Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #8 – Dealing With the Weather & Ready for Surgery

 

Sunday, February 19^th., 2023…… Nicer weather expected for today. We have two days in a row predicted with sunshine and blue skies. Then the cold weather comes back in again! Today was church for her and the gazebo for me. Plus races!  Cathye wasn’t feeling well enough to drive to church. Her shoulder is giving her fits. Believe it or not, the pain is tied into her gall bladder! Anyway, she was able to hand me parts as I built the gazebo roof frame. We got the cupola installed and only have the main roof left to do. Tomorrow. I came in and watched the Daytona 500 and a taped motocross race. Or at least part of the 500. I usually stop in the early evenings and join Cat in the living room where we watch our taped shows until bedtime.     

Monday, February 20^th., 2023……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEE!!!   She is 5 today.

Here is the first picture we ever saw of her. We knew we couldn’t resist that precious face!

Russ was here late this morning. He needs good weather today and tonight. He will be sanding this morning and then spraying a clearcoat on the structure later today. That makes the job almost complete. He also has prepared a listing of the total costs after all of the “add-ons” that I have made during this job!  He wanted to tell us together and said we should sit down! It was not a good number!  He feels bad but he has spent his money on the materials and his time on the job so I have to pony up and pay for it all. Cathye is not happy but understands as well.  I guess we should be looking at all of the future enjoyment and fun we will get from this project! But it was a shock to say the least!    

Tuesday, February 21^st., 2023……  Just as promised, the weather has turned again. Russ only needs to come back one more time to clearcoat the wood but he can’t do that unless the weather gets better. They say now that we might even get another snowfall later in the week. But for today, it was off and on sunshine and then cloudy, and then showers. Repeat. We were in the house most of the morning so I went online and located a place in Carlsbad CA that has the concrete fire pits on eBay that we like. I called and got Brandon (yes, that’s his name!) who was very nice and when I told him we were interested in some of the open box items on the site but wanted a good one, he was nice enough to go out to the warehouse and found us one he said was in good condition and sent pics. Being an open box meant it had some small flaw which they try to show in their ads but we needed some extra help. Given he looked it over and found no flaws, plus gave us an even lower price if we ordered it directly from him, we went ahead and bought it. Plus free shipping. He said it will ship tomorrow. Wow, what service! Later in the afternoon, we headed off to her surgery consult. We met with Dr. Buglino and we both liked him immediately! We explained her pain and he said that surgery was the best option. No guarantees but it would most likely solve her issues. We said go and he took us out to scheduling. The first appointment is next Wednesday, time tbd. We were thrilled! We got back home and texted a few people who had asked about it. She posted on Facebook later that it was on the calendar! Next up is my cardiologist appointment. That is next Tuesday.  We will be back in shape sooner than later!     

Wednesday, February 22^nd., 2023……  Nothing on the calendar today. The weather is still cold but the sun will come out and make it much nicer for a while!  Then it clouds up again and is dreary. We decided to take a drive into Albany and go to Elmer’s for breakfast. I know I’ve mentioned Elmer’s before but will touch on again now. If you’ve been to Palm Springs and have gone to the Elmer’s there, you are at the only one outside of the states of Oregon and Washington!  It’s a family chain and they are famous for their German pancakes. So, of course I’m going to have one when we go there! Cathye can eat these so I ordered the combo and we shared it with a side of fresh fruit. Yummy!  Once we got back, I went to work on the gazebo. 

I’m trying to get all of the little parts and pieces put together for it today. Today I got to the stage where all I need are a few more pieces and then I can start putting the roof panels up. Since it’s still in the 40s with some wind chill, I work out there for a bit then come in to rest and warm up.  But it’s not like I have a deadline or anything. Meanwhile, Russ is done with everything except the clearcoat. He still can’t do any spraying or painting with the weather so cold. So that’s on hold until the weather clears up and we get a couple of days/nights where it doesn’t get below freezing. Given the forecast for this area, it might take a few weeks for that to happen!

