Thunder, lighting and just a sprinkle of rain

More shopping, today to Target and the new store in the neighborhood, HyVee.  HyVee is still crowded but not too bad to get around, wide aisles.  They have a lot of prepared food, we will have to go there some night and get dinner to bring home.

We got gas in the car and could see the storm clouds forming.  By the time we got home it was so dark we had to have lights turned on.  Plenty of lightening and thunder and then just a sprinkle of rain.  We could have used much more, the lawns are getting to look dry.

I made egg quiche for dinner.  Had some eggs I needed to use.

Nice day it turns out!

Another nice day, the forecast rain is no where to be seen.  We need rain, maybe tomorrow.  Our lawn is being mowed as I write, didn't grow much this week.

We went for groceries at Walmart and fruit and vegetables at Fresh Thyme.  They have good and fresh stuff.  In the evening we went for dinner at Bakers Square.  We had a good chicken sandwich "melt" with avocado and a free slice of their renowned pie.  I had chocolate peanut butter cup pie, Don had caramel supreme.

Motorhome, shoes and Crow Peak

A beautiful morning on the cool side, was good to have the windows open.  A nice day to check on the motorhome which is in storage.  All was well.  We ran the generator for 30 minutes to charge the batteries and to get the "cobwebs" out of the generator.

Then we ate lunch at Shakopee Culver's.  It was packed, no place to sit when we left.  After that to Shakopee Walmart as Don had been looking for certain shoes and he did find them there,  (Were not at our local Walmart.)


Crow Peak fire as seen from Spearfish, SD:

South Dakota fires

Clean the house day, it is never too dirty, not much dust around here.  The floors always need help the most.

The South Dakota fires are still out of control.  In addition to Sundance and Crow Peak we now have a Crook County fire.  They need  rain so bad. Storms are forecast for them today; hopefully they will get some rain and not just lightening.  https://www.facebook.com/Spearfishalert/

Crow Peak fire

We went to Denny's for breakfast, it was already getting hot and windy.  Came home and read the Sunday newspapers like usual.  Brenda and Rebecca came over for a visit and to wish Don a late happy Father's Day as they were out of town last weekend.

I am seeing a lot of pictures of another forest fire on Crow Peak, not far from Spearfish, SD.  Never here about these fires on TV.  It is still out of control.  Hope they get some rain very soon!

Heat and wind, not good for anyone

We have been hearing from our Western South Dakota family and friends about the nearby forest fire at Sundance, WY.  Today heard it is not at all contained, they are having high winds and hot temperatures.  On TV all we hear about is the fires in California so have to rely on Facebook for information on the Sundance fire.

We don't even want to check the stock market, we will hang in there like last time until it rebounds.  The UK had to do what they thought was right but makes me wonder if they will not regreat their actions.

I cleaned the hall cupboard.  It turned out to be a bigger job than I had anticipated but glad it is now done!  We went to Panera for dinner.  It has been a hot and windy day, got up to 95 degrees.

Sundance fire:

Wild Bills

Nice day today although we have a high heat warning.  My allergies are bothering me, woke up early sneezing and sneezed through my shower.  I had taken 24 hour allergy medicine before going to bed.  First thing I did when I woke up I reached for the light/ceiling fan remote, dropped it and it went between the mattress and the bed headboard ending up under the bed.  Don had to get the "grabber" to retrieve the thing.

We went to Menards, I didn't need anything but ended up buying the most, just household stuff.  I went there mostly to walk.  Also went to Fresh Thyme market for fruit.

In the evening we decided to give "Wild Bills" restaurant/bar a try for dinner.  They have a good menu and not too expensive.  We got fajitas which were good.  We went on the early side and were seated right away but when we left we heard them tell someone there was a 40 minute wait.  We will go there again.

National Flamimgo Day

This morning was cool and cloudy with no rain.  The perfect day to wash the windows.  They were really dirty on the outside and had a scum on the inside.  Look so nice now but probably not for long.  Don's back hurts, my back, arms and legs hurt.  We are so not in shape!

We read inside in the afternoon, really too cool to go out on the deck.  Then ate dinner at home, BQ Pulled Pork and Mrs. Gerry's potato salad.  (Both purchased)

HAPPY NATIONAL FLAMINGO DAY!!!

