Apricity West 3

January 6, 2023 - Friday

Friday Fish Fry at the Elks - the special tonight was stuffed pork tenderloin. The place was hopping but Karen and Nicole handled the bar with ease...

And of course Logan, the guitar playing, super singing, grandson of the Desert Heat Band, was along for the ride.

January 7, 2023 - Saturday

Wally Krainer invited us to his wife, Val’s, 60th birthday party - he built their house 17 miles out in the desert, complete with a pool and party hearty back yard. 

The ride out is tough on Gracie (VW bug) as it is a

dirt, washboard-like road, although much of it had been graded recently.

The landscape starts out with huge rocks hugging the mountains. I am taken with the contrast of them and the perfectly straight and flat railroad tracks that interrupt this desolate space. Makes me think about the brave, strong people who cleared the land and laid those rails with hand tools and a whole lot of sweat. 

Then there is more vegetation, wildlife and hunters in camouflage with binoculars… a mule deer crossed the road and jumped the fence on the other side. He was too fast for a picture. 

The entrance to their property, Wrinkle Ranch...

A few inside shots...

PVC plastic piping to construct Christmas tree…

Trophy wall, with rattlesnake skin to the fat right…


Bathtub with a gorgeous desert view…


Heated swimming pool with Rich’s sign hung above…

These are friends and neighbors from their church, North Ranch and nearby areas. A video clip is in the body of this email. Wally is at the very end of the clip making homemade shoestring fries - yummy!

The DJ played his tunes throughout the afternoon.

Maloy, pictured here with Spike, made the metal leaf pieces this morning for a gift. 

This is the North Ranch Workcamper Crew that worked with Rich back in the day….

Wally gave Val a 2004 black convertible, turbo, automatic VW - it is a real beauty (forgot to get a picture). Our Gracie is a gray 2005 standard bug and looks pretty beat up in comparison. But we love her just the same...  

 

When we first arrived in Congress, Val told us about an injured young saw-whet owl they were trying to rehabilitate. 

Stock photo

This inspired Rich to give her one of his owl paintings for her gift - she was thrilled!

January 8, 2023 - Sunday

Beautiful sunrise today...

January 9, 2023 - Monday

I have had to stop line dancing due to my right hip (bursitis and arthritis). Tried to get a cortisone shot, but can’t get in before leaving here on January 31. I still go watch and the class is growing!

Today was January Crafternoon and I was the leader for Rock Painting 101. I was happy to see 11 ladies show up to share my resources with and create their own unique specimens.

Jane Moline is the coordinator for these events and has accumulated a treasure trove of supplies in the closets. She has been here for 30 years and made the top quilt square over her left shoulder in 1993.

January 10, 2023 - Tuesday

Went to Chair Yoga today - it really makes you feel good to stretch and bend your body. 

Then to Dot and Harvey’s to practice for the jam session. Robert has a lot of singing experience and he joined us today. 

January 11, 2023 - Wednesday

Joanne and I practiced ukulele this morning. Then the Elks for lunch and grocery shopping. 

 

January 12, 2023 - Thursday

Chair Yoga again - the group is growing so we might have to move to the Activity Center for more room. This started up by a retired teacher who needed to work out some kinks in her body, really liked this yoga CD teacher, got permission to have a class from the managers, and put a sign up sheet in the club house. That's how things roll here. She is only here until the end of March, but others who enjoy it have already volunteered to continue it...

We had a GREAT jam session today with 2 new guitar players and Robert, the singer we have been practicing with. Mel and Louise from Whitman showed up - he plays mandolin and she sings and plays guitar. They heard about the jam from a couple at the Elks who lives at North Ranch - can’t believe we haven’t run into them there. 

Then Jesse Taylor sauntered in with his guitar only - no amp, no mic, no tablet or songbook. He was amazing! Come to find out he has traveled the world entertaining and has a CD out which I bought immediately. He wrote 9 of the songs and his Dad wrote 2. WOW!  JesseTaylorMusic.com

When we got back to the RV the sun was shining warm and bright and we were enjoying our cocktails. I was in my daily call to Mom when Rich got a call. He said "I'll be right back," went to the clubhouse office and returned with this gorgeous upcoming 75th birthday bouquet from Mom, my sisters and their husbands! Perfect size, perfect colors, perfect surprise,  perfect Mom, sisters and brothers-in-law❣️

Joined our neighbors with their dog, Pippa, also basking in the sun.

Love to hear Comments from ya’ll - please leave your name so I know it’s you OR reply to this email. Also, if you want to stop getting my ramblings, just reply to the email saying “Unsubscribe.”  No harm, no foul.

Apricity West 3

December 30, 2022 - Friday

Happy 11th birthday to precious grandson, Zachary Clark! 😘

Line danced in morning - later to steak night at the Elks Lodge. There were 180 diners at this shindig - the joint was rocking with that many people. 

Meet Chef Ed (not at the Elk’s) who happened to bring in a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. And happened to sit next to us… It was delicious and he and Rich shared chef stories. 

December 31, 2022 - Saturday

Work campers, Melissa and Jim, planned a New Year’s Eve party at the Activity Center. At least 100 people showed up and had a grand time. 

Harvey played in the band and Dot Wilson reserved a table for friends (including us 😍) and brought snacks as well…

Dick and Jackie Driver swing around the room. 


