Monday, January 31, 2011

It was another nice morning with a beautiful sunrise--perfect for taking a long walk. After breakfast, John went to wood carvers and I started getting things organized for our trip east. We have been watching the weather on TV and right now it looks like Friday will be our departure date. That will give us three days to reach Cincinnati where John's brother lives. From there it is a one day drive to his sister's place outside of Philadelphia. Pop's memorial service is schedule for Tuesday morning.

The weather is suppose to turn pretty cold here over the next several days, so we decided to get a game of golf in today while it was nice and warm. The only problem with today was the wind--it got pretty strong this afternoon. My tee shots were good today, but my short game was just awful. I hope that one day it will all come together at one time.

Stan Metcalf stopped over after supper and delivered this week's paper. He has another project for John--build a dove cage. That will have to wait until after our trip. The rest of our evening was spent watching some TV and reading.




Sunday, January 30, 2011

John and I overslept a little this morning and were late getting out for our walk,so we had to take a shorter route in order to get back to the house in time to get ready for church.

Mary Ellen had planned an "adventure" for today--a picnic and hiking at the "holey rock" area followed by a drive down one of the county roads. T
im and Mary Ellen picked us up and we met the rest of our group for the drive out of town. Once we arrived at our destination, it didn't take long to get the chairs, food, and grill set up. Jim was in charge of cooking the hot dogs and soon the food was ready to eat. When everyone had enough to eat, we took a walk on the rocks looking for the ones we just couldn't live without.





When we were done looking for rocks, we loaded back into the cars and took a ride down one of the country roads. This road runs through private prope
rty with free ranging cattle. You have to open and close gates as you travel from one property to the next. The road winds through some pretty desolate land. Gene was our gate keeper for the afternoon.



We ended our adventure like we usually do, with ice cream at Pico's. Everyone was pretty tired and all agreed we had a beautiful day--sunny with high's in the low 80's--and a lot of fun. John and I were both wiped out by the time we got home and spent a very quiet evening watching some TV before heading off to bed.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The morning was cloudy with the temps in the upper 50's when we took our walk. It felt good to be outside without having to wear so many layers of clothing. We had nothing on the schedule for today other than just doing whatever appealed to us. John and I had just finished a leisurely breakfast when he received a call from his sister telling us that John's dad had passed away this morning. Pop Lavin would have celebrated his 99th birthday tomorrow. The rest of our morning was consumed with phone calls to our four kids and John's family. The decision was made to have a memorial service on February 8th so we will be heading to the Philadelphia area sometime next week.

John and I decided that we needed to get out of the house and went down to the Par 3 to play some golf. We had just started on the second hole when we saw Lloyd, Ginny and Linda. They called us over to play with them. Kathy and Jim also joined us a few moments later. We ended up playing a best ball scramble and then going to Pico's for some ice cream. John shared the news about Pop with our friends and they let us know they were willing to help with anything that we might need and would keep an eye on our place while we're away. It's amazing how God brought us together with friends this afternoon just when we needed to have our spirits lifted.

Following supper we spent a quiet evening watching one of John's favorite movies, Jeremiah Johnson.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Even though the day started off on the chilly side, it turned out to be a very nice one with temps near 70 degrees. Following our morning walk we ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and headed over to Wallace's (he's the leader of the wood carving group). John has been wanting to learn how to paint some of the faces he has carved, so he made arrangements with Becky (Wallace's wife) to get together this morning and have a painting lesson. I went along to watch the lesson.

Becky had everything all set up and ready to go.
She instructed John on what paints to use, brushes to buy, and demonstrated many different painting techniques. She then watched while John tried his hand at the painting.





Around noon John took a break from painting and we came home for some lunch. After an hour or so, he went back and finished the face. I think he did a wonderful job for his first attempt at painting a carved piece.

Since the afternoon was so nice, we decided to head down to the Par three to play a few holes of golf before going to this afternoon's condo party. We played only seven holes before we ran out of time, but we both had some nice shots.

