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.  

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #52 – Yard Sales and Projects Around the House

 

Wednesday, July 1^st, 2020……  Today I had some more paperwork to take care of. Plus, I had to call my bank and set up an appointment to go there and take care of the transition of my account. But first I headed out and loaded up my truck with 6 tables and took them over to my sister’s house for her yard sale. It’s tomorrow so they want to load up the tables in the garage so they are ready to be carried outside tomorrow morning. I left there and we met up at The Apple Tree for breakfast. We had to wear our masks until we got seated. Not too bad.

I came home after that and called Prudential because I had two investment accounts there that needed to have the beneficiaries changed. I also needed to do the same for our long-time Prudential insurance policies – one gets paid out to me and the other gets a beneficiary change. They were able to email me the requisite paperwork which I printed, completed, signed, copied and then mailed out today.  I keep thinking of more places where transition paperwork needs to be completed and I need to get those done asap.  Most are straightforward and none are hard but just time consuming!!! 

Penny and Jody came over later in the day and dropped off Quincy for a sleepover and a play day tomorrow. I volunteered to bring McDonalds breakfast over in the morning for the ‘sales’ team at the yard sale so I got their orders before they went home. 

Thursday, July 2^nd, 2020……  I got up this morning only to find Quincy cuddled up to my backside. Rylee was asleep on her bed on the floor next to me. I got showered and dressed and then got them out for their walk/run and then fed them breakfast. Then I left to go hit McDonalds to get breakfast for everyone. I got there and dropped off the food and then parked the truck down the street. I hung around and watched folks come and go this morning.

(l to r - Maraglee, Jody, and Penny) They all did a great job getting the stuff put out  

Being a Thursday, they got the retired ladies and gentlemen and those home with their kids today. It was going well and a lot of stuff went early. I left and came home to work on my trailer painting project. But first I moved the cars out of the (house) garage and used my leaf blower to clean out all of the debris and leaves. I already have most of the photo bins back up on the cabinets but I do want to rearrange everything in there in the near future and cleaning the areas will help with that. I finished all of the first-coat painting on all of the smaller trailer parts. I will get a second coat on them later today or tomorrow and then will only have the trailer to do. Next up was insurance quotes. I gathered my vehicle info and called AARP (Hartford) to get a quote from them. But before that, I called Travelers/AAA back and spoke with someone new. I told them about my bad experience and that I was waiting to hear back from Lori for a week. Tammy got to work and called me back 45 minutes later and said she had the underwriter revisit my policy and they reduced it back to last year’s rate, with no increase.  I am ok with that because this year it went up even with Lydia on the policy plus they said that my credit score had all to do with the rating and since I am in the process of paying off our credit card which, along with helping me with monthly payments and saving that interest, will also change my credit score, thus lowering the auto policy rate even more. Car insurance - go figure! 

I needed to cut short that call and head over to Corvallis to make my bank appointment to provide them a death certificate (copy) in order to change that account. I also asked about either adding the boys as beneficiaries with access after providing a proof of death (POD) document vs adding one or both of them to my account.  Either works but logistics play a factor so I will have to figure that one out. I also heard back from Ed and Glover in Wisconsin  that they received the box of photos today, safe and sound. I always worry.  Ed gave me his outline on what he plans to do when he sorts through them. I knew he was the right person to send them too!  They have many hours ahead of them!

I got back home and fed the dogs their dinner and then let them out to play a bit, then fixed myself some pork tamales that I had taken out from the freezer. These are the ones we got from our church around Christmas time and then froze. Quick and easy and yummy! And I’m making progress on the frozen food!

After dinner, I had some time and went back out and did some touch-up painting on the trailer parts and got a second coat on almost everything in the shop. I have the back side on two or three items still to do and that will be done.  All that’s left after that is the trailer itself. Maybe tomorrow.

I heard from Stan (Lydia’s brother in Bakersfield). He said Joy is now getting a hospice nurse on call 24/7 but who comes in every other day to just sit and visit with Joy. He was worried when he heard the word hospice but was ok when they explained to him that she wasn’t at any risk.  They are there right now more for comfort than anything else simply because he can't get in to visit her right now.. She seems to be calming down a little as she gets used to her new place. Stan is also able to relax and says he’s starting to get used to life at home by himself now. Still not easy. He also said there is no word yet on the cause of death of his daughter in Prescott. Autopsy is still pending and they say it could take several weeks. His granddaughter told him that the service for her mom was very nice.  

Friday, July 3^rd, 2020……  I got up around 6:00am and got showered and took the dogs out and got them pooped and pooped out and then fed. Once that was done, I headed back over to the yard sale for a few minutes to drop off another box of stuff I found in the garage. Then I left and met Teri at The Apple Tree for breakfast. It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy a nice meal and good conversation with a welcome friend.  After we ate, she followed me back to the yard sale and visited for a bit there before she left and went on to work.  They have really done well with the sale. There were a total of 5 families that brought stuff over and all of us sold quite a bit of what we brought. The girls have put a lot of effort into pricing and arranging and staging things and the crowds were pretty constant the times I was there. I really do appreciate all the effort they made in keeping all of the monies straight.  I came home and worked on some things in the house garage. I pulled out both cars and put up the new lights that came today. These just screw in to the fixture like a regular light bulb, but they put out a LOT of led light! 

It doesn't really show the difference in these photos but this is a big improvement from just the two bulbs.  I found them online for a little over twenty bucks for two including free shipping! I also decided to move my card table chairs up on the wall with bicycle hangers and got that little project completed. The more stuff off of the floor, the easier to keep clean! I am still going to do a couple more things out there in the near future to help remove some of the clutter.

