Oregon Living 2026 – Blog #20 – Mowing, Getting Together With Friends, and Getting a Delivery!

 

  

Sunday, May 24^th., 2026……   Since this was Memorial weekend, we didn’t have a class scheduled for tonight, so we had the whole day free! So, we decided to mow while we had a dry day. Cat went off to church while I went out and got the mowers out. They still had enough gas from last time to mow again. Penny came over and we started in. I think it was an hour and a half and we were done. Cat found a sprinkler head on the lawn and it was one of the ones I had just installed. Turns out the pressure was too much for the fitting I tried to use and it just blew out!  No harm though. I will need to put a hose clamp on it and try again. Once we were done and had the mowers blown off and stored, we were done for the day. I spent the rest of the day watching races. The Charlotte 600 and the Indy 500. I had taped the two other Nascar races and watched those first. I have been following the story about the Nascar world losing Kyle Busch. 

He was never my no. 1 favorite driver but I really liked him. I was always a Tony Stewart fan and Kyle was a younger version of him in my eyes. No doubt, he was one of the best race car drivers to date and he will be missed. It is so sad to see his wife and kids lose him at only 41 years. Goes to show you that, even in the best of health, you need to be careful and not ignore symptoms and just try to push through. Trust me - it makes more sense to you as you get older!  Anyway, such a tough loss for everyone! He will be missed. I know I have several cars of his that I will keep in a special place in my display.      

Monday, May 25^th., 2026…… Celebrating MEMORIAL DAY today. 

Please be sure to remember those servicemen (and I also include first responders here as well) who gave their lives to this great country we live in. I myself can remember several of my high school buddies who didn’t make it back from Vietnam. Especially my good friend Mitch Silvers. You will all be remembered!

We skipped Kevin’s today because they were closed and ate breakfast at home. I helped Cat prep her famous Jim’s Beans for later today. She also made a blueberry cobbler. Later in the day, we packed all of the food and drinks and chairs and loaded the pups and headed down to Brownsville for Cat’s annual Memorial Day get together with her girlfriends. It was rainy but we were in the covered patio area and had it to ourselves today. It was nice to visit and enjoy all of the great food everyone brought. Cat brought extra containers so her friends could take leftover beans and cobbler home. Even with that, we will still have so much left that we will freeze the beans. We’ll nibble on the cobbler for a few days though!

We stopped by the cemetery where Jim is buried....

Today was also the 6^th anniversary of Lydia’s passing. I had spent some time by myself this morning just quietly remembering….

When we got back home, we unloaded everything and rested for the day. Nothing else so we watched tv till bedtime.    

Tuesday, May 26^th., 2026……  No rain this morning, so we got up and showered and then walked and fed the girls, then headed out to breakfast, since we couldn’t go yesterday. We drove to The Point in Sweet Home. Becky waited on us and we had a good visit and a nice meal. The lake looks really good, although the cooler weather (and the holiday yesterday) kept folks away today. I kicked myself for not taking our fishing equipment since we had nothing to do the rest of the day! Next up on my to-do list is the get the boat out and serviced before it’s too late! Later, we talked about the side by side and decided that it was time to go for it!  I will message Sam and ask if we could come up and maybe make a deal.

Wednesday, May 27^th., 2026……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM IN HEAVEN!  It started out as a beautiful morning. We had the girls walked and fed and Sam, the owner of the Kawasaki, said he would be there today after noon, so we set a time to meet. We left the house and took the back roads to his place. Cat had never been this way (or couldn’t remember) so this was a nice morning drive.  We met with Sam and looked at all three of the vehicles he had. He had just got in one from his shop where they finally received the needed parts for the steering column. So, it was there for us to consider. It is a single seat, whereas the one I liked (a 2019 Kawasaki 4010 red mule) has a back seat and seats 4. This other one is only a two-wheel drive, but Cathye liked it because it “was cute”!  But, in the end, we decided that it would be better to get the one I first saw because it has four-wheel drive and would be a better fit for our property in the long run. Sam and I negotiated and I made a deal for a cheaper price, including delivery. We paid a deposit and arranged for a Friday delivery at our place. Needless to say, I was excited!  We drove home – this time on the I-205 and then down the I-5. We got lucky because on the way down the I-5 everyone chain reacted to something ahead of us, and the pickup directly in front of me swerved but still hit the guy in front of him. I got stopped with inches to the rear bumper and the guy behind me just missed rear-ending us! Whew! On we went and about three miles later, we saw a police car pulled over and then saw the accident. But the story doesn’t end here!  This happened again several more miles down the road. Another fender bender. But everyone got stopped in time. We considered ourselves very lucky! When we got back home, we fed the girls and I spent some time reading the manual I took out of the mule and brought home!     