There was quite a crowd at the party--about 30 people. Everyone seemed to have a good time and there was an exceptionally good variety of food. We lasted until the sun started to go down and the temps turned cooler. We headed on home where we spent a relaxing evening watching some TV and working on the computer.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Since we have been so busy over the past several days, I decided that today was the day I would stay home and get caught up on laundry and other chores that have been neglected. We got up a little earlier to take our walk and it was much more enjoyable as the temps were warmer than yesterday.

Right after breakfast, John gathered up his tools and headed over to Ken and Ruth Spencer's to install the new front door they had ordered. He had most of the work completed by lunch time but decided to head back after eating and get the entire job done today. This all worked out good for me as I had the entire day to get all the laundry done as well as cleaning up around the house. There were many piles of things that needed to be sorted through and put away. Now that I have things under control around here, I can get back to having fun.

While we were eating supper, Stan Metcalf dropped in for a visit and told us that the house across the street from us has finally sold so we will be getting new neighbors one of these days. After eating John went to pick up Tim and they headed off to wood carvers for the evening. I watched American Idol and did some work on the computer.


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

It was another very chilly morning--29 degrees when we left the house for our walk. We bundled up and walked the long route of 3.5 miles. I was a little stiff from yesterday's golf game, so our walk helped to loosen up the old muscles.

After breakfast, John went over to the condos to pick up Tim and the guys headed to the club house for their nine hole golf game. They met up with Ken and John C. and the four of them played the front nine. John said they had a great time which was made even better by his good playing and a score of 44. Looks like this will be a weekly event for him throughout the rest of the winter.

It's Wednesday, so that means Weight Watchers. Lois Carlson picked me up and we left for Del Rio. Our first stop was the mall where we did some shopping at JC Penny's and Bath and Body Works. Following the meeting, we stopped for lunch and then went on to Wal Mart for groceries. I ran into the same Fort Clark folks that I met there last Wednesday--it must be the day of the week everyone likes to go to Del Rio.

When John was finished his golf game, he went over to Metcalf's to talk to Jan about her porch project. She needs to discuss it with Stan and will get back to John about whether the job is a go. Fortunately John was home when Lois and I arrived back at the house, so he was able to help me unload the groceries and get things put away. Our evening was spent watching some college basketball and a few favorite Wednesday night TV shows.


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

John was up nice and early for our morning walk. I was still in bed when he mentioned having enough time for our usual 3.5 miles. That immediately got my attention as I was scheduled to play nine holes of golf with the ladies on the big course this morning. The mode of transportation for the day was our own two feet--no golf carts. I told him I wasn't walking that far plus the golfing, so he cut our walk back to our shorter golf course route.

While I was getting ready to go, Nancy Stone called and said it was too cold to play this morning, so we rescheduled for a 1 p.m. tee off time. Since I had my morning free, I made a macaroni salad to take to this evening's RV park potluck. John went to the post office to check for mail and then stopped over to Dave and Valada's for a quick visit. On the way back home he stopped at the club house to purchase a golfing package--nine holes for 12 times. Since we like only playing nine holes at a time on the big course, this was perfect for us. I used one time today and John will use another one tomorrow. He is joining a group of men who also like to play just nine holes at a time.

After lunch I hopped in the golf cart and headed down to the club house where I met the other ladies. I played with Ginny, Natalie, and Mary Jane. The only problem for me was that we had to play the back nine. That is the harder and longer part of the course and I had never played it before. However, I had a good time visiting and got plenty of exercise. While I was busy with golf, John and Gene Bevins when metal detecting. They found a few bottles and some other old pieces of metal at the back of the fort.

Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up around 5:30 p.m. and we headed over to the RV park for the Tuesday night potluck and games of "31". John and Mary Ellen were among the winners this evening so we'll have plenty of quarters for next week. After a very busy day, we spent the rest of the evening watching a little TV before heading to bed.





Monday, January 24, 2011

It was a nice clear morning, just perfect for a walk. We left the house right on time and decided to walk the golf course today--it's a little shorter route and gave John plenty of time to get back home, eat breakfast, and be on time to pick up Tim for wood carvers. John has been working on an elf face and it's coming right along.


