniversary Wishes!

 

Wednesday, July 8^th, 2020……  Nice night of sleep last night. Some days are better than others so I’m glad when I can sleep through (or mostly through) the night. I got up early and got monster puppy out and walked and then fed. The girls got here around 8:00am and we got Jody’s luggage transferred into my car and we headed out to Eugene.  We left early enough so I could take them out to breakfast. I wanted to buy dinner after the yard sale. They had sold all of my stuff and made me some money but they were too pooped out and ate in, and then last night they had stopped and ate so I missed that one too.   We went to Elmer's and had a nice meal and then headed from there to drop her off at the airport.  It is always fun for her and Penny to get together and I love seeing her as well. On the way home, I wanted to stop at Cabela’s and check to see if they had the same boat seat in the store that they still have on backorder for me.  Nope. I will just have to wait until they ship me that seat. Bummer!

We got back home and I went out and worked some more on my blueberry cage. I ran short of wood and will need to get a few pieces more.  I came in and made some quesadillas for dinner and then settled in to watch tv until bedtime.

Thursday, July 9^th, 2020……  This morning I was up early and showered and took Rylee out for her walk and then fed her breakfast. She wasn’t too interested this morning and just nibbled. Penny came by and dropped off Quincy because Linda was cleaning her house today. She picked me up and we drove out and around to the corner to So. Main St. to get to our neighbor’s yard sale.  These folks share my southwest field property line.  Below are realtor drone photos back when the house was listed to highlight our property.  In this first one taken from So. Main St., their house would be in the lower right....

 In this one, taken from the cul de sac, their house is upper center.....

As I said, these are old photos, so the rv garage hasn't been built yet.  

It turns out they are moving to Waco, Texas. I didn’t ask why they were selling and moving, but I was glad I did get to meet them and talk with them a little. I wish I would have made friends sooner. Tracy and Terry built their home while Walt was building his. They know more about my property and told me things I didn’t know about the neighborhood. I asked if they knew who bought their place. They said that they only knew that two ladies from Corvallis bought their house, but nothing else about them. After missing out on meeting Tracy and Terry, I learned a lesson and will for sure make a point to go meet these new folks when they move in.

After the sale, we went to Kevin’s for breakfast. After that, she dropped me off at home and then I came in and really didn’t do too much the rest of the day. I don’t know – I guess it was just one of those days to rest and not do anything. Ok, later I did something. I drove over to Albany to go to Lowes and picked up the rest of the wood for the blueberry cage. Didn’t work on it – just bought the material. I fixed dinner and then took Rylee out for a while to play in the water and in her pool. Before we came in, I did remember to turn off the auto sprinklers for tomorrow as I hope to mow.  Then it was tv until bedtime.

Friday, July 10^th, 2020……  I planned today to paint the trailer and then mow the lawn, so I got up early, showered and then went off with my three 5-gal. gas cans to fill up with non-ethanol to stock up for the tractor. I also got coffee and breakfast while I was out. Once done with that, I started in on prep work for the trailer. I put out a large tarp under the trailer and got the paint out and poured into a pan for the roller. Sis was coming later to help. So, I spent that time working on the cage. I used up all of the wood I had bought and still need a few more before I wrap it with netting. 

Sis came by and we got started on the boat trailer. I painted the underside and she worked on the top. We switched off between the roller and the paintbrush - when we needed to – to get into the crevices where we were each working. Once we got that done, we stopped and rested and cooled off on the back porch. From there, we came up with a new plan - since Cherrelyn is coming up tomorrow and will be staying with sis until she finds a place to rent, she wanted to get her guest room ready. So, I followed her home and we moved out the dresser and the bed from that room and put it in her office for now. Now, Cherrelyn can put her own dresser and bed in there, along with a desk and chair (that Cherrelyn ordered and had delivered in boxes, waiting for assembly).  I decided to just go ahead and assemble that stuff for her.  She will be working from home and will start next week so we wanted to surprise her and have it set up and ready for her to add her laptop and monitor and be ready for Monday. I got home from there and rested and then made dinner

