SECOND STAR ON THE RIGHT AND THEN STRAIGHT ON TO MORNING.

Spring is here in Las Vegas

2012-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Today it is really warm, in the low 70s. The white and pink flowering trees are in bloom and some other tree is dropping its seed coats all over the roads. I love spring. Even so, I'm busy indoors working on my loom. I finished my first project, it is off the loom, it has been washed (called fulling because it fills in the spaces between threads and it is waiting for me to haul out the sewing machine so I can hem the weft edges and seperate the projects. I ended up with three sampler style table napkins. I'm a little thrilled.

I think you can tell where they start and stop, where I lost track of my stripe pattern when preparing the warp (I wanted blue/white/blue and 2/3rds has white/blue/white). I played with all sorts of weaving patterns on these and generally had fun.

My next project is going to be a table runner. I have to stick with a pattern and not play around and that's going to be hard to do! My mind tends to wander and before you know it I'm doing something completely different.

I dont' have a warping board yet. I spent my mad money on boat shuttles so I have to improvise. The rick/rack shelves didn't work too good so I graduated to the dining table chairs. It works. I measure the length I need, space the chairs and wrap the warp. I get my cross and count off sets of 10. I was so excited to be able to show off my make-shift warping set up that I forgot to tie off the cross. Thankfully, I doing 5 (or 6) sets of colors so I only have this one to fiddle with when it is time to find the cross.

Well I think I had better get outside for a while and see what I can do so I don't feel like I'm wasting this fabulous weather.

Love, Mummy

Winter Entertainment 101

2012-01-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

WELCOME THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON! It's my kind of year.

What I do to entertain myself amazes even me. It's no big deal, people all over the world weave. But it is so exciting to learn, apply, admire and fondle. I could only wish to be able to sit on the ground and weave a tapestry warped on sticks and tied up by hand. It's never going to happen but Ashford makes it possible to for me to produce fabric. Yes, FABRIC.

The whole loom in a heavy but relatively tiny, small box.

Following directions . . . not too challanging.

Decisions decisions. Project (towels), colors and pattern (basic twill). Seriously, the choices are endless and for someone like me, it is daunting.

The holiday's are past, the visiting is basically over and Tim is back to work driving shuttle at UNLV for students. And I have my loom. It has taken several weeks to get this show on the road. I had to wait for my order of yarn, decide what to do for a first project and which colors to use and which patterns to explore. Shamefully, I do not know the terms yet, well, most of them. It is a language of to its own and so are the patterns. I'm waiting for a new magazine to arrive and I haven't bought any books yet but I'm perusing them too.

First order of business. Assemble the loom. Great learning experience. Although I already had one very similar to this one, I didn't have to assemble it because I picked it up from the shop. This time, since there are no decent fiber stores in Las Vegas, I had to assemble it and now some of the mystery is gone. I know how to insert new heddles and tie up the shafts. I also know how easy it is to ruin the heddles if you don't keep them tied together. Second I chose a color combo. I like the bright Mexican or "South American" colors so I got 8 of them and a white. The colors are basicall all the colors in the table cloth shown below. Final decision for project: kitchen towels, white, blue and yellow.

The whole 9 yards. Not too shabby for a first project. There are errors but they are few and the parts done right far outshine the errors. Granted, I had a loom in 2004 or thereabout and did several projects, all basics, but sold it to become a snowbird. Regret sat in this last Christmas season and I yearned for another. This one is one size narrower but has 8 shafts, not 4. I'm very satisifed with it. I need a stand however. This height is a hair too high for real comfort but it works for now.

Okay, let's weave (and kit and spin) and don't forget those resolutions! Drop pounds, drop pounds, drop pounds.

Love and prayers, Mummy

Soooo behind on blogging

2012-01-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Blogspot:

Retirement takes a major turn and life is just "normal" again. It confirmed . . . the second star on the right is in North Las Vegas. Our good intentions to travel during the winters, avoiding the cold and snow, have been replaced with a permanant address and one child living at home. We are pretty settled here in Vegas and life can be pretty busy at times yet Tim misses Wisconsin, fishing, the woods, etc. and is currently healing his back which wouldn't hold up too well in Wisconsin while fishing, hiking in the woods, etc. I like staying put. I don't have the wonderlust gene. Once I get somewhere, I enjoy it, but I don't dream about it. I dream about fiber and grandkids.

Tim's bad back has caused him to cancel a job he had last weekend. We was supposed to drive the Miss America contestants to Hoover Dam and back. Jobs like that make working fun. I actually felt bad for him not being able to drive for them. He won't be driving again until the semester starts up so hopefully his back heals fast.

Christmas 2011 was fun. Rachel came out the week before with her family and even though we celebrated early, it was so nice. The kids are growing faster than anything I could imagine and in another 4 to 5 years, the magic might be gone. However, being around them will never get old. Only Tim and I will get old.

Tim and I drove the RV to Laughlin for a night. The RV park at Don Laughlins is very pretty and set on levels terracing up and away from the river. We got in alot of walking, a fabulous dinner and some gambling fun before he pulled his back out. We made it through the night and he was able to drive home but it has been bedrest, hospital and doctor visits and a lot of medication.

Speaking of old . . . Tracy will turn 40 on January 15. Tina and Tracy, with two of their friends, are coming to celebrate here in Vegas. Jennifer is flying out and Rachel and the kids are driving in. Jackie has a good job right now and has to work while they are all here and that sucks but being in school, it is important to work. She has three semesters under her belt and has 5 As and 3Bs to show for it. This semester it's Physiology and Anatomy. I can't even spell that. Go Jackie!

Tim and Jackie decided they needed a parrot or maccaw last summer and got one. I hate it. Enough said.

I began missing the art of weaving. I tried to teach myself tablet weaving, a concept as old as fabric itself but I had never heard of it. The ancients, "those without fire", were smarter than I. So I bought a loom similar to the one I sold prior to snowbirding. It is put together (by moi) and after the big 4 0 party, I'll warp it and post a few pictures. I'm aiming for kitchen towels as my first project.

For now. Diane

Can we make some new rules?

2011-08-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have to ask this question again. How do elected officials get so rich? I mean filthy rich? I guess it is dirty work but somebody has to do it, I mean, living out of someone else's pocket can't be easy.

I know am not alone in showing my displeasure (i.e., I'm pissed) with our elected officials. So much so, I'm proposing new rules. My plan crosses party lines and goes into affect Second Monday of September. I figure in order to get results that are more reflective of the real people (like me) they must more like the real people (like me). Beginning on the Second Monday of September: No cell phones are allowed, ever. No suits. As a matter of fact, no one shall wear any clothing exceeding $250 at any given time, including shoes. HOWEVER, no sneakers, jean or sweatshirts are allowed. Handbags, totes and brief cases will be Walmart standard issue. Bag lunches or lunch in the cafeteria only! No CEOs, lobbyists, business persons or persons with personal agenda shall have access to the capital or any offices in Washington housing senators or congressmen. Businesspersons will have to run for office themselves if they wish to control the hill. Imagine that. At this point, people pretty much have removed all power cloths, power phone calls, power lunches and must make decisions based on their own vision of what the average real person (like me) needs in order to obtain a job, eat, provide housing with heat, cooling and water, own a car and have two chickens in every pot. One more thing. All material voted on much be read pesonally, not by staff AND if a bill is presented by someone that same someone better have written it themself. Am I asking too much! Am I?

Politics can be exciting though and I have to admit that the posturing for the republican candidate fills the gap left behind by Casey Anthony.

Summer in the Desert

2011-07-04T10:41:00.001-07:00

It's hot here right now with 110 being the average daily temp so there are alot of fun things I'm doing indoors. Spinning, knitting, dying some wool, reading some new fiber books (check out Amazon folks and don't be afraid to get used books for dirt cheap prices!) and the Casey Anthony case has been on the TV for a month. Shame on me but at least I'm honest about it. I'm showing off Jackie's tomatos. She started them from seed and I'm amazed with her results. However, they are small and very thick skinned. Not really edible. I sliced a few and sucked the insides out and oh yum but that is the extent of it. The good thing about the desert is we get a second chance. After the heat diminishes - late August maybe, new plants can be put out this time I'll get involved with choosing the type of tomato she plants.

Our desert landscape garden is really coming along. We are adding red rock and red lannon stone style pavers. In this heat, maybe 3 or 4 pavers are going in at a time. The ground needs to be scraped to achieve some sort of level and when they are all in, the stone goes down around the plants and between the rocks. Exciting work.

Meet Thor

2011-05-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it might appear impulsive, and althought it sort of is impulsive, it isn't exactly a spur of the moment purchase. Jackie and Tim had been talking "birds" for a while now. Sticker shock at pet stores didn't keep them from looking at more pet stores but it finally sent them to Craig's list where they found this guy. "Thor" is his name. He has a multiple personality. Very sweet, very threatening, very insane. There are a series of CDs we are going to get for handling him and I'm pretty sure we are all going to be best friends, making the "forever" in the phrase BFF more meaningful than ever.

As an aside, the diet went well until this weekend, I'll be getting back on track today.

Back to the news of the day. Thor is eight so we have the rest of our lives to enjoy him. He talks. When Tim asked why they were getting rid of him the guy said Thor had a potty mouth and the wife wanted him gone. Well Thor says more than just swear words and I only heard him swear once, at least only once that was loud and clear and unmistakeningly foul. He also has periods of sqwauking - awful to listen to but we are getting some materials to teach us how to break that habit.

The kids were also here this weekend and Jackie's friend, Shelia, from Wisconsin is here, making for a very lively two days. The pool got a workout and so did all of us. I came into the house at one point to see Thor watching the fun through the window. He has a "bird's eye view" of the pool. Pets are fun but the grandkids trump all of them. Mackenzie swam for a while without floaties and is doing a pretty good doggie paddle.

Life in the Fat Lane

2011-05-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows I've never been thin (at least post-child #1 and that was 1972). But at the time of this writing, I'm fat. Not my fattest, but fat nonetheless and I need to change. So call me Sparky - I've joined sparkpeople on line. It's a free diet support site with some pretty nifty apps. Turns out that this lady (ahem, me) with MS and type 2 diabetes apparently also has heart disease. I'm waiting for the final tests and results but the EKG and newly developed heart murmur speak pretty loudly. Ironically, after reading up on things, it seems heart disease is in place long before the a type 2 diabetes diagnosis and, people with both MS and type 2 diabetes aren't uncommon and, one step further, both MS and type 2 diabetes are associated with heart disease. Oh my. So I'm freaking out here. I'm remiss in checking my blood sugar. My goal is to keep myself between 95 and 105. Since 150 is pretty routine, I have my eating habits cut out for me. Life without cinnamon rolls with icing, life without fried foods, life without fast foods. And salt! No added salt! Frankly, I can skip the salt, it's the meat tenderizer (ala accent) that I (and all the delis) put in dips and brocolli salads, etc. That is one of those deadly yummies I can't imagine living without. But I have to. The pool is excellent for my MS, I can exercise in it, and now, it might just be my life saver.

Yesterday I had one of those fabulous donuts I love for breakfast and it hit me like a 2x4 that I was commiting suicide. My "ah ha" moment. A long slow death at my own hand. Ironically, I quit smoking in February 2010 and I'm sure that didn't do my heart any good but food? OMG. I will freak until the tests and done and the results are in and it isn't doing me any good in the meanwhile. I sleep alot. I am depressed in spite of taking anti-depressants. I seem paralyzed with fear. But life goes on and June 3rd will be hear before I know it. For now, I'll get used to testing my blood sugar regularly, eating only the most sensible foods and visiting sparkpeople.com twice a day.

Retirement, Don't Rely on the News Reports!

2011-05-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is a tiny little rant I have. The news and their lists on the best of retirement, the best places, the best low tax states, the best social life. C'mon! They are all blowing hot air! Security changes at a drop of the hat. It changes depending on who is paying for the survey. Then we should consider where the best health care and the lowest state deficit. All these things can change with a storm, an earthquake, an audit of the books. Seriously, retirement is like happiness; it starts inside. Actually, retirement IS happiness. Yes, you must take certain realities into consideration. An island in the Pacific, although pretty, unique and nice, isn't realistic if you are nowhere near friends, family and in line with the lifestyle you lived prior to retirement. And money? C'mon again! Is there anyone you know who isn't relying on "entitlements?" Nobody defines entitlements when they refer to them but I am thinking retirement plans from companies (including retirement plans from state, county and local governments) and especially, social security. It's the key to eating, drinking and a roof over our heads (or wheels beneath our feet). Granted, anyone under 30 should be taking in all the retirement financial advice out there but beware . . . my retirement "fund" lost 1/3rd of its value and that 1/3rd is now funding someone elses retirement. What? you say. Yes, that cash didn't vanish into thin air. It was stolen and it went somewhere. Basic accounting folks. If it leaves one column it has to appear on another. Now lets all count our losses, add them up and find out where it went. Follow the paper trail people. Based only on the losses counted by you, your closest friends and relatives, somebody is living very grand off their ill-gotten gains and that is just a small amount of you and your closest friends. The government has turned a blind eye to it. Actually, who is in charge of it? The SEC isn't, or doesn't care. The SEC isn't looking out for any body's investments. So pray for the youngest among us and their futures because they can't rely on any plans offered today. Maybe gold is the answer and some cold hard cash. But when it comes to storing said retirement funds, do not, I repeat, do not put it where it can be stolen, taken, controlled by any entity, devalued, etc. Good luck to those under 30. A big fat good luck!

The last installment on insanity.

2011-05-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is day three of my ongoing nonsense to get an old loom to perform a miracle. I found alot of sites on line with outrageous plans and very simple plans. It is interesting to see I'm not alone in my quest. I knew my heddle was all wrong. So I started over with suggestions I found online with some tweaking. This is what I came up with. Manila folder cut in lengths with a hole punched in center. I figured I would warp it with one strand through the hole, two strands through the slot and so on. This would work better but I had to start over so . . . get out the scissors.

My plan is working better. It isn't straight. It isn't taught. It isn't pretty yet, I'll continue on my nerve wracking path for a few more days and see what I come up with. Every now and then however, I'll sit and spin.

