Wow! That's Old!

 

For my 70th birthday today I got to go see my surgeon!  Yay!  My right shoulder droops because of the damage to my rotator cuff.  I hold my elbow in close to keep from further damage.  Fortunately, my Dr said that as long as I behave, Duane and I can leave on May 24th for our summer trip.  Unfortunately, he also said that I should not postpone surgery any longer than 5 or 6 months, which means we won't be spending the winter in AZ, but returning to Texas for the winter again.

To console myself I made a big ol' dark chocolate layer cake with equally forbidden frosting!

Yum!  Yum!

Louise and Duane

Another Wallet?

Duane's latest leather project is a "biker wallet", the kind that motorcycle dudes like to hook to their belts with a chain.  

This is the back, which folds over onto a smaller strip on the front.  

It took him about five hours to stamp and dye the back.

Here he's folding the top of the back over the front strip.  

Tomorrow he'll start assembly.

I didn't do any work--just played around with my latest jigsaw puzzle.

Retirement can be fun.

Louise and Duane

Louise and Duane

Cleaning Day

Breakfast at Denny's with son Jeremy, granddaughter Allie, and grandson Luke bolstered us all for the tasks we wanted to accomplish today.   After fueling,  we went to the house to get busy.  Allie went to town clothes shopping with her mom (Jennifer).  

We purged our utility trailer, aka storage unit

into piles--take home, give to Jeremy, trash, give to Goodwill or Salvation Army, put back into the trailer for future consideration.

Jeremy had emptied his swimming pool for maintenance and cleaning.  He sanded rough and discolored spots.  Jennifer's job will be to clean the green tile band around the top. 

Luke's job was to avoid work whenever possible.  He was supposed to be helping his dad (in the hot sun), but decided that helping us was much cooler and more fun.  He was very helpful and lightened our task by being his usual goofy self.  Before he put anything in the trash he had to make sure it was thoroughly and truly broken.  He had fun smashing our old laptop computer, and making a  helmet from a half-inflated plastic ball. 

We finished our trailer with room to walk and easy access to our keepers.

Duane was hot, tired, and in need of a rest before driving home.

Jeremy took a break for a chat before we left for home.

That's a task that we've been wanting to do for a while!

Louise and Duane

Rodeo

Off we went on a beautiful (chilly) day to watch the twins compete in a local rodeo. Timed events in two age brackets included (peewee only) mutton bustin' and pulling a ribbon from a goats tail, steer wrestling, bull riding, and saddle bronc riding (only for older kids). 

The twins competed in goat tying,   

poles (Ava on brown horse, Emma on white)

and barrels

Their events finished in time for them to put away equipment, load the horses in the trailer

and have enough time to enjoy lunch with us before we had to head our separate ways.

Emma across from Gramps, Ava, Duane Jr on end.  Brandey, Alyssa, Coy and Will weren't able to make it this morning.

We had fun spending time with the family that was able to come.

Louise and Duane

 

Sigh

If I go ahead with shoulder surgery, we will have to cancel the first part of our summer travel plans.  Unfortunately, they included a return to one of the most beautiful of our national parks. 

 We miss it already!

Louise and Duane 

 

Totally Sprung

January

February

 March

April

Almost summer!

Louise and Duane

Puzzling

Lots of detail made this puzzle fun and relatively easy.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Enjoying ourselves--for now,

Louise and Duane (who put in two pieces!)

 

Rough Day

This morning after a year of  physical therapy and two mri's of my right shoulder, I again visited my doctor to find out my next step.  He said that the pt has strengthened the muscles surrounding my shoulder joint, but now the time has come to surgically repair my rotator cuff tears before they become any bigger.  I have a date with a surgeon next week--on my 70th birthday, no less!  Bummer!  This will definitely delay our departure date by several weeks.  

After lunch Duane went to his eye doctor to get a status report on his macular degeneration.  No good news there either.  His degeneration has worsened in the past year.  There is nothing he can to to stop his vision loss except to keep taking his vitamins and eating his vegetables--a double whammy for him, a confirmed meat and potatoes guy!

After these blows we retreated to the house to find comfort in our hobbies.  I spent several hours with my latest jigsaw puzzle.  Duane sewed his newest wallet.  This one features not only the basic Masonic  symbols (as did the first one), but also the 32nd degree emblem. 

Getting old sure isn't easy!

Louise and Duane 

Checking Up

To enjoy this beautiful Easter weather, Duane and I took a walk up the hill to see if any progress had been made on the new part of the Trails @ Lavender Rd. rv park.   

The grass was so high that we couldn't see anything until we reached the top of the hill.

There we discovered that the concrete pad now had a building on it.

Inside the rooms had been framed in--activity room and laundry on one side,

and two showers/restrooms on the left

Outside some more parking sites had been graveled, but

several sites still need a lot of work before they're ready.

At this rate they'll be lucky to open this part of the park by December!

We might see it next year.

Louise and Duane

I Knew It!

When Duane opened Pandora's box last Christmas and found a beginner's leather tooling kit, I knew that was the pit tip of the tip of the iceberg!  Since then he's made dozens of items, each one learning a new skill and honing previous ones.  

As soon as he made a small bike travel purse for me, I knew there would be more bike accessories to follow.

Next came the windshield what-not bag.  That looked so good that 

he turned his attention to seat backs.  While he's thinking about how they're constructed, so that he can make new ones,

he's also thinking about replacing the saddlebags with hand tooled ones to match the windshield bag!

I must admit tooled leather is cool!

Louise and Duane

 

Old Custom, New Twist

 

We have no kids to appreciate colored eggs at Easter, but I enjoy them.  I color them "old school" with boiling water, food dye and vinegar, but I add three new steps.

To hard cook eggs, I boil one minute, then remove them from heat, cover and let sit for 3 minutes.  (I got this method from an egg carton a while ago.) 

While the eggs are cooking, I measure the dye and vinegar  in mugs.  When the eggs are done, I pour the hot water from the egg pan into the mugs.

While the cooked eggs are cooling in ice water, I color all of my raw eggs.  (We eat so few hard cooked eggs that I don't like to go to all of that trouble for a few eggs.)

It's not hard to keep the eggs separate,  I use a crayon to mark the raw eggs.  As an added precaution I give each egg the tried and true spin test.

I have used this method for years and have never had any ill effects from cooking and eating raw colored eggs.  I think it's fun opening the egg carton and find all those cheerful colors.  Sometimes I color eggs for Christmas, too!

Still having fun,

Louise and Duane

Busy Boy

While I was sewing, Duane was busy learning a new stamping technique:  basketweave.  

He liked his new belt, but he likes the basketweave design better.

He liked it so well that he made his pistol cartridge case with that design.  Unfortunately, he forgot that the holster had a different design.  Oops!  Now he has to make a new holster!

Neither of us minds.

Louise and Duane