We have several family birthdays next week, so while John was gone, I spent some time this morning making birthday cards and getting them ready to put in the mail. I also did some work on the finances.

After lunch, John and I headed off to Uvalde where John had a dental appointment. He got a temporary cap on the tooth that cracked a couple of weeks ago. I didn't feel like sitting in the waiting room for an hour and a half, so I went off to Wal Mart and did a little shopping. I found a set of new sheets for our bed and one or two other items that caught my eye. John called just as I was leaving the Wal Mart parking lot to let me know he was all done and to come pick him up. The procedure went very well--he returns in two weeks to get the permanent cap placed on the tooth.

We were able to take a few minutes to relax after we got home and then I cooked up some spaghetti for supper. Thought that would be nice and soft for John's capped tooth. Our evening was spent watching a couple of our favorite Monday night shows. Tomorrow morning I play golf of the big course with the ladies. Should be interesting!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

John and I overslept this morning and didn't have time for our morning walk, so we just took our time eating breakfast and getting ready for church.

Since it was such a beautiful afternoon, we decided to take a walk right after lunch before we settled in to watch the Packers and Bears. We got back home just in time for the kickoff of the game and enjoyed watching the Packers win and head off to the Super Bowl.

As soon as the game ended, we grabbed the cookies I made the other day and headed over to the RV park for a surprise potluck birthday dinner for John B. This was a continuation of the party that started yesterday on the Par 3 golf course. John was surprised as he thought his birthday celebrations were over on Saturday. Everyone enjoyed a good meal and a fun evening of visiting and playing a game of Bunko. John and I were back home in time to see the second half of the Jets game. John was happy the Steelers won--I was rooting for the Jets.






Saturday, January 22, 2011

It was another clear, but very cold morning--27 degrees when we left the house for our walk. We didn't walk yesterday and we don't like to skip two days in a row, so we bundled up and braved the cooler temps. It actually wasn't too bad out as there was absolutely no breeze and, once we got moving, we soon warmed up.

Right after we got back to the house, we ate breakfast and got cleaned up. We then headed off to the Historical Society's monthly meeting where our friend, Brian Gresty, gave a talk about cattle drovers in Wales. What I found most interesting was that a number of the drovers eventually settled in the American west and many of their methods and customs became part of our own western culture.

This afternoon we celebrated John B.'s 65th birthday by having a best ball scramble at the Par 3. We were divided up into teams of four, given rules for the game, and birthday hats to wear. Somehow everyone managed to wear both their caps and visors along with the pointed party hats--we certainly looked very colorful while playing. When all the teams were done, we headed down to Pico's where Lloyd and Ginny treated everyone to ice cream and, after much discussion about the scores, medals were given to the winning team. I think John really enjoyed his birthday celebration.

After such a busy day, John and I were glad to have a quiet evening at home where we watched a movie and some college basketball.



Friday, January 21, 2011

John and Stan headed off to a house auction at 7:30 this morning, so we had to skip our walk. Since it was pretty cold this morning (29 degrees), I was happy to stay in a nice warm bed and sleep in for once.

With it being so chilly, it wasn't a good day for outside activities so we ended spending most of the day in the house. John got a little bored this afternoon, so he decided to go over to Wallace's place and start his new carving project--an elf face. While he was gone, I baked some cookies, straightened up around the house, and started a new Kindle book. Our weekend looks to be pretty busy, so it doesn't hurt to have a quiet day once in a while.


Thursday, January 20, 2011

The temperature was 56 degrees when we left the house for our walk. The skies were overcast with a slight mist and no breeze. By the time we got back home, the wind started coming up, the sun was trying to break through, and the temps began their downward spiral. A major cold front was making its way into our area and will be sticking around for a day or two.

Right after breakfast John went to the post office to see if we had any mail. We were waiting for one final tax document to arrive and we would have everything we needed to file our 2010 taxes. The form we were waiting for was there, so we got all our forms and papers organized, put them in an envelope, and John made another trip to the post office to send everything off.

Stan stopped over and asked John to go and look at a property he is considering. While they were gone, I left to get a haircut. By now the temps had dropped into the low 40's with very strong winds--I dug out my winter jacket for the trip to the beauty shop.

