Apricity West 5

January 3, 2025 - Friday

The usual - dance, walk, eat and drink. Lunch at Sizzling Wok and no supper for us. 

 

Cindy got a great picture of the brilliant sunset.

January 4, 2025 - Saturday

Even though the allergies are really plugging me up, I did my walk with LOTS of tissues in my pocket. Worked on joining my granny squares - it is the perfect size for our queen bed. 

 

January 5, 2025 - Sunday

Weighed in and miraculously lost another pound! Walked in the cold air after online church. Sat out in the afternoon when the sun warmed things up. Cindy came over and joined us for drinks and shrimp cocktail. 

 

January 6, 2025 - Monday

Day 100 of WW tracking and walking! It was low 40’s, but as the day went on, it warmed up so that we could sit outside in the afternoon - Cindy came by too. 

 

January 7, 2025 - Tuesday

Got up and did my walk wearing the cowl scarf I made this summer. It helps keep my shoulders warm. Joanne and I went to ukulele group - I drove into Wickenburg Senior Center. It was a good session with several new songs challenging us. I only have 3 more weeks to play with this group before we move on to Tucson - I will miss it terribly. Need to start looking for a group in Tucson and back home - no luck last year. 

 

January 8, 2025 - Wednesday

Walked and then danced. It was cold again but I felt the best time of the day was early as the winds were picking up again later in the day. During the night we were rocking and rolling with gusting winds and a persistent branch scraping on the rig. We noticed the wind had taken off with our new Cuisinart grill cover. Rich rode around the general area looking under rigs and all over. No luck.

 

Cindy and I practiced a while for the jam tomorrow. 

 

Dot and Harvey had us over to dinner tonight with Don and Darice who are only here another week before heading back to Texas. They are longtime friends and some past relation to Dot. We met them last year at the Eclipse Party in Mason, TX and really enjoy their company. 

Delicious Lasagna soup…

I haven’t mentioned that I have been studying Spanish with the DuoLingo app for 24 consecutive days - my grandson challenged me because he has been doing it since September. I like it. I took Spanish in college 60 years ago, but have never used it much. Gotta keep the brain working. 

 

January 9, 2025 - Thursday 

A different approach today - we went into Safeway at 7:30 and Rich had a haircut appointment at 9am. After we got groceries put away, Don knocked on our door with our grill cover in hand. We told them about it and he figured it out to be headed in a certain direction given how the wind blew! Did I mention he is a retired airline pilot - probably knows a lot about wind and weather! He found it exactly where he thought it would be leaning up against a split-rail fence post. Today was the last day that they can come to the jam; they seem to enjoy it. 

 

The wind is still howling and my nose is just raw from the constant blowing. There was a medical emergency early this morning - the ambulance came into the park and a half hour later, a life flight helicopter tried to land 3 times. It is so dry and dusty in that field that they couldn’t land. The ambulance drove out and headed to Congress Fire Station where there is a heliport. 🙏

Temps got into the 50’s at 11am so I walked then. The hardest decision was what to wear - 3 layers of long sleeves and hooded sweatshirt with a ball cap. The winds were 20mph to my back when I started. Was worried about the return trip with it blowing in my face, but it wasn’t that bad after all. Glad I did it…

The jam was a success today - the bass player came and we had an almost full audience. Rich was his best yet on harmonica…

Buen dia, mi amigos! 

 

Apricity West 5

December 27, 2024 - Friday

Danced and walked - then just chilled for the rest of the day. Dee and Dwight invited us to the Bar 7 for dinner and dancing. The food and the music (Casandra Long Band) was excellent. The dance floor is out back on the patio where they have put up a roof and placed propane heaters around the room. 

December 28, 2024 - Saturday

This is day 90 of my walking and WW tracking streak. This little guy wasn’t afraid of me…

It was in the 60’s today so we made a turkey and cabbage soup - tasted real good. The sun was shining so we sat out in the afternoon.

 

December 29, 2024 - Sunday

Slow start this morning, but was thrilled, surprised, baffled that I stayed the same on the scale. We had a good breakfast and then I went to church online.  A simply gorgeous day for a walk; then sat outside. Gary and Kathy stopped by to visit. Gary has a strum-stick he wants me to experiment with. Never heard of it that I can recall, but I'll “TRY” anything. 

We showed them the harmonica microphone that Charles donated to the cause of making music. It works great with the Mighty Amp we bought at Musical Surprise back when I got my ukulele. We notice that there is a metronome and several drum rhythms that can play in the background. Listen to the clip in the email…

Allergies starting to act up again. Taking Zyrtec and local honey, but I have been sneezing like crazy. I keep trying to think of what changed. As I look out our dinette window, I see a  flurry of bees around the flowering tree. Where there are flowers, there are bees. Where there are bees, there is pollen. BINGO!

 

December 30, 2024 - Monday HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!

Danced and waited until later to take my walk. Another gorgeous day in the high 60’s with skies a bright blue. We sat outside and Gary came over to loan me his strum-stick. It is quite cool with only 3 strings to worry about and really only one is necessary to make a beautiful sound. You can make it richer with more skills, but for now, I was grateful to be able to play with it. 

He also brought over a few of his American Indian flutes to play and asked if I could join him on my ukulele. It actually had a nice sound with the two instruments together. We will work more on this in a quiet place with no background noise. Double flute! 

December 31, 2024 - Tuesday

Terrible night last night as I sneezed through the night and tried desperately to find the right position of my CPAP mask to not drown. Still went to ukulele group practice in Wickenburg with a pocketful of tissues. I got to play a couple of songs with my banjolele - not bad!

 

Had soup when we got home and took an Alka Seltzer Plus before a short nap in preparation for my obligatory walk. I was surprised that I made it. We then went to Wild West Saloon for our early dinner - split a pizzadilla there and brought home a dozen wings to settle in for the night. 

 

January 1, 2025 - Wednesday HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Slept until 8am, but still made it to the First Day Hike on time at 9am. Eleven of us walked out to Inspiration Point - just under 3 miles total. It was a gorgeous day for a hike. 

Me, Melissa and Cindy…

Three coyote holes…

Later Gary and Rich went up to the Clubhouse to practice on the flutes. He brought a plastic mouthpiece that Rich could use to try it out.

Video clip in the body of this email. 

 

Cindy came by with a bottle of Prosecco to bring in the new year. I had some dried cranberries to embellish it. The two of us polished off the bottle then Rich cooked us Asian shrimp on a skewer with rice and Brussel sprouts. Soooo good...

January 2, 2025 - Thursday

Allergies are still haunting me, but I continue to walk with a bulging pocketful of tissues! Brought my banjolele to the jam today, but will hold off on the strum-stick until I figure it out. Rich played two songs on the harmonica…