Saturday, July 11^th, 2020…… Happy 50^th Birthday Jeff!!!  Wow, 50 years!  It seems like yesterday when I was changing his diapers and feeding him and burping him and, being the first kid, afraid I’d drop him!  But he turned out alright!  I am so proud of him and so glad to have both my boys and see them both happily married and loving life!  Sis came by this morning to help with my projects and we decided to go on over to Sweet Home to Skyline for breakfast before we started in. On the way, I called Jeff so we could wish him a happy birthday and also a happy anniversary to him and Krista!  I also let him know I had added $$ into his (credit union) savings account – just like his mother used to do!  I think he was shocked that I knew how to do that!  He said they were leaving shortly and heading off for a weekend getaway.  Enjoy!  Since we decided to do the mowing today, I was able to reach Kirk yesterday evening and ask him if he could bring the other tractor over so we could cut the time in half.  He said he would bring it by this morning, so, once we got back from breakfast, while we were waiting for him (and the grass to dry out a bit – it is supposed to get to 75º), first up was picking blueberries. We got two colanders full and brought those in to the house, then went on to the next project - the second coat on the trailer. We finished that up and admired our work.  Yes, it’s rolled/brushed on instead of being professionally sprayed, but I think it still turned out really nice! 

I still need to paint the fenders and the winch and then get everything re-assembled with new stainless bolts and such, but that won’t take long.

Kirk came by and we got the second tractor unloaded and sis and I started out on the lawn and the field and made quick work of those before it got too hot. While we were doing that, John my new guy from Pointe Pest Control, came by to do the quarterly maintenance. I stopped mowing so I could meet him since he’s new to our house, replacing Eric.  After I showed him around and he got going, I went back into the sun to get back on the tractor. During the summer if there are no clouds out, it can get your neck and arms so, today, we needed sunscreen.  Once we got everything blown off and cleaned up and put away, we came in and rested and had a cold beverage. I decided to fix tilapia and corn and Texas toast for dinner and got those out and defrosted and ready for later. It turned out to be a quick and easy meal. I have Quincy tonight so I used some of the leftover fish for her mix-in and got them both fed. Penny had heard that Cherrelyn would be getting in later this evening and left here and went home to make both the beds. Cherrelyn’s son Larry, had driven down to SoCal and he drove the U-Haul and Cherrelyn drove her car up here. Larry lives up by Portland so he would stay the night and tomorrow they would meet up with the movers to unload the truck and then they would drop it off and she would take him back home. Since her bedroom didn’t have a bed in it yet, sis came over to my guest room and Cherrelyn and Larry stayed there tonight.  

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #53 – Celebrating the 4th & Working on the Blueberry Cage

 

Saturday, July 4^th, 2020……  Happy 4^th of July!  Last night I had Quincy here again because Penny’s neighbor told us he was going to shoot off some of his fireworks last night. It was ok at my house until about 10:00pm (that’s when it gets dark up here), but a half hour later we heard some pretty loud bangs. Both Q and R were on the bed, panting, and nervous. It took us all a long time to settle down but we managed a good night’s sleep anyway. I expect tonight will be more of the same…

I slept in a bit and got up and got going with the dogs and then breakfast for me. I don’t have any chores planned for today.  The girls will be coming over with ribs for me to bbq. I wrapped up some potatoes to go with them.  I spent most of the day watching the two races today - Indy Cars and Nascar – both from Indianapolis Speedway. The cup cars race there tomorrow too.

We got the ribs on and cooking and relaxed and drank some beer and wine while that was going on. Dinner was really good. After searing, they needed to cook on indirect heat for 1-

1 ½ hours. I didn’t really think about this and set the timer for 1 ½ hours. Next time I will cut back on the cooking time on the ribs to just 1 hour. They were still delicious.

After a nice meal and some time to rest after doing all of the dishes, the girls left for home. They were expecting a rip-roaring street scene at home. And they got it!!!  They said it was nuts! There were folks out everywhere and some even shot off the large super loud show-type aerial fireworks. I can’t imagine how much money they spent. But Quincy was over here and drugged up so she barely heard the Cheadle Lake fireworks show. But Rylee and I did. It started about 10:00pm and lasted 31 minutes but once that was over, the locals started in and we had to wait until around 11:00pm before things quieted down. I ended up with both dogs on the bed until Rylee got too hot and moved off to her bed by the door. Through all of that, I still slept well.

