12/22–12/31/13 The End of the Year

(Arizona City, AZ)

We’re coming into the home stretch now,,, another year almost gone.  They sure go a lot faster than they used to.

As Quail Run RV Park does every year we continued to be a great supporter of the Arizona City food bank known as Carl’s Shelf.  Carl’s Shelf is named after Carl Alhstrom a very special friend that we lost in 2012.  Long time readers will certainly recognize the name Cactus Carl, husband and music maker for line dance instructor Sandy.  Quail Runners are so incredibly generous in giving to keep Carl’s Shelf supplied with much needed food.

We held a Food Bank Blitz during this time period.  Residents were asked to put their offerings in a bag and set it outside for pickup at 10 a.m..

We had three vehicles running up and down every street picking up what was set out for us.

Sandy and Bonnie loading up the van at one of many stops.


It didn't take long to get the back of a van half filled.




Next came the chore of unloading it all.  Jeff & Linda Donaldson work hard at the food drive’s.

This is what we brought to the food bank and this isn’t all of it.




The Crew:  Sandy Ahlstrom, Jeff Donaldson, Linda Donaldson, Bonnie Ritter, Dave Kemp and Shirley Kemp.



These were the shelves before this Food Blitz….

 

This is what they looked like the next day when I went back after the helpers at Carl’s Shelf had a chance to put our offering up.

Our weather has been unusually warm.  I’ve heard this is the warmest winter Arizona has had in quite a few years.  We’ve been here six years now and this is the warmest we have experienced.  We feel bad that our home state of Delaware is experiencing one of its coldest.

The Mega Millions lottery was the talk of the park during this time.  When it hit a jackpot of over $360,000,000.00 I started a lottery pool.  Everyone who wanted in (74 residents) pitched in $5.00.

Needless to say we didn’t win the big one but we were in it for a few weeks.  Out of our 370 tickets we had 38 winners, small winners, but winners all the same.  The winnings were played back for the following drawing.  We had a few more winning tickets and again played it back.  Of course after the third drawing it was all over for us.

Bob has been doing very well with his daily walking regimen.  He never misses a day.  My friend Bonnie and I are talking about a daily walk. In the new year,,,yeah, that’s it, in the new year.

Christmas was a quiet day but very enjoyable.  We didn’t go to the park’s potluck Christmas Dinner as I’m so done with those.  Instead we had a very nice day with friends Steve and Bonnie who are parked right behind us. Or perhaps we’re parked right behind them.  Either way we had a delicious dinner of ham, sweet potato casserole, roasted    brussels sprouts and a salad.  And laughs, we had a lot of laughs.

Jonathan and Brandi sent us throw pillow for Christmas.  They had the picture of Bob and his two sons imprinted on it.



 
New Year’s Eve was a quiet night in for us.  We had the opportunity to go to a party but we’re both just not into it this year.  I watched the ball come down in New York at 10 p.m. our time and that was good enough for me.

So there it is, another year for the record books.  We’re looking forward to 2014!

12/8–12/21/2013 Two Weeks at A Time

(Arizona City, AZ)

I’m playing catch-up as I write this so here’s two weeks worth of posts in one.

12/8  Today was church and I have taken on a responsibility in the church service on the first Sunday of every month.  The first Sunday is Communion Sunday.  Yes, I know this is actually the second Sunday of December but our park chaplain’s were visiting with their children for Thanksgiving over the first one so it was pushed back a week.  So today I prepared.  This job entails getting everything out of the cabinet and setting up a workspace.

First in order is to get the Communion tray out and decide how many to prepare for.  I take the easy way and ask Pastor Dale.

 

Next comes the little plastic cups.  They stick together and sometimes I have to sacrifice one (or a couple) in getting them apart.

I have also learned its better to put the little cups in the tray before filling them with the grape juice.  Trust me, it didn’t take long to figure that one out!

Pastor’s Dale wife, Carole, has already prepared the bread or crackers so I only have to divide it between the two trays we’ll use.

Since I’m there an hour early anyway I’ll do whatever needs to be done like folding the church programs or whatever else needs doing.

12/9 –12/12  An invitation has been extended and accepted….Dianne is coming!  Dianne has visited us in Alaska, South Dakota and now Arizona.  She’ll arrive in February but no dates have been set in stone as yet.  It will be so good to see her again!

I have been spending lots of time wrapping Christmas gifts.  I have also been spending a lot of time looking for them.  Fifth wheels are not that big and while we have lots of storage nooks and crannies I’ve forgotten where I’ve  put “small” things that I’ve bought.  I’ve been collecting small boxes from here, there and everywhere to wrap things in so I will be glad when its all shipped.