I think it is possible to drive myself crazy!

2011-05-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Tension! I need Tension! As you can see on the right, all looks well. I have the "back beam" on the outside of the loom and since I couldn't find any large rubberbands (need to buy veggies with rubberbands) I used yarn to tie it to the loom. However . . . . as seen on the left, everything is sagging on me. I need to find a way to roll the front off with tension. I made a heddle with cardboard, using a hold puncher to creat holes. The other heddle is paperclips fed through a long thing knitting needle. After hours of messing around with this I am tempted to buy a small rigid heddle loom. If I monetize this to hit on Ashford, Kromski, Schacht, Le Clerc, Louet & Dundas maybe I can nickle and dime myself into a loom. Explain my obsession ... please! In the meanwhile, I might just spin up some of this hand carded montedale.

Actually, the scarf experiment might work. The glob in the center of the scarf is a broken warp so I tied it and that knot and stringers make the glob. Basically, I like it and might add more globs to the scarf as I got along. Primative? Definitely.

I keep forgetting to post about our fabulous day with Paige and Dave, Gypsy and Ginger, the later two being weener dogs. We had the most delightful day and in the fall they may stop over for another day of spinning, chatting, catching up and dog play. The dogs got along so well it was unbelievable, especially since Gypsy has never trusted me enough to get near me and Rocky can match her feisty nature and temper. During dinner, she all but sat in Tim's lap for some scraps of food. Granted, it was chicken off the rotissouri but still, a huge suprise. While we were spinning Paige noticed book 5 of the Outlander series and it turns out that she read it too, and loooooved it. Another shared interest. She says, Jane is reading it now, which is amazing because I really didn't think Jane would go for this sort of book but it is an amazing series and a memerable read. Jane is a book hound, having had enough books to start a book store back in Indie where her victorian summer home is. Jane is my other dear friend from our time in Apache Junction. If I could visit them more often I would. I think I will this winter. So the dogs got along well, the hubbies had a good time and Paige and I had an amazing day. Oh, and I have a special thanks to Dave who changed my flat tire!!

I Still Say "For Sure"

2011-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Loom together - warping yarn ready!

Seems to be moving along well.

I have to redo the ends. I need to have the "rollers" on the outside and perhaps connected with thick rubber bands.

The weft.

Once upon a time my mother gave me a primitive loom, more basic than primitive I guess. I used it years ago for several small projects and caught the weaving bug so I got a real loom. But then along came retirement and the loom is among several things we regret selling; like the Harley. I did not, however, let my stash go and recently I gathered the storage boxes together and reunited myself with my favorite stuff, fiber! It's a whole lot of wool. My task might seem overwhelming but as any other fiber freak will tell you it might be challenging but it is not overwhelming. You can never have too much fiber. So whilst hand-carding a large amount of montedale, a wool which tends to want to "pill," I began thinking about that little loom. A while later I decided to get out that little loom and put it together. I wanted to weave a scarf and began to examine the loom and see if I could apply some of the big loom concepts to this small loom. The ideas flowed and snowballed. Since this retirement blog has taken a huge turn off the snowbird map I decided to record my efforts here because it is still about me having a whole lot of time on my hands, "for sure"!

With the warping board long gone I strung my hand spun warp on the back of chairs and began to warp the tiny loom. I don't have a heddle so I'll have to weave each row by hand and I still have to decide what to roll the scarf on as it is made but I'm sure I'll manage. I've been searching the web for a pattern or design but I still have a few hours left before I decide because there is still some beautiful blue/green hand spun drying on the monkey bars. This'll be fun . . . for sure!

Summer's approaching!

2011-04-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm swimming! (On the steps) You go girl!

Getting the toes wet.

One year anniversary to the moment! Still smiling:)

Oddly naked garden but it has 10 plants. The large one in the middle is a Joshua tree and in front of it is a small Saguro. It has a ways to go.

My snowbird friends will be leaving their winter nests and heading back to bugs, storms, humidity but more importantly, to friend and family. One such couple are coming our way and staying an extra day to say "hay"! And I'm looking forward. Paige and I share an important bond, fiber! Can't wait. We'll be spending some time spinning on our wheels.

Jennifer and Jorge came to Vegas to celebrate their 1st anniversary (yes, it's been a year already) and Rachel and her family came too. Papa and I had alot of grandkid time and that amuses me to no end. Kids don't care what temp pool water is. They went from getting their toes wet on the edge of the pool to swimming until their lips turned blue. Mom, Auntie Jennifer and Jackie and Nani joined in too. We went neck deep and stayed in for about 1/2 hour. It isn't that cold, almost 80.

We spent some time on the strip and I was able to snap a picture of Jennifer and Jorge at exactly 1 year to the minute of their wedding and that was fun (corny fun is the best fun). We got some shopping and gambling in and Tim joined us after work at the Rio for a seafood buffet. Lots of crab and sushi. Oh yummm.

Tim is looking forward to the school year coming to an end and doesn't plan to return to work driving the UNLV kids around. It is almost full time and that isn't what he wants. We started a desert landscape garden and Tim's enjoying designing it, including carting in a few large rocks. We have more plans for it so I'll be anxious to post most progress as it goes along. We visited Springs Preserve here in town and got alot of inspiration and although we love the plants here saw them in such a beautiful and bold setting. We also drove to Lake Havasu in our Winnie and bought the Joshua tree there. It is hard to find them here. And it is tagged, to prove we didn't dig it up in the desert illegally. We love the desert plants!

Well, y'all take care and I'll write soon. Mummy, Diane

Visitors Galore

2011-02-26T05:25:00.000-08:00

If it rains it pours. The month of January was dull but there were fun things on the horizon, we just didn't expect them all at once. Tom and Deb had plans to visit and arrived on the 20th of February and since they arrived the pool people have been in and out like crazy. Rachel and the kids are in town to see their family's new addition, Dannelly and Rowell's son Davyn who at 4lbs 11oz appears to be the most adorable baby I've seen in a few years. Our Darrian, who is 2 1/2 years old is completely potty trained. He strips to go potty, but I'd rather redress him than change a diaper. Yesterday we had the pool people "shot the gunite", or at least that is as close to the term as I can or even need to get. Translation: the pool has the majority of concrete in place. I have to water it 3 times a day now until they return.

Shortly after Tim left for work yesterday Tom and Deb asked if Rachel could drive Tom to the ER. CHEST PAIN! OMG. We gave him an asperin and they were off. The ER kept him and we are waiting to hear from his nurse/doctor for some word on his tests and later today he gets a stress test. Deb is visually impared and Tom sent her home with Rachel because she would be like a prisoner there in a holding pattern. That was a good decision. Now, when it comes to health issues Tom is a man of few words so he is happy to just get a good rest in while we worry. Deb did call and found out they had him in a bed, not in a recliner like they usually do here in Vegas ERs, but was in the ER until late last night so we didn't hear anything until Deb called. She called again before we all went to bed and he was okay and since their cell phones, and ours, are Wisconsin area codes, the nurses don't call because it is long distance. Unfortunately he left his phone here . I have to wonder if they would call if something critical happened to him. Of course, that is very unlikely and as far as Deb's vacation, we will take her to Springs Preserve and a little more sightseeing. She is loving the casinos and is luckier than me and her $20.00 entertains her for hours before she goes bust. So far we visited the California/Nevada border (lottery tickets and border casinos), parts of the strip, Hofbrauhaus for some good German fun, Freemont Street, plenty of food and Hoover Dam, where Deb can say she walked to Arizona.

The kids loved their bunk set and Mackenzie slept in her top bunk by herself (A FIRST!) Normally she prefers mommy's bed. In the middle of the night Darrian wanted to join her so Rachel put him in with Mackenzie. I loved seeing them and we parked them in front of the patio doors so they could watch the work being done on the pool. They had some pretty intelligent questions about the whole pool thing but the most often asked question was "when can we go swimming?" I was so frustrated when I went to make a little flix of them on the top bunk. Battery died. Murphy's law.

Almost not Retired? But still finding adventures.

2011-01-31T17:44:00.000-08:00

Loving my life and all the changes but I find myself wondering why it was so important to return to stationary living. It's because I love it. It's hard to be uncomfortable all the time and that I was. The same said for Tim. Ergo, we have the new addition of Lazy Boy recliners. Ahhhhhh! I have two long term house projects. Photos and the garage. I have more pictures than I can stand and need to sort them. Ours, and 4 piles for the girls. Do they ever care? The garage has been an on going project ever since the movers arrived. I'm looking forward to sharing before, during and after pictures but it will be a while.

Tim is working full time driving for the students at UNLV. His route is pretty easy and he seems to enjoy the kids. During the summer he will be driving double decker red English tour buses on the strip. He is looking forward to doing that and so am I. I am going to stow away on one of the tours.

We had alot of our "do it next year" projects done already. The pool man is getting permits and lining up the workers. We bought a pool table which we were wanting since we bought the house and had some concrete poured. We got alot of Concrete!

We also found time to have a day trip to Laughlin, visited Harrahs and won some dough and took the Christmas Tree Pass through the desert for kicks and giggles on the way back. It is 16 miles of dirt road and best traveled with 4 wheel drive but the Edge did just fine.

To our suprise, we came across trees along the way that people decoorated with their ornaments and trim. Next trip coming up soon but more important, waiting on Tom and Deb, they're arriving on 2/20. Fabulous. Until next time, love and kisses. Mummy

Shout out to AJ friends

2011-01-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Tim and I took our first real road trip in the new Winnie. We went to Apache Junction with two goals in mind. Reconnect with snow bird friends for a few days and visit with Donna and Jamison, who drove from the Dallas area to see us. Well damn if weather didn't just kill that time and although I was able to spend time with Paige, I was lost to Joan and John and Dave and Tim's friends jumped ship and headed home to beat the storm to Texas. We left early too, heading west to California on Hwy 10 and then north and managed to skirt the storm and arrive home safe 2 days early. The worst part was driving over the hunks and chunks of snow and ice that fell off trucks and other vehicles along the otherwise clear road. We'll have to go through Lake Havasu City in the daylight next time, it was awesome in the dark, I can't imagine what it will look like in the daytime. We did stop in Lake Havasu City for a steak dinner at I believe Montana Steakhouse. Raw oysters on the 1/2 shell, steak, butterfly shrimp, fabulous salads and a thick creamy carrot soup which I wish I would have ordered but I hate hate hate cooked carrots and Tim got the last bowl. He let me taste it. I admit, I have to find this soup on the computer. We had our desserts to go. Yum! And I must say, Rocky was a very good little guy with people and traveling and Zoe was very happy to see us when we came home. My trip to the Tempe Yarn and Fiber with Paige was heaven. I bought some dye for my fiber and an off white cotton 220 in a lighter weight than I'm used to buying and am looking forward to using it on . . something. I have to finish booties for my folks and then I can play with the new stuff. Spring will bring a few changes here - we are going to put a swimming pool in out back and a pool table in the house. Some more concrete and a patio cover with a lattice roof for the west side of the house and extending the parking/driveway out front and we should be set here for the rest of our lives - except we'll be poor and living on fixed incomes but what the hell. We'll only live once.

Life with Dell - my need to compute

2011-01-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

I've managed (with the help of family members) to kill 3 laptops in as many years. Laptop #1 was a Dell I bought in about 2003. She served us well and died about the time we sold our house in Edgerton. She was replaced with Laptop #2, an HP bought at Walmart in Hayward WI in June of 2007. She was a matter of life and death, total life support. I'm shamed in that I cannot survive without a trusty computer. There were several features I didn't like about her but I accepted her anyway and we worked our way through our issues; that is, Tim and me and the computer worked our way through issues. I was the mediator when problem solving was needed. We headed to Apache Junction, Arizona and that HP helped us stay in touch with friends and family and entertain us through the a winter in the sun. We headed back to Wisconsin for the summer and then on to Port Aransas, TX and poof, she up and dies. Actually just her hard drive died but you might as well have removed my own brain. That computer lasted all of 18 months, just outlived its warranty and left me high and dry without any communication outside my immediate surroundings. That should not suck but it did. Winter 2010, drive to Best Buy, purchase another Dell, laptop #3. This computer died two weeks ago. I put on my copy cat hat, the "I've seen Tracy do this" hat. She fixed Dell #1 which is okay except it powers down if my hand passes over the keys, which keys exactly is yet to be discovered. She replaced the hard drive in #2 while she was here and since the computer did not come with backup disks I had to order them and restart it. Monkey see, monkey do. Dell #3's hard drive was removed and replaced by me and since it did come with start up disks I was able to get it running too. Ironically, an old Compaq PC circa 1998, a relic for sure, sits on the desk, still running. She's a bit slow, dull in color and the printer only prints in black in white, in spite of new color cartridge. All this information shared only to confess my addiction to computers and the need to "compute". This leaves us with two restored laptops and one faithful PC. Next time, should I dish out the cash for a Mac? I hear they are "perfect".

I totally changed my mind about the Presidency but . . .

2010-12-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

I totally take my hat back out of the ring and I'm no longer worried too much about Palin. I saw her show. I could only take about 5 minutes of it though and that is what eased my fears that she might just win the hearts of all republicans. It would be impossible, even considering the tiny little hearts of republicans. Her speach is forced while trying too hard to appear unscripted. Her jokes are not funny. Her joking around is even "less funnier". She is degrading to her family members. And where is her son? I see her grandson. But where is the kid?

I've seen several large motor coaches and the one they are using is not meant to live in, not even for a few overnighters. It is a luxury touring coach not unlike the Coach USA buses. Where's the kitchen? It's all sofas and windows. Nobody has seat belts on and her grandson was not in a carseat, he was crawling around next to Bristol. One moose on the highway and that baby is chum for Todd's next fishing trip. Oh, but I digress. That's the Tea Party way -- smaller government. Keep government out of our lives. If one wants their family free-flying through the motor coach with its huge full body ejection windows then who am I comment. Hey, remember when we were filming our reality show and a bald eagle hit the windshield and dad freaked and jammed on the breaks and three camera men went flying all the way to the front of the coach and cameras went through the front window and dad ran him over two of those guys and the rest of us ended up on the pavement. Man, that was great. Too bad about the kid though.