Shopping and Q tips

We went to Cub Foods for their specials, again very few people there.  I hope they can pull it together and survive the opening of two new grocery stores.  We have within a few minutes drive: 2 Cub Foods, 2 Targets, Walmart, Fresh Thyme, Aldi and now HyVee.  8 grocery stores in all.

We got a couple hamburgers from McDonald's to take home for lunch.  Sat out on the deck for awhile until we got too much sun.

In the afternoon we decided to finally tackle the dirty light switches.  They had dirt embedded in them around the edges.  Maybe because the house is 30 years old or because the last person who lived here 20 years had dirty hands.  It entailed taking the plate off and cleaning the switch with Q tips.  Took awhile but done for maybe another 30 years!

Daughter Sheila found this photo of our first house. It looked better then but it was new.  Now about 47 years old.  In Ames, Iowa

New HyVee, old Walmart

The new HyVee store opened today not far from us so we decided to see how bad the crowds were mid morning.  We got a good parking place, the store was very busy but could still get around as long as families didn't spread out across the aisle.  We got a few groceries, stuff on sale.  Don picked out some elephant ears pastry from the bakery.  Lots of employees around, some handing out samples, some directing traffic, etc.  Just as we were about to check out they changed cashiers, the new one was having all sorts of problems - even signing in.  He told us we were his first "real" costumers!  We wished him well for the rest of the day and told him it will get better!

We took our stuff home as we had some ice cream and then went to Walmart.  I guess they are dropping out of the grocery store competition as they had one check-out open which sported a long line and three self check-outs open with lines as well.  One person couldn't wait and put her things down and left.  They need to think about some costumer service!

We ate a home, had waffles.  Waffles always seem like a cold weather meal but we had them anyway with eggs and bacon.

Cleaning

Monday is clean the house day, hardly my favorite thing to do.  We need to start doing some extra, once a year things so today we dusted the top of our ceiling fans, all 4 of them!  The previous owner left a long handle which a disposable duster could be attached, that worked well.  I also dusted the top of doors and other hard to reach places.  Won't mention how my back feels----

We have been ruining the air conditioner some the last couple days, mostly to take out the humidity.  Bad storms were forecast for last night but thankfully we didn't even have a drop of rain.

Picture from last weekend's wedding in South Dakota:

Fathers' Day

It is Fathers' Day today.  We met Sheila, Ken and grandkids at Cracker Barrow for breakfast.  Don and I got there a little early to reserve a table for the 7 of us.  They called our name before the others had arrived, we went to claim our table and were told we couldn't be seated until everyone was present.  We told them our family was about 10 minutes out, but no we could not be seated.  So when they did arrive we told the hostess that we had all arrived and she said she would put us at the top of her list.  Then she called several groups of 6, 8 and 10 while we waited.  We were being nice about it asking her when we would be seated and finally just got in her face and said we want to know WHEN.  That's when she finally sat us, I guess one of those people where you have to get aggressive.

Any the food was good and the company better!  We hogged the table awhile, we had waited long enough to be seated.

Don and I went to Fleet Farm and then home to read the Sunday papers and take a nap.  In the late afternoon we went to Culvers to eat.

From the Minneapolis paper about my home town:

Slow day

Slow Saturday.  When we worked Saturday was our day to get things done, now retired we can take it easy.  We did get the blind hung on the narrow window by our front door (side light).  It looks nice and will prevent people for seeing us before we see them when they come to the door.

We did some other things around the house and then went to TGI Fridays for dinner.

It would be difficult, but somehow people used to live without electronics:

Shopping, heat, etc.

More shopping.  We went to Target as they had Don's jean shorts on sale.  Then to CVS Pharmacy and Menards Home Store.  Was a full morning!  We also dropped off an empty printer ink cassette and a cell phone lithium battery at Best Buy.

It is a sunny, hot day with plenty of humidity.  We sat out for awhile in the sun, I came in first as I had things to do.

Brenda and family left at 3:30 AM for western South Dakota for a family wedding.  All was going well with the trip at 10:30, over half way.

We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner, Hong Wong.

Storm coming into Rapid City, SD:

Groceries and mail

We went to Cub Foods today for groceries, once again very few people were there, then to the new store Fresh Thyme and it was packed.  We got some good deals again!  In the afternoon we sat outside in the sun for awhile.  It didn't take long before I felt my skin start to burn so moved to the shade and finished reading the newspapers.

