Git 'er done!

 Tree with a haircut.

Before- Butch moved the MoHo out of harm's way. The whole purpose of the procedure is to protect the Moho from further encounters with the Russian Elm tree.

It is hard to see the guy in the bucket working on the tree.

The sun was in the wrong spot.

I left them to their work and this was the result. It did not take long but they earned all their pennies, for sure!

Butch and others have been working on this project ever since.

The Brooker Siblings

 Bill, Marlene, Butch, Leo, and Don

The Waiting Game

 You know how it is...you contract with some outfit to have a service done-they say "Sometime next week." That sounds good so you hang around home waiting for the phone call and it doesn't happen. And you realize that everyone is super busy these days so you assume they have been delayed by 'something' and remain patient. It is the last large venture on our agenda this summer. When this is done we will be free! So now we are in week two. One of us is home all the time, or we try to be. No phone call.

Oh, and by the way, if you stop by to see us and the car is not in the driveway more than likely Butch is golfing and I am home. So don't go by whether the car is home.

We have had two full summers of the waiting business and we are both ready to be done with it. Patiently waiting...

The tree service is what we are waiting on. And this is the tree that lost a limb and injured our RV to the tune of $20,000 so Butch wants it topped. It is a Russian Elm tree.

Before picture.

Trail Bridge Status

 Yesterday Butch and I drove out by the RRV trail near the bridge and then walked out to see how far the repair has come along.  It is coming along nicely. We walked out to the bridge for a couple of reasons-wind was one of them and the other is confidence on my part with riding the bike. I am working on the mental part of getting over it and I will let you know when it happens.

The bridge is not yet usable but it is closer and it looks like they may meet their deadline of July 31st.

Big Brooker Bash

 Leo and Keri hosted a family gathering this weekend with about twenty attendees, being mainly the JR and Marion Brooker offspring. It started off with lunch at the Coaches Corner at the casino. I was surprised at how good the food was because it was less than good the last time we had eaten there. The amounts are enormous for us old folk who do not eat that much anymore. I would suggest sharing. I know we will next time.

In the afternoon we were gathered in our pool hall. It was the first time for us and we were perhaps not up to snuff. I didn't have any soda available...and I should have. Since we rarely to never drink it anymore I forgot to have any on hand. We played some pool and some cards. Cards are a long-standing family tradition.

Late afternoon we gathered at Casa De Oro for an always delicious Mexican meal. There again the portions are very generous...but scrumptious and authentic. We followed this up with dessert at Leo and Keri's where family stories were the hit of the evening.

And this morning Keri put out a championship breakfast buffet and more great conversation. 

Believe it or not, I was slack about getting photo's but Leo came to the rescue and I perused some from Facebook.

From left: Leo, Jo, Bill, Bernard, Marlene, Butch and I in front, Brian, Steve, Don, Marty, Georgia, Dick and Rich. (Dick's wife, Joann took this photo)

Don cutting up at Casa de Oro

And having a conversation with Thomas Jefferson

Blooming Cactus

 Years ago the boys gave me a tiny cactus for Mother's Day. It was small on purpose because we lived in our RV full time. I am guessing it was 2007 or 2008 because in 2010 we took it to Michigan with us and that was the first year it bloomed and I remember how surprised I was. I took pictures of it blooming when we were in New Orleans at Lum and Donna's place and that was also the time we found out we had been accepted to work camp at Thunder Bay Golf and RV resort in Hillman MI. So there are many memories tied up with this prickly beauty.

Fast Forward to 2019 and Mother Cactus was looking sad and she finally succumbed to her age (12?) but not before bringing forth lots of little Mama cactuses. I saved the best and hardiest one of her babes and potted it where Mama had once reigned. I also potted about four of the tinier ones in a smaller pot. Little mama has thrived much like her mother and she is blooming for her first time yesterday.

Isn't she a beauty?

And here are little mama's siblings. They are doing well too and will need to be repotted before long.