I'm too sarcastic and I don't wish anything bad on them but I can't possibly be the only political pundant to have noticed this. People, please, speak up. Save the Palen children.

Speaking of the children, I will have the grandkids for a four day weekend and hopefully will be able to post some cute pix.

So until next week or so, take care and stay warm.

I'm thinking of running for President of the United States of America

2010-11-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

I know this is "our" retirement blog but this now appears to be part of retirement for me. I've been thinking. Sincerely - I'd love to throw my hat in the ring for President of the United States of America. Da da da da da da da da da da da . . . da da da da daaa da da da da da da. . . you know how the music goes.

I think that just considering it opening might help me get my book published, oh, and a ghost writer to help me finish it. This would allow me to follow up with a second book within 12 months. Perhaps I'm reading into this but it appears to me that considering running for the top office adds opportunities, time and money up the wazoo.

I honestly qualify for the job. I'm old enough, a born citizen and am female - which it appears is the next big step in American politics. Let's evolve people! Additionally, I am willing to accept ridiculous offers allowing for me to build up my coffers for the campaign.

I know that my family and I could put out a riveting reality show. We are "real" Americans. You couldn't be more American that us. I can prove it too. My husband and I are both on our second marriage - average. We have been married for more than 30 years - well above average. I have four children, two from each marriage - average. I have MS and type 2 diabetes - average disease quota. While living in Wisconsin I actually and truly hunted for deer and one season shot three on opening day - again above average. Unlike the current Presidential wannabe, my hunting cloths were torn and dirty and blood stained - super extra points for being super extra real!!! (Additionally, I wore a blaze orange knit hat that turned my blond hair to straw, super real). I have pictures fishing on our pontoon boat on an inland lake in Northern Wisconsin (less than 1 hour from Canada). I actually am seen holding my catch in my bare hands making faces, not pretending to be loving it. Very real!!! I get out of cleaning the catch of the day through whatever means possible - really? We tried two years of living in RVs, snow birding it during winter. This didn't work for me. We now live in a real house in N. Las Vegas, NV, the foreclosure capital of the United States. Having taken advantage of someone's misfortune to get ahead puts me in a slightly smarmy light I can see Arizona from the Stratosphere on a clear day.

As for the rest of my family, I have four daughters. One daughter is a lesbian. Another served our country as a Army medic in Iraq and had to defend herself, killing for her country. One daughter married a Filipino and has two children. One daughter is a skilled computer geek working for a nationally known hospital. One daughter married a Mexican in her mid thirties. One of our daughters has ADD and is severely dyslexic. One daughter works in human resources in a high paced industry. One daughter lives with us, works and attends a local college. My husband is retired from an auto manufacturer which fell apart and revoked many of our medical benefits. We are a bit sour over that. I worked for over 25 years as a legal secretary and am now medically retired. We appeal to many demographic groups.

My platform is democratic, somewhat conservative and I would be able to reach across the isle in that I am Sagittarius, meaning I was born under the happiest and friendliest of zodiac signs. I have a live-and-let-live attitude and am seldom angry but when I am, I am told I can be hurtfully sarcastic. I just don't see it. Further, my brother is a republican and my best friend from high school is a republican and works for a high ranking southern republican in the senate or house or something. If lower taxes and tax issues are the only reason to be a republican I might switch, but I honestly feel they have hidden agendas and frankly most of the republicans are scary. Face it, winning or losing they have nasty faces. When they do smile, they are still scary.

I am not photogenic and have never won a beauty contest. I do, however, twirl a baton. I am more than willing to have my party dress me in the most flattering and appropriate cloths, at whatever cost, and shamelessly admit it. I have never been mayor or held office but I always wanted to and often talk about it, especially during the nightly news. I can go with the flow so why not go for the top? And I understand there is plenty of room for looking foolish, stupid, ridiculous and defensive. I am not now or ever will be afraid of Katie Curik. I can be awestruck by famous people. I wouldn't be ashamed to admit that my best reading is done in my private library. If I am caught off guard by the press I'll admit it. Frankly, they have more experience than any of us and usually know what the answers will be before the questions are asked.

My first promise? I promise to never lean with one elbow on the podium. Secondly I promise to never ask "hows that workin' fer ya?". Finally, I will never ever ever say "man up".

I do not acknowledge the tea party. Tea Parties are for little girls in fuffy skirts who talk to bears and eat imaginary food.

I was an extremely average high school student, have a 4.00 at UWM for an English course I took and a 4.00 at MATC for a medical secretary certificate.

I would hire from my pool of experts. I.e., I have several friends who are capable of pulling together improntu cocktail parties and more than a few friends with strong opinions, often times offensive. I am still looking for an uber wealthy Cheney-esqe asshole and am looking forward to the results of my "should I run" poll.

Well I'm off. I'll be busy exploring my options for venues to officially announce my candidancy. I can almost hear hail to the chief.

P.S. I wrote this all by myself and I did use spell check in the proofing of this document.

Grateful for family

2010-11-22T06:11:00.001-08:00

I've discovered mobeous knitting, that is, knitting on circular needs with an intended twist so the scarf has a permanant fold. It's fun and entertaining. I've also made some cuffs, that is, fingerless gloves. Lots of fun! Especially since people like them. It is fun to knit but then it is more fun when it is appreciated. That said - on with family news.

Family came "home" last week. Tracy and Jennifer flew in and Rachel, Darrell, Mackenzie and Darrian drove from California. We were together for almost 5 full days and we had so much fun, food and laughs. Tina and Jorge weren't here and we missed them although it is a good thing Tina wasn't here because her mother had a heart attach and it was a blessing she was home. The grandkids didn't fail to entertain and they are getting more amazing by the day. I noticed that Mackenzie is very bright. I can't explain what I mean, I know she's bright, but she uses information she's picked up in such suprising ways, more complex than I would expect at her age. Her hair is long, her eyes are beautiful and when she smiles her dimples are not too deep, not to small, they are just "enough". And Darrian, he is starting to talk alot and is the cutest thing inte world. I love the way he says water and cars. His r's are drawn out really cute. His brown eyes are huge and when he smiles he does melt your heart. Hugs and kisses are heartwarming. Since they were here the week before for a wedding celebration in Darrell's family I got to have them here some extra nights too.

I wish . . . but don't we all. I wish I could have all of them close to me all the time but that darn Rachel marrying a California boy went and made life more . . . exciting? I'm loving Las Vegas's weather. I am suprised how warm the house is without running the furnace. Of course, we only had temps in the lower 40s a few mornings but we warm up during the day. Having said that, I'm chilled. We don't have tons of friends but Tim is working part time and I enjoy the quiet life. When the kids are here, it is busy enough. I need to recoop. Our neighbors are very nice though and it is unusual to know and speak to your neighbors here so we are lucky. It is odd that people can live next to someone for years and never speak to them. It seems that is the norm here.

My folks are moving into an apartment on December 1. A broken furnace forced them to make the decision and leave their house but they really can't deal with maintaining a house anymore. Tracy and my brother, Dennis, are helping them get their stuff sorted, packed and moved and for that I am soooo grateful.

The tree is up for the holidays and plans are for a very quiet one at that but ooohhh, isn't it cozy. We could go to California and celebrate Christmas Eve with Darrell and his family but we'll pass this year and plan to do that again in the future. Their family is huge, everyone gathers at Auntie Dave's where the decorations are over the top and there are presents galore, Philipino food (and it is soooo good), laughter and children everywhere. Throw in a white elephant gift exchange with the adult cousins and some holiday beverages and you are in for one fun night. We went 2 years ago and our faces were so sore from smiling.

Please enjoy the pictures of the kid's visit and I'll post again soon.

Love, me.

The Monsoons Have Arrived

2010-10-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

Rain has arrived in Las Vegas! Evidently, it's gone too. We've waited and waited and finally we have thunder, lightening and downpours. The weather made Tm's day. Storms and rainy days are some of his favorite things. The worst of it hit while I ran to the store. While inside the noise of a storm echoed through the building and everyone looked around asking "Is that thunder?" I went outside to find a downpour. On the way home I drove through standing water (not dangerous kind) and hesitated before going through rushing water (the dangerous kind). Turned the corner at the end of our block and drove through a lake. I figured I would beep and Tim and I could drive around a bit and see all the water but he was busy taking a movie of it on his cell phone and didn't want to go out and about because he had a tuna casserole in the oven. We've seen rain here in the form of rain drops, enough to make the air smell fresh and turn the concrete dark from rain but that's all. We see storms that don't hit the ground because the air is too dry. We see the mountain tops turning white from the snow. Now we finally see rushng water, rescues, power outages, all so thrilling. Let's not forget the falling temps! The temps never got out of the 60s yesterday - far below normal but change is nice.

Saw the neurologist yesterday and am awaiting an MRI - don't you just love being MRIed? I just hate being confined and having to "keep it together". I think the scariest part is the though of freaking out and losing the "breath evenly, keep your eyes closed, go to my happy place, breath evenly." Also, going back on 3 shots a week. No big deal, nothing out of the ordinary.

I am looking forward to some visitors. Jackie's friend, Shelia, arrives tonight and after months and months of nonstop sunshine and clear skies, we'll be under clouds. I love seeing clouds, my squinting wrinkles get a well needed break. Shelia however, isn't expecting clouds, she was hoping to "get a little color". In another few weeks Jennifer and Tracy are coming. It will be shortly before my birthday and they'll miss it but we'll have an early Thanksgiving dinner with them and get out and about and of course, Rachel, Darrell, Mackenzie and Darrian will be included. Rachel plans another trip here in November too so I'll get plenty of grandkid visits in. This means I'll have to have the Christmas tree up in early November. Hmmm, how can I stand all the joy?

Life has been quiet and almost boring but I have to post something - next time I should have more lively "stuff". Until then, love and kisses. Diane

Picture for Ravelry

2010-10-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm having a problem with my Patrick Green drum carder and have this posted only for the picture. If anyone at Ravelry can help me figure out what is making my pure white alpaca come out gray and filthy, let me know.

Just a normal update

2010-10-08T07:59:00.001-07:00

I've been remiss again in blogging - I consider it my duty if to nobody but myself to keep this blog alive. We had been extremely busy for a while. We traded in the Jayco on a Winnibego C Class and we traded in the big truck on a Ford Edge (which can be flat towed behind the Winnie). Just days after buying the Edge we headed to Wisconsin to pick up stuff we had in the trailer in Stone Lake, stuff we can use here. Most important were the treadmill, which is getting tons of use, and my spinning wheel, which is getting tons of use too. I converted a pile of cottswold into about 10 skeins. The cottswold was already carded and I had forgotten. It was the first wool I prepped on my Patrick Green carder. Cottswold is best used for slippers or rugs or stuff that requires a really tuff yarn. Now I'm working on white alpaca and what a mess, it is like angora in that it sheds and floats but it will make lovely "stuff" in the end.

Tim got a job and that's good. He's driving a few times a week for Medcure, a company that does surgical training. His cargo? Corpses. Yes, there is a bit of a creep factor but he loves to drive and being active in retirement is extremely important. I enjoy the quiet time too because then I can play or work or water palm trees or write (which is a very selfish hobby) or just anything my heart desires. Not that I can't do that with Tim around but you women out there know exactly what I'm talking about.

I know I posted our trip but I have to review for my own sake. After our trip to Wisconsin we had a week to get ready for a cruise to the Mexican Riviera which included Puerto Vierta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas - I know I butchered those spellings. We had never been on a cruise before and what fun it was yet I don't think I'll be cruising again too soon. It isn't expensive (although it feels like it). Seriously, where can you go for a whole week for $700 a person, all inclusive. Add to that however, your excersions. The cruiseline sets them up and they are pricey. We learned that you can walk off the ship and pretty much the same excersions from locals for a fraction of the cost. Ships cost for snorkeling in Cabo $79.00, local cost $20.00. The difference? We were taken to the beach on land's end in a water taxi, had to jump over the side into the water to get out and then crawl back in when they came to pick you up. Cruise excersion version - large catamaran with 100 people and ladders into and out of water, alcohol and snacks. Not worth the difference. The dress up dinners are truly a treat and we discovered you can order 2 main courses. Yes folks we could have had two lobster dinners, all included in your $700. We had a balcony in our room and did not have that "closed in" feeling at all and Jackie stayed with us. Rachel and her family were there too. Darrell's sisters and folks were there. I loved the time with kids and grandkids.

We saw some unforgetable sights and experienced alot of "firsts". I lost my glasses in the pacific ocean when a wave decided to eat me up and Tim lost his RX sunglasses. We body surfed in huge waves and were tossed about the beach like rag dolls. I wasn't strong enough to get up and out of the surf so I got a little more beat up that the others. I washed off the sand but at in the cabin I filled the floor with the sand that was in my suit. We all died laughing. That was an expensive swim but I had never experienced that type of surf. What fun!

We returned home on the 20th of September and I'm still recovering from chasing around.

Jackie is going to be working as a CNA (finally) pretty soon. It took a long time to transfer her CNA to Nevada. She'll be working per diem and more than doubling her income. She found a job at the vet within 3 days of arriving here so we are grateful that she did have work. She's doing excellent in school. First quiz, an A.

Next on the horizon, nothing much. We are looking forward to Jennifer and Tracy's visits. Tracy should be here at X-mas and Jennifer should be here for Thanksgiving (or thereabouts). It's time to just enjoy home and maybe take a few side trips in the Winnie.