It was a good day to stay inside and get caught up--I did some laundry and baked bread. John worked on Jan's porch quote and did some reading. After supper he picked up Tim and they headed of for an evening of wood carving. I watched American Idol and read my Kindle. All in all we had a pretty low key day.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The weather this morning was much improved over yesterday--nice and clear with a slight breeze. It made for a very enjoyable walk.

We ate a leisurely breakfast and then John headed over to Metcalf's to take some measurements of their back porch. Jan wants to screen it in, so John needed them in order to give her an idea of the cost to do the project.

When he got back home, we headed off to Del Rio so I could attend my Weight Watchers meeting. While I was at the meeting, John went and washed the car. From the meeting we hit Wendy's for lunch and then Home Depot so John could check on lumber and screening prices. At Wal Mart we filled up the Honda--$2.99 a gallon (gas was $2.86 when we first reached Del Rio today) and then stocked up on some groceries.

When we got home we put the groceries away and decided, since it was still so nice outside, we would go down to the Par 3 and play a quick round of golf. It was a good time to play as we had the whole course to ourselves. Mary Ellen stopped in to fill us in on the upcoming activities so we could be sure to get them on our calendar--I think we will be quite busy over the next several days.

This evening John went to the Gun Club meeting while I stayed home and watched American Idol. I think I need to take a day off and stay home tomorrow and get caught up on laundry and a few other household chores.








Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Even though it was cool and foggy when we took our walk, the sun had the fog all burned off by mid-morning. We left the house a little earlier than usual so we could be back in time to head over to the RV park for a special pancake and egg breakfast. There was quite a crowd in attendance and it gave us the opportunity to visit with some folks.

When John and I got back from the breakfast, we got cleaned up and then he headed into town to pick up the mail and take care of some banking. While he was gone, I started preparing a dish to take to the RV potluck this evening,

Gene and Jeanne Bevins had asked if we wanted to play some golf this afternoon, so around 1 p.m. we headed down to the course where we played a few holes. Gene decided we needed an ice cream break, so we drove our golf carts to Pico's where John and I shared a bowl of strawberry shortcake ice cream. It was delicious.

We returned home just in time for me to put the finishing touches on my casserole and get it into the oven. Tim arrived around 5:30 p.m. to give us a ride (Mary Ellen decided she needed more exercise, so she walked to the RV park). After eating, we played 31"--Randy won both games at my table, and John won both at his. Right now we have a nice bag full of quarters to use over the next several weeks.


Monday, January 17, 2011

Today it has been one year since I started doing this blog. My goal when I started was to write something everyday--I'm proud to say that I have not missed one day during the past year. This is a real accomplishment for me as there were some late nights when I didn't feel like writing anything, or our day was simply boring. I considered not continuing with the blog, but I have gotten my "second wind" and have decided to commit to writing everyday for another year--we'll see how it goes.

Now for our day. Cold weather returned for the morning, so we once again had to bundle up for our walk. Monday is wood carvers, so right after breakfast, John headed over to the RV park to meet with his carving buddies and began working on his new project--a snowman.

I spent the morning cleaning up around the house and catching up on some emails and other computer work. John arrived home a little earlier from carvers as we had a 1 p.m. tee off time to play a best ball scramble on the big course. We met four other couples at the clubhouse, divided up into two teams of five, and hit the first green. I was playing with Wes, Wally, Bee, and Natalie. Wes was by far our best player, and thanks to him, our team won the scramble. I was rather nervous about playing with people I hadn't played with before, but I think I did pretty good holding own with more experienced golfers.

When we finished playing golf, John and I went home for about an hour and then met everyone at Bee and Nancy's for a supper of bean soup, corn bread, salad, and pecan pie for dessert. It was a fun evening with many laughs, story telling, and making new friends. The ladies have invited me to join their Tuesday morning golf game--I think I will give it a try.

After such a busy day, we ended our evening watching a new TV show. Tomorrow already is filling up with activities.