We got our mail from Texas mail forwarding, there was a lot of stuff - not much important.  We got our new blind for the window by the front door (side light they call it) so that now needs to be hung.

How does our garden grow????

Toilet, gators, politics and rocket

Project for the day:  Don replacing toilet in master bedroom bath.  He had to carry the old one to the garage, it was very heavy and he fell with it.  I begged him to let me call our grandson for help but no, didn't want to bother him.  I know he would have been glad to help!  Anyway toilet installed, works, looks nice, all is well.

More sad news from Orlando, a 3 year old was grabbed by an alligator at Disney World lake.  His father tried to save him but no match for a determined gator.  I don't know how those gators get into inland waters.  Our RV park commonly has visiting gators in our "swamp", they would have to cross major highways to get there including Interstate 75 which is bumper to bumper traffic 24/7.  Now people are shaming the parents for not watching the kid close enough, like the chimpanzee events of a couple weeks ago.  I am sure the parents are blaming themselves enough without any help from strangers.  They are also saying "poor alligators" as they have to be killed until they find the right one.  Alligators are not an endangered species and a few less in Florida will not be a problem.

More mud slinging from the politicians over the nightclub shooting, one in particular who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.  Can't they leave this alone at least until facts are gathered and bodies are buried, where is the sympathy for the victims and families.

And then more news from Florida;  SpaceX reusable rocket had a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" while landing. Translation: It crashed.

Brenda and Rebecca came over after work for a visit and also brought me some Muesli that we had been talking about earlier.


Which one is illegal to sell in the U.S.?
Obviously Lawn Darts doesn't own any politicians:

Albino squirrel, I'll call it: Tout a' fait Blanc

Still more news about the Orlando shooting.  What a horrible scene it must have been.  People involved will have nightmares for years.  One person said he couldn't sleep as every time he closed his eyes the whole thing played over in his brain.  Then to add to the problems Trump now is saying Obama is complicit in the shooting. Please God give Trump a brain or get him off the national media.

We went to breakfast at Panera this morning, we had never had done that before.  We had breakfast sandwiches and their excellent coffee.  We will do that again!  Then to Walmart for groceries and Super America for gas for the car.

Camper eggs for dinner!


We were getting ready to leave for breakfast this morning when we say an albino squirrel in our yard! (Picture distorted as I took it through the patio door, I was afraid I would scare him off if I opened the door.)

Orlando

The news is so sad, a day of dissecting what and who of the Orlando shootings..  What if someone had spoken up about the shooters mental problems, what if someone had know he had an assault riffle, is he connected to ISIS and on and on.

The politicians are using this as a platform for their causes and election.  Can't we just all join together and support the people in Orlando for a couple days at least.

One person said this is going to happen more and more, no one is safe.

Sad day in the USA

Breakfast at Bakers Square.  We read the ads there but nothing we wanted to stop for on the way home.  Got home and read the rest of the Sunday papers.

Checked Facebook and found out about the horrible shooting in Orlando.  We had just talked on our way home from breakfast about the singer who was shot there Friday and how Orlando is getting to be a scarier place.  When we are in Florida for the winter we get Orlando TV stations and there are always some bad crimes going on.  They seem to be moving to the tourist areas more and more.  The shooting today was the worst, 50 people dead and over 50 people injured.  When will the United States join the rest of the developed countries and ban assault guns.  It would have been bad enough if the shooter had just a pistol but he would have never been able to do so much killing..

And then Trump (who immediately wanted to make it political) says he should be congratulated for saying this would happen without a word of condolences.  He even uses this horrific event for his personal gain.   If people don't wake up and realize what this person is all about, I'm afraid we will soon live in a constant state of fear.

My heart goes out to all the victims and their families and friends.  The most we can do to comfort them is stand up against this kind of hate, get control of the assault guns and be vigilant.

Slow Day

Slow Saturday.  We got up late, Don never used to sleep in but now days he dose some.  I have no problem with a little extra sleep.  The day started out bad for him as our Apple Valley paper was not at the door.  He doesn't care much about the paper but it contains next weeks Menards ad.  He like to study it ahead of time!  It finally came, he checked about every 15 minutes.

We got hamburgers at 5 Guys for dinner and watched an episode of Upstairs Downstairs on Amazon.