That's all folks. Love, Diane

Cleaning Up Loose Ends

2010-09-05T05:13:00.001-07:00

Tim and I just spent 11 days on the road and saw a few sights on the way to Wisconsin in order to get stuff we had in our trailer in Stone Lake, WI. I missed a few old friends at Sand Lake RV park but caught up with a few others and that was nice catching up with them. We got back safe and sound, emptied the U-Haul and now my dining room and living room look like I'm a hoarder. Tim put his shoulder out and is in great pain, slowly recovering. I can't sleep. It's 5:30 in the morning and I'm back to washing cloths that smell like moth balls and breaking down boxes. Ugh. In a week this mess has to be cleaned up, put away and we will be leaving for Long Beach to get on a cruise ship, oh yeah, ahoy matey. Having never been on a cruise I'm both excited and apprehensive. The best part so far is getting some new makeup and cloths, including a "little black dress" for the formal Captains dinner. Jackie wears bare minerals and we had to find a store that carries it here. It wasn't easy but we did find such a store - Ulta! I have never been in such a fabulous makeup store. Sure, it had creams and lotions and pretty pretties but the makeup was amazing. This wrinkled old lady had fun browsing and eventually fell to temptation and bought a bare minerals starting kit. It was my "coming of age" store. A real eye opener. I'm old - I'm not getting any younger and the wrinkles are here to stay. I started using anti-aging/wrinkle cream a while back and frankly, I don't think they work. I'll see if the bare minerals make me look less blotchy, less wrinkled and less "old". Jackie also helped me shop for cloths - very helpful indeed. I saw my grandma while shopping. Amazing! She was in the mirror. I wasn't sure at first but yep, there she was, the elbows and arm skin gave it away. I've walked like her for years now, I get out of the chair like her and now I'm morphing into her - only I think I'm fatter - great! When I'm not feeling sorry for myself I have been spinning some heavenly white alpaca and that is almost as good as it gets. I missed my spinning wheel, I missed the fiber in my fingers and I missed the mesmerizing, relaxing motion of the wheel. Come back again for real blogging, not midnight rambling. Love to all, Diane.

2010-09-05T05:12:00.001-07:00

Little Road Trip

2010-08-23T07:42:00.001-07:00

We're making progressing in the "life style change". Our fabulous truck is gone and we are now the proud owners of new Ford Edge and looking forward to going to Wisconsin on approx. $300 worth of gas, not $1,100. In logging the first 100 miles on the car it was a bit disturbing to see we were getting 9 mpg. Then slowly it edged up (maybe that's why it is called an Edge?) and last night at 111 miles logged the dash was showing 25 mpg. Excellent! I'll try to keep records for the first month or two and see how much of a gas savings we have. I would have insisted on the Escape Hybrid - electric car that used electric under 47 MPH except to charge the battery. How cool would that have been? However Tim's head was close to the roof and it was very tight for leg room, he would have hit his knees all the time on the dash. Good excuses. However, if you are going new you might as well check out the electric cars, it isn't out reach financially. We are heading out later this morning and are going to check out the Great Salt Lake, since we never saw it, or at least I haven't. Then on to Yellowstone for 2 nights and we'll get in some sight seeing at Custer's last stand and try to see Devil's Tower. After that, it is straight to Stone Lake to gather up lots of stuff we left behind, like a big TV, tred mill and alas, my spinning wheel. We'll have to rent a U-Haul trailer. Then down to Milwaukee, see family, shhh dont' tell Mom, I'm going to try to surprise her, and then home. Zoe is off the hook for traveling but Rocky is making his road trip debut. Looking forward to posting pix of our trip. Later gators-Go Pack, Love, Mummy and Diane

Following bloggers

2010-08-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

I've rediscovered the joy of just paging through blogs, next blog, next blog, next blog and so on. Lots of fun and pretty interesting at times. Then along came yahoo news and directed me to
http://newdressaday.wordpress.com. This chic buys resale dresses, limit $1.00 and remakes them - she's doing this for a year ala Julie and Julia. Some of her creations are amazing. Now that sound like alot of fun. I might just try it I do however, have dogs so considering that Zoe sheds a small dog a day and both of them lie down on anything I'm involved with at floor level, I'm limited for cutting space. I could go to the spare room though for laying out and cutting. Jackie's cat has access to it and she'll leave if I hiss at her, louder than she hisses at me.

Night before last Tim and I found ourselves out and about long after dark. It is amazing how beautiful all the lights are out here. At night, this doesn't look like such a big city since darkness and mountains frame the valley. I guess it really isn't that big. We were out after dark on the 4th of July too, we were coming down from Mt. Charleston and watched the fireworks for a bit. They were going off everywhere and it was amazing. 90% of them were illegal. According to the news, homeowners should have nothing that leaves the ground so I figured why bother spending $$$$ if they are going to skitter around the ground? I guess nobody paid any attention to the laws. Bye for now. Love from Mummy and Diane

It was a dark Saturday morning

2010-08-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Actually it is a dark saturday morning and I am up earlier than usual and can't get back to sleep on the couch so I turn to my trusty companion, my new BF, Dell. A few days ago I submitted my blog to the search engines hoping I would get some fresh hits for the book. My keywords were extremely common, I couldn't think of anything truly unique. So in the darkness of the wee hours and out of curiosity I decided to put the title of my book "Resurrecting Clara" into the yahoo search. To my surprise several items with Clara and Resurrection came up. One lead me to a blog about an old but snazzy motorcycle named Clara. There is hit for The University of Santa Clara and resurrecting auto graveyards. One interesting hit is another blog with references to resurrecting photos of Clara Bow. The Philipinos have an award called Maria Clara -- those are the names of my main characters. How odd. Another link to an author, Elizabeth Letts, got me nervous. It turns out she has a book with a main character being Clara who works in labor & delivery and somewhere the word resurrecting comes up in the book. A 1993 movie, Necronomicon: Book of the Dead, resurrects people, one whose name is Clara, and that is just a bit disturbing. There were several more hits referencing Santa Clara County and Univeristy of Santa Clara, all "resurrecting" something or another like neglected heritage, etc. It was actually interesting. But I became bored with that. Then I googled me. Intelius knows me. And anyone who reads this too! At least they charge for the meaty information. I don't have any criminal records but maybe some of the other Diane Puzas do. Lester Buildings, the builder of our barn in Edgerton, has our barn and names on their website. We won an award for it, well they did but we designed it. I didn't realize until now that it is on the internet. Having once been involved in the Babydoll Sheep industry I am out there as an officer, but those days are far behind me (but the fiber addiction still lingers). And then there is Kathy Miller's Soap Making pages. Her pages were the place to go for reliable information. I once made a bar that wrinkled so bad I made it into her "botched batches" section. I had totally forgotten about that. It was interesting to see how many Puzas there are in this world. I have never met another one outside of Tim's immediate family. And folks, Mario Puzo is not Mario Puza, although I must have seen it a dozen times in the hits. Have a good day. Bye, Hugs and Kisses to all who want or need them. Mummy and Diane

My Friday Rant

2010-08-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, we are here because of me and we did buy a home with an HOA but it isn't gated and the fees are dirt cheap so how bad can it be. Right? Well 3 times now, since May 27, we've received notices. The last notice involves our driveway which we had approved by the association. We sent drawings, contractor information, approvals by both neighbors blah blah blah. So today's letter states we are in violation because there isn't a drain down the center to direct flood waters to the street. I cant' wait to see a flood here in the land of the dry and drier. I know, it will flood during the monsoons which are actually during this time of year but I doubt we'll flood our neighbors out and when it rains we run outside like kids to enjoy it. We have yet to see more than 1/100th of an inch. So at Tim's behest I took a walk up the street and the next 3 houses all have RV parking and all have the exact same pitch as ours (you can compare by the bricks on the walls) and none of them have gutters down the center to divert flood waters). Not one! And our neighbors, whose RV parking is directly next to ours seperated only by the wall, is exactly like ours. The picture doesn't do the pitch justice because of the angle and the shade but it is about a 3 inch pitch for the entire stretch from back to front.

If that didn't fry my beans enough, there is another paragraph addressing the trees we planted behind the walls - which trees can be seen from the common areas. Dahhhhh. They are trees. We are of the understanding that what we do behind our wall is our business - it is not considered a common area and by what I've seen, most people don't give a rat's ass what is in their yard. As for our yard, I can't wait until the short trees start showing over the top of the wall. Landscaping in the front has to be approved and that sucks because most gardeners I like, me included, get a bug up their ass and want to put in flowers immediately. If I see a nice plant and want to have it, I buy it and plant it. I don't want to have my neighbors approve it and sign forms indicating their approval, fill out 4 HOA forms and submit with drawings for their approval. Oh, I should do that. I should have everyone just shower them with garbage. I should go through all that for a geranium plant. Signatures, drawings, the whole 9 yards. Oh just the thought of it calms me down. I feel giddy with revenge!

Our concrete fellow called and assured me there are no codes in the City's laws that require these drains unless, for example, you are putting a pool next to a patio and then you need a drain because both concrete sections are going in 2 different directions. But the drive has a pitch and that's all it needs. Now if they would have gotten on my case to get that gait painted, I would have understood. Bye for now from both of us, Mummy and Diane

More Ramblings and a 2nd Blog

2010-08-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

A good friend, who chooses to remain "anonymous" asked if I got busy with gathering soap supplies. The answer is yes. I have plenty of fragrances and I have been spying such goodies as goats milk, coconut oil, coconut milk and fancy oils but have yet to locate good old fashion lye. It is pretty much off the shelves because it is used for making meth. I can't imagine ingesting lye in any form but it is an ingredient and the lack of it puts my soap making on hold. I think I have to order it on line but that is in bigger bulk and I'm not looking to buy more than 1 pound at a time. That said, I'm anxious to get going started up with making soap again. First of all, the house always smelled really amazing. Second, I was hard pressed to find people who didn't like handmade soap so it is always appreciated. Artistic expression is endless with soap. I hate to create the same thing twice. Mom suggested trying put it out in the "little shops" here in Vegas. I said "Mom, they don't exist here in Vegas" and that was hard for her to understand. At least I haven't found the small gifty cutsie type of shop you can find all over the U.S., except here. I think the closest I have spotted to a gifty cutsie shop is a Coach scratch and dent shop with purses at close to no discount. And if you really want to drop your jaw shopping, Caesar's Palace has unbelievable shops. The first time I was there was the first time I ever saw shop about 200 square feet with 5 items showcased and no prices. AND, it was staffed with 3 sales persons dressed in black to move these 5 items. Being born, raised and aged to near perfection in Wisconsin my first thought was HAHAHAHAHAHA. My second thought was . . . I had no second thought.

Speaking of a good laugh I hurt my throat really bad last night laughing at Tosh.O on the comedy channel. I laughed so hard I couldn't inhale and when I did it sounded like a sports car burning rubber on asphalt. Oh man, I think I "skinned my throat". I have a dry cough as a result of this dry patch of tissue on the left half of my throat. I was alone at the time and that was a good thing because if Tim had been there he would have been laughing at me for laughing so hard that it would have made it impossible for me to recover from my breathlessness and I might just have passed out. The injury, however, was well worth the jokes and I will risk injury again!

As if this blog, knitting, putzing and watching dogs isn't enough to humor me on an hour by hour basis, I've decided to begin a blog dedicated to my longest running passion; my novel. I've been working on it and when it is fully up and running I'll send a link.

By the way, I stepped outside and the weather is fabulous. It is 7:20 a.m. and the temps are in the 70s, it's rather chilly and oh so fresh. Lovin' it.

That's about it for this morning so bye for now from both of us. Love, Mummy and Diane

Sometimes I get to thinking

2010-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of time to think. Too much time. Sure, sure, "I think, therefore I am". Therefore I am my ass. New econimic news is soooo depressing and I find myself changing channels so I don't have to listen to it. Naturally, it turns my thoughts to earning some money but more to the point, to be out in the world, being productive, being around interesting people and doing something I really like in order to provide all that. I'm too young to be home BUT with this economy and MS, it is a sort of dead end waste of good thinking time.

For a while I thought I would make cupcakes and cakes. We could have a homegrown family business called "cakes in bad taste". We could put distasteful messages on them. On the other hand, I have grandchildren now and I can at least learn to make fabulous cakes for all the holidays and milestones in their lives. That's a lot of cake. I started with a fabulous white cake from scratch (triple sifted flour) which is toted as the best white cake ever. Lacking round cake pans I used two 8x8 brownie style pans. I cut the cakes down the center, cut the tops off so they would be flat and built a loaf cake much like the tortes that are in the bakery departments at the market. The cake tasted like fresh nilla vanilla cookies and was very good. Holding everything together was my home made butter cream frosting. I forgot to let the butter reach room temperature so I put it outside at 9 a.m. to warm up because it was 101 degrees already. I figured 5 minutes would do it but not quite and the butter cream frosting had speckles of solid butter in it. Tasted awesome though. Then on to the fondant. Not at all my forte. I might have discovered a new method of creating bricks. I turned to the internet and perused the troubleshooting sites for fondant and discovered several sites which assured me this wasn't going to be easy. I took a small amount and continued to add crisco until I had a wad of stuff at a consistency sufficient enough to make flowers with, sort of like play dough. And I created a beautiful rose. It had, however, been so handled I didn't even want to put it in my mouth. Most of the articles stated fondant does not taste good so most people peel it off and eat the cake with the butter cream frosting. Not so. I discovered powdered sugar and crisco is the "goo of the gods". Within in the week I am going to be attempting "marshmallow fondant" which is supposed to be easier to make and work with. We'll see how that works out.

It's not just cake and cupcakes that gets me thinking. Every now and then I hear a success story involving food like 2 guys with a lunch wagon. They invested in a used food wagon, supplies and a vendors license. A bazillion gazillion sandwiches and dollars later, they were sitting pretty. I thought about what I do well in the kitchen and frankly, not so much. Tim is the cook here and that's more than fine with me but, I can make a truly fabulous corn chowder. Now, could I make a humongous vat of corn chowder and serve it up by the cup with a huge hunk of french bread and expect to make money? Granted, the corn chowder has all fresh and pricey ingredients, like heavy cream and Canadian bacon. I could add up the cost of ingredients, calculate the volume of the finished product, divide that by 12 oz servings and see what kind of profit it would create but that's cyphering and "cyphering" and "thinking" are two different animals indeed. I'll have to think about it.

I'm on day 5 of the Atkins diet and these cake and chowder concepts, all carbs mind you, are devilish details. I think I need some sugar to help my mind work properly again.