Butch's Gift

Leo gave his brother a gift and it arrived yesterday. I think Leo has Butch pegged pretty well.

Perfect! Thanks, Leo.
 

Free Books on Book Bub

I haven't mentioned Book Bub of late but my friends who are avid readers could be interested because you can sign up for emails that let you know about great books for not much cash and many of them are free! Book Bub will get the gist of the kind of books that interest you after you make a few choices. So you say, "But I do not have a Kindle!" You do not need a Kindle because if you have a phone or PC you can get the kindle app for free and read your chosen books on your phone or PC. Easy Peasy! You can get the kindle app here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/kcp

Then mosey on over here to sign up for Book Bub:

 https://www.bookbub.com/ebook-deals/latest

PS: Butch only gets the free ones.😄

ENJOY!

Odd Happening

 The "Boys" Butch, Rich, Gary, and Jason were playing golf this past weekend. I assume the conversation turned to quarters, you know the coins that were made different for each of the 50 States. Apparently, Gary had been collecting them and he hadn't thought of them in ages.  He said he only needed two, New Mexico and Arizona. Rich reached in his pocket and pulled out New Mexico and Butch came up with Arizona!! So now his collection is complete. What are the odds?

Getting ready for a garage sale...

 No, I have not set a date yet. I have been gathering and making piles. The other day Butch asked me if I really needed what was in 3 plastic tubs in the little shed. He needed more room for a "lawn brush", I don't know the real name, he had scored for $5. After some thought, I told him I would have some spare room under the bed once I had emptied it of garage sale items. BUT! Isn't there always a BUT. I needed to go through the tubs, inventory the contents, and clean up the outside of them. So he brought them to the shop/old garage so I could see what was in them. AND NOW, I have 3 plastic tubs of things I could not part with when we first retired, sold our house, and went full-time in the RV. All three have photo albums, journals, and mementos! Keeping the blog going since 2002 should have been a clue that I was not new to journaling.  So all the things I wrote down and saved for posterity prior to the blog are in those 3 tubs!

I did not dare look any further! I have not completed my first todo list and we have groups of company coming in the next few weeks. And now I am itching to go through those tubs!!

Just maybe that will incite me to get on it with the tubs as a reward! Maybe...

OMG

 This morning I was doing the Jigzone puzzle that Butch and I compete on every morning when the wren landed on the rim of the window in front of me not more than 20 inches from my nose! It stopped me in my tracks! Of course, it was off like a bullet soon afterward so no time to get a photo. It will give Butch an advantage on this puzzle. He doesn't have a window in his Hidey Hole.

The website for the puzzle: www.jigzone.com  We click on the puzzle of the day and then change the cut to 48 classic. Unfortunately, the web address does not have the es after the HTTP but, you see, we are addicted so we take the chance for the five or so minutes we are on the site.😉

More Pics

 

Busy Weekend

 Gary brought his RV to our backyard RV site to get it ready for the season. It is the perfect spot for doing that and having 2 RV businesses in town is another plus. You know, in case you need a replacement part. That has happened more than once through this procedure. 

So taking advantage of the situation the "guys" Butch, Rich, Gary, and Jason hit the links at The Hill golf course and played 18 holes. We followed that up with supper at Casa de Ora. Always a good choice. And then topped it off with ice cream at The Twin Shoppe. 

Oh yes, I cannot forget we had some delicious pie Made by Keri! Can't go wrong there.

The summer season has begun and the entire country and maybe the world is playing catch up! And now I will play catch up with pictures taken in the last few days.

Gary and Susan gave us their pool cue holder so now we have a home for all our cues, accumulated from various sources.

 

Gary and Susan's RV- Ours is on the site behind theirs.

   

The new sidewalk- A bit on the high side. We may be in danger of falling off, a trade-off from not being covered by water. It's always something!

 

This shot was taken from the alley. Makes it look very small, don't ya think?

Also taken from the alley, showing our two RV sites...and Butch on a ladder!

Another view...