Verizon again

It was hot even before we left for shopping at 10:00 this morning.  I went to Kohl's, had $10 of their "cash" to spend before it expired.  I got a shirt and some earrings, with my 20% off I paid just over $5 for all.  Don went to Menards in the mean time for more toilet parts.  Then we went to Fresh Thyme, the new grocery store we went to with a crowd of other people a couple weeks ago.  There were still a lot of people but not as bad.  Who doesn't want a pineapple for 99 cents, raspberries for 77 cents a half pint, etc.  We have a LOT of fruit to eat now including a watermelon.

I spent part of my afternoon with Verizon again.  This time I printed my last two months bills so I could study them better.  Of course I ran out of ink right in the middle of printing, had to look around the office to find the ink that I knew was somewhere.  Then I got on a "chat" with Tiffany.  She was no help.  She agreed my last two bills were wrong but nothing she could do about them. (These people I have been "chatting" with start out with standard English but then slip us with wrong word usage, like their for there, etc. and their sentence structure gets messed up.  So I am quite sure English is not their first language.)  It was too much money to give up so I made a phone call and got Laurie who, I would guess, is from Iowa.  She was more than happy to correct my last two bills and give me $95 credit.  It might not me the exact right amount but close.  I checked later and the credit had been applied, never know.

We ate at Chili's for dinner.  We lick their deep fried pickles and they have good ribs as well.


The Rock!

Thunder, toilet, heat and Verizon

Exciting day!  We went to Menards and bought a new toilet for the master bedroom bath.  The old one had problems and I hated it because it was so low to the flour.  Now Don has the major job of installing the thing.  We also got a bunch of other stuff as their is  11% off on everything.

It started thundering about 3 AM and kept it up until about 8 AM, then suddenly the sun came out full force.  So we have a hot and humid day.  We just might have to turn on our air conditioner for the first time this year.  (Had it on once to see if it still worked and it did.)  Our house is surrounded by big trees as well as no basement so the floors are cold all of which help to keep the place cool.  We may need the AC more for getting out the humidity than the heat!

I spent an hour of my afternoon with Alex from Verizon via "Chat".  I changed my data in May and am now being charged for the new data plan as well as the old.  After considerable time he spent checking, he agreed with me.  Thought all was well - until I noticed he didn't give we credit for last months bill and didn't change this months.  We're talking about $50 a month so worth the time perusing.  (I like their chat as I can get a copy of it for future use if needed.)  So I will be visiting with Verizon again!!!

RIP Sharon

It is a sad day, a friend of mine, Sharon, died this morning.  The last time I saw her was before the left our Florida RV Park.  We both said "see you next year".  How fast things change.  She said she wasn't feeling well but would see the doctor when they returned to Wisconsin.  She did and was told she had late stage leukemia.  Nothing the doctors could do but to keep her comfortable.

She loved playing cards and was always organizing a card game.  Sometimes desperate for a few extra players she would go knocking on RV doors.  She also was the person collecting money for meals at the clubhouse.  She had an eagle eye, would see anyone who didn't pay (and yes, some people tried to get away with not paying) and go and get money from them.  She worked in the park office as well.  She had access to a lot of gossip but she was not a gossiper.  However once she told me about a man who was well know for talking incessantly about his Type 2 diabetes.   Sharon said he would pay for breakfast but first ask her if sugar-free syrup was available.  Then Sharon would watch him get his food and use the regular syrup.  It was funny because everyone was so tired of hearing him talk about what he couldn't eat that no one wanted to sit by him.

Sharon and her husband Fran were looking forward to not workamping any more and had purchased an RV lot in a different RV park.  They were looking forward to all the opportunities available for fun at the new park and just enjoying themselves.

I have to stop and consider how fragile life is, it is a lesson that we need to make every day count.  Spend time with our family and friends and do more of what makes us happy rather than things we think we need to do.  Not waist time moaning and gowning but keep a positive attitude and stay happy.

RIP Sharon, you are already missed!

52nd Anniversary

This is our 52nd wedding anniversary.  We went out to breakfast and then to St. Paul as Don wanted to go to Harbor Freight (a man's place with tools and all for sale).  He often visits one in Florida so has been without for awhile.  There was a Kmart nearby so stopped in there, need a Kmart fix now and again.

