Sunday, September 17, 2023

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #39 – A Birthday, a Fishing Day, and a Date Night!

 


Sunday, September 10th., 2023…… Today was mowing day. But before that, we were out with the girls. I went out and got us coffee/tea and breakfast and then I got the boat hooked up and pulled out and washed off. We are planning on taking it out on Tuesday but since the sprinkler guy will be here tomorrow, I wanted to get that off my list today. The grass was wet with dew so the plan is to wait until Cat gets back from church – then we can mow. I got the mowers out and gassed up and then did a few more things to the boat and then went in and rested for the morning.  By the time Cathye got back, the grass was dry and was pretty easy to mow. We skipped the back field because it is dormant for now. But it will green up come rainy season! We got everything cleaned up and put away and came in for the day. Lazy Sunday…  

Monday, September 11th., 2023…… 9/11 Please Keep Everyone in Your Thoughts and Prayers as we Remember that Fateful Day!  Oh, yeah, it’s also my birthday! I learned that it is not my special day anymore – it belongs in history now. I am glad folks remember my day though. It’s always nice to hear from friends and family as I celebrate 74 years!  Today was our long awaited appointment with Johnson Irrigation. They were here at 8:30am and got straight to it. I had already paid ½ of the work and wanted to make sure they were doing everything as discussed and written on the contract bid. George and his son spent the whole day working on the valves, lines and sprinkler heads all around the lawns and flowerbeds. 


There were several areas that needed work so there was plenty on the list for today. They said they had estimated that it would be at least a two day job so they would be back tomorrow. So much for fishing tomorrow! Since this is important to finish asap, we will now plan on fishing Wednesday. Earlier, Cathye had asked Penny and Cherrelyn to celebrate with us at Seeds. Penny was there but Cherrelyn was in the middle of an online interview and they were way behind so she couldn’t get away. We are doing a bbq tomorrow so we will see her then. The bar at Seeds was perfect and wasn’t too crowded. We had a few drinks and a nice meal. It was not a relaxing day until we got here! Nice night! 

Tuesday, September 12th., 2023……  I was up early again and ready for George and son to come again. They spent all of the day installing all of the new lines in the flowerbeds and fixing/rerouting one line that has been down since the deck excavation started. He got that resolved and added more lines all around the new deck area. Before he left, we set up yet another day for them to come back to finish up. I have decided to add more modern timers because the two we have are ancient and are not reliable. He didn’t have them on his truck plus he wanted to replace some of the main sprinkler heads both front and back yard and he didn’t have enough of those either. Next Wednesday. Cathye worked on weeding  



and I worked on assembling two of the recently received bar stools for the deck. 

We cleaned up and rested for the afternoon. Later, both Penny and Cherrelyn came over for dinner. Penny brought ribs and tuna, both of which I cooked on the bbq. Cat had the trout from our last outing defrosted and ready for the fryer. I sliced up some potatoes for frying and she got those going. Cathye made coleslaw and Cherrelyn brought eclairs for dessert. We were set! Way too much food!      


Wednesday, September 13th., 2023……  This morning we were up early and took the dogs out and then fed them. We loaded up a few last minute items in the boat and we were off!  The drive to Foster Lake is only about 15 miles and we were not in any hurry, so we took our time. We took coffee with us and packed a few snacks and drinks for the day, but we stopped off at McDonalds on the way for a quick meal. When we got to the lake, we saw there were only a few boat trailers in the parking area. It would be a quiet day. The day started out cloudy but was expected to warm up later in the morning. The sun was just coming out when we got to the docks and put the boat in. We headed to my favorite spot and anchored. Cat did get a bite immediately so we thought it would be a great day! NOT! It was the only thing that happened at that spot so we moved. I managed to get one nice trout at the next spot but Cat got skunked. We hit one more area on the way back to the dock. No luck. 




We got the boat on the trailer with no issues and we left for home. It was a nice day even though we didn’t have much luck. Very relaxing! It was a good thing we didn’t plan on fresh fish for dinner for last night! 

Thursday, September 14th., 2023…… The weather is warming up for sure! Temps in the high 80s expected. We got the dogs walked and fed then took off for the gym and breakfast. On the way home, we stopped by Penny’s so I could help her get her fall decorations down from her overhead in the garage. When we got home, I started hauling out the old deck boards back toward the deck!  ? We decided to use them to build a raised potting bed for the area just off the deck. This will be in an area where it is difficult to mow. Putting the bed in will enable us to mow right along the planter box without zigzagging into that little problem area. We decided on size and I got most all of the boards cut. While Cat was spraying for weeds out by the now vacated boat canopy, 

I started assembly on the planter box and we got it about 90% done before it got really hot. Cathye can’t do heat and she was helping me but got overheated, so we stopped for the night and came in and got into the ac. Tv and spa then bed.   

Friday, September 15th., 2023…… Today was house cleaning day. We got the dogs taken care of and we ate and then started in cleaning. Once we were done, Cat rested for a bit then went out and watered and did some laundry. She did take some time to check in on Lona, who has come down with something. Meanwhile, I headed off to the Albany Lowes in search of nails and screws for the potting bed. I also want to modify the bar stools I just put together. Actually, I put two together and decided that I wanted to try a spacer to the seat backs to see if I can get a little more seat room as the seats themselves are on the smaller side!  I just need some time to start that project. We have to get the deck ready for another bbq tonight. Eric and his girlfriend and her two kids are coming over for dinner. Eric and Corey are friends and Eric was really helpful when Cat had her estate sale. Cathye ran into Eric last week and invited them over for hamburgers. Corey called and said that since it was going to hit 89° today, he would rather come on Sunday to do his yard work. No worries. I went out early and got the grill fired up on high so I could clean it from the last meal. Cathye checked with Eric and found he had already forgotten about tonight! Funny, he said on Thursday when she texted him that they were looking forward to it. A bit later, he texted again and said he was sick and could he get a raincheck?  Oh well!  We decided to just go ahead and bbq anyway since we had the hamburger ready.  I needed to run the misters on the porch to cool off but it was still a pretty night and we had a nice meal anyway.      

Saturday, September 16th., 2023…… We were up early and I found I had a text message from my tree guy. I had texted him yesterday and he said he would come over today to fix the lawn that his guy drove over and tore up last week. But he was having issues with his 6 year old so he needed to reschedule. No worries. I had other things to work on today anyway. Cathye worked on cleaning up the grape vines she cut last week. I helped her load them into the truckster and we took them out to the burn pile. I worked on the raised potting bed and we flipped it over so I could skin the grass with the mower before we put in the grass cloth and potting soil. I think I will wait for George next week because he will be moving the sprinkler head that is right next to the side of the wood. He will be digging so he will need the open space. We were done for today. Besides, it was ‘date night’ tonight! Cathye had arranged for us to go to the movies. The Rio in Sweet Home has two theaters – one, now called the Roxy, - is set up with recliners and tables and they serve food to you. Most of the time you only get theater food, but once in a while they do a ‘date night’. The owners cook up a surprise dinner for two for $30. ea. as part of the night. The movie was My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 so they made Greek food for tonight! We had Spanakopita appetizers, a Greek salad, and Island Pasticio (a noodle casserole dish) as the main dishes, and Baklava for dessert. They also serve alcohol (additional charge). We chose Captain Morgan Slurpees! All were yummy (although Greek salad isn’t on my favorites list but Cat liked it). We had the best time and the movie was fun too!



We got back a few hours later and let the girls out and then watched tv for a few minutes before hitting the spa before bed. Fun day!

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