Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #21 – Visiting with Friends and Family & Enjoying the Nice Weather!

 

Tuesday, March 23^rd., 2021……  I was up and out early this morning. Today, the weather was supposed to be nice. Tomorrow is forecast for rain, then more sunny days for the rest of the week. I walked and fed Rylee and then went to get breakfast and coffee. I got a call a bit later that the service work on my tractor was done and it was ready for pickup. Oh boy, I now get to use my new trailer!  I hooked it up and checked that all of the lights worked and headed out. It tows really nice but the little dolly wheel on the tongue needs to be removed because it is too close and will scrape the ground. It fits super tight so I will need to tweak it so I can remove it when I tow. I used my tie downs and secured the load and got back home. I stopped for a photo

and then unstrapped the tractor and put out the ramps. I found I had a little problem unloading with the ramps. Several things involved here – the ramps are only 4 feet long so the angle over the edge is a little steep and the cutting deck on the tractor gets stuck coming down. Also, the edge of each of the ramps needs to be milled down which will make the transition easier. But I’m thinking I may just leave them alone and will just buy some longer ones to use for the tractor and the zero turn. I backed the trailer up to the rv cement pad which made the angle less and got it unloaded with no more problems. I came in and rested for the day.  I had a late lunch so I skipped dinner tonight. Tv until bedtime.          

Wednesday, March 24^th., 2021……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANIE!!   I slept in a bit this morning and missed the dry weather when I took butthead out for our walk.  She doesn’t care but I had to cover up for the sprinkles.  But no worries! I just change coats and shoes when we’re done and I’m good to go!  I didn’t have much planned today. I wanted to go get some stuff for the new trailer and drove to Corvallis to go find the new Harbor Freight that just opened there. Their website showed it was open and had a map but still hadn’t published the address. So, I had to go find it. No worries though – I am pretty good at getting around Albany and Corvallis now and found it with no problem. It was an older storefront property that they have moved into and wasn’t all that big. Plus, everything was laid out differently. And Corvallis further from me than Albany.  But I may go there occasionally if the Albany location is ever out of an item.  I checked out their trailer ramps and also got what I needed and headed back home. I totally forgot to stop by Lowes so I’ll have to plan that for another day. I got back and let Rylee out while I worked in the shop. Of course, she has to go visit her little mud puddle! 

That’s ok, she needs to be able to run and roam and be a dog!  I don’t mind hosing her down and drying her off after she plays and plops!  I came in to the house and worked on my monthly bill spreadsheet for a few minutes, then watched tv. Barrett-Jackson Auctions are starting today in Scottsdale and going on through this weekend. I have all of the tv hours scheduled to record. So, I’m hoping to stay caught up.  I did take time off to watch Tough as Nails and The Masked Singer. I had seen somewhere that Danny Trejo was one that someone had guessed as The Raccoon and it fit when I heard him this week singing (actually bellowing!). So, I wasn’t surprised when he was unmasked. I also had a chance to listen to the others plus the new Wildcard – The Orca – and will make guesses next week. I’m finding I just don’t have the knowledge of the newer artists and will not do well on guessing them at all.  But it’s still fun to play along.  

Thursday, March 25^th., 2021……  The weather is supposed to be good for the next several days. Still too soggy to mow though.  I will need at least 7-10 days of no rain before my grass will be able to take the mower wheels on it without gouging up everything!  But, I’m glad for the nice sunny weather!  Even though the skies are clear, the mornings are still pretty chilly, so I put on my sweatpants and bundled up before taking butthead out for our walk this morning. 

Hard to believe it’s 10 months today since Lydia’s passing. For the most part, I’m doing really well.  Sometimes I do have some really sad days though.  Actually, I’m mostly ok during the days – it’s the nights when it’s quiet that I tend to get really lonely. But I think I’m doing ok for the most part.  I have been keeping an eye on the progress of the local square dance clubs getting back to operations.  They all want to start back up and want to begin holding dances again and some clubs are doing just that. But I see that they are not very well attended. Most folks are hesitant.  I get it because in square dancing we have a triple whammy – physical contact with multiple people during any given night, the age group of the dancers puts them at a higher risk, and the clubs have to be very very careful about following the rules to avoid complications and potential lawsuits. Personally, I will wait to see how this progresses. But I’m anxious to get out and see and interact socially with people again! But hey, aren’t we all!  Meanwhile, we do what we need to do.  I called and talked to Janie today. They are in Arizona, visiting Rick’s son and daughter-in-law and the grandbabies.  Both Rick and Janie have had both of their vaccines and are ready to get out and travel. They said they (and others) are looking to make plans to caravan up here to visit me soon. That will be fun! I have room for their rvs to park and can get them all hooked up to water and power while they are here. It will be like a Camping Squares campout!           

Tonight, Sis and Cherrelyn are coming back for another round of ‘movie night’. They stopped and picked up pizza and we watched ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’, which we all enjoyed (even though it’s kind of a sad movie). Next time I’ll pick a comedy or adventure. After that, they left for home and I settled in and watched more car auction tapes before calling it a night.        

Friday, March 26^th., 2021…… As predicted, the weather is getting better and the forecast shows no rain and temps are expected to be in the mid-60s for the next few days. I was going to go outside to the shop to clean up and also work on the boat and the new trailer today. But I got a text from my realtor, Aimee, saying she’s in town working on her rental, and wanted to know if Penny and I were free for lunch. Heck yeah! I came in and cleaned up and hung around the house until time to go meet her. I chose The Bigfoot Grille and we all met there. We had a nice meal and a great time visiting and catching up. After that, I came back home and watched more auctions and then went out and took the trailer jack off of the new trailer and brought it into the shop. I needed to free up that wheel that I had added to it earlier. I ground down both parts so they would fit easily and so now I can remove the wheel without too much effort when I tow. I needed to repaint the trailer part and got that done and set out to dry. I came in and thought about next steps and parts I still need and will work on it some more next week.

I was still full from lunch so I only snacked at dinnertime. More tv until bedtime.