Sunday, July 5^th, 2020……   I slept in and then got up and showered and dressed then took the dogs out for their walk in the yard/field. Last night, the younger girls next door had been out with their dad and some friends in the cul-de-sac shooting off small fireworks. They didn’t start any fires and left no remnants. Yaay!  I spent the day relaxing and watching tv. Penny and Jody stopped by and picked up Quincy.  They said her neighborhood is still littered with firework trash, left out on the streets. It’s a nice neighborhood so that is surprising to me! 

Today, the girls decided to have a seafood dinner at their house, so they took the 4 lobsters I had back home with them. They will be cooking them and would add them to the scallops they already have. Later, Jody worked on the twice-cooked potatoes and sis made veggies. It was a really good meal! 

I had brought Rylee over and she and Quincy hung out in the yard and we joined them outside after dinner. After a while, I brought butthead back home and we settled in for the night and I watched my taped Nascar race. While watching tv, I also spent some time working some more on my scanning project. Probably just less than two thirds done now!       

Monday, July 6^th, 2020……  Not much on the agenda today. I left a message with Lydia’s contact/friend at our credit union in Calif.  I need to work on changing out that account in regards to beneficiary/account owner changes.  But while I was waiting for her call back, I went out to the shop and finally did that last coat on the last three trailer parts.  While those parts were drying, I worked on the other parts and removed all of the painter’s tape on all of the rollers and then started to clean up the nuts and bolts for reassembly.  But instead, I think I am going to take those to Lowes or Wilco, and swap them all out for stainless steel hardware, which will look better and will not rust.  Before I was done and ready to come in and rest for a bit, I gathered up all of the parts and put them on the table for assembly later.  It was then that I found out that I have not yet addressed the boat winch. It was in the corner and I had missed it. It is pretty rusty and will need some tlc before I can paint it. Because of the gears, I think I will just spray paint it the same navy blue as the fenders and then lube the moving parts.

I heated up the ribs and the green beans for dinner. Quick and easy and very tasty! Then it was a little more photo scanning and logging before relaxing and watching tv until bedtime.   

Tuesday, July 7^th, 2020…… The plan this morning was in my head. I walked and fed butthead, had breakfast and then headed out. I have a Lowes gift card (birthday gift from the Cali kids) and I needed some lumber to repair my blueberry cage, so this was a good day to go do that. I got what I hope is enough for everything plus a couple of 2x4s for another project and tied it all down in the truck and headed home. It was a nice day so I immediately went to work out there. I got about ½ done and then Rylee and I came in to take a break. Kirk and his guys showed up and I gave them their assignments for the day. Today Carter was back on the flowerbeds around the house and Caleb was finishing the other side of the driveway from last week. I rested and took a couple of calls and then went back out and finished up the back side of the cage. I still need to do the ends and then stiffen up the whole thing with braces in several areas throughout the center before I can get a net over it all. I have to hurry, though because the blueberries are starting to ripen and the birds and the deer will pick them clean!

We are taking Jody to the Eugene airport in my car in the morning so I took it down to the carwash and then stopped for dinner on the way home. Where to go….?  I saw that Stick a Pork In It was working their food truck/cart so I stopped there and got the Cuban stuffed mashed potato balls. I liked them so I got three. But this time I think they cooked them a bit too much and they were not as flavorful as they could have been.  But I still liked them. After that, I took Rylee out to play in the grass. She was really interested in the activity at the neighbors to the southwest of us. That is, out in the ‘west 40’ just south of the property line. Their address is actually on So. Main.  Anyway, I had noticed on Zillow that that house was for sale (already with an accepted offer with contingencies) and was curious. I saw it is way bigger (4,200 sq. ft.) than mine (2,500 sq. ft.) - this is actually a three-story counting a walkout basement – but the price was less than what Zillow shows mine is worth right now. That makes me happy!  Rylee can hear some kids playing in that yard but I’m not sure if they are there with a work crew just visiting or what. Later, the mystery was solved when my sister sent me an email notice about an estate sale starting on Thursday, which is at that address!  So, I’m guessing that the kids must be there while the adults from the estate company are setting things up.  After tiring monkey butt out, we closed up the garages and came back in the house and settled in and relaxed and I watched tv until we called it a night.