Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #9 – Remembering a Year Ago & Movin’ Bark!

 

Monday, February 28^th., 2022……  We slept in this morning because we were not in any hurry to leave the hotel. I asked if the casino had breakfast and she said, yes!, so we headed back there. She was very happy because after the meal, we went back in and played the slot machines and she won everything back from both of our losses yesterday! Yaay!  After dragging her out (just kidding!), we headed up the coast to Newport and took hwy. 20 back to Corvallis and then up to Albany to see Jamie and also to go pick up my taxes that were ready. I was not happy! I got a refund from the state but had to pay to the feds. Bummer! We got home and played with the dogs and unpacked. We just threw the dirty clothes from the trip in the washer and got that done. Penny had received several packages and some mail which we went through before resting for a bit. The rains that had started on the coast last night hit Lebanon earlier this morning and we found that Rylee’s drag strip was flooded again!  That’s good for the valley because the crops need the rain, but I only see more wet soggy grass that I can’t mow for a while!             

Tuesday, March 1^st., 2022……  After a great night’s sleep, we got up and got going. It sprinkled on us while we were out with the dogs, but that was about it for the day. Temps expected in the mid-50s, which is refreshing. I think we are supposed to have a few more cloudy/rainy days before the weekend, which is supposed to be nice. Cathye had leftovers from her breakfast at the casino yesterday so she had that and I had a sliced turkey and egg sandwich. Cathye went to get her nails done while I worked on the blog, which I was way behind on. But I have learned to take notes on my phone, so I can sit down at the laptop and get everything input pretty quickly these days. I settled in to watch some of my taped races from the weekend. Penny and Butch came by so Butch could give me a couple dozen .243 shells for my new rifle. Thanks, Butch!  I think I will plan to go down soon to Eugene to go with him to his rifle range to sight it in. Again, no hunting plans – just wanted to add it to my arsenal!  Dinner was Costco mac and cheese. Tv until bedtime – until we got a call! – it was 11:59pm when Cathye’s phone rang. I didn’t catch it in time. We thought it was a robo call or a butt dial until it rang again. Turns out it was a neighbor at Jamie’s apartment complex in Albany, calling on his behalf. Jamie was out of the house on a late-night candy bar run to the local convenience store and lost his keys enroute. So, we needed to get dressed and drive there to go let him in. Cathye left her key and if he doesn’t find his tomorrow, he will need to get another cut. No worries for us though, just a little lost sleep!          

Wednesday, March 2^nd., 2022…… Sad day! One year ago today that we lost Jeff.  Penny, Cherrelyn, Cathye and I are going out to our local sports bar to have a beer or two in his honor. I am no longer in contact with anyone in Florida, but I did see a post from one of Jeff’s close friends who had a memorial plague put in the ground at the place where the accident was. I saved his pics to my phone….

I talked with him on messenger and thanked him for doing that. He said how much he misses his old friend. Such an honor!  Did I mention it is a sad day!

We’ve had a lot of on and off rain this week. It was pretty wet this morning when we walked the dogs. She headed off to SHEM and I took off to go run an errand and then go get my breakfast. First stop was at Central Bark where I ordered 3 cubic yards of mulch for delivery tomorrow morning. Jacob is coming over and he will spread it out in the island area.  I had received a request from my dentist office yesterday, asking if I could move my cleaning appointment to this afternoon, so I went and got that done. As soon as I got back, Cathye and I went down to the Eugene airport to pick up her friend Terry F.  She is the daughter of Jackie, who lives in the mobile home across the street from where Cathye lived. Jackie turns 93 this week.  She dropped me at the house so I could feed the dogs and she went on to the mobile park. Once she got back, we hung around the house and relaxed for a bit. Then it was time to head over to Gametime. Turns out Penny and Cherrelyn were at Pizza Schmizza!  It was a miscommunication. She says she told me Schmizza, I heard Gametime! No worries though. Since we had already ordered appetizers, they left and came where we were.  We had a really nice time and it made the day a lot better to be with them to reminisce and recall a few ‘Jeff’ stories! 

I did drink enough to have to have Cathye drive us home but all was good. It for sure made a sad day a lot better!  