This was taken looking out from our back door of the house. Another view of Butch on a ladder...

IN? or OUT?

 It seems no one knows if we are in the pool hall or the house or the motorhome for that matter. So I decided to devise a low-tech solution to help clarify the issue. I didn't wish to use Open or Closed for obvious reasons so I am using IN or OUT. I am hoping the sign on the door can be seen from the street. 

Now we have to remember to change it appropriately. Looking forward to seeing you!

Sidewalk-Done Deal!

 

Our House Wren--

SURPRISE'S!

 I arose this morning and watered my plants. It has been in the 90's every day. I was surprised that they were not drier than they were. 

When I came inside I was enjoying my coffee when I decided to look up how to recover Linux on a Chromebook. More than a year ago I accidentally removed it from my Chromebook and try as I might I could not get it back and my Chromebook seemed to be toast. My son Gary was here at the time and he tried too. My Chromebook is what I use for Trivia so I was perplexed and dismayed. So I bundled it up and took it to Texas thinking I might work on it last Winter. I didn't. So I was looking up info on my main PC about fixing Chromebooks. And was told that Linux had little or nothing to do with a Chromebook. I came upon some steps to take to fix it and thought they looked quite easy so I went to the motorhome to get it, brought it up to have a look and it looked very familiar. I signed in just like I used to and it all worked! I do not know how or why it would suddenly started working a year later but I am happy as a clam! And very surprised!

So then...there was a knock on our back door. It was our cement people coming early to do our back sidewalk! By day's end, we will have it done. 

So it has been a day of very pleasant surprises!

Lots going on...

 We told our cement people they could do our back sidewalk from the back of the house to the back door of the pool hall anytime. So we gave them a nudge when we first got back and he was in the field planting. So we waited...and waited. Nudged again a week or so ago and finally reached him in person yesterday. It seems the cement place charges a $500 fee if your cement order is too small so he tacks it onto a bigger job to avoid that small job fee. That's the bad news- the good news is we will see him next week!

And then a while back, Butch contacted some tree people who were working a block away and a guy named Squirrel was supposed to see us. Squirrel didn't show but his boss called and said he would come to look at the job. He came by on Monday. Butch and I had a "pool" going to see how much it would cost. I said $700 and Butch said $1200 so when Eric L. said $400 Butch was tickled pink that he lost the "pool". Butch is having the tree topped. They are coming sometime next week. Wanna bet on what day that might be? For the local folk who want to know what outfit this tree crew is out of, it's ArborPro Tree Service out of Fort Dodge.

So lots going on next week...

Butch's Birthday is today and he is the big Eight OH!. He says "So What." and I do have to agree with him. It is just a number. And he wears it very well. Miracles do happen. He is even starting to listen to me! Who knew!!

Saving the bloomers

 I was gifted with a cemetery planter box. The plants were really quite healthy. I expected them to need plenty of loving care and some time in my "nursery." I have this area in the backyard where plants seem to thrive. Yes, it is where the aforementioned sewer cleanouts are located.  

I have had a Christmas cactus for several years now that really loves that spot. Karla has a "child" from this plant at her house and it is thriving there too. Karla tells me that the plant really has the attributes of a Thanksgiving cactus. I really did not know the difference but it would coincide with when I bought it at Costco. My friend Liz also has a start from this same plant. Liz asked me to bring it home so it could be hospitalized too. The mother plant succumbed to the big freeze in South Texas this past winter. It was too cold for too long.

So all of these plants have had their surgeries and are ready to grow like crazy. They do get watered with rainwater. I swear by this magic elixir for plants.

So here are their baby pics. I will give progress reports as we go.

Pool Hall Update Photos

 Yes, my friends, it gets used every day. After Jeopardy we play till time for supper. 4:00 PM Stop by!

Still need to get the green shutters for the window. And that involves a trip to Ames. Our very conservative selves think a 80 mile round trip for one item is unnecessary.

Bird Pics

 Finch

Our very special House Wren.