I got the requested check from my investment plan today and immediately took it to the bank to pay off the credit card. It has been way too long to have this card balance hanging over our heads so it was a great relief to finally pay it off. No more monthly payments and no more interest! 

I stopped by the yard sale and picked up my tables and came home to rest. Later, I went out to Jack in the Box and used a coupon and got dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow. I also tried their new tiny tacos – 15 for $3.00 - pretty tasty and something I will get again. Once I finished dinner and fed the dogs, and let them out to run a bit, I settled in for the night and watched tv until bedtime.    

 

 

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #51 – Yardwork, Painting and More Documents to Change

 

Saturday, June 27^th, 2020……  Nothing planned today. I do need to sit down with both the Boeing Pension and the investment forms and get them filled out and signed and sent off. Still waiting on the social security form to arrive. The weather is weird today. Yesterday it was cloudy and then burned off to a nice hot sunny day. Today it is still cloudy and the forecast is for more of the same. Oh well. I was hoping to go out and mow today while the grass isn’t super long yet. We’ll see…

Okay, the grass is dry now but I have decided to hold off on mowing today. I guess I’m just being lazy. I got another package from Boeing today to fill out and return. It never ends!

Dinner tonight was bbq chicken wings. Easy and fast. I still want to use up the meat in the freezer. I guess I need to go shopping for some lettuce and also some Aunt Penny’s cheese sauce so I can make steak and baked potatoes and salad one night. Nascar is upping their schedule to get caught up. There are two races today and two tomorrow. Ok, one got rained out so there will be three tomorrow!  I watched the one today and then some other taped shows until bedtime.

Sunday, June 28^th, 2020……  I thought I had all of my documents signed and ready to mail on Monday. But there are two that came yesterday that need a notary signature so I will call my attorney’s office Monday morning and ask Angela if I can stop by for her notary.

Three races today so the tv was on all day. I went and got breakfast and coffee. The girls at Starbucks surprised me with this gift.

One of the girls had mentioned Lydia’s passing to her manager and they had it ready for me the next time I stopped in.  Of course, I lost it right in the store! They are so sweet!

I came back and turned on the early race. I got some weeds pulled and the hanging flowers watered and made some lunch during a few breaks I took from the tv. I also worked on scanning more ‘Lydia’ photos into the computer. I think I’m about 1/3 done!    

Monday, June 29^th, 2020……  I got up early this morning and walked monster puppy and then headed out. I stopped at Starbucks to thank Misty and her team for the nice gift they gave me yesterday. I showed them the picture of it hanging up on my porch and we had a nice visit. I left there and headed out again. Today I was meeting the girls for breakfast at Elmer’s in Albany. But first I had an appointment with Angela, at David Beckham’s office to notarize a couple of documents I needed for the Boeing Pension office. She made quick work of those for me and I made breakfast with no worries. On the way home, I stopped by my sister’s house and bought the doggie bed she got from Janice for the yard sale. It was what I would have bought at Costco next time I was there and this one was brand new and only cost me $10.00. I will keep this one in the Acadia for Rylee for some stability when she rides with me.

I got home and worked on my pension packet now that everything was signed. I made a copy and set it aside for now. I also boxed up all of Lydia’s mom’s and Grandma Mac’s photos and got those and the Boeing stuff to the post office to mail to her brother in Wisconsin.  Ed will be tasked with sorting through those photos and then forwarding to Stan. I couldn’t think of a better way to handle that project.  I also found my social security paperwork in the mail today so I quickly got that task completed so I could take that to the PO as well. A couple more tasks done... The process is slowly moving forward.

I had a pretty good window of good weather today so I went out and mowed the yard. I did about 10% of the field today too. Sis will be coming over tomorrow to finish that up and then we will pick up the clippings and go to the mulch place and that will be done – at least for another week or so since the grass is growing like crazy right now!

I heard from Rick and Janie that they have made the decision that they will not be coming up here to visit me any time soon. They are not traveling due to covid. Our state is actually stable, with only 3 counties in the state (up in the Portland area) having any increase in outbreaks. No plans right now for another shutdown. Businesses can remain open at this time but our mayor has decided, just today, to increase the order for everyone to wear face masks indoors in public places – she went from only select counties to a statewide order.

I also heard today from my friend and ex co-worker, Nancy, who lives in Missouri, who was checking in on me. I sure like to hear from friends from time to time, and am glad for the conversation.

After I finished up my tasks, I rested for a while then made dinner. Tonight, it was cheese quesadillas. I keep forgetting to get meat out of the freezer. I now have a big note on the counter to remind me for tomorrow!          

Tuesday, June 30^th, 2020……  This morning I decided to get out early and work on my trailer. I got the marine paint opened and started in on the little parts I have on the worktables in the shop and outside on the bench. I got a first coat on everything, then cleaned up. This is oil-based paint so I am using disposable brushes, which makes it fairly easy. Then I started in on grass pickup. Sis came by to help.  I had a couple of loads dumped and she got them in the truck by herself. We didn’t have much lawn collection so I decided to go out and collect the grass in the field. That got us a pretty full load for the truck.  Once we wrapped that up, she, went home and I waited for Kirk and his guys to come do their weeding here and I told them to finish loading the truck with their flowerbed weeds. That really gave us a full load.  I went and picked up sis and we headed out to drop it off. This time the lady at the desk saw it as a ‘small’ load and only charged me ½ price ($4.25). Cool!

I dropped my sister back at home and came home and fixed spaghetti for dinner.  After that, I went out and got another coat of paint on the parts for the trailer. I still have to flip a couple of them and paint the underside plus there are a few larger parts outside that I need to bring in and paint. But it’s going well and I think I’m going to like the job when it’s finished.