Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #27 – Birthdays, A Hot Fourth, and a Yard Sale

 

Sunday, June 30^th., 2024…… Cat is feeling ok this morning. She says she loses energy easily but today was ok. After we walked the girls, I went out and got us breakfast and coffee and chai tea, while she fed the dogs. I noticed that Shawn’s latest estate sale is still going on and they have a sign saying clearance today. So, I mentioned that to Cathye and she left early for church so she could go check it out. I want to finish mowing today so we will plan on that when she gets back. I went out and reattached the bagger to the tractor we just got back so we can pick up the grass from the lawn. When I finished that, I decided to just go ahead and start in on my side of the driveway.  I got that finished in quick order. We are caught up on the thickness of the grass now so I can set the blades to 2 ½” and not get a lot of grass for the bagger. That makes for less trips to dump. That meant I got finished quickly, so I started in on Cat’s side. I just kept going and finished that part too!  I hosed off the mower and came back in to the house. When Cat got home she found me in the same place - in my chair. She said, “That’s where I left you”. Then I told her I was done with all of the work. She said she didn’t notice when she drove in. She was disappointed but happy at the same time. She was ready to mow but now didn’t have to!  We lounged around for the rest of the day.   

Monday, July 1^st., 2024……  Gym and breakfast this morning. Cathye is still not well so she takes it super easy when she works out. She goes in for her echo later in the week. Finally! The weather is starting to warm up a bit. They say it will be in the 100s later in the week, but right now it’s nice. Probably will get to 79° today. Cathye will be taking the Shasta out on Wednesday for her girl’s outing at Pioneer Park in Brownsville. They have been doing this for a few decades now, just a smaller group these days. It would only be three campers, but they expect to have a bunch of people come on the 4^th. So, today, she spent some time getting everything ready. I put in a new battery last week so she will have lights and such. There are no hookups at the park. We checked her propane and found the tank is low so she will plan on taking it in later. I had to repair the canopy mounts that pulled out when the wind picked up last week. But that was a quick and easy fix. I got some of the things out that she will be taking on her campout – fire ring, chairs, tables, etc. – and started putting those in her camper shell. That was about it for the day.     

Tuesday, July 2^nd., 2024…… Nothing on the agenda for today. Cathye went off to Walmart to pick up things for her outing, plus things for me to eat while she’s gone. The Senior Center is closed so no class today. Weather is getting up there. Temps in the 90s now.  

Wednesday, July 3^rd., 2024…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!  (and BRIAN!)  I have to apologize to Bill for not calling him all day. Usually we call and sing to him so at least he was spared of that!

I had a ton of stuff to do today. First up was to get Cathye going. They (her and Lona) had decided to leave here around 10:00am and go get their places in the camping area. The park doesn’t let anyone in until this morning. Around 9:00am, Lona called and said she went early and the place was packed!  Apparently they had let folks in late last night or really early this morning. So, that meant we had to kick it in gear. I hooked up the trailer while she added the mirror extensions for her truck. Since we had 90% of it loaded, we got the ice chest and the rest of the items in and were on the road by 9:15am. Lona had saved a spot and Cathye pulled right in. We unhooked and got everything unloaded and set up. Once they were all settled, I left and came back to look after the dogs. Later, Cathye drove back in to make her 1:15pm massage appointment. I met her there as she was leaving and I was going in. She stopped back at the house and picked up a few things and also got Jama, who will stay out there with her tonight. I will go tomorrow after the yard sale to have a bite to eat and visit for a while then take her back before the fireworks start. I went over to Penny’s with the easy-ups and some more tables and helped them with a few things. They have most everything marked. We had a few things I brought over, including one of the old floor model radios (I did choose the smallest one!) to add. I don’t expect any bites but we’ll see. They were ready so I came back and fed Rylee and rested for the day.      

Thursday, July 4^th., 2024…… HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!  I was up and going before 6:00am. I walked and fed butthead and then made coffee and headed out for the day. We got the tables set up and the easy-ups out. We only used one today. The sale started slowly. The weather is now super-hot so we’ll see what that will do to sales. But they came! 

While we were working the sale, Cathye sent me a pic of the girls in their matching jammies!