Thursday, March 3^rd., 2022……  The weather today is, in one word, crappy!  WTF! I thought they said it would clear up?  We are waiting for sunny days. We want to work outside again! I need to work on the ramp project in front of the new shed. I don’t think I will work in the cold and the wet. Cathye wants to finish up her island project. And, despite the weather, she has Jacob coming over to spread bark mulch. It was delivered early this morning. Cathye was home to tell the driver where to dump it because I was in Corvallis at my acupuncture appointment. Before I got home, she decided she needed another 3 cu yards and placed that order. Later, Jacob came by. Cathye wants both Corey and Jacob to do the mulch spreading job together, so Jacob’s job today was to dig up and transplant the plants where the new patio deck will be going. Problem was he wasn’t feeling well. He has a heart condition (which we didn’t know about until today!) and his blood pressure and pulse were racing!  So, we sent him home to rest and found out the next day that his wife had taken him in to the er later that night. He was fine but told us later that he was on a monitor (when he got here) but didn’t say too much more than that.      

Friday, March 4^th., 2022……  Today was round one of the bark spreading project. Corey came by around 9:00am. Jacob was here later after a doctor’s appointment. He wants to work off his loan from Cathye so we agreed that he could stay, but we gave him explicit instructions that he was to do jobs that we gave him and he was not to spread bark!  So, I had him move the garden tools out of the shop, wash them all off, and when they were dry, move them to the shed.  Corey got out the tractor and the trailer and made loops from the bark pile to the island. Jacob would help shovel the bark into the trailer, then go over and work on the tools while Corey spread the mulch out on the island. After the tools were dry and stored, I had him trim back the grapevines that we had started the other day. They worked like that for most of the morning and got the tools done, the grapevines pruned, and close to half of the bark moved and spread before they had to leave. I worked some more on my shed ramp.

I need to go get more 2x6’s and some more deck screws.  We all finished up our jobs and they left and we came in for the day.

Saturday, March 5^th., 2022……  No rain for the next several days. It’s cool but with the sun out, it is a nice day for March!  After walking and feeding the princess and the butthead, we left them home to rest, and took off to go get Terry, Cathye’s friend, to take her out to breakfast to celebrate Terry’s belated birthday. We tried the new place in town. Long story short (yeah, right!), Kristi and Reese used to work at Kevin’s before they had some kind of argument/disagreement and parted ways. That was a few years ago. But just recently, they opened up Kristi’s 50’s Café, coincidentally just around the corner and down the street from Kevin’s!  We always liked Reese’s cooking, and we kept in touch with Kristi, who went to work at the local Chinese restaurant here in town, so we wanted to go eat there to support them too. It was Saturday and their place is twice the size of Kevin’s and was jammed full!  The service was a little slow as they are just getting going, but the food was pretty much the same with Reese at the stove. That is, very good!  We will have to bounce back and forth but since Shirley May was forced to close, it will give us a little variety again. We dropped off Terry and headed home. Cathye worked in her greenhouse and I worked in my shop. I needed to clean it up. I did that then started in cutting up the old squatty red rolling ladder. I will start next on the tall beat-up aluminum one.  I forget how much detail I have written about these two ladders, but basically, I am cutting them both apart and taking the best of each one to make one for the rv garage. It has enough steps which will allow me to move it close to work on the upper sections of the motorhome, which might be the awnings or just washing it by hand. I have engineered what I think I want so now I just have to cut both apart and then reassemble!  Hopefully, I can make it work!  Later in the day, Mario came by for his first assignment as our new landscaper. Kirk is still MIA, and more on that as we know more so stay tuned, but we needed to move on. Today, Mario edged and defined the flowerbeds from the lawn. He also cut back all around the French drain that goes all the way around the lawn. He blew all of the yard debris and sprayed all of the above and most of the flowerbeds to kill the weeds. I’m really happy Cathye is taking the lead on all of this. She loves her new yard and the plants and flowers and has many new plans and ideas which will make it look great. And I’m glad not to have to worry about it anymore. For me, I will just concentrate on the mowing from now on! Yaay!      

Sunday, March 6^th., 2022……  This morning Cathye was planning on going to church but got a call about a girl trip!  Robin and Lona were going down to Eugene to pick up a car that Robin had previously loaned to her son-in law/daughter and Cathye rode down with them. Meanwhile, I stayed home. Corey and Jacob came by for round 2 on the bark job and brought their sons, Brandon and Noah with them. Corey got out the tractor and the trailer again and with Brandon’s and Noah’s help, made runs (with the boys riding in the trailer) to and from the bark pile and the island.

I have an old oak bench that Cathye wanted painted for the island and Jacob was given that task today.

While he did that, the boys would help shovel the bark into the trailer. It was late in the day but they got everything done and cleaned up. Corey’s wife Britney, came by with daughter Lilly, and visited. We tasked her later with picking up a pizza. The whole team was pretty muddy, so we decided to just put up a table and ate in the shop garage!

It was a long but very rewarding day!