Thursday, February 23^rd., 2023…… I know I mentioned the weather right?  Well, this is what we woke up to this morning!

We saw it starting last night around 9:00pm or so, so we expected it. They said it wouldn’t be too heavy and it wasn’t. Maybe an inch or so but it stuck. Cathye’s truck was out and got some of it.

But when we went out to walk the dogs, it was clear and nice. No wind but still chilly. It’s always fun to see the big old white dog out in the snow. She definitely isn’t pure white! Jama is also not black and white – more black and grey!

 

But we need to get them out in it for their walk. Rylee loves the snow – Jama not so much! She tugs hard once we make the turnaround point to go back toward the house! Cathye had to go out to do labs for next week but waited until the roads were clear. The driveways and streets thaw out quickly and are easily drivable. Plus she knows how to drive in bad weather so she had no issues.  While she was out, she ran several errands and stopped at Walmart on the way home. While she did that, I worked on the gazebo. By mid-morning, I had all of the parts on except the roof panels. That I will tackle this afternoon.

Okay, it’s later now. Cathye got back and rested for a bit, then made lunch. She was inside for the rest of the day but I went back out and worked on the panels. This is where I got before calling it a day…

It may look finished from the house, but from this angle you can see that it’s actually only half done for the 26 panels total. I got too cold and needed to come in and warm up!  

Friday, February 24^th., 2023……  No snow today. We saw on the news that Portland really got hit hard!  They got up to 11” yesterday!  Tied a record from 60 years ago! All of the roads were closed. Schools closed. The airport had 75% of the flights cancelled. But like I said, no snow today. I checked my weather app and see that we are supposed to get sun today. But the high is only going to be around 41°. Tonight it is supposed to drop to 18°!  I know what you SoCal folks are thinking!  But I still won’t ever move back that way!  I love it up here! We had a few things on our list for today but we first decided to drive to town for breakfast. We chose Kristi’s again. Cathye can find food that doesn’t set off her gall bladder pain and we might as well go out, right? When we got back, we went to work on housecleaning. Since Cathye fired Virginia, we have made a plan to work on housekeeping every other Friday. I’m in charge of the floors and she does the dusting and cleaning. Today I wanted to hot mop the kitchen and back entry areas plus the bathrooms. I already have the steam mop which works really well. There were areas in the guest bath that the ladies just couldn’t ever get clean with their choice of mopping. But the steamer worked perfectly and it looks way better now!  During our tasks, we would stop at certain spots and take breaks but went back at it. Cat got her jobs done about the same time as I was cleaning up the equipment and putting everything away. We were done for today!  Later, after a nice break, I checked the weather and the wind and decided to go ahead and finish up the rest of the panels. I installed the corner caps and finally the edgeholders and I was done!  

We still have to decide on the gazebo’s exact spot on the deck before we anchor it down but we haven’t figured that out yet. Next up is gazebo #2.  At least for that one, the wood frame is already up and standing so it only needs the metal frame and panels to finish it off.                                                         

Saturday, February 25^th., 2023…… Sunny morning when we rolled out of bed today! Still cold but I want to go out to work on gazebo #2 today. We walked the dogs and Cathye fixed breakfast. Yesterday she had made little breakfast quiches with spinach in muffin pans and this morning we tried them out. She used an asiago cheese which she said she doesn’t like. But I loved them!  Ate three plus a bowl of fresh fruit and some coffee. I was ready for the day!  I stayed inside this morning and worked on my blog and got pictures downloaded and ready to post, then rested for a few minutes before going out to work. Yesterday Cat and I moved the parts and pieces of the gazebo out to the patio and got them staged. But this time I will assemble the cupola by itself in hopes that we can just lift it up as one piece, which means I’m not up there assembling it piece by piece like the first one. The assembly went well and I went out and did the basic framework but left out a couple of pieces so Cathye and I could lift the cupola in place.  We were done for the day. I spent some time watching my taped programs and Cathye did the same. Dinner and then tv until bedtime.