Back at the sale,

we found it was pretty busy at times and prices were right so folks bought things. In addition to all of Sis’s stuff, and my stuff, her neighbor had a lot of stuff there and Jody had a couple of small items she brought. So, we kept separate track of individual sales throughout the day. She had posted and made signs and each said 8:00am-1:00pm, anticipating the hot weather and the holiday. So, we closed up at 1, and brought the tables back in the garage and called it a day. I came back home and loaded Rylee in the Buick and headed over to spend some time with the campers. A lot of family and friends made a good crowd this year. I think I counted over 25 folks.

 

Later in the afternoon, we brought Rylee down to the river so she could cool off a bit. I only had my sandals so I stayed out of the water this time. But Cathye took her out for a swim..

After we ate, I scooped up Jama and Rylee hopped in and we headed back home for the evening. It was rather quiet here – until the Cheadle Lake fireworks show started (around 9:50pm). It lasted probably 30 minutes and I had already gone to bed. Rylee did ok and Jama was good too as long as she was cuddled up next to me in bed! Once everything quieted down, we were all fast asleep. Meanwhile, Cat and the girls enjoyed the show at the park…

 

Friday, July 5^th., 2024…… Since it was super-hot at the campground, most everyone was going home today. I was up and going and was at the sale around 7:00am. It was slow again. We saw that most of the early birds were seniors – who didn’t party last night! That was ok – they got first pick today! Cathye called a bit later and told me the folks in front of the trailer were packing up so she could get her truck in and get hooked up. I left the girls at the sale and went down to help her get the trailer hooked up so she could break camp. She drove back home and pulled in so she could unload. I would back it out and park it later in the day when I got home. Cathye came in for the day and I went back to the sale. Later, Cathye came by on her way to go to her Echocardiogram appointment. Then she will go over to Cheryl’s blueberry stand to get some baked goods that were only there for today. Since we have berries coming in right now, we didn’t need any at this time. Right at 1:00pm, we called the sale. It took some serious effort because it was so freakin’ hot, but we managed to get things separated. Some of her neighbor’s stuff went back to them, some stuff Penny took back, some stuff went to a donation pile which will go in tomorrow, and the rest we left on a tarp with a free sign on it. I got most all of my tables loaded. I left a few that they will need for boxing up stuff. I also lost an easy-up to the wind. That’s ok – it was already damaged and only had this one time use anyway. I dismantled it and threw the fabric in the trash. I will take the frame home and put in my recycle bin. I left and came back and rested. I hit my wall as we were packing up so I took it easy the rest of the day. As did Cat. Tomorrow morning, when it’s cool, I will unload both trucks. Needless to say, we were both tired from our day and went to bed early.         

Saturday, July 6^th., 2024…… We slept in a bit then were up and going. The weather is really nice (70s) when we go out with the dogs. After breakfast, I went out to unload the vehicles, while Cat went out to pick blueberries. We have six bushes out there. Bushes number 3 (Liberty variety) and 4 (Reka variety) were the ones we replaced from Berkey’s farms. This morning, Cathye picked from our bush number 1 and said she will go out tomorrow to do number 2 and 3. The Rekas haven’t come in yet. And 5 and 6 aren’t hearty producers. She got ½ a gallon today 

and expects more than double that from the Liberty tomorrow. Once we got all of our chores done, we called it a day so we could rest and recover. We both stayed inside. Temp got up to 95° out there. Forecast is for 102° tomorrow and Monday and 104° on Tuesday! Yikes! The good part is that the temps really drop at night (in the high 50s and low 60s). Plus it doesn’t get really hot until the afternoon, so we can get chores done early and we’re good.  Later in the afternoon, we met up with Cherrelyn, Penny, and Jody at Pizza Schmizza’s for drinks and dinner. It was nice and relaxing. Oops, no pics! After that, we came home and Cathye went out and watered her flowerpots. I haven’t yet ran any drip lines to them so she does it by hand. But she says she likes tending to them. She’s happy with all of the flowers we have going now!....

While she was out enjoying that, I stayed in the house and kept cool for the day. Tv and then bed. We haven’t adjusted the spa temp yet and it’s just too hot right now to use.