Here’s what going to our youngest son’s house plus his birthday gifts which aren’t included here.



There’s a similar pile going to our oldest and his family.  All tolled I bought, wrapped and will ship 46 gifts.  Can you see now why I can’t wait to get to the UPS store?

Remember I showed you a while back that the cotton fields had been picked?  I posted a picture of the big bales of cotton in the fields.



The cotton has been picked up and taken to the cotton gin for processing.  That said, I didn’t notice they were missing from the fields.  So how did I know they were taken to the gin?  This was my clue.





Our roadways are shoulders are filled with bits of raw cotton.  The cotton above had to fall from the truck fairly recently because its still white.  Give a few days, it will look like dirty snow.

We played mini golf for the first time and it was quite a game.  There were some new rules for this game.  For instance we didn’t use our golf clubs to get our turn started.  Check out this picture.

Yep, you guessed it.  First thing we had to do was kick the ball!  As if that wasn’t different enough we weren’t using our regular golf balls either.   Here’s Bob making a putt.

 

Tennis balls!

 
On the health front, Bob got his test results back and its all good.  Nothing is showing up, just like we suspected,,,,and expected.

I’m dealing with a bit of sciatica which is real pain in the butt!  Pun intended!

We sure can’t complaint about this weather, while every other city is looking at record lows we’re having one of the warmest winters on record.

We’ll take it!

OK,  the break is over.  I needed some time away from the blog.  I'm ready to start writing again.

I've taken lots of pictures and need to edit them and get my thoughts straight.

I'll get back to work here.

12/7/2013 Craft Fair 2013

I’ve said many times before that we have  a lot of talented people in this park.  This December Craft Fair proved my words true once again.






Lots of craft vendors came in from the outside also so the variety of crafts to choose from was quite large.

We have some jewelry designers in our park that are just amazing.

Craft items included jewelry, beautifully made stuffed animals, jewelry, homemade soups, jewelry, games made from wood, jewelry, quilted handbags, jewelry, crocheted items and did I mention we had tables of jewelry???

Kathy making a purchase from one of our resident jewelry  makers.  I have several of Carol’s necklaces.


Our park’s oldest resident, Phyllis, displays her crocheted items.


 
Park Manager, Brenda, sold teddy bears/rabbits that she makes.  She does beautiful work!



Lorraine, who is one of the Breezeway mural artist, displays satellite dishes that she has painted and rocks and if you look closely you can see a painted ostrich egg.



Rick & Pat sit at their table of jewelry.  Rick is the designer here.



This couple came into the park to sell their lighted glass blocks.  I’m sure you’ve seen these glass blocks with the string of lights inside and tied up with a pretty bow.  This couple also has an unusual story.   I happened to ask her how she made such perfect bows out of all sorts of materials.  She smiled, nodded to her husband and said, “His ex-wife taught me.”  I must have had a bit of a surprised look on my face at the answer because she went on to explain.  It seems her husband and his ex had a very friendly divorce and have remained good friends and share holidays because of the kids and grandkids.  Well, wouldn’t you know it the two women hit if off and are the best of friends today.



Intricate woodworking.



This fellow also worked in wood.

What I was most taken with was the pens he made from wood.


The quilted handbags I mentioned.


Everyone seemed to be having a good time, lots of sales were made and once again a Quail Run Craft Fair was declared a success!

11/29-12/6/13 Deckin’ the Halls

(Arizona City, AZ)

We finished moving into the 5th wheel for the rest of the season.  What a job that was!  The park model was spic and span and our renters did get to the area a day sooner than planned but we were ready for them.  So we’re settled for the winter now.

December 4th brought Deck the Halls to Quail Run.  Winter residents were invited to come in and help decorate for the Christmas season.  Since our days pretty much consisted of pool time, Christmas shopping and enjoying all the shows we did without when we didn’t have our DirecTV hooked up in the park model, this post will consist of pictures from the Deck the Halls day. 

The lady in the picture is Deb.  She is a blog reader that liked what she read about Quail Run so much that she just had to come here and experience it for herself.

The tree in all silver was so pretty!

Chuck adding his special touch to a tree.

Pat and Vivian picking out stockings to be hung “someplace” with care.

 

 

 

Nothing is left un-decorated!

 

 

 

The finished silver tree.

A good time was had by all and Quail Run has the Christmas spirit in place now!