Thursday, May 28^th., 2026…… An open day. Again, we had a nice day again. Temps in the 70s today!  We left and went to the gym, then to Kristi’s for breakfast. We stopped and got the Honda washed. This time we chose to spend time to vacuum. We called and checked in on Frank and Maryanne who were in a car accident and had  totaled their car. They said they were ok, just a few bruises. Maryanne has issues getting in and out of their pickup, so we offered them the Honda until they can get another car. We texted them and then Frank called later because I had volunteered to drive them up to Portland to look at another car. He asked if I could go tomorrow because he has an 11:00 am appointment. Turns out that wasn’t going to work because Sam was scheduled to deliver the Mule around noonish. They decided to just drive and look and, if they buy, they will need a few days to get everything together. Saturday would be ok for both of us if that happens. Later, I heard back from Frank that they didn’t like the car in Portland and will continue to look.  We settled in and watched tv until getting into the spa before calling it a night.        

Friday, May 29^th., 2026…… I couldn’t sleep much last night!  I am excited and have been thinking about projects around the yard again!  Of course, I have already been on Amazon looking for Kawasaki parts and accessories! We had some rain when it was time to walk the girls, so we cancelled that.  Sam messaged me that his google maps showed that he would be here around 11:20am. Just before that, I went out and brought in the trash bins, and was out there when he drove in.  It only took a few minutes to unload the mule and pay him the balance and he was gone and I was already playing with my new toy!

 

Both Cat and I drove it around the yard and got used to it. My first job was to take the doors off for the summer. I had that done and then decided to take off the side-view mirrors that were attached to them to maybe put on the mule for the year. I had an issue and broke a screw so I will now need to use an easy-out to remove it. But no hurry. There is also a yellow service light installed on the roof which I don’t have a need for, so I will have to get Cat to help hold the wrench from inside while I remove it. I also found a second operator’s manual. This thing has two glove compartments and when Sam didn’t find it in one, he just took the one out of the sister mule to give to me. So, now I will have to mail one back to him tomorrow.

Later, we ate leftovers and watched some of our taped programs before calling it a night.

Saturday, May 30^th., 2026…… No dances or anything tonight so we didn’t have any plans. I got in the new handlebar grips for the Can Am and they went on pretty easily. I went out and worked on the mule for a bit. Later, we were scheduled to go over to Nick and Kaynor’s for a yard game day and potluck. I had texted Frank to see if he needed me to drive them to pick up their car. As I said, they didn’t get the one in Portland and were headed down to Eugene to look at one. I volunteered to drive them so we met up in Corvallis and they parked their truck and got in our car. Turns out that was the best idea because they found one on a lot in Eugene and ended up buying it that day and were able to drive it back to where they parked their truck. Meanwhile, Cat was set to go to the party. But when I called her from Eugene saying it would be a while, she said she didn’t want to go alone, so she ended up staying home. No worries, just a nice relaxing day. We spent the rest of it hanging around the house and then watched tv until calling it a night.

 

Oregon Living 2026 – Blog #19 – Selling a Classic, More Surgery, New Phones, and Yard Work

 

Sunday, May 17^th., 2026……  After we got up and showered, Cat walked and fed the girls while I headed off to get us breakfast and coffees. After that, we got the Bolens out of the garage and Cat worked on wiping it down. This was a labor of love and I left her alone. She and Jim worked on this 1957 classic mini tractor years ago, restoring it to better than new. It means a lot to her. But it’s been sitting in the garage, getting dusty and Mike said he will be using it on his place and at the Blueberry farm, maybe pulling kids around. So, that makes Cat happy that it’s going to a good home!  Later, we loaded it in the back of my truck to take over to them sometime this week. I spent the rest of the day working on my blog, watching my taped Preakness, and Nascar races, plus the recent Mecum auction in Indianapolis. Later, we headed over to class. It was the next to last class for this group. We only had 5-6 that stayed through and will graduate next week. But I think they will all join our growing Club!  Pizza afterwards then home to watch some tv and then we hit the spa before bed.  