For dinner we went to Q Cumbers in the suburb of Edina.  We hadn't been there for at least 15 years and it hadn't changed a bit.  The food was good but I think I either ate the wrong thing or ate too  much as my stomach was upset all evening.

Open windows, garbage and sick friend

We opened all the windows this morning, so good to get nice fresh air inside!  The garbage man fooled us and cam by about 4 hours earlier than usual, now we have to be prepared in the future.  Oh well, he gets twice the amount next week.  We were not the only ones that didn't have our garbage out!  Later he came around again, maybe he had complaints.

Then it was clean the house time, might be more fun it it was dirtier.  We always have a ton of junk to put away.

Last night we found out a friend of ours is gravely ill and only has days to live.  We knew she was sick but not that she was close to death.  She was always at our RV park clubhouse either volunteering or playing cards.  Her friendly presence will be missed.


I love this, one little girl didn't want to be a princess and chose to be a hot dog!

Family time

Sunday means breakfast out for us - we ate at Bakers Square.  The have a good, big breakfast - I couldn't eat all of mine even after eating too much.  We went home and read the newspaper and did some stuff around the house.

We went to Panera with family to celebrate our daughters birthday and then had everyone over to our house for cake and ice cream.  Always good to get together!!!

We will be watching this, it appears our RV Park may in the mist of this storm.  It is just on the west edge of the green area by Spring Hill.

Rain and Chinese food

Again today the sun was shinning when we got up but slowly turned to cloudy and rain.  We got a good rain in the afternoon.   We did some reading and computer stuff and made a trip to Cub Foods for a birthday cake for tomorrow to celebrate our daughters birthday.

We ate at a favorite, Hong Wong.  Good to see more people there, it has been kind of slow the last couple times.  I sure wouldn't want it to close.  It could stand some redecorating, I have been going there so long I remember when they redecorated last time.


I know a dog that could use this!

Birthday, light fixture and donuts

The day started out bright and sunny and then I looked out a bit later and it was cloudy and rainy and remained rainy for the rest of the day.  We went to Verizon to get Don's phone number and contacts changed from his old flip phone which hardly worked anymore to my old smartphone which is good and will be better when we get it a new battery.  Finally he enters the smartphone age!  We had to wait awhile and knew that was a possibility.  We watched some people come into the store and when told they would have to wait turned around and walked out.  A couple people had "just a quick question" but still had to wait.  I don't think there are any quick questions at Verizon.

Being it is National Donut day Don stopped at Cub Foods and picked up some donuts.  We also did a tour around the outside of the new HyVee store to see if it was open, it was not but looked like it won't be too long.  In the afternoon Don installed our new entry light, now he needs 2 LED bulbs alike.  We went to Menards for the bulbs later and the light looks great, really lights up the entry.

It is our oldest daughter's birthday, a decade birthday.  They are in Las Vegas celebrating!  She said it was 85 degrees at 8:20 this morning.  110 degrees is their expected high, good everything is air conditioned!  We did a drive-by check of the kids, they saw us as they were getting into the truck and caught up with us.  They were on their way to eat at Appleby's.

Happy Birthday Sheila!

Flowers and light

Today we went in search of "Mexican Heather" (cuphea) a favorite plant of mine, to put in the gravel by our deck rail.  The first two places didn't have any but of course Bachmans had some.  Their plants are always of the best quality and guaranteed for a year.   In the afternoon Don planted them, they already add a nice color.  I also got a pot of Inpatients to round off the flowers.

While out shopping we got a new light for our entry way.  The old one has a light socket that doesn't work and is ugly anyway.  We got a nice silver and frosted glass one.

It is a beautiful day, we read the newspaper while sitting on the deck and I continued reading my new book (on my Kindle) "Rise of the Rocket Girls" - a true story how women were a major asset in getting the USA into space.

Then, in an effort to actually get something done, I scrubbed out the shower.  Long overdue.  We had waffles for dinner at home.

Mexican heather:

June 1, 2016

We ate breakfast out and then went to Walmart and Cub Foods for groceries.  There were so few people at the stores we wondered if the new HyVee had opened but didn't go check it out.  That meant we got right in and out.  Didn't need much.

Spent the afternoon reading and on the computer catching up.  We got sandwiches from Arby's for dinner.