Sunday, January 16, 2011

Finally, warmer weather. That's right, today was sunny with warm breezes and sunshine and, would you believe, the one morning we decided to sleep in and skip the walk. After walking every morning in cold temps and mist, we skip the day with sunshine. I think we must have misread the weather forecast last night.

We took our time eating breakfast, got cleaned up, and headed off to church. Following the service, we had lunch and then went to play some golf--we hadn't played since last Sunday and our game today certainly showed it. We are suppose to play on the big course tomorrow with some friends and I hope we both do better than we did today

Our friend, John Carlson, who bought and remodeled a place, was having an open house this afternoon, so on our way home from golf, we stopped to tour his place. While there we visited with some other folks who also dropped in to see the house. Next, we stopped at Wallace's so John could pick up a snowman blank for wood carvers and, as usual, ended up talking with him for a while. Final stop was Sandwick's to pick up a couple of jigsaw puzzels and then we hit the road back to our house.

We got home in time to watch most of the Jets game and spent the remainder of the evening reading and watching a couple favorite TV shows. I must say it felt good to spend time outside in the warm sunshine again.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Even though the cold misty weather continued today, we managed to get our walk in this morning. After breakfast, John attended the monthly board meeting where he gave a report for the Planning Committee. It seems we will be getting a new restaurant on the fort which will be opening down at the golf course some time in February. It'll be nice to finally have a place to dine right here on the fort.

Since we couldn't be outside this afternoon, John did some more wood carving and I continued on with my Kindle book. Tim and Mary Ellen picked us up around 3 p.m. and we headed off to Del Rio to see the movie, True Grit. Westerns aren't my favorite, but this one had a good story with some humor and I really enjoyed it. From there we stopped at I Hop for supper and then hit the road back to Brackettville. We all enjoyed the movie and meal.

John and I spent the remainder of the evening watching the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons. Since our beloved Eagles are out of the playoffs, we are now cheering for the Packers. This will make a couple of our grandsons very happy.

Friday, January 14, 2011

We had a pretty quiet day today--the weather remained cloudy and cold, so outside activities were not on the agenda. John and I bundled up once again and took our morning walk. It seemed like the weather was nicer earlier in the day--by late this afternoon we had a light mist falling.

After breakfast, John went to the post office and then stop
ped in Unit 37 to visit with Ralph Ramsey. Ralph was glad to have company as the weather has been keeping him house bound and he was getting bored. John then dropped in on Dave and Valada and found that their heat pump was fixed and they now have a toasty, warm house.

I spent most of my day doing a few chores around
the house, starting a jigsaw puzzle, and reading my Kindle. While I worked the puzzle, John did some wood carving. He is doing another face and it is starting to take shape.



This weekend is the Kinney County Livestock show here in Brackettville, so this afternoon we headed into town and watched some of the livestock judging. Goats were a big part of the show and it was interesting to watch the judging of the different classes. This evening Tim and Marry Ellen invited us and Ginny and Lloyd Johns over to their condo for dinner and a game of Hand and Foot. Mary Ellen served a delicious ham along with a salad, pineapple, and carrots. She is a very good cook. After we finished eating Mary Ellen showed us a power point program she did of their trip to England this summer and then the ladies beat the men quite handily in the card game.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The cold and cloudy weather stayed around for another day. The temp was 39 degrees when we left the house so we had to bundle up for our walk this morning.

After breakfast, John went over to Metcalf's to install the sink plug he picked up yesterday and to drill a hole for some lights. When he finished up with those two little jobs, he went over to Sandwick's to ask Dave a couple of more questions he had about capping his tooth. When John got there, he found that their heat pump wasn't working, so he and Dave, along with a couple neighbors, worked on the unit to see if they could find the source of the problem. Seems an electrical part is malfunctioning, so they called a local heating business to come and replace the part.

Dave answered John's questions about his tooth, so when he came home, he called the dentist and has an appointment in little over a week to get it capped. With the weather still so cold, I just worked on finances and got just about all the tax information ready to be sent to our accountant. It always feels good to get that job out of the way. Following supper, John picked up Tim Miner and they went off to wood carvers for the evening. I stayed nice and warm at home starting a new book on my Kindle.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

There is only one word needed to describe today--COLD. It was 39 degrees when we left the house this morning and the highs only reached the low 40's. Add a stiff breeze and you had one miserable day--even the sun didn't show up.