Monday, May 18^th., 2026…… We were up and going slowly this morning. We got the dogs walked and fed then went to breakfast, skipping the gym this morning. Bad on us!  We stopped at Walmart and also BiMart to pick up some flowers and soil amendments. We also stopped at Wilco for dog food for Rylee. Later, we took the Bolens over to Mike and Cheryl's

Earlier, she told Cat that Mike wants to put it on their back porch by the bedroom so he can look at it!  She said he probably want rather have it inside their bedroom.  SO - that's what we did when we unloaded it. He was out in the field and didn't see anything. We pushed it inside and closed the doors. He was sure shocked to see it inside his bedroom.... 

We both worked around the house and yard today. The plan is to mow later in the week if we can dodge the rain. Later, we ate dinner. After that, I wasn’t allowed any more food until after my procedure tomorrow morning. I had already received my call to report to the hospital at 7:30am tomorrow. As directed, I have stopped my meds for this surgery. More on this tomorrow.  

Tuesday, May 19^th., 2026…… I was up and going early this morning. I had to shower using the antibiotic soap plus do an enema for today’s procedure. We left and got checked in and I was prepped and ready to go. They took me in around 9:20 and I was back in my room at 10:00. Today’s surgery was to implant markers to line up on when they start the upcoming radiation treatments. They also put in a blocker to protect the other areas when they do this. It was invasive but I was still given an anesthesia, similar to a colonoscopy. Once I woke up and had a few minutes to recover and have a drink and a muffin, I was good to go. Remember, after the last procedure, I had complications with tons of bleeding. Of course they went in another path. This one was rectal. So far, no bleeding or uncomfortableness. We’ll see as the day goes by. Cat drove us back home and I was told to rest for the day. But I did feel good enough to get a Facebook marketplace conversation going with a guy up in Damascus (southeast of Portland). I set up a time tomorrow to go look at his side by side. I also found out this morning that my phone no longer supports my banking app, so I now know it’s time to upgrade!  I have been looking and know what I want. Cat needs to think about it too because she has the same app issue as well.     

Wednesday, May 20^th., 2026……  I am feeling really good. No issues and no realization that I even had anything done! They checked up on me later in the day but I was able to tell them I was good. So, after getting dressed, I headed out to make my 10:00am meeting with Sam to see his side by sides. I stopped for coffee and breakfast sandwiches and drove up. It was about 90 miles and I found his place with no issues. He is a reseller of 3 2019 Kawasaki Mules. They came to him from a farm where they were primarily used to shuttle workers to the fields. Other than color, each of these are pretty much identical. They have a second seat, which can fold up to increase the bed size. They are also enclosed, which I like, but I would probably remove the doors for ease of operation here. He has sold one so I had a choice of the others. I did drive both of them and other than hours on them, they are virtually identical in condition and equipment. Of course, I had to tell him I wouldn’t be able to buy today and he understood. I will get back to him after I get funds together. 

While I was out, Cat was staying home because the housekeeper and the gardener were both coming. Since I had time, on the way home, I stopped at the Verizon store in Albany (this store is a hub) to buy at least my new cell phone. The guy helped me and I was good to go. But I wanted to also get Cathye’s phone if I could. We ended up getting her to come over (thanks to Penny for the ride!) and she picked out her phone. They transferred all the data in store for both phones and we were good to go! I had chosen the Samsung S26 Ultra because I wanted the stylus for my notes. Cat didn’t concern herself with that and chose the Galaxy Pixel. When we got back home, I spent the rest of the day playing with my phone, getting things transitioned over. Most all of my apps had passwords involved so it took some time to open and re-establish everything to get going again. I am pretty patient but it was a long process! Cathye was not in the mood and said later that she really didn’t like the operating system the Pixel has. She would spend the next day working through all the nuances and we’ll see how that goes. Later, we fed the girls and then headed to our Club meeting. We did get a rousing thank you from the group after our turn came up to report out on our recent yard sale. The treasurer said we have never had any one-time income that was in comparison to what we brought in! I guess we are now going to be doing this annually at our place! Later, we relaxed at home and watched tv and then went to bed.     