So, moving away from food I fantasize that The Gates Foundation will dump a chunk of cash on my lawn so I can lease a storefront and properly stock a shop. I have the perfect one already picked out. It's in the middle of a shopping strip mall parking lot in the Aliante area. Three sides of the building are glass. I would fill the inside with fiber, tables and chairs, a few rocking chairs, samples, books, supplies, knitting needles (hordes of needles), wheels, looms, yarn from all over the world and of course a coffee machine, scones and mood music that would hypnotize for hours. I've searched and nothing in Vegas holds up to world class yarn shops, one in particular in Tempe AZ would be a good example. But, maybe there aren't enough knit freaks and fiber addicts here to support such a "home away from home". What am I saying; what am I thinking? Build it and they will come. Fiber addicts and closet knitters exist all over the world, and Vegas is no exception (I would think).

I think, therefore I am. Good day from both of us, Mummy and Diane

Some Pictures for Y'all

2010-08-10T10:01:00.001-07:00

I have been so lax in keeping up with everyone and that saddens me. But . . . since pictures are worth a thousand words I'll be making up for it here. Since March we . . . . bought a house, rescued a dog from the desert, played with family, celebrated Jennifer and Jorge's wedding, bought some furniture, welcomed Jackie (who traveled from Wisconsin to Vegas by herself and kuddos to her for that!) to live with us while she goes to school at College of Southern Nevada (she starts in a few weeks) discovered Mt. Charleston 30 minutes to the west (with its very cool temperatures) and Valley of Fire to the east. We bought a tiny hot tub, king bed, bedroom set for Jack, living room set, had a patio cover put up on the southside of the house, planted 8 palm trees, had solar screens installed, security system installed, water tests, sold our pontoon boat, Zoe had 7 teeth pulled and Rockie was neutered, Tim put his shoulder out cleaning the grout around tile, we are trading in the Jayco on a Class C and selling the truck. Tim turned 60, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and are looking forward to a cruise to Mexico in about a month (with some of the family) and I'm dieting for obvious reasons. I keep trying to get back to writing the great American novel and look forward to getting my spinning wheel from Wisconsin. Tim wants his treadmil and might have a nibble on selling the trailer we have in Stone Lake, WI.

We've just been busy. So hope everyone is healthy and happy and stop back again soon, I'll hopefully be posting more regularly now.

Love to all. Mummy - Diane

Nanna's House

2010-08-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Who knew? Who would have thought I would prefer Vegas over Wisconsin? Life leads us in odd directions at times but being a Grandma has changed what I want out of life. So poor Tim agreed and here we are in a nice sized house in North Las Vegas and just finished up our first of hopefully many visits with Rachel and her family. We did catch Darrian's cold and if his throat was half as raw as mine, I am impressed with how well he held up all that time. I feel rather bad for him.

We still see jets, stealth jets and all sorts of military aircraft but they are much higher here and do not rip the lining out of my ears. Did you know there is a pig farm right in the center of this valley? If you go to Goggle and find 5th and Ann in Vegas you'll see it. My point? We can occassionally smell it. We are in monsoon season and our winds are now coming from the gulf instead of southern California and with the winds is the smell. I'm grateful to the realtor who pointed it out during our hunt and can' timagine those who bought right by it.

In addition to the Grandkids, Tim and I have been able to enjoy a few outings in this area. We have tried to make a habit of going to Mt. Charleston on Sundays and enjoy the cool air and sights, food and art sales. Last week we went to the Valley of Fire have plans to visit Red Rock Recreation Center soon. Another point of interest is the new bridge of Hoover Dam. I understand it is almost finished and that should be a real amazing bridge. I would prefer to admire it from the lower, original road.

Bring Back Human Beings . . . please

2010-04-28T09:43:00.001-07:00

I sat down to do something important on the computer and totally forgot where I was headed. So I made a call and was greeted by a computer, yippee. With so many "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" or insisting that my name is t i a m e instead of d i a n e I have a whole knew beef. Living right over the path of Jets at Nellis Airforce Base is becoming old, and I'm going deaf. Add to that totally throwing the voice activated systems out of sync completely and having to wait to make calls you are just dying to make in the first place puts business calls at the bottom of list of things to do. Lower than low, buried and forgotten. Bring back humans, create more jobs, even minimum wage jobs where people can work from home - please bring back human beings.

Heat and overcoming it

2010-04-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

So we've had a bit of heat here. I'm worried about Zoe - she gets overheated in spite of the air conditioning, which is obviously not strong enough to cool down a tin can on the desert floor. I can't wait until we are in our house. We have a long term goal to have a pool but we can shamefully fill a kiddy pool and plant our boiling selves in a foot of water if need be. It will be cooler in the house, anything is cooler than the Jayco. Hot with wind this afternoon, heat tomorrow and then a cool down in temps for the next several days.

Speaking of tomorrow, we see our loan officer and hand over a few more pieces of information to update or application and hopefully find out the date of the appraisal. Then we have the inspection -- I can't possibly see anything really bad showing up. Stay tuned, I will be eating these words I'm sure.

So to pass the time I have two projects. Create a new budget and knit. After a coin toss the sweater won so I picked up a sweater I had been working on (for well over a year). I had mastered to pattern but all the increasing and decreasing and maintaining the pattern for necklines and armholes proved too intelligent for me I turned the sweater into balls of yarn and started anew. I am going to finish this one regardless of the progress and then donate it. Once I am in the house I will be able to create items for felting. That's my forte. I felt, therefore I am. There is something to be said about old top loading washing machines.

Tim is still in the middle of the road about living in Vegas but I'm sure this is a good move. I've always backed away from holding my ground and this is new for me. At least we have Stone Lake to fall back on when things get really hot here. We will have to rethink some of our previous choices and scale back (i.e., gas guzzler truck vs. anorexic car).

2nd Star on the right leads to Las Vegas, NV

2010-04-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

I apologize. I have been terribly remiss in writing on my blog and sharing retirement adventures. Frankly, I suck at writing regularly and I suck at being an adventurous retiree. My grandmother gene is overriding all other genetic fixes and being near Mackenzie and Darrian trumps winters in various and sundry places. Some of the friends I've met will be with me always but move over for the kids. They won. Don't ask what I will do if gradchildren show up in other parts of the U.S. I'll deal with that when it happens.

I believe we may trade in our Jayco for a Class C once all the dust has settled with the house but that isn't until after we close, which will be toward the end of May. We may still take off for a few weeks now and then, who knows.

Jennifer and Jorge were married here in Vegas on April 20, 2010. The Flamingo's garden provided a beautiful backdrop and we had so much fun with family and friends for about a whole week. Tracy had to step in and help out with the flowergirl/ring bearer but it was adorable. The bride was stunning.

Jackie will be living with us while so goes to school, Rachel and the kids will be back and forth from LA and Jennifer and Tracy love playing here in Vegas so I think I'll be happy here. I'm sure Tim will too once he gets used to the idea and forgets about the crime rate and water shortages.

Love to all. Diane

I wonder "Could I get tired of this?"

2009-11-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

Tim and I have actually been out after dark a few times. The bugs have died down a lot and since we got our fishing licenses, it's hard to wrap it up and go home. We enjoyed the full moon on the water and had to go and take a few pix. We went fishing where large blocks of granite act as a shore break and I got a picture of Tim just before we called it a day. I don't do granite rocks and I ditch the cane for pictures but I truly enjoy this. We see dolphins, and that's so cool. We saw a sea turtle that followed our bait in to the shore. I caught a crab, which was only hanging onto the squid I was fishing with. He let go when he hit the water's surface. A kid fishing a little bit away from us caught an Angel fish, and it was really big, about the size of his hand. There are just such unusual things to see here. We haven't caught a fish yet, but we'll keep trying. We have the power chair plugged in so getting to the beach will be less exhausting for me. The beach is amazing hard and like walking on a paved road, a soft paved road. I don't have to fight soft, squishy sand and that's a good thing, because I wouldn't be able to go. I'm loving it though and so is Tim. He gets in long walks on the beach while I sit and enjoy the surf and sounds.

An air force training plane went down in the gulf just off our shore last week. One pilot's body was found off Port Aransas shore, he was from East Troy, WI. The other hasn't been found yet. Yesterday I was looking at shells on the shore and saw something pink. I looked closer and there were teeth. I looked closer and closer and spotted some wire. It was a lost partial. Man, I thought I found part of a body. That was the creepiest thing ever, but alas, false alarm.

Zoe enjoys her walks and has been to the beach twice. She wants to follow Tim on his walks so if we are going for his walk, she doesn't go along. She is stronger than I. We are still pulling sand burrs from our little lawn, which will be 90% sand by time we are done, but I'd rather have sand than burrs. I'll try and get a pix of those nasty critters.

Saw pix of my Arizona friends celebrating Jane's birthday and got a little home sick for their company. I'm lucky to have made such interesting friends there. Here? Not so much (yet?).

Take care, love to all, Diane

Fun with birdies

2009-10-30T16:05:00.001-07:00

Tim and I spent some time at one of the piers in Port A and had fun talking to some fisherman and watching the birds. A group of pelicans decided to hang out with us and a few fisherman, for bait I'm sure, but what fun that was! The third picture is a crane. I watched it walk really slow to get to a bait bucket the left side of the picture. Said crane made off with a pretty big lunch.

I love the water and the people and the birds. It makes the wind, the storms, the humidity and the sand burrs, tolerable.

We've been having a good time. Enjoy the clip.

Love to all. Diane

2009-10-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

I hate that the pictures don't show up the way I upload them but here goes. I forgot to show you what Tim found when we were getting our trailer ready for our trip. Yep, a register full of acorns, stashed away by chipmunks. Thank heavens they didn't get into the trailer, but I would love to know where they found a breach in the duct work. We have our fingers crossed that we got them all. I'll be they are still looking for the stash.

There is a picture of a storefront with a pretty ambitious beach disply of concrete and stone. Can you believe all that work to sell tee shirts and other junky stuff, although I have to say, some of it is pretty neat.

Finally, I was outside pulling sand burrs out of the lawn so Zoe could poop without hurting her feet and when I came back in, Tim had rearranged the furniture. He actually unscrewed the couch and put it in the middle of the room. We moved the chair and wow, it feels so big! It actually feels like we have a 3 room place. I'm thrilled with it. We'll have to reattach the couch where it belongs when we leave, but for now, I'm quite comfortable. Whatta guy!

We have cold and blustering weather today. Thank goodness the heat and humidity of yesterday are gone. It was 90 and I think 90% humidity. I coughed outside just breathing the air and was suprised there wasn't ozone alerts on the local tv stations. Everywhere you were outside, people were coughing. Tim tried to go for a walk on the beach but the surf was up almost to the dunes, his eyes burned and he coughed too much. He had to abandon his walk but he managed to pick a few fisherman's brains while he was out. I think we'll be getting a license and some supplies next week. I think he's ready to try surf fishing.

That's about all for now. Take care y'all. Diane

Blurry movie

2009-10-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

I know this is blurry, I don't know why though. We'll try again but for now, I posted this little movie, at least you get to see the Zomeister. She goes to the beach every few days and she beginning to try to avoid the walk already. But we drag her along anyhow. Love, me

The Colors of Port Aransas

2009-10-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Port Aransas is nothing if not colorful! I am amazed how New Orleans - like the colors are here. I took a few pictures I thought I would share. We watched some fisherpeople and this woman pulled in a large salt-water cat fish. It was the smallest of the ones they caught and this picture makes it look small but it was about 20 inches long. Actually, I guess that's tiny for what people catch here. There is a shop with a huge shark outside and some funky sea horses at another. We've weathered two rather wicked storms so far and there are some more in our future. One couple here lost the awning on their motor home. He's already getting it fixed, less than 24 hours. Our windows are real clean now though and our car sparkles. We had been getting pretty (very) dusty. We'll be doing laundry again today. Then a walk on the beach. Enjoy the pix. Love, Diane and/or mummy

Storms aloft, hang on

2009-10-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

We experienced a storm last night and one right now. Our trailer is rocking from 41 mph gusts and I think we'll have enough standing water to feed the mosquitos for the rest of the winter. They are horrible here. Don't leave the trailer after the gloming. They got in last night, when Tim took Zoe out, and he slapped mosquitos with the fly swatter for half an hour. The buggers look like northern mosquitos but they are nearly invisible and they don't make a noise. I hate their buzzing noise but given the option, I like a warning. I'm all bit up.

We went to the library and got our card and books, we visited the Chamber of Commerce for info on the area and we ate on the warf. We window shopped at a fishing store to price the equipment we will need to fish. I may just watch, and let Tim have the fun. You can surf fish here or fish off several public piers. There are fishing boats too, but they are mighty expensive. Several hundred dollars for 1 day is a cheap trip.

If I could take the gulf to Arizona, I will have found Neverland. But alas, I'm just dreaming.

The pictures are of the beach, amazing clouds and the boardwalk covered in sand. The sand blows on and it blows off, all in one day. Always windy here.

Later folks. Love, xxx ooo Mummy

Photos

2009-10-20T06:41:00.001-07:00

Heading for Texas - 2nd Session on Wheels

2009-10-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

Season 2 began later than last year. Just in time too. Two inches of snow fell the afternoon we left. We began with a visit with the kids and my folks and after 2 fun filled days, we left on our journey. Zoe gets drugged these days for travelling. She sits in the back seat now, in the cab, but still enjoys spending time in the bed of the truck when she's in the mood. The drugs make her pretty sad looking, but she doesn't pant, pace and whine. That's a good thing. We stayed at KOAs again, they're always convenient and we know what to expect. We stayed 4 days in Arlington to visit old friends and then headed to San Antonio. We had fun there. We took a bus from the campsight, that we very convenient. We ate high in the sky at the Tower of the America's. When Tim was here about 7 years ago, there was a Mexican restaurant. Now it is a Chart House and mighty expensive but we still had a nice dinner. The Alamo was amazing but there are no dioramas like Pee Wee Herman saw with Jose and Inez in the A D O B E. HaHa. I came away with a greater understanding of what that battle was all about and was suprised how big the entire Alamo is, and yet it is smaller now that in the past. We each bought a coffee mug. The river walk is larger than I thought too and a truly magical place. It would take an entire week to explore every nook and cranny. The boat ride was fun and entertaining.