I had Weight Watchers today, so John came along to keep me company. I usually go with Lois Carlson, but she is still laid up with a bad foot. After the meeting we went for lunch and from there to Home Depot so John could get a sink plug for Metcalf's new sink. We also made a stop at Wal Mart to stock up on groceries.

Once we reached home, we had no intention of venturing outside again, so John and I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening watching some TV, reading, and trying to stay warm.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It was cloudy and 40 degrees when we left the house for our walk--by the time we returned an hour later, the temp was 38 degrees. It has been chilly with a slight breeze the entire day. A good one to just stay inside and keep nice and warm.

John left the house right after breakfast and headed over to Metcalf's where he spent most of his day installing a new kitchen sink, garbage disposal, and faucet. He had to completely rework the plumbing underneath, but the job is finished and Jan is very happy with her new sink. I spent my day getting some financial items ready for taxes and also did some cleaning, including mopping the floors. It's so dry down here it doesn't take long for your house to get pretty dusty--you could dust everyday and still not keep up with it. Tuesday night is potluck and cards at the RV park, so I made a chicken hot dish to take this evening.

Tim and Mary Ellen stopped to pick us up for the potluck. There was a good crowd tonight and we had 14 people stay to play 31. Both John and I were unlucky once again. Maybe we'll have better luck next week.




Monday, January 10, 2011

The clear sunny skies of yesterday gave way to a cloudy, misty morning. The clouds hung around until the afternoon when the sun finally broke and gave us a nice afternoon even though the high's were only in the upper 50's.

We took our usual walk, and after breakfast, John headed off to wood carvers. It was the largest carving group so far this winter--just about everyone is back on the fort now. While John was gone, I changed bed linens, did laundry, and baked some bread. I found this particular bread recipe on line and it's very easy to make and as well as good to eat.


After lunch, John went to the post office and returned some books to the library. From there he stopped in at Sandwick's to talk to Dave (our retired dentist) about his tooth problem. Since the tooth is not painful, Dave's advice was to skip the root canal and only get the tooth capped. If there is a problem with it in the future, you can always have a root canal at that time. John called the dentist he saw last week and talked over the cap only option. She would cap it for him, so he is thinking over his options right now and will make a decision in a day or two as to what he will do.

Tim and Mary Ellen stopped over to pick up some boxes we had stored for them over the summer and stayed to visit for a while before heading back to the condos. I'm sure she will soon have us all going on some adventures.

The heater we ordered last week arrived via UPS this afternoon. After reading the instructions, John plugged it in and now we are nice and toasty warm while watching the college national championship game.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

After a night of thunder storms and rain, the morning dawned bright and clear. There has been little rain here since September and everything is very dry, so last night's showers were very welcomed.

John and I ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and headed off to church. Following the service, there was a potluck dinner. Once again the ladies of the church prepared a delicious meal. These potlucks are very enjoyable as we get the opportunity to eat some foods that we don't have in northern Minnesota. John is actually developing a taste for some of the spicier dishes.

The temperature warmed up very nicely this afternoon, so we headed down to the Par 3 for a round of golf. Gene and Lloyd found us on the third hole and visited for a few moments before heading back to the RV park. We finished playing nine holes and were back home in time to watch the Eagles game. Sad to say our beloved Eagles lost to Green Bay. We spent the rest of the evening watching a few favorite TV shows.


Saturday, January 8, 2011

The colder weather that was forecast came through today. The day started off nice and sunny, but by the afternoon clouds came in and the temps cooled off. We actually had some much needed rain showers this evening.

After our walk this morning, John fixed a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. We lingered over breakfast before getting cleaned up and heading off to the golf course. Since the weather was suppose to turn bad, we thought we might as well get a game of golf in while we could. We were both very happy with how we played today--both of us had some real nice shots.

