Arizona, Mesa - Sunday, March 22, 2015 - Val Vista Villages RV Resort

Temperatures have been into the high 80’s and low 90’s this week.  Humidity is below 20%, right now it is 12%.  In my opinion “dry heat” is still very hot!

The heat is bringing out the cactus blooms.

 

 

 

I think this is a hibiscus, there are several of them around the courtyard where we work.

 

Wednesday afternoon I finished up my sampler quilt, it has its flaws but overall I’m pretty proud of it.  I certainly learned a lot.  I’ve bought some supplies to have at home so I might be able to do another quilting project on my own as we travel this summer.

 

I finished it up by embroidering my name and the date in the corner.

 

 

Our project this weekend was recovering the dining room chairs.  They originally had a vinyl “faux leather” covering which was ok until we bumped the edge of one and tore a small hole in it.

 

We redid them in some of the upholstery material we had left after doing the valances.

 

On Thursday we had our eyes checked, it had been a couple of years since we last had them tested.  I have some new glasses coming in next week.  Greg will be having cataract surgery on both eyes when we get back here in November.  We decided this would be the best place to have it done since we are right across the street from a grocery store.  He won’t be able to lift anything heavy for at least a couple of weeks after the surgery so that cancels out going anywhere on the motorcycle.

On Friday we updated our shorts and t-shirts wardrobe a bit and then went through our current things for Goodwill donations.  We still have more clothes with us than we need.  We’ve gotten “dressed up” (wearing something other than shorts and t-shirts) once since the beginning of the year – I love being retired.

On Saturday we treated ourselves to lunch at Olive Garden, I don’t think I’ve been to Olive Garden since we left Indiana last September.  We were out looking at inversion tables at Dicks Sporting Goods.  The chiropractor said that using one would be the best thing for Greg’s back but we needed to have some idea how big one would be so we could think about where to store it.  I think I could probably benefit from one also since there are times I feel like my neck and shoulders would feel better if I could “skin the cat” on the sidebar of a swing set like I used to when I was little.  Unfortunately, if I tried that now, the bar would probably break and I’d fall on my head.  And I know for sure I couldn’t get up once I got down.

Greg couldn’t be happier since college wrestling championships, NCAA basketball tournaments and NASCAR are all being televised this week.

I’ve tried some new recipes – an apple cranberry crisp turned out really good.  The pizza crust I made today turned out good, but I ended up having to knead it by hand.  The bread hooks on my hand mixer aren’t real efficient.  I tried them and the dough promptly climbed all the way up the hooks and into the mixer – took lots of Q-tips to clean out that mess.  A new shrimp and pasta dish is on the menu for this evening.

I found someone here at the resort to fire those ceramic candleholders I brought with me.  I’m working on painting them, if they turn out well, I’ll post pictures later.