Finally we headed to our winter home on Mustang Island. We got set up but still have work to do. We took a walk to the gulf, Zoe too, and that is very pretty. There was a "red tide" (hotter than normal water) that killed a bunch a fish. Our section of beach has scattered corpses, but in the news there are sections where the fish are 2 feed deep. UGH

We are a little miffed with our site here though. The traffic sounds are louder than I thought they would be and we are on the fence backing Hwy 361. I thought "It's an Island, how heavy can traffic be?" Dah, blond thinking. The worst is the burrs in the grass. Zoe can barely walk without picking up these tiny burrs and we have to take them off her pads. The burrs stick to our shoes and we drag them into the trailer. I had to get on my hands and knees and pick them out of the carpet. We are going to rethink our plan. Some areas of the park are burr-free zones (we noticed on our walk) but I doubt if there are any available sites there. Our friends warned us we wouldn't like it here. We do like it here! I don't think they knew about the burrs though. They would have said something, for Zoe's sake.

I'll post photos on a seperate blog. It won't let me do it now. Enjoy. Diane and Tim

Summer moves on

2009-08-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is moving right along. After Jackie's visit Tracy came up and now Jackie is heading up again for a weekend of fishing. Tim is very sick and tired of fishing. I don't mind so much. I actually like fishing, except at night. I also decided leaches are better than worms, and yes, I touch leaches.

When Tracy was here our fishing trophies came up short but we had a good time at the Sawyer County Fair, the casino and were treated to a beautiful sunset while fishing at twilight. I hope you can see the rays of blue on the photo. Usually, you see rays of sunlight bursting over the horizon, this time I saw clouds with blue sky streaking and forming the rays. It is reflected in the water too. Man I wish I had a $$$$$ camera sometimes. I might replace Zoe on the front of the blog with that picture. It was awsome, I've never seen it before. I posted a picture of Jackie and Tim walking along the Lake Superior shoreline after fishing the big water. She had the only catch, a 3 inch white fish. Enjoy the pix!

And then there's more fish'n

2009-08-18T06:31:00.001-07:00

We can always learn new things from our kids. Yesterdays lesson? Hold the fish close to the camera and it'll look bigger and you will look smaller. Actually, Tim's bass was bigger by a smidge. We sound competative because we are! I caught this 19 inch northern pike. We didn't keep anything. It was all catch, photograph and release. You can thank me for not putting all the pictures up. I'm getting exhausted with Jackie here and our friends, Tom and Deb and their grandson Even (yes, I typed that right) were also here. We had pudgy pie fun, a fish fry, more fishing and swimming. Tim and Tom didn't swim and were smart! The rest of us ended up with swimmer's itch. DON'T EVER GET IT. We weren't smart enough to watch the local weather - they announce when conditions were right for this parasite to be present. It's not catchy and the parasite doesn't live on humans but they burrow in and bite, then die, and you break out for up to a week with this awful rash and it is impossible to find relief. I used stick deoderant (advice from a local up here and got relief for a while but then quit working), a skeeter stick but how do you treat 50 plus bites with more coming every day, and finally gold bond 2x itch cream. That's my current treatment and it seems to be working pretty good.

Take care all of you, Love, Mummy

Finally got some keepers

2009-08-16T06:12:00.000-07:00

Jackie is visiting and she has a friend visiting her so we had to go fishing. Tim and I both caught keeper Walleye. What fun! The girls weren't as lucky but who cares. (hahaha) Our lake has an 18" minimum, anything less has to go back into the water. I caught a perch but of course I didn't know that yet, and started reeling it in. Whatever I had on the line started to got really really heavy. The rod was bending almost to the point of snapping and I thought I was caught up in the weeds but whatever was on the hook was really fighting back, even when I let up on it. I handed the whole thing to Tim and he pulled on it, as if he were getting it out of the weeds and finally let up but "suprise" the fish was still on. Well when I got the fish in the boat, it had bite marks on it! Something big was trying to eat the fish I caught. You might see some of the damage on the perch I'm holding up. I can clearly see how people can really get carried away with "fish stories". I posted Jackie with her non-keeper walleye too. As far as my picture, Jackie cut half my face off when she took the picture. I wasn't about to pose a second time with that fish! I was laughing more for the fact that I was holding the darn fish than I was for catching it!

Rain today so no fishing. Maybe some downtown Hayward shopping.

Love, Mummy

North WoodsFun

2009-08-03T05:16:00.001-07:00

Hi eveyone. I got the urge to share some pictures, stuff you don't see just anywhere. Our neighbor, in his 80s, plays with a band up here, they sort of "jam". Well, they do jam. In all, there were 11 muscicians on the stage, a woman fiddle player, a young guy from Milwaukee who represented Fender's guitars, an 85 year old guy who sang Danny Boy, a banjo player whose right hand couldn't strum anymore so his son did the strumming, that was pretty special.

We stopped at a roadside chainsaw shop. We stopped last year when the shop was new, and now, he is really doing fabulous work. He has a real sense of whimsey in his work. See the bench? Got $5,000? It's yours.

When we were in Ashland I noticed more than one building with pictures on the sides. I liked the one I posted here. I reminds me of a needle point I did 27 years ago.

Finally, where else will "ride the Musky" ever enter your vocabulary? She's not the Miller Highlife Lady on the moon, but she sure is unique!

Today we are going to the casino. I'm really looking forward to it. As far as I'm concerned, everyone should have to go once a week. This is only the 2nd trip this year. We've been good.

Take care, loving every one. Mummy

Or is it?

Jennifer's "Cooter"

2009-07-26T08:26:00.001-07:00

Jennifer bought a scooter and it has become everybody's toy, including Mackenzie. Watch the video and see how the scotter came to be called the "cooter."

A few more pix

2009-07-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

This picture of Darien makes me laugh. He looks like he is singing in the choir. I also like his "cake face" and had to share! Rachel made him his own cake, a baseball cake and she did an excellent job. Go Darien! Mackenzie is such a good big sister. She let Darien have the spotlight - well, when his big events were over and Lola and Lolo headed home, Rachel did have to make her a special cake. But that was pretty good.

Shame on me

2009-07-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

I tried to get on this blog and couldn't, then I got lazy. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to. We have Tim up here with a cake some friends bought. Tim and I at dinner after fthe baptism. One at the Brewers/Dodgers game with the entire family (including my brother and sister-in-law in the back, barely visible) at a tailgate party at Miller Park. Darian at his baptism. Mackenzie (with candy necklace).

The park here was been busy busy busy and the owner came up short with pontoons boats for rent so we were able to rent out the pontoon boat. That was easy $$. (Shhhh).

We are just sitting back, enjoying alot of nothing, and planning to return to Waukesha (George will love that we stay with Jennifer and him!) in August for the Puza Family Reunion.

Summer temps and sunshine returned yesterday. We had some on the 4th of July but for the most part, the weather this summer sucks. If it were hot and muggy, I would complain too. There is no pleasing me.

Oh, and then there is me

2009-06-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Somehow this picture got dropped from our bowling post. Seeing Darien eat a pickle and chase it with a lemon is worth his own post.

Now I'm moving on. Love again

Kids kids kids

2009-06-21T07:15:00.001-07:00

When do you stop calling your kids kids? Anyhow, Jen's life is exciting lately. A new beau, now fiance and her birthday was the 20th. In addition to getting engaged a few weeks ago, Jorge dressed up her wrist to accompany her ring. I have to show it off for her.

We left on her birthday, so we celebrated Father's Day and her 35th (ugh) on Friday by having alot of chinese food ordered in, it was like a buffet! We topped that off with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. I've been complaining about a 15 lb weight gain since leaving Arizona. Nights like this don't help.

It is finally summer in the great north woods. we have storms and rain but the sun comes out and we are in the 80s. Maybe I'll get some color, I'm as white as a ghost. It had been cold and cloudy ever since we arrived.

Moving on . . . take care. Love, Mummy and/or Diane

A week with the kids

2009-06-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Tim helped a friend move from Janesville WI to Arlington TX. I stayed in Waukesha with the kids while he was away but before he left we got in a night of bowling. Tim has good form!

I was able to spend alot of time with my grandkids. I spied on Mackenzie at her day care and then took a few pictures. I had to photograph Darien in his high chair because he is so busy exploring I can't get a good pix. Mackenzie too, always moving, but on the potty . . . she was a good subject.

Tim had both a week from hell and a really really good time. Our friends wanted him to stay even longer but he missed me.

Awwwwwwwwww.

2009-06-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Jackie and Jason visited last weekend and we had alot of fun. In one day we went to the Musky Hall of Fame, walked downtown Hayward, had lunch, went to an all city rummage in Stone Lake, went fishing in weather that was cold (in the 40s) and then had a campfire and made smores, then we made food. Having the extra trailer works out really nice.

Tim and I also posed with big foot - how nice of him to pose with us!

We are heading to Waukesha today. I'll be spending the week with them and Zoe and Tim will be helping Jamison with his final move to Arlington Texas.

Take care one and all. Diane

Fish Fry today!

2009-05-31T06:10:00.001-07:00

Tim and the neighbor, Brad went fishing and they were successful! Over thirty pan fish and crappie. Noon - fish fry- . Yum

Diane

Hello to all and Pictures for Paige

2009-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Knitting passes time just fine and I promised to keep Paige up to date on where I am with our recent pattern. So here is the back, I have a good start on the front left and hopefully by 2010 either Jackie or I will have a new sweater.

Paige, I took a close up of the pattern I ended up with for comparison with the picture on the pattern. I'm not sure if it is what the picture shows but I am happy with it, it seems to have stayed the same through the whole back and hopefully the seams might line up nice if I ever get it done.

My health is pretty good considering I'm loosing my mind and my esaphagus sent me into a tailspin! I've been stressed out and no amount of stressing is good for anyone, don't I know!

Hopefully our weather will start to perk up. We are in the grip of adreary ick. Not alot of sun, too cold to be out and about, trying not to shop and besides, there isn't any real good shopping up here sooooooooooooooo, I'll knit a little more.

Love to all. Diane and Mummy

Some Sand Lake pix

2009-05-23T09:45:00.001-07:00

Just thought this sunset was rather beautiful. It is the only thing we caught on the lake so far. We had wind the other day - 40 mph all day long. We had to shout to be heard. Needless to say we didn't do much but we did check up on the boat and its lines and since I had the camera, I thought the white caps would make a fun pix.

Enjoy!

OMG it's snowing

2009-05-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

It is cold today, but I didn't expect to look up and see snow. Turned out to be more like sleet and was melting as fast as it fell bug UGH! Not so sure I would prefer 103 degrees though.

We also spot huge woodpeckers here and bald eagles. It's hard to get a photo of the eagles but I got one of the woodpecker.

That's all folks.

Back in Wisconsin

2009-05-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry - no pictures right now, just an update on our whereabouts. We are settled back at Sand Lake Pines, the Jayco is in for warranty work, the boat is in the water and tied up to the pier and it has rained alot here so we haven't truly "gone fishin".

We have a big week coming up in the beginning with July with family including a first birthday party for Darien, his baptism and a Brewers/Angels game including tailgating with a whole lot of family.

Tim and I have been catching up with doctor appointments and my MRI shows brain damage, which I suspected all winter but its no fun to know that what's in my head isn't just all "in my head". Nothing to do about it though, ceptin fer fretting, which I've been pretty good at the last few days.

I'll have a few pix up in a few days. Most important for all, Zoe is fine and catching up with old friends. I think of all of you, friends and family, all the time. Take care.

Love and prayers, Mummy and/or Diane

Family and food - that's what it is all about

2009-04-23T06:17:00.001-07:00

Ate with everyone at Mama Mia's and had a good time. Dinner was great with the whole family but this was the best part, and I don't think anyone will disagree. Darien is 9 months and Mackenzie just turned 3. She wants to visit the princesses (all of them - it's her life!)

Love, mummy

Good Texas food

2009-04-23T06:11:00.001-07:00

While in Texas Tim and I stopped in at a Cajun restaurant and here he is seen eating "gator". It wasn't bad. Reminded me of fried clams.

Jamison and Tim insisted on a good Texas steak so we did enjoy a nice visit to Texas Land & Cattle. Good choice and lots of fun.

Jamison kept us busy our last day there and we saw alot of sights. The new stadiums are huge and there was so much else to see. Leaving however, was a nightmare, even though we left on Sunday. We had to drive through Dallas and although Jamison told us everybody is in church on Sunday, it wasn't true. Only some of the people were in church. Getting through downtown Dallas took all the patients and tolerance we could muster - with strangers and ourselves, but we did it.

Love and prayers, mummy

Made it to Arlington

2009-04-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

This park is smack dab in the middle of city life. But in here, it is quiet. This is a pix of the park yesterday, at Las Cruces. One is with "night scene" and the other is "landscape" Go figure. No pix yet today. I think we've traveled just short of 900 miles so far. Love and prayers, mummy

More friends

2009-04-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Holly and Nick are our neighbors right across the street from us. They are full timers here (and the youngest I think!)

Tim and Scott (not a couple, just a couple of crazies). Scott is a good friend to everyone and the nicest guy (he's single ladies).

John and Jane are so much fun! Their dogs are Zoe's best friends. They were blessed with twin grandchildren this December and have been able to spend a ton of time with them. Jane is babysitting as I write! Soon, its home to Indy for them so time with the babies is special.

Good friends and "until fall" goodbyes

2009-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sue and Bill are amazing. They hike, ride bikes, always happy and always moving.

Paige was pouting because I wouldn't wait until Thursday to leave (1 more knitting day). I told her she'd be sorry. Dave is getting a kick out of it though!

We're off - heading to Wisconsin

2009-04-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hello kids and friends! We left (sadly) Monday a.m. and were actually gone by 10:15 a.m., with tons of help from the "hangers on" and lots of hugs. We made it to Las Cruces NM and will head to Arlington TX but will probably only go 1/2 that distance 'cause its like really far.

Zoe's traveling nervously, as expected but I think it will be soon before she settles in.

Again, pictures are giving me a hard time. I'll work on it.