Thursday, May 21^st., 2026…… Today would be a busy one! And yet we managed to sleep in again today!  First thing up was breakfast at Kristi’s. We had to hurry because we needed to be at Dianna’s for our haircuts at 10:00am. We made that and we were good to go. When we got back home, we rested for a few minutes before taking the girls in for their grooming appointment. No worries, we were on schedule so far!  Later, after picking them up, I was able to get ready for my Oncology telecon. I met with Christina, who explained next steps in my prostate treatment process. My first visit they will do a test to make sure the markers and spaceor they just put in are in the right place and will work when they start the radiation. I have a list now of what to do prior to that Jun 3^rd. office visit.  

Friday, May 22^nd., 2026…… Today we only had Cathye’s luncheon. Last night I couldn’t sleep thinking about Cat’s issues with her new phone. I was determined to make this work for her, so this morning I took her phone (and gave her mine) and went off to Verizon again. They were so nice and allowed me to return her old phone. We changed it out for a Samsung 26+, which is pretty close to mine without the stylus. They transferred the data and I was on my way. When we got together at home later, I made sure it was the one she wanted (yes, it was perfect!) so I ordered her the cell phone case that she had picked out. All was good.

Saturday, May 23^rd., 2026…… Nothing on the agenda today. We were up and going and walked and fed the dogs and ate breakfast. Cat went out to work in the yard. We are still having issues with the gardener, who, this last time, just sent his worker, who didn't speak English and really didn’t understand what he was supposed to do. I’m not sure how long we will be sticking with him. Today, Cat worked on some special areas, spraying weed killer.  I also had to work on the sprinkler heads, some of which were broken from last year. We went shopping later and I got two new heads for the lawn sprinklers. I got them installed and will try them out later to make sure they are adjusted correctly. I also needed to take the battery out of the Spyder. I had tried starting it the other day and, when that failed, I had to put it on the charger. I did that yesterday and checked it this morning. Nothing. It was pretty easy to disconnect and get out. Napa didn’t have one but they would order it delivered from the Albany store and would call me when it comes in later today. I went and picked it up later and Cat held the light so I could see to get it put back in. That went easily as well and it started right up!  I think we were about done for the day so we decided to take the bike out for a drive. We went to the Fish Shack and had a nice picnic bench meal. If you look closely, you can see we managed to get our selfie with the bike in the background…

After we got back and got the bike put away, we settled in for the rest of the evening. I texted Randy to see if he was affected by the toxic tank situation in Garden Grove. They had an evacuation order in place and Randy texted back that he was one street away from the zone. They are good for now!   

Oregon Living 2026 – Blog #18 – A Busy Week!

 

Sunday, May 10^th., 2026……  HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!  We have set up a day for Cat here at the house. Nothing fancy, just steak bbq, with just Penny and Cherrelyn coming. I got the grill ready and that was about it for me. Paul brought our tables back and visited for a while. He brought us up to speed on the kids next door. Remember, they lost their dad back in November, and are barely 18 and 19 each, and living in the house. No supervision and boyfriends living there too, so we know where this is going. We didn’t know it, but the police were called out on Friday night. He and Cori are closer to the kids than we are so they know what’s happening and shared with us.  Later, Penny and Cherrelyn got here and we visited and drank champagne (thanks Cherrelyn!) and I grilled the steaks. We had scalloped potatoes and Penny made a salad and we had a nice quiet day. Her kids all called her earlier and she also got cards so that was good too!  I have a trip in the planning for us. Just can’t do it now with all my dr visits and procedures. But we’ll get there!  Later, tv and spa and bed.  

Monday, May 11^th., 2026…… I let Cat sleep and walked the dogs and then headed off to the gym by myself. She was up and had them fed when I got back. I spent the morning watching my races and working on the blog while she watched The Devil Wears Prada (no.1) which I had taped for her.  Now she’s caught up so we can go to the show to see the new one.  I also called a guy I met at our yard sale last weekend. He owns a Toyota-specific repair shop in Scio, and I liked him immediately, so I called him today to set up an appointment to get the leaky valve cover gasket replaced on my truck. Will be dropping it off in the next few days.

