Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #7 – A Really Busy Week!

 

Sunday, February 13^th., 2022……  Super Bowl Sunday!  I didn’t think I had a favorite because I really like Joe Burrow at Cincinnati, but I will be pulling for the Rams since I am an LA boy by birth.  Cathye headed off to church and I settled in for most of the morning and worked on last week’s blog and got it posted. Then it was time to relax and enjoy the day!  We have another glorious day here in Oregon!  The heat is drying up the soggy grass so I am hoping to be able to mow in a few more days. Yaay! Cathye had defrosted the pasta fagioli we had and she made cornbread. We settled in and watched the Super Bowl. I was happy to see the Rams pull it out!  Now, I fully expect to hear about all of the ‘celebrating’ by the idiot fans down there who will set fires and do burnouts on the streets of LA!      

Monday, February 14^th., 2022……  HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!   Well, so much for the nice weather!  The rains are coming!  We are expected to get a major front through here today.  Well, they came and went!  It didn’t last long but it was a pretty decent shower and it spoiled my plans about mowing for a while!  We decided to just head out in it now in case it got worse later in the day. We drove over to Albany and checked in on Jamie and dropped off his weekly allowance. Cathye dropped off the table placecards for the wedding for him to do because he has pretty good handwriting. We also gave him the colored ink pen he needed and gave him the list. When we got back home, it was not raining but still too wet for anything outside. So, I decided to stay indoors and paint the laundry room cabinet. That went pretty easily. Meanwhile, Cathye got a call from the new owner of the mobile home saying that she finally got all of her stuff moved in (we sold the place furnished) and that she has chosen to use her old recliner and didn’t want the one that we had left her, and if we wanted it, we could come get it. We took her truck (with the canopy in case it rained) and picked it up. My plan was to move things around and hopefully use it in the motorhome. We have two in there now and they work, side by side for tv and naps. This one would be a little bigger so it may not work. We managed to get it inside and in place and it looks like it will fit in there and, since it’s perfect for me, we will move the old one out and put it in the workshop. Hey, I have a big screen tv in there too!  Later, we had a very nice Valentine’s dinner. Candlelight and champagne, and stuffed salmon with couscous and for dessert, we decided to try out another flavor of wedding cake. All of that was orchestrated by my love! She is so thoughtful!    

Tuesday, February 15^th., 2022……  More rains came in last night. They say we are below average for this time of year so we need the rains, but I would prefer some more days of sunshine to dry out the lawn! It is supposed to lighten up and they say we’ll have some dry days later in the week. I put the second coat of paint on the cabinet and then went to the hardware store to get some shelving material for two other projects. We wanted to add another shelf in one of the kitchen cabinets and she wanted a corner shelf for her plants in the breakfast nook. Two pieces of laminated whiteboard solved both of those projects and I was done with that for the day. 

Next up was removing the bike battery from Cathye’s e-bike. Hers is a 5-year-old folding e-bike that we want to keep so we can take with us on rv trips, plus use on rides around here. But we found that the battery won’t hold a charge any more. There was no key so I had to go through her box of old keys and found it. I will need to research to see how much trouble it will be finding one and if it will be cost effective or not to replace it. Neither Kirk, nor his guys have been here for landscape work in a long time. I had texted and asked if Justin or him would be coming back and haven’t heard from them until today. Justin said he and his brother are no longer working for Kirk, so that answers that, at least for them. He’s a no show at my sister’s too, so we will have to do more to make contact with him. Cathye is looking to get the back island rototilled and we even went to the trouble of ordering a 40v electric mini tiller, which came today.  I put it together and got it on the charger. Corey’s friend, Jacob, will be coming over on Thursday to work on incorporating the peat moss we had previously bought and stacked out there.        

Wednesday, February 16^th., 2022…… No rains today. That’s good because we had errands to run. Cathye headed off to SHEM and I went to Albany.  But before I left, I put another coat of paint on the laundry room doors so they could dry and I could install them later this afternoon. Today was tax day for me. Claudyne, my tax lady from past years, has passed and the office where she worked here in town has decided to join forces with another office in Albany and moved in there. I met with my new tax person there and dropped off everything. 2020 I filed with Lydia. 2022 we will file together. This is the only year for me to file single. In the past, we found that the only deduction we had that had us using the long form was Lydia’s medical. Without that, I no longer have enough deductions to use the long form so I am anxious to see if this will be a positive or negative thing for me!  When I got back, I checked that the doors were dry and assembled the handles and installed and adjusted them. The project came out pretty good and now we have room for more junk, -  oops, more supplies!