This afternoon Gene and Jeannie Bevins stopped in and we visited with them for several hours. It was fun to hear about what they have been doing and to catch up on each other's news. We had just finished watching the Seahawks beat the Saints when there was a knock on our door--Tim and Mary Ellen Miner are back in town. Now the fun will begin!!

Friday, January 7, 2011

There was such a beautiful sunrise this morning when we left the house for our morning walk that I ran back inside to grab my camera. The sky is usually clear with no clouds, so today's sunrise was an unusual sight and worth capturing.


As we were heading out on our walk, we saw a sign for a
garage sale and thought we would stop and investigate it on our way back. We were a few minutes early for the sale and got the deal of the day. We found a brand new recliner (tags still on it) for $50. We asked the owner if he would hold it for us until we walked home, got the car and cash, and came back. He said "No problem". Our living area now has another comfortable chair.


Following a quick lunch, we headed off once again to play some golf. We had a fair game today--not as good as yesterday. When we got back home, I made a macaroni salad to take to the condo party this afternoon. So many of the Winter Texans are back now and we had quite a crowd. There was plenty of good food and all seemed to have a good time.

We settled into a quiet evening of TV and reading. The weather is suppose to turn cold over the next few days, so we were glad for the nice one we had today.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

John and I had to skip our morning walk in order to get on the road in time to get to John's 9:30 a.m. dental appointment. We arrived a little early, which was okay, as there was some paper work to be filled out since John is a new patient. I thought he would be gone quite a while and was surprised when, after half an hour, he came back out into the waiting room. The news was bad. Seems John will need a root canal and will have to have it done in San Antonio as Dr. Munoz does not do that in her office. She also prescribed an antibiotic to prevent infection. So, tomorrow we will call over to San Antonio and put the wheels in motion to get the broken tooth repaired.

It was late in the morning by the time we left the dental office, so we headed to Wendy's for some lunch and then to Wal Mart to pick up a few more groceries. We have three potlucks coming up over the next six days, so after looking over a couple of recipes, I found I needed a few more ingredients.

We haven't been able to get to the golf course since Sunday, so after we got home we decided to play some golf. We were just starting the third hole when we saw our friends Lloyd and Ginny Johns on the first one. We waited for them to catch and played the rest of the course with them. Afterward, they treated us to homemade peach ice cream at Pico's. We all played a pretty good game this afternoon.

Stan Metcalf stopped over this afternoon to find out how John made out with the dentist. He stayed and visited for a bit and after he left, John went to the Thursday evening wood carvers. I spent my evening working on the computer and reading more of my mystery.


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

After two days of clouds the sun finally came out today. It was a little chilly when we took our morning walk, but the day soon warmed up and it turned out to be a beautiful one--for our freezing friends and family in the north, our high today was 76 degrees. John chews gum while walking in the mornings, and this morning he bit down and felt a filling break. Trip to the dentist is scheduled for tomorrow morning in Uvalde.

John and I spent the major part of our morning shopping on the internet for a portable heater. After much searching around, we settled on an Edenpure. Chuck and Lois Endris have one and we looked it over while at their place the other day. It keeps their place nice and warm and we feel it should work for us as well. Our gas fireplace leaves some cold spots in our main room so we thought we would add another heat source. The heater is suppose to arrive on Monday which will be just in time to keep us warm as colder weather is in the forecast for next week.

When we finished our internet shopping, we got cleaned up and headed to Del Rio for my Weight Watchers meeting. From there we went to lunch, Wal Mart, and HEB for groceries. Sam Lark called while we were at lunch asking for John's help with a loose dryer vent so, as soon as we got home, John went to the condo's and took care of the problem.

While John was fixing the dryer vent, I stored away the groceries. Since it was such a beautiful afternoon, we returned Stan's golf cart and took a ride over to Unit 37 to visit with Ralph Ramsey. He wanted to hear about our golf cart and how it got fixed. We stopped in to say a quick "Hi" to the Sandwicks and continued around the corner where we saw the "Happy Hour" group at Wright's. We ended up visiting and meeting some new folks. Got to see Kit and Jerry after their long stint gate guarding and talked mystery authors with Betty.