Tuesday, May 12^th., 2026…… The weather is really nice these days. But we still have storms coming in now and then so we never know until the same week what to expect. But when the sun is out, it’s in the mid-70s and very nice!  All of the flowers are in bloom and Cat takes good care of pruning them when needed.

 

She has ideas of transplanting portions of some of the nicer plants to some of the bare areas you see in the pics to fill in, but she hasn’t got to that yet. Here’s a pic of one that one of our square dance friends gave her a few years ago. 

It sure looks pretty and has done well planted here.

Since we didn’t have anything on the agenda today, I decided to take the truck in to Zack. Cathye followed me there and after we dropped it off, we headed over to Arby’s for lunch on the way back. Once we were back, we were in for the day.

I was asked for an update on me… I am still having issues after the last procedure (5/5). No more bleeding or anything, just pain when urinating. But each day it feels slightly better. Of course, I am still slamming a lot of water because that really helps flush things. But I find that I am always trying to stay close to a restroom!  I go in next week for a small surgery to implant markers and a thing called a spaceor. Those are required prior to starting up the radiation. I have a consult and then a physical test to verify the markers are correct, and then I will get put on a schedule for 8-minute treatments once-a day for 5 ½ weeks. Of course, we are not scheduling much because I have to work around these daily trips to Corvallis, whenever they start! But, aside from the issue I mentioned, I am doing well.   

Wednesday, May 13^th., 2026……  We were up and going and had the girls walked and fed, then headed out to the gym and then to Kristi’s for breakfast. Both of us had prescriptions ready at the pharmacy so we headed over and got those. We stayed around the house for most of the day. I have been searching Facebook Marketplace looking for a new side by side. I have found several but haven’t decided yet which ones I would want. I did get a text later in the day saying the truck was done so we headed off to pick it up. Cat went off on her own and did some shopping while I diverted on the way home and went up to Stayton to Power Motorsports to check out their used side by sides. They only have a couple that I’m interested in. You can get them set up for off road/sand (not what I am wanting)....

or they can be more industrial for farm work (which is what I want). These are some I am looking at…

Thursday, May 14^th., 2026…… Today was burn day!  Cathye checked (on the local burn hotline number) to see if it was indeed a burn day and we were good to go. We had diesel and we used 3 of the presto logs that we had bought yesterday. That really helps keep things going if you place them deep in the pile in various places. I spread almost 5 gallons of diesel on the pile and we got going. It took pretty easily but because the gardeners had dumped the weeds that were mixed with mulch, that made it pretty thick and heavy so the burn would be slow and hot for a long time. Cathye moved some of it around and that helped. She sure enjoys a good fire!

She brought out a chair and sat out there on her phone, keeping an eye on everything. I had already strung together 300 feet of water hose to run out there just in case, so we were good to just let it burn all day. Turns out it would still be burning on Saturday until we got some rain to stop it!

Friday, May 15^th., 2026…… Since we burned yesterday and we only would have a few days before the rains were coming, we decided to mow today. I had to run out and fill 4  5-gallon jugs of non-ethanol because we were about out.  I got the mowers topped off and, along with Penny, we got it done. The only problem I had was that my side of the yard (west of the driveway, had the sprinklers on last night so it was soggier than I wanted. I struggled through and tore up the grass a bit in the extremely wet spots, but I got through ok. We drove out to the burn pile and used the water hose to rinse off the mowers, and we were done!  

Saturday, May 16^th., 2026…… We had an easy day so far. Walked and fed the dogs and then worked around the yard a bit. Since we had some rain last night, the fire is now pretty much out. Cat did go out and look and she says it’s still pretty warm underneath so it’s smoldering still. But later it would rain a lot so we’ll have to check it out tomorrow. Later, Heather and Charley came by on their trip down from Seattle to see Heather’s dad. She is teaching Cathye to crochet so they spent the afternoon working on that.

Later, we headed off to our Club dance. While we were there, Cat made a deal with Mike to buy her Bolens tractor.

 

He had been interested since seeing it while he was here for our yard sale. Well, since he won big at the casino last week, he decided he could afford it!  I’ll have to get it out of the rv garage so Cat can clean it up.  We will load it in my truck and deliver it next week.  Later, when we got back, we watched some tv a bit before calling it a night.