Later, we got cleaned up and headed off to 1847 for dinner. This is the restaurant in the complex where we are getting married. The prices are higher than most of the ma and pa places in town, but we wanted a nice romantic meal. We made plans to go over to the coast later in the month for a night at a casino there.   We finished up the evening back home, watching tv. The Amazing Race is getting down to the final four!   

Thursday, February 17^th., 2022……  Weather is supposed to be nice today!  No rain and temps in the low 70s are expected. Jacob showed up as we were finishing breakfast. He already ate but had coffee with us before starting out in the island. Between trips back and forth out there helping him get going, Cathye worked out in the potting shed. She has a heated potting tray, and got a bunch of seed sprouts planted and going in there. They will be transplanted to the island whenever the weather will allow. Meanwhile, I was tasked today with installing the hitch receiver on the Honda. This was a Christmas gift that I was just now getting around to installing. But today the weather was perfect for it!  I needed to put the car on the blocks but that was no problem. Next, the only task I feared was temporarily dropping the muffler by prying the rubber mounting bracket off. That took a little work. I needed Cathye’s help to hold up the hitch until I could get the bolts started.

Penny also came by and she steadied the center section and got us right where it was aligned perfectly!  But it bolted right in with no other issues. I got the muffler bracket reinstalled and cleaned up, Cathye went back to work, Penny went back home, and then started in on the bike rack (also a Christmas gift!). Now that was a sweet install!  This thing is top notch and will easily support two bikes. I test-fitted my bike on it and found it’s really secure. It folds up (and is locked on the car) so when we travel, we don’t have to take it off when we are camped. Nice!

Tonight was the beginning of the Nascar season. It was the duels at Daytona to determine the starting grid for the Daytona 500 this weekend. Cathye is not a fan, so I was on my own to watch it.        

Friday, February 18^th., 2022…… We needed to split up for today. Today Jamie had his second follow-up endoscopy, so Cathye went to get him for that. I had a list for Costco and took off to do that. As luck would have it, as soon as I got home and got everything unloaded, I got a call from Sportsman’s Warehouse telling me my background check was complete and that I could come get my new rifle. I had just driven past there not an hour before!  But I went back and picked it up. No plans for hunting – just wanted to add to my collection. Next up is a Byrna self-defense pistol for the motorhome (legal in all states)!  When I finally got back from my two runs to Albany, I rested a while, then went out to Cathye’s Shasta trailer and installed the rebuilt lock assembly we got back from our guy in AZ.  It wasn’t complicated – went back in just like the old one – but it was very sensitive when you turn the key. So, we will have to remember to be very careful when unlocking. Later, we headed off to Seeds to meet up with Butch and Penny for dinner. She had a gift card and treated us. Thanks, sis!    

Saturday, February 19^th., 2022……  This morning we got up, walked and fed the dogs, then headed off to Eugene. The plan today was to go down there and go to breakfast at Prairie Schooner (our favorite place in Eugene for breakfast!), then go see what Pedego Bikes in Eugene has in stock. Now that we know we have a battery rebuild to do on her bike, and that the new bike rack will support two full-sized bikes, we are looking to upgrade. If they don’t have anything in stock, at least she will be able to test ride the 24” and the 26” to see what fits her. Breakfast was great (best chicken fried steak I have ever had!), and we drove over to old town and found a place to park even though they had a street market going on in front of the bike store. When we walked in, we both immediately saw that they had her bike color (seafoam) in both the 24 and the 26!  The owner was working today and said we could take them both out to the parking lot and went out with us. She rode both and decided immediately that the 26” was the perfect fit!  The 24” had fenders. The 26” didn’t.  The guy said he would include fenders to the 26” but didn’t have them currently. So, we went back in and bought her bike. I had him check into black fenders for my bike as well, which will be shipped to our address along with hers when they come in.  We loaded up the bike and headed back home. 

We rested from the day and I watched my Nascar Xfinity race plus motocross. Later, we watched the last day of the Olympics.  A busy week!

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #6 – Invitations Mailed, a Dance Night & a New Bike!