The band played and the line dancers had been preparing a few dances too. The band played until 11:30 and 34 people were still standing at midnight - they must have been the youngins, as most of us oldies left before 10pm. 

We sat with Carol, Rick’s wife and asked about how they met. Rick is the one that sang Christmas in Dixie in my last blog. They (she 15 and he 16) met on a blind date at the church hay ride - they will celebrate their 60th anniversary next month! 

 

January 1, 2023 - Sunday

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This was THE LONGEST day due to rain, rain, rain! Very unusual to have this much rain  and chill in Arizona! So I did year-end paperwork and practiced my rock painting for the class next week. 

Rich did another bird house…

January 2, 2023 - Monday

Went to Surprise to visit John, Eileen and her sister, Susan. They spent Christmas with family over in California. We went to the Wolfhound for lunch and they enjoyed their Guinness. 

 

January 3, 2023 - Tuesday

Today was the first chair yoga class here. We watched Jane Adams on DVD and it felt sooooo good to stretch every joint in my body. It is much easier on my arthritic hip than line dancing!

 

Then to Dot and Harvey’s to practice music.Their cat, Zipper, is as old as Lily (15) and not doing well. 

 

January 4, 2023 - Wednesday

Had lunch at the Elk’s and the grocery shopping trip from HE**! Little did we know the first Wednesday of the month is Senior Citizen day at Safeway - seniors get 10% off their food items. We were in the store for an hour and a half - dodging people in the aisles and waiting at the checkout behind a needy customer who compared all of here items to the ad! Ugh!

 

January 5, 2023 - Thursday

Practice with Joanne and then jam session after! I only have 3 more weeks to play with them before we leave for Tucson. 

Another birdhouse finished…

Tata until next week…

 

 

 

 

Apricity West 3

December 23, 2022 - Friday

Skipped line dancing today to go grocery shopping! Somehow we kept putting it off all week, so had to go in early to beat the crowd. It was very light traffic on the way and in Safeway. Phew! 

 

Went to Elks for Friday Fish Fry as usual. As we finished our meal, the bartender asked what Rich’s last name was. When he told her, she said, “Well your son just called to gift you an Elk’s gift certificate!” Wow! That was such a nice surprise - Rich got all verklempt. Thanks, Perry and Lynn 💞

December 24, 2022 - Saturday

A few days ago, Rich dropped his phone in water. We immediately put it in a baggie with rice for several hours and it still worked. The problem was that it was hard to plug in the charger now and it didn’t hold. Sooooooo, into Wickenburg on Christmas Eve to the Verizon store. We got there early and before the 4 other people that came in thankfully. We were there about an hour and were told that rice is no longer the solution because of the starch. They have a vacuum of some sort to suck out the moisture and it gathers in a vile so you can see how much water was in it. Anyway, he had to get a new phone - Google Pixel 7 Pro was the thriftiest choice and there is no learning curve from his Galaxy. The pay off amount was $.24 so that was a good thing. All of his information came onto the new phone just like that. All is well...

 

On the way home, we passed a gas station and I saw a fully saddled horse walking through the lot - alone. Immediately a cowgirl came running from the side of the building and bumped him in the side to go the direction she wanted him to and then grabbed his reins. The things you see in Wickenburg!

December 25, 2022 - Sunday 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!🎄 ✝️🌵💗

Sunrise

We had a very quiet morning working on projects. Another birdhouse completed by Rich...

I went over to finish the Christmas puzzle with Lu...

...then she and Roger came over for a cocktail while basking in the sun.

 

We talked with our families over the weekend. My daughter and her husband had Covid during the week, so the family Christmas Eve party at my son's was postponed until next weekend (hopefully) - if everyone is feeling well. 

Kristie, my daughter-in-law, sent us her homemade jams - delicious!

Though I miss everyone terribly, I sure am glad I didn’t fly home this year with all of the sickness, storms, and flight delays. 

 

Our special dinner was lamb chops (with mint jelly), corn and roasted potatoes. It was delicious!

 

December 26, 2022 - Monday

There was no dance class today, but I did go to cardio drumming in the afternoon. Less impact on my hip and knees, with a quick uptick of the heart BPM. Weather was in the low 70’s today. 

A neighbor, Mike, walks all the time - 30k steps avg. He is a self-professed fidget who needs to be busy all the time. Here is what he brought back for us from his walk today…

December 27. 2022 - Tuesday

Lu and I went to the clubhouse today to do a dry run on the Rock Painting Class that we are teaching on 1/9/2023. It was good to do since I haven’t painted rocks for a year… Here is what we produced. 

December 28, 2022 - Wednesday

Practiced with Harvey today. He really should have cancelled me as he is also rehearsing with the band for New Year’s Eve party at the Activity Center. Rich and Dot enjoy a Bourbon and Coke while we play. Ha!

 

December 29, 2022 - Thursday

Practiced with Joanne this morning and did the jam for 2 hours this afternoon. My calluses are getting thicker. Miss Ellie’s son and roadie, Randy, returned home right after Christmas, so I told her I would help unload and set up her equipment if she could get herself here. She lives in Congress. She did not come today and is sorely missed. I hope it was the cooler weather that kept her away. Cindy is a new addition who sings and plays violin by ear! What a pleasure! 

The video of Rick singing Christmas in Dixie is in the body of this email. 

Happy Holidays to all…