Love and prayers - Mummy

2009-03-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Dad and Zoe went camping at Roosevelt Dam - to the east of us about 60 miles. He traveled a mountainous road that left blacktop behind and drove into beautiful desert landscapes and visited some ruins. he met up with several friends so he wasn't completely alone. Mom enjoyed peace and quiet at home. Zoe was a big hit with everyone and since she went everywhere with Tim, she was exhausted. She hiked up to the ruins but wasn't allowed past a certain point, "no pissing and shitting dogs allowed" near ruins. The guy in the pix held onto Zoe so Tim could explore. The lake created by the Dam is beautiful and huge. Enjoy the pix.

Tracy and Tina made it!

2009-03-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

I knew they would make it . . . but I was thrilled when they rolled in.

First things first, Zoe needed her hellos. Our only full day together was filled with visiting the zoo, shopping in historic Scottsdale and we had some excellent sushi. We all shared each other's food.

The pictures aren't in order, again, of course. I will be known forever as the blogger who couldn't get it right.

Although their plans were to leave the next day and head to the Grand Canyon, our last day seemed too short.

We got calls from the Grand Canyon and Vegas so we know they are on their way.

Shed arrives and I saw a snake!

2009-03-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll. Life got exciting yesterday when our shed arrived. You know you're in trouble when a shed is exciting but it was. We had about 7 guys show up to help us get it off the trailer and onto the ground. It wasn't quite shimmed up on the left when I snapped this pix but I had to get a pix while most of the guys were still around.

The day before that I was walking zoe in the wash and she walked by a small snake and when I realized what it was I got the heebee jeebees. My weak knees got me back home and I grabbed the camera and went to my neighbor's yard (Gary and Margaret) and took a pix with zoom. I actually drew a yellow circle around it before I shrunk the pix but you can barely see it or the yellow circle, just off left on center. So figuring it wouldn't turn out, good hearted Gary went down and held it for me so I could get a good pix. Evidently, it had frozen to death on a cold night and then dehydrated in the hot days. That works for me! There was an article in the paper that scorpion bites are up. Don't leave shoes out overnight - that's the most common way people get bit. I leave my sandles out overnight but now they go on the little table we have and I double check.

Auntie Kathy and Dale bought a house in Kentucky and should be moving into it in a day or two, I think they said the 13th. Speaking of the 13th, Mackenzie turns 3 on March 13. I'll send her gift home with Tracy. Lola and Lolo are treating her to a trip to Disney World so I figure if our gift arrives AFTER the trip, it might have a bigger impact, although nothing can beat Mickey! Mackenzie is so excited. She actually knows where she is headed. Such a smart kid. And cute too. Have fun! (We were all invited to meet up in Orlando for the fun, but that was a bit much for us to squeeze in considering we'll be heading home in a month of their trip).

Hope you're all okay and I'm down to counting single digit days until Tracy and Tina get here!

Love to all, Mummy (and Diane)

To Vegas to see Jenny and Jorge

2009-03-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we drove up to Vegas to spend some time with Jennifer and George. Here they are mocking the statues behind them at Harrahs, where we all stayed. Tim "never wins" at machines but here we racked up $60 plus bucks. It's always fun to get something back. Our stimulous?

We all piled into a taxi and headed to Freemont Street. We've never been there at night and that was very pretty! Am I getting shorter?

We ate some fabulous food, of course and threw plenty of cash into the economy but the best part was just visiting the kids. Again, I am short on people pictures. I always get involved with just having fun, I forget to take the camera out!

Looking forward to a week from now, when Tracy and Tina come out.

Many many thanks to our friends, John and Jane, who watched Zoe for us, otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to go.

For now, it is back to normal life, no ding ding ding. Shucks!

Love, mummy

Pictures

2009-02-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

I have had the darnest time getting these two pix to come up. Had to do it seperately. The snow is in Flagstaff a few weeks ago with Jackie. The angry skies just amaze me. I'm not even sure where I took this one. Enjoy - Mummy

What do Retired People do all day?

2009-02-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

A good retired friend shared this with me. It's the best! I wish I had thought of it.

The question is:What Do Retired People Do All Day? Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes.When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So my wife called him a shit-head. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus. We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age.

Lunch with a Janesville friend

2009-02-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

Tim and I had lunch with Bill D from Janesville Saturday. We met in Eloy, a few miles south of Casa Grande. We had a good time catching up. On the way home we stopped to visit the Casa Grande ruins. On the interent, it doesn't look too interesting but once there it was very interesting. We saw the movie, took the tour and came away smarter for it.

Sorry - no pix, mummy forgot camera!

The last thing we did with Jackie was visit Flagstaff and Winslow. We caught a storm. Hopefully, you'll see the pix I up up. We truly enjoyed Jackie's visit and look forward to Tracy and Tina's arrival. They only plan to stay a few days, but that's all I need for another family fix.

Love and prayers, mummy

A fair

2009-02-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Renaissance fair is in town. They are the same people that hold fairs in summer up north. I should have figured! Anyhow, it was a ton of walking so a power chair is a must! Lots of food, people watching, jewelery, metal and leather work and even a spinning/weaving booth. I'm glad we went. The pix show a bit of our day.

Mummy got to hold a goose at the fair. I swear, holding fowl is the most relaxing thing!

The fair here has permanent buildings, I think close to 150 of them. And there was a walking tree!!!!

This pix is supposed to be first, Ugh. It is just the tickets etc.

If you have the chance back home, go to one of these. Take a ton of cash and an appetite. They have chocolatieres too, not just all meat.

Zoe climbs Silly Mountain

2009-02-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Pictures are willy nilly again but oh well. This first one is where Mom departed. The ditch in front of Jackie doesn't look deep on the pix but it was! Zoe made it - she made it all way up!

This pix is the successful climbers at the top. What a view. We live out there somewhere. Probably behind Dad's head.

This is the beginning of the trail. See me? I'm the shadow.

Isn't this amazing? I'm impressed.

Love, mummy and daddy.

Diane's new "do"

2009-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Jackie heard about a restaurant that serves snake. The night she got here, we went there. It is a really fun place (Rustlers Rooste). they ate it, I didn't. I couldn't even watch! They did get "I Ate the Snake" t-shirts though.

I'm so mad at myself. I uploaded all the pix and then cleared the disc. I forgot to print some first. Stupid, stupid, stupid. (What movie is that from) I can still do it but I have to hook the new photosmart up to the computer.

Jackie's visiting

2009-02-06T09:48:00.001-08:00

Hurray! Jackie arrived on the evening of the 4th and I didn't recognize her in the airport. Shame on me! Yesterday we drove her out to the dessert/mountain range. That is east on 88 toward Roosevelt Dam We didn't make it all the way but the last 20 miles was on gravel and it was miserable for me. It was late too so Tim agreed to turn back.

The pix of course came up end to beginning but you get the drift.

Oh, I got a haircut. I'm not pictured though.

Today, I think we are going to hit Mesa Marketplace, it is like the fair but without animals or rides. The rows of vendors are 1/4 long and there are 4 rows. Hopefully Tim and Jack will have time to go up Silly Mountain, an easy dessert hike.

Enjoy the pix. Love you all. Mummy and Daddy

Just a few pix

2009-01-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

Thought you might enjoy a few of Zoe's friends. Unfortunately, I only got a few. there are so many more. Abby (the blonde) and Chauncy (dapper in black and white) are John and Jane's dogs. They are muts and amazingly, from different places and some years apart. Everything about them says they are liter mates. Maggie is the only dog who isn't on a leash while on doggie row. She is the funniest, smartest little girl.

The flowers are in front of Maggie's place. They are winter daisies that are natural to the dessert. Her folks just harvested seeds, planted them and took good care. They are beautiful! She also was here early in the fall and fertilized them so they are particularly grand!

A New Era!

2009-01-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

Historic, exiciting and fun! That was January 20th. For the most part, Tim and I spent the day in front the TV. Boy, Obama has his hands full though. Thoughts and prayers and kuddos to him and his cabinet!

Thursday we drove to Green Valley, a little south of Tuscon, to visit or neighbors from Sand Lake Pines, Roy & Shirley. We visited, went to lunch, visited and went to Tubac, a fabulous little touristy artist village. It was the perfect place - the type you hope to find when exploring new places but rarely do. There were close to no crafts, all art. What fun! Some of it pretty creepy, as the Mexican element seems to be so good at. We were gone all day, 12 hours. Our friend Paige took care of Zoe, and Zoe was not in good spirits. We were grateful for Paige (who has weiner dogs)and her understanding of quirky hounds.

Now for yesterday (yes it was a busy, fun week). Our neighbors, John and Joan hosted a get together because her sister came in from El Paso for the weekend. Her daughter and husband also came - with their 5 week old twins! Lilly and Calum. We had good company and good food. Jane is a good cook and although she bought some things, we also made a few. Neighbors brought stuff too.

Enjoy the pictures of our day trip and the party. Take care. Love and prayers, Tim and Diane

Happy New Year!

2009-01-15T05:58:00.001-08:00

I should be saying Happy Birthday to Tracy! I did but she didn't answer her phone. At any rate, she's too old now. Instead of lying about my age, I lie about hers! She's 27 today. Hahahaha.

I don't have a whole lot to share at this time. We have just been sitting still. Tim is just getting over the "yuck" he came down with on Christmas Day. I only had it for about a week and not nearly as bad. I went to water aerobics again Tuesday, but it was way too cold before that so it was a good 4 weeks that I missed. It is amazing how strong water aerobics makes me feel. I also went back to my Wednesday knitting with Paige, a delightful neighbor! There's alot to be said about women sharing a craft, a little food now and then, coffee and good spirit. It makes me feel strong too. It isn't just knitting either - Paige spins (can you spot her on the pix?), some crochet, one woman is designing sweaters for a book she has been commission to write. What fun!

Another set of new friends, Jane and John, have become a grandparents again, to twins. They are here in the Phoenix Valley too. What lucky grandparents they are. But I don't see Jane too much now, she spends a whole lot of time helping with the babies. What a challange!

Please keep in touch with us - we miss everyone. Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Pictures are worth a 1,000 words

2008-12-29T08:56:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures of our holiday and beautiful Newport Beach. That's several thousand words I don't have to type. On the picture we took of the beach, we walked from that spot all the way to the jetty at the top of the picture and back again. Love, Mom

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

Tim and I traveled to Vegas, Los Angeles and back to Vegas then home and spent an enormous amount of time with the grandkids. We stayed at Belae's houses in both cities. Darian is the spitting image of his mother, only he has his dad's coloring. He is a drool machine and has his two bottom teeth, which just came in special for Grandma. He smiles all the time and is the best baby boy I know! Mackenzie is growing like crazy and is getting more beautiful every time I see her. We can understand almost everything she says and it is so much fun to hear her put full sentences together. Oh, she wants for nothing! She's been dotted on for sure.

The traffic was lousey for alot of the trip, bottle necks for no reason but no accidents. We did end up behind a few flat tires though and peeeuuuuuu, that stinks.

Tim, Zoe and I took some time for ourselves on Christmas day and went to Newport beach. Tim and Zoe did alot of walking. I tried, but . . . struggled quite a bit. Zoe walked in the surf and chased sandpipers. I don't know what she would have done if she caught up to one. It rained (poured) all the way there and when we got there it cleared up and the sun warmed us up. It was windy though! The picture's I post make it look really overcast but that isn't my recollection of it at all. It was a beautiful day! But . . . right after we got back to the house, Tim got the chills and proceeded to get sick (flu?). We just got back last night and when he is up and about, we are going to try and find a decent clinic for him to go to. He might have pneumonia - he's that miserable!

As I write I am printing pictures on my new PhotoSmart printer from Tracy and Tina. That was a very fabulous gift - thank you ladies! They are tied with Rachel for favorite right now. hahahahaha

Well, I'm off to post pictures for one and all to enjoy. Love and prayers, and be safe in your New Year celebrations.

Mom (and Dad)

2008-12-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

Deedles and Tumbleweed Tree

Hello everyone and Season's Greetings!

Tim and I are getting excited - we'll be leaving very early Sunday for Vegas, hopefully, we'll be there in time to greet Rachel and Darian when their flight comes in. Then it is on to her in-laws' Vegas home. Mackenzie is already there and Darrell will be out on the 23rd, after exams. I miss all the girls and the folks and would love to spend some time with Dennis and Sharon too. So today is alot of chasing around and tomorrow is packing. Saturday evening we are invited to a friend's house for a season "dish to pass" event.

My deedles have made it into a Gallery, thanks to Terry at Tempe Yarn and Fiber. You can visit her site and a few Deedles at http://tempeyarnandfiber.blogspot.com/ The Gallery is Art on Boston (I believe it is http://www.artonboston.com/) and the Deedles appear to be in really good company with the other artwork, from painting to glass work and jewelry. I was thrilled to see the area the shop is in. It is old Chandler with a square, restaurants, art galleries, tiny brewery, etc. The square has a Christmas tree made of tumble weed. It is ironic, because my friend Paige told me about the tree and Tim and I kicked around going to see it. As we approached the area and watched street names, we spotted the tree and the gallery was right on the other side of the street. (where was my camera? at home!) Then I was thrilled all over again when Laurie, the owner, said she would show them in the store. The whole thing is just too cool.

I've been rather lazy about keeping up the blog - apologies to all. I know keeping in touch is important. I'm not too sure I'm loving Arizona - the friendships are fabulous. Paige is a fiber freak too. Jane is an avid reader and we've read many of the same things, she became a Grandmother of twins yesterday. Holly is right across the street and she goes to water aerobics too. I went with Sue (a fun Canadian) and Jane to Bingo for the very first time ever on Wednesday. What fun is that? I could do that every night!

Tim has a job interview for a residential treatment center on the 30th. I hope he gets it. It is 2nd shift and I think he wants to keep busier.

I can never control where the pix end up on this blog when I upload them and I've lost my work too many times to try to get them where I want them but at least I have a new camera and at leat there is something posted.

I'll try to post in Vegas or California - but for now, Merry Christmas to all and Love and Prayers. Tim and Diane

Christmas Lights on Cochise Circle

2008-12-08T19:12:00.001-08:00

Hello friends and family

I took a little film of our street with the decorations at night. It is my first movie on the blog but alas, it didn't load. I went to the help page and they are having "issues" with videos so I'll try again tomorrow.