 

Saturday, February 5^th., 2022……  Mornings are still super cold here!  But the good news is that the skies are clearer. At night we can see the stars. Forecast is for more clouds coming back in but easing up and warmer weather toward the end of next week. We walked and then fed the dogs and then went out to Kevin’s for breakfast.  Cathye did some more sorting from the boxes we got from the mobile home while I headed off to Costco to get a fluorescent light for the shed. It was pretty easy to install and I was done in a few minutes. I started work on more pegboard for the shop walls. Cathye has a collection of old tools that she was going to put on the wall in the shed in the mobile home, but I am planning on showing them off in the shop. I have a space that I cut pegboard for and it should work for everything in the collection. I also spent some time working on pegboard for the other wall in the shop. After a few hours, we were both done for the day. I spent some time later on Facebook Marketplace looking for an e bike. Since we have been to a few stores, and I have already tried out a few for sizing, I pretty much know what I want now. Problem is that bikes for my height are not readily available. Plus, if I find a used one on MP or on eBay, I am not comfortable buying sight unseen. Even though a lot of the ads are for bikes out of state i.e., Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, or Texas, I did find a few promising ones, one in Washington and one in California. I have inquiries in to each of those now and if they are still available, I will call Randy and have him check out the guy in Calif.    

Sunday, February 6^th., 2022……  Cathye headed off to church after we walked the girls and ate breakfast. I had nothing planned for today, but I did go out and work on the pegboard and finished that before relaxing for the rest of the day. We had previously moved everything out of the mobile but now we need to go put stuff back. We’ve sorted through the paint cans and I’ve grabbed what I wanted. The idea was to leave the new owner with remnants of the paint so they could do touchups, new deck coat, etc.    

Monday, February 7^th., 2022……  We are still struggling with the new park managers who are totally inept. They told Cathye, “They haven’t given us a fax machine yet so we can’t send off the new application for park approval!” She suggested going to the UPS store, literally down the street, and they said, “oh no, we need to use their machine and you just have to wait for that”.  These people can’t do anything.  Since then, Cathye was able to talk to the old park managers, who suggested that we/Aimee call the sister park in Salem and ask them for help or advice. Aimee got the number from Cathye, called, and within four hours we had park approval!  So, we are waiting for the new managers to get wind of that. Cathye already has told her off so we are glad to have this workaround completed!  So, our task for today was to head over to Albany and see Jamie and then go back and take all of the ‘staging’ out of the mobile. Aimee says the new owner wants to close on Friday!  Yaay!  Once we got through the house, we have now officially moved out!  So we only have to sort through the rest of the boxes here to keep, donate, or put in the yard sale pile.   

Tuesday, February 8^th., 2022……   HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN! We will be going to dinner with her and the group tomorrow but Cathye called to wish her a great day. Later, we met at Pizza Schmizza for lunch with Teri and Ron. Penny met us there too. Teri is Cathye’s friend from back in their work years, who does flowers for weddings, etc. She wanted to know more fine details and they got those worked out.  No luck on any of my e bike inquiries so far. I found one more but it was sold.       

Wednesday, February 9^th., 2022…… Cathye headed off to her Wednesday morning volunteer work at SHEM. I went the other way (Corvallis) for my acupuncture appointment. Still not able to see any results for my loss of smell, but she does wonders for my headaches and back pain!   After that session, I stopped and got breakfast on my way to Albany to pick up my new rifle, which they said had arrived!

I was excited until I found out that even for a rifle, there was a waiting period. Not so much like for a handgun, but they needed a review by a third party before they could release it and they were backed up (sound familiar these days!) and it would be at least a week before I can go back and get it. We needed to get the invitations in the mail took those to the post office. Cathye also headed off to go look at cakes. Someone told her Walmart did a great job with wedding cakes, and they were reasonable, so she wanted to ‘test drive’ one of the flavors. She chose a white cake, with raspberry filling. We had Robin’s birthday party set for today at 4:30pm at The Hickory Station in Albany, so we took it there to share and get everyone’s opinion. We all had a nice time. The Red Barn is a beer bar with an outside patio leased by several food carts. They built this just before covid hit so it was only open for a short time and Lydia and I hadn’t had a chance to go before she got sick. So, I was glad to experience it today!  I counted 11 food trucks!  There were 7 of us there for dinner, drinks, and dessert. We each chose our favorite cart and ordered. Afterward, we cut the cake and the review was positive. We still want to go get another flavor before deciding though. Fun day.   