We ended our day watching some college basketball and reading another new mystery.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

We had another cloudy morning, but the temps were about 15 degrees warmer than when we took our walk yesterday. The clouds hung around all day, but with temps reaching the upper 60's it was a pretty nice one to be outside. With the big golf course closed on Mondays, there were plenty of golfers going by our house all day long.

Stan Metcalf stopped over this morning and dropped off our golf cart charger he picked up in Uvalde yesterday. As soon as he left, John plugged it in and, praise the Lord, it started charging the batteries. John had replaced and reconnected more wires the other day and I guess he finally stumbled upon the problem spot. What a relief to have that problem solved.

This afternoon we headed over to Unit 37 to visit with Chuck and Lois Endris. They have a portable infrared heater that keeps their house nice and warm, so John wanted to take a look at it and see how it works. We are considering something like that instead of running our gas fireplace.

I took some time this afternoon to make a hot dish for this evening's potluck at the RV park and John headed over to the driving range in search of more golf balls--I still don't understand the need for so many balls.

John and I reached the RV park around 5:30 p.m. where we found a good crowd for tonight's supper. Many of our friends have arrived during the past week and we had a good time visiting and catching up with each other. Following the meal, we played our usual game of 31--it feels good to be back into our Tuesday night routine.


Monday, January 3, 2011

This morning was cloudy and chilly and it stayed that way all day with temps only reaching the upper 50's. It was a good day to stay inside and get caught up on a few chores.

After breakfast, John got cleaned up and headed off to wood carvers. The group was much larger today as many of the carvers have returned to the fort for the winter. John is currently working on another face--he hopes to get several more completed this winter.

Since we were busy delivering papers the past two Mondays, it felt good to be able to get back into our normal routine once again. While John was gone I straightened up the house and got the laundry done. This afternoon I spent some time on our finances in preparation for doing our 2010 taxes.

Chuck Endris had a broken shower pipe at his house, so John went over to give him a hand with the repair. John had just the right tools so the job went very smoothly and now all is well at the Endris house.

Our evening was pretty quiet--watched a mystery and The Biggest Loser.




Sunday, January 2, 2011

It was another chilly morning--30 degrees when we left the house for our walk. John and I had to add a couple of extra layers to ward off the cold. Once the sun came up it made the walk a little more enjoyable.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and went to Sunday school and church. There were quite a few more people at the morning service as the Winter Texans are returning to the fort. We ate a quick lunch and decided to brave the cooler temps and head down to the Par 3 for a round of golf. A couple of other golfers pulled up just as we arrived, so we started on the back part of the course first. It worked out perfectly, we were just finished the 9th hole when they finished the fifth one. As usual, our game had some very good shots and some not so good. But, overall, I think we are improving.

Jan Metcalf called while we were playing and asked me if I would go with her tomorrow to deliver the paper as Stan had jury duty. When we got home, John and I talked it over and thought it would be better if we did the paper because we needed to get our golf cart charger in Uvalde and I, Carol, didn't know where to pick it up. All our plans changed once again when Stan called and said his jury duty for tomorrow had been canceled. So now Stan will take care of the paper and pick up the charger.

We ate homemade Philly cheese steaks for supper and ended the evening watching some NFL and a couple of hunting shows.




Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!! There is a saying that what you do on New Year's Day is what you do for the rest of the year. Looks like John and I will be doing nothing in 2011. We had a pretty quiet day--took our usual morning walk and when we got back, John made us a nice bacon and egg breakfast.

Ralph Ramsey stopped over to check out our golf cart problem and gave John a few pointers on using a tester. He stayed to visit for a while before heading off home. Since it was such a nice day, John took down the outside Christmas lights and got them organized and ready to store. While he was busy with that, I started taking down and packing away the inside decorations--the only thing left to do now is the Christmas tree--that will be tomorrow's project.

New Year's day means football, so we watched three different bowl games--our favorite team, Penn State, lost. All in all, it was a pretty low key day.

Roofing Being Done Everywhere!!

John and I have been keeping pretty busy over these last several weeks.  Our weather has turned quite warm, but the nights cool down very ni...