Dad and I decided to go for sure to Vegas and LA for Christmas. We are both anxious to see the babies. Well, baby and kid.

Saturday Tim and I went out for pizza with some friends, Jane and John. They are from Indiana and have an old victorian they spent their summers in. On the 18th, their daughter is having twins via c-section. A boy and girl. How exciting! We went to Carini's. That was our first pizza in months - I think we had Pizza Hut in late September with Tom and Deb in Hayward. There aren't a whole lot of pizza parlors in this area. It is a topic of conversation now and then when restaurants comes up. There are better restaurants where we came from by far and everyone else seems to feel the same way.

Love and prayers, Mummy

First Hike

2008-12-02T07:02:00.001-08:00

Well dad is off on his first hike and I thought I would post a picture of him and a few of the guys. There are a few vehicles needed so he took ours. I can't wait to hear where they hiked. Thursday is another one, I hope this one goes well.

I also put up a pix of our new grill we had to put together and a pair of hikers I had orders for from our neighbor whose folks are older and still hike all the time.

The missing photo

2008-12-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the palm tree with its decorations. You can also see how we gardened our butts off around the base of the tree. It wouldn't post last night, so I am posting this a.m.

What a big deal hey? I'm so low on Christmas spirit that this is almost funny! But it was cost effective. So here's the secret on keeping costs down. Lowe's lighting only $1.57 a string for 100, so I got 2 strings and the snow man? 25% off at Lowe's also, it's a toilet seat cover!!!!!!!! Hahahahahaha. I might take pictures of other's deco, some are pretty outrageous. It was really dark when I took this pix, the sun just in its last glow, and it looks like bright afternoon skies with bad coloring on the trailer. How odd.

Have a good day. Love you all. Mummy

Luann - is that you?

2008-12-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Is this my cousin??? E-mail me. I gotta know.

Moving toward X-mas

2008-12-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have much spirit, but we did pick up lights and a snowman's face for the palm tree. I put up a picture of it. Oh wow. I also put up a street picture of our little road, we are on the left maybe 2nd one down.

I took several days off from water aerobics because of the holiday but got back into it this a.m. Dad starts a hiking group tomorrow. Tuesdays are 1/2 day walks leaving at 8 a.m. (hahahaha) and Thursdays are all day hikes, also leaving early. I know he's looking forward to that. He got a backpack that holds water and you can drink it from a tube. Sort of like beer hats only on your back. (Not really)

I got 2 nice cards from Jen for my b-day - kudos Jen! Way to pull out in the lead girl! They were very funny. Nothing says "I love you" like a smutty card.

I also put up a Deedle picture - it is how I pass my time. This guy is really good in person!

I really miss you guys. I hope you will all be together for x-mas - this time please take pictures to share!

Catching Up

2008-11-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family. Tim and I are still getting used to this smaller trailer but what can you do? We have have some interesting people here and Tim plans to start hiking with a group once they have all arrived. (What's the hangup? Get here!) I have found a spinner/fiber freak, a quilter and alot of dog people. I go to water aerobics at 9 a.m. some days and last Sunday our little circle here in the park had a gathering and that was fun. It was our first party and our first bad weather. Figures! We had some drizzle but the no real rain. When it did drizzle, the smell was awsome - you know the smell of rain in a dry spell. The wind was awsome and kicked up so much dust our mountain disappeared. It's wierd when you can't see a mountain through the dust.

Our camera broke so the only picture is the one of a sweater I made for Mackenzie. I hope it will fit. She was a giraffe for Halloween so I swooned when I spotted the giraffe buttons. Fiber still keep me busy, currently I am finger teasing (cleaning) some wool from my Wisconsin friend, and guess whose fleece? Moses' fleece. How cool is that?

We have two dish to pass thanksgivings to go to on Thanksgiving. It will be bittersweet - in addition to the holiday, it is also the anniversary of Terry's death. It is still so hard to accept that he is gone from this earth. His illness was so unexpected and his death so fast. God bless his family at this time.

Until next time. Love and Prayers. Mummy and Dad.

Nothing much happening

2008-10-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well the heat broke last night. Yesterday was very breezy and last night we had downright wind. After 2 weeks of hitting nearly 99 every day, we are going to hit maybe a high of 87. Then back up to the low 90s but I'll survive. A little FYI, you can still have allergies in this dry climate. Both Tim and I have sinus headaches and he is pretty stuffed up. Could be with the wind kicked up last night be we're basically good. Zoe is too.

We got a new stair for the front door, it is 48 inches wide with three steps and a railing. The side without a railing has the ramp for Zoe. Now she comes in and out comfortably. The trailer steps are too steep and close for her. Every in and out took alot of thought on her part. The stairs lift up with storage. I'll get a picture later.

I miss home - that is, our families, AND Sand Lake. I've come to think of that as home since being here. Our trailer here is brighter, but smaller in every way. Dad hits his head coming in and out of the door, the shower is small, the bed is short, the lights, although charming, hang too low and we hit our heads. Our refrigerator is painfully small and it just isn't possible to cook at all in this small space.

I met a woman who is also a fiber freak and a spinner. That was a gift!!! We went to two shops yesterday where I bought some wool for felting and a pattern and yarn for a sweater for Mackenzie. I made one for Darien so . . . the guilt moves me to create one for Mackenzie. I love being a Nana. I dislike the distance though.

We miss everyone but there isn't too much more to share right now so I'll get busy knitting and I'm loving you all - friends and family. Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Day Tripping

2008-10-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

October 15, 2008

Hello Family & Friends:

Yesterday (Tuesday) was an day trip day. We headed out to see the Lost Dutchman Museum and then headed further down the road to an old ghost town with a restaurant and lots of gift shops. After that we continued up the road to Canyon Lake. That last 8 miles was all in mountains and just beautiful. At the lake there was a restaurant and we had chips and dip and got a baggie of dog food to feed the ducks and huge carp over the railing of the outside dining area. There were also birds called crackels (??) that took the food right out of the air. That was fun! All of this was within 15 miles of our resort.

Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Missing everyone really bad at times, especially when I heard a baby cry. The cry was just like Darian‘s when he was visiting in September! I see there are cheap airfares right now . . . Tempting for me!

Love and prayers. Mom and Dad

Cooling Off

2008-10-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Good morning - It's nice and cool today but yesterday was really hot. I put in a picture of the time and temp. So we went to cool off at the pool. We found the post office and mailed our absentee ballots and our mail is reaching us here so if you want to send pix or write, send it to Tim & Diane Puza, Superstition Outlook Mountain RV Park, 1371 East 4th Avenue #129, Apache Junction, AZ 85219.

The State Fair is going on here this week so we might go there this afternoon. It is cool today so it might be a nice thing to do for me. Tim isn't so bothered by the heat. We haven't been around here too much but we've been eyeing other parks and we think we landed in a pretty nice place. It reminds us of Vegas now and then and there are new malls/shopping centers in our area which we have been past but not in. We have a short Walmart list and Tim wants a hat so we might hit the malls. If we decide to stay here, we'll need a shed. Most people have metal ones so I think we'll get one like that but until we are 100% sure (which might be as early as today) we'll put it one in. It has to be large enough for my power chair though.

We are going to update Tim's resume today and get some resumes out on line so he can stay busy. I have to find a place to buy wool so I can make my Deedle People and stay busy. Some things don't change. Oh, in a few weeks, the watercolor classes start and I plan on attending those and learning to paint for real.

Well, I guess that's all the excitement we can share right now. Keep in touch please. Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Okay, so its Hot in Arizona

2008-10-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello people and family

It is hot here. We got here yesterday and set up and by time I was done I was DONE. Tim does better. I was so overheated and weak it scared Tim but . . . must not set up trailer again in heat!

We ruined the big 42" flat screen on the roads in New Mexico. The roads were ok, except the bumps before and after overpasses were horrible. We had the TV secured but it worked its way out on those overpasses and ouch, it got stuck and pinched between the bed and door and ruined the picture. So today we go shopping. It is insured - so we'll be OK. Note to kids - get insurance.

Here is what we look like. We face south - ugh. Our awning doesn't provide any shade except to shade trailer. The wind is a problem so shade has to be brought in if it kicks up too much. Lucky for us, we got an electric awning.

I'll write again soon. Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Mountains mountains mountains

2008-10-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

The view even left Zoe speechless. But she said " Stars? I don't see no stars!"

This is the road we came from, you can't see cars, but we went up up up and looking back you can see how far down we were.

Rocks rocks rocks.

The rocks are so close on one side but the pictures don't really show it. I recommend taking a ride out here to see it and then hey, stop by us for a week! Hahahahaha

From Branson to Arizona Pictures

2008-10-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

I can't load a lot here but I have a few to share. While in Branson, we went up into a 9 story tower on a really high hill. I have a few of those pictures here. We also shopped at a mall they put up along the river. There was a water show that was similar to the Belajio (sp) in Vegas but not as spectacular - it did have fire too though. Tim is pictured standing outside of the Bass Pro Shop. OMG what a store! Then there is me, just along some storefronts.

Then Texas and New Mexico were really no big deal, except to get across. Once we were in Arizona, we took Hwy 77 south to see a place called Show Low. Well, there is a little place called Snowflake just north of Show Low that was 100 times cuter. We may go there later in the year.

I'm moving on to a second post so I can post pix of the mountains. If I do it here who knows what will get goofed up and I'll have to do it all over!

Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Still motoring . . . but getting close

2008-10-09T05:03:00.000-07:00

Hello kids & peoples.

Well our second stop, Branson was amazing to see. We didn't hit any shows but took in the scenery and did a tad bit of shopping. The hills were awesome and frightening for me as the passenger. Dad wasn't too worried.

After 3 nights there we took off and ended up at a KOA about 20 miles West of Oklahoma City in El Reno. The next day we headed for New Mexico and made it. We stayed just inside the border at Tucumcari.

The trip through the northern pan handle of Texas was an eye opening trip. Traveler's aren't encouraged to stop, in fact, signs advertising gas and eats lead you to long defunct establishments. They don't attract you to stop at all. Northern Texas just isn't at all welcoming.

After a night in Tucumcari we drove to the opposite side of the state and are in Gallop NM and expect to leave in a few hours and hopefully, make it to Apache Junction. If not, we'll spend a night in Show Lo, which is also on the eastern side of Arizona and about 200 miles from our final stop.

We are both really looking forward to getting off the road and staying in one place. I have to save this for now and put the pictures under another post. It won't work with me this a.m.

Love and prayers. Mom and Dad (or, Tim and Diane)

First stop, Iowa

2008-10-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2008

KOA Adel, Iowa. Leaving Wisconsin went pretty well for us and watching the fall colors in reverse was rather odd. Now, in the Des Moines area, only a few of the lighter trees that turn yellow first are turning. But the weather is really nice. It is about 5:30 p.m. as I write this and inside the trailer the temp is in the 70s. Outside it is nicer because of breezes.

Des Moines is an incredible city to drive through. The highways, the businesses, houses, shopping malls, all are very nice to look at. It makes the cities in Wisconsin look down right trashy. I really hadn’t thought that this area would be so progressive and attractive. Of course, Tim pointed out that we don’t have a clue how many of these business are laying off and how many homes are in foreclosure. Another really impressive sight here is the wind farms. There are wind turbines in both directions at times, and you have to think how progressive Ohio must be. It did my heart good.

I posted two new pictures. One is of the Wisconsin colors. The 2nd is a color of another kind. It is amazing how many ways there are to enjoy retirement!

Tomorrow morning we off bright and early to head for a KOA in the Branson MO area, where the daily temps are in the 80s this week and we should find something interesting to do and see. We have reservations for 2 days, but may stay longer if the area is as interesting as people say.

Well, that’s it for now from the retirees. Love and Prayers. Mom and Dad

Puza 2 Retirement 101

2008-09-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

September 26, 2008

We’re starting this blog so we can keep up with family and friends and we hope they do the same and post comments and stories here.

Our summer in Stone Lake, just south of Hayward, is pretty well established and turned out to be a pretty good choice. Our park trailer worked out well and Tim did a fabulous job on our deck, including a ramp for me and my power chair. When the awning is out, we have a lot of shade and it feels really cozy. All but one of our daughters and family had a chance to visit for a while. We’re hoping that Dennis & Sharon and Mom & Erv will be able to come up for a visit in 2009. We were fortunate to have some friends of ours live nearby in another park.

As I write this, acorns are dropping from the oak trees and bouncing off the trailers, cars and anything else in their path. They sound awful but are harmless, just noising and boy, they have a good bounce to them. So with winter around the corner, we are going to head to Arizona, taking along Zoe, our 8 year old (see picture). We love her, she is a trooper but also a pain in the &%$ at times. Our park trailer is too large for the road, so we have a travel trailer and new big FORD to haul it. We hope to be safe and comfy.

I posted two pictures of our summer home. We are in Sand Lake Pines RV Park. There are 50 full hook-up sites and 6 cabins and boat piers. I posted a picture of our big FORD and travel trailer too. Wow, looks huge!

You may ask “why Arizona”? It is warm. It isn’t Wisconsin. There won’t be any ice or snow (God willing) and we’ll have a whole lot of new things to see and places to explore. Hopefully, we won’t see any snakes! Yes, there are snakes in Arizona, rattlers.

We are heading out on October 1. Our first stop is a KOA near Des Moines and then on to a KOA near Branson. Our plans aren’t firmed up past that but I’m sure we’ll find our way. Using the internet, we were able to view several parks and decided on a park in Apache Junction for our first stop. There were hundreds to chose from. We may not like it there, and if not, we’ll look around for something else. With the internet, you not only see the park’s websites, but you can use google earth to view the parks and see what they are surrounded by. The park we chose is east of Mesa, at the foothills of the Superstition Mountains.

We do have a few challenges. My multiple sclerosis can be a problem and Tim’s back can be a problem. In addition, his knees are aging.

This final week we have to clean, pack and winterize our Stone Lake home. Then we‘ll be off on our adventure and I promise (well, I propose to promise) to keep up with information and a few pictures.

Love and prayers. Mom and Dad