May 2020

We are settling in nicely and getting caught up on a few things.

Only been home a couple of days and happy to report that the yard is officially cleaned up.
The foot high shade grass is back to its beautiful manageable length.
Just like everything during this Pandemic it needed a haircut!

It was really nice to have it cleaned up....thanks to Eve and her family for doing

such a great job, as usual! 

We are selling the RAM truck in the next couple of weeks so I am doing a major clean on it.

I had no idea that Bronco actually had all this hair in the vehicle.

I know she and Chuck are going to miss Big Bertha but we just don't need that big of  truck any

longer.

What a great truck she has been.

I am happy to say she is going to still be in the family as my step-sister and her husband are purchasing it from us.  

Of course the batteries, yes I say batteries, since she has two to get her going have decided to die and we are having to replace both of them.

With the lockdown in full swing Chuck purchases a couple from Batteries Plus and we make a drive over to pick them up.

Now she is ready for her new home!  

Since we now have a much smaller motorhome we no longer need the extra length on the barn so that means we need to close up the back of it and put the barn back to its enclosed self.

This time around we are going to be using the clear panels on the top portion of the barn so we can get some natural light in.

We had saved the old tin that came off the back so it was pretty easy to get the wall back up.

Chuck went back with wood to secure the panels since we had removed the metal struts that ran across the back of the barn.

I am going to be so glad to have the barn enclosed again as it will stay a lot cleaner and hopefully that will also keep the Leprechaun a little cleaner as well.

The task was a bit trying on the high spots as we didn't have the right ladders for the job, but Chuck was able to stretch enough to secure the panels and we had this little job done and cleaned up within a day.

Hey, we are retired, so we can take a little longer on projects if need be!

Mother's Day was spent with the family coming to the house and we all spent the afternoon outside.

We didn't get to do our usual hugs and touching but it was so nice to have them out to spend some much needed "family" time together!  

Chuck had been working on Big Bertha getting her ready to sell, and had placed his glasses on the back bed on the cover.

Forgetting that he had placed them there he took the truck for a spin and later in the evening he started looking for his glasses.

He remembered that they were on the back of the truck so we set out looking down the road by the house to see if they had fallen off.

We weren't lucky enough to find them.

I just knew they would be on the side of the road squished.

Fast forward to Monday.....our neighborhood has a group on FB.

I was looking on FB and someone had posted a picture of his glasses on the site.

I immediately responded to the post.

The neighbor was so kind and actually brought the glasses to us.

Amazingly they really weren't scratched up or anything.

The cactus that stays in Oklahoma has bloomed right on time.
I think you could almost set a clock to the day that this goes shows all its glory.
I am thinking of taking some of the small ones back to Yuma and see if they will flourish there.
Will let you know about that next year!

We meet Rita and Keith at our favorite Mexican restaurant and have lunch before handing over the keys to them.

I knew Keith was as excited to be purchasing her as we were when we got her.

So glad they were able to buy it and give her a good home.

Tony has been going by our place in Yuma and checking for snakes.

When he shows up, he always rings our doorbell so we get to talk a little with him.
This got us to thinking and we came up with a plan.

It was decided that we would have to get Heidi in on this as well, so we came up with the idea to have a virtual "Happy Hour" ever so often so we could catch up on what is going on in Yuma.
Now I'm not saying this is a lightbulb moment as our Canadian friends have been doing this for quite some time but they are using the app Zoom and we just don't feel that secure with it due to all its breaches.

Tony & Heidi don't have Apple phones so we looked into Google Duo and have to say that it is a flawless app so far!

I have been working on the inside of the Leprechaun and trying to make it look more like "ours" instead of looking like all the rest of them on the road.

The painting of the cornices have been somewhat time consuming but I am so excited to get rid of the busy pattern that has plagued the inside of the rig.

Have to say that I am quite pleased with the outcome.

I also was able to get rid of some of the busy pattern on the dinette.

It was just not in the cards right now to reupholster the cushions.  

For one thing, I can't make up my mind what material I would want to use, so this temporary fix works for me!

I ordered some of the chair cushion covers I have been seeing all over the internet.

The ones that are to cover the dining room chairs.

In my mind the shape of the chair and the curvature of the back of the dinette were pretty close so I am going to order some and see if I can make them work.

I also framed the large mirror that is on the wall by the dinette area.
I think it looks a little more finished.
There is more to come for the mirror, but you will have to wait and see next month.

I will also post pics of the rig when I get  it all put back together....or should I say when Chuck gets it all back together.
He has been working on the solar panels for it and has it basically pulled apart at the moment to run the wiring.
Heck might as well make one big mess all at once.
Stay tuned for more pics!

We got a call from the grandkids asking to come and spend the day with us.

Of course we were delighted for them to come out.

The day was filled with Starbucks drinks and some fun playing around the house.

Cash was really excited because Pops let him shoot his pellet gun.
Cash kept calling the rifle a "sniper rifle"....think it has to do with one of the video games he plays :)

Going to have to nick name him "Eagle Eye" as his marksman abilities were right on target.

He was one proud kid.  

Cash also got to go on the top of the Leprechaun and check out the roof as Pops was working on the solar panel installation.

Cooper and I baked some brownies and smashed the middles when they were done so it made a bowl.

Of course we had ice cream to go into that bowl.

All in all it was a good day with the grandkids.  

They are very special....and we are always happy for them to come and visit.

I guess I haven't gotten tired of painting as I decided to try gel staining the garage door.

It was in really bad shape and Chuck helped me power wash it to prep for the paint.

I have used the gel stain in Yuma on a few things and am hoping that it works out good on the metal door.

I only got one coat of stain on today and the wind is supposed to be blowing the rest of the week.

That means the cotton wood tree down the street will be filling the air with cotton, so that concludes this painting for a few days.

Its the end of May and we are knee deep in the Pandemic.

Things are opening up and people are acting like they have been set free around here.

For myself I am still wearing a mask and trying to stay my distance from everyone.

Hope June will be a little more friendly to us, but the way its looking I don't think the Pandemic is over yet!