Thursday, February 10^th., 2022…… Today was our day for massages!  Boy, these are looked forward to by both of us. Emily gives us each an hour, and will do any form of massage you want. She will also work on any problem areas.  I had her work on my neck, shoulders, and head. I feel it the next day but it’s so worth it!    

Friday, February 11^th., 2022…… A busy day today!  We had several things going. After walking the dogs and eating breakfast, first thing up was the housecleaning team came in at 9:00am. We stayed with them for a while, then scooted out of there so we could go meet the new owner of the mobile. Both Pat and her sister-in-law, were already there and we started in with some of the things Cathye wanted to point out (water shutoff, thermostat, icemaker, etc. We gave them all of the keys and then had to leave to drop me off at home so Cathye could head off to meet with her tax people. She was stressing out a little about all of her property and estate sale last year but came back home with a smile on her face! No worries!  We then headed off to Albany to go pick up her check at the escrow office, and then take it to the bank. We had time to come back home and rest up for a bit, feed the dogs, and change clothes because we were heading off to Silver Spur in Salem for a night of country western dancing! It was fun for both of us! 

I hadn’t been out c/w dancing for a long time (25 years) but still remembered a few of the couple’s dances. Of course, there are new line dances coming out every week, so we pretty much just watched the younger folks do those.  

We did get a teach on one called “Smoke Rings” aka Dancing in the Dark, done to Gary Allen’s Smoke Rings in the Dark. The guy wasn’t the best teacher and confused the whole floor but we were eventually able to pick it up and got it toward the end of the song. We waited for them to play it again later, but they didn’t before we left. But I found it online so we can watch and perfect it for next time. But that’s only one down and 100s more to go. We will go back soon though! We got back home and let the dogs out and crashed from the very busy day!   

Saturday, February 12^th., 2022……  Yesterday the weather was awesome, in the 70s!  And today started out cold as usual but with no clouds in the sky, it warmed up quickly and was a beautiful day! (We found out later that we broke a record high of 74 for this NW area for this day in history).  I heard back from both of the bike owners and set up a meeting for Randy and the guy down there. Pending that outcome, I was ready to drive up to Yacolt, WA (100mi) to look at the other one on Sunday. But Randy said “get the one you want Dad”, and that prompted me to call the Portland Pedego store to check to see if they had a 29” interceptor classic and they did!  So, we made the drive up there in the Acadia and took Jama. Rylee got a quiet day at home. It was a good thing we left her because, after a test drive, we bought the bike and it was available to take home today. She wouldn’t have fit back there with it!!  When we got back home, I got it unloaded and took a picture

and then took it for a spin. Man, this thing is sweet!  Plenty of power and it fits me perfectly. I did the right thing and messaged both of the other bike owners so they wouldn’t be holding it for me. We also plugged Cathye’s ebike in because her battery was down. Not sure if it will hold a charge properly since it’s now over 5 years old. We’ll see. She did spot a nice teal step thru Pedego and now she has her eye on a new one. We’ll see…     

Cathye heard back today from a Facebook friend who saw her last post about our dance night and shared that they do CW dancing and teaches at the Pine way Country Club on Tuesdays. It’s probably only 5 miles for our house, so we want to go there now and check it out.  

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #5 – A Birthday, a Trailer Sale and a Move!

 

Saturday, January 29^th., 2022……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RANDY!!  I texted him and he was at work so I’ll call him later. I worked on both measurements for the pegboard and also got my electrical outlets prepped for install in the shed. I will need some more electrical boxes for that, especially for the outside which I want to make waterproof.  I called Randy and we talked for a while. They told me they are healthy and working hard. They will be coming up in the rv for the wedding in April. Of course, they will – he will be my best man! Love those guys!   

Sunday, January 30^th., 2022…… Today was a leisure day. Cathye skipped church this morning because she had a sinus headache. I watched races, auctions, and football. I was happy to see that The Bengals and The Rams are going to the Super Bowl! I’m not really a Rams fan, but would like to see them win, and I like Joe Burrow, so I don’t have a favorite for the game.  

Monday, January 31^st., 2022…… This morning we got out early and walked the dogs. The weather is slowly getting warmer. But I said slowly! It’s only up into the mid-40s for most of the day. After eating breakfast, we headed off to Albany to run some errands. We dropped off Jamie’s money and Cathye checked in on him. We had to get back home so that she could meet up with Penny at Boulder Falls. They were going over some more details for the wedding and reception. I didn’t hear all of the details but it sounds like they got a lot of things asked and answered and a contract signed. It’s starting to get interesting! We also knew that Aimee had two showings today at the trailer. Well, it turns out there was a full price cash offer!  We asked her to entertain the other showing in hopes of a bidding war, so we’ll wait until later before we make the decision to accept. But that’s good news!  We had a nice dinner and settled in to watch tv and enjoy the evening.  

Tuesday, February 1^st., 2022……  Aimee said that her other showing didn’t produce an offer, but she found that there was another showing yesterday so that may pan out.  The offer that was made included the furniture but she was not interested in the spa, so we will need to make plans on getting that out of there soonest. That will work for us because it is in excellent shape and will fit right in here when we get our patio deck built! She asked Corey to go over tomorrow and move the flooring to get to the drain and get that going. We stopped by and I checked out what it will take to remove the fence so we can get it out. She showed me where to remove it and I prepped for that.  But we have to plan that for another day because we had to leave to go get haircuts. Later, Aimee called and said that she hadn’t received another offer, so we accepted the one we have. We do not have to worry about too much now!  Only earnest money to be deposited, park approval for the new buyer, and escrow to close. If all goes well, closing will be in 3 weeks or so. So, we went out for dinner and then planned our exit strategy. Since the furniture stays, we only have the jukebox, a curio cabinet, and the tv to move out. Of course, we will also be taking the pictures, dishes, towels, etc., and will need to get that going soon.       

Wednesday, February 2^nd., 2022…… After walking the dogs, Cathye needed to get going to SHEM. I headed over to the local Aamco store to pick up my sister, who was dropping off her car for service (oil leak). She treated me to breakfast at Shari’s because she was borrowing the Honda for the day. I took the truck and headed over to the trailer to meet up with Corey. He already had the floor removed and had the spa draining. We removed the fencing and were ready when we have help. That is scheduled for Friday. Then it was off to Ace Hardware to get the electrical boxes and covers that I needed for our shed. I got those all connected and installed. I had originally bought a sheet of pegboard to use in the shop but I will use it out in the shed. I cut it to size and worked on cutting out for the electrical boxes and getting everything installed. It looks good. Next up is a light fixture. When Cathye got home, she worked a little on a quilt for her grandson, Felix. If you zoom in on it, you can see he likes tractors and loaders!  

After a nice dinner, we settled in and watched tv.  Tonight, was The Amazing Race.

Thursday, February 3^rd., 2022…… Weather is not too bad today! Temps in the high 40s. There is more rain coming, but it’s supposed to be light. We got the dogs walked and fed and then ate breakfast and then headed over to Albany. Before Christmas, I had looked at buying another deer rifle, this one in .243 caliber. Of course, there were none to be found and they put me on the wait list. I received an email yesterday that it was finally back in stock, so we headed over to Sportsman’s Warehouse to get it. I guess I was misinformed because they told me that the email only stated that it was in stock, but not necessarily in the store. They said I needed to order it online to be delivered to the store. Now, I got it!  So, we headed back home emptyhanded. Cathye and Penny were going to address wedding invitations so we needed to get back for that. I ordered the rifle and now will have to wait for it. Despite my annoying interruptions (their words not mine!) the girls made quick work and they are ready to mail! I say quick work because it's a small wedding so they only had 15 to do. We did decide to have a reception at the house, and set the date for June 4th. All are invited!  Later, we pulled out the flatbed trailer and hooked it up and loaded straps and a dolly for the spa. It is ready for tomorrow. We also snapped a picture of the pup's wedding announcement...

and a special gift from our friend Brenda Loomis, which went up on the wall....

Friday, February 4^th., 2022…… We were up and out of the house early this morning. We took two vehicles. Cathye took the car to go to McDonalds and I headed over to get the trailer in position. Corey and Eric showed up and we ate and talked out the process. After disconnecting the electrical, we used plywood and set the dolly up on it and lifted (ok they lifted) and we got the spa strapped to the dolly and up and strapped down on the trailer. 

The guys also went in and got the jukebox and loaded it up as well. This is a unique piece!  It is like a stereo, with a lid. Here is an old picture of the inside with the lights on....

Unloading the spa was a piece of cake, because we only needed to roll it off the trailer and into the rv garage. They rolled the juke box to the garage door and then lifted it in to the house. It is now (stored) in the guest room, under the tv.

The guys left and we unhooked and stored the trailer and we were done for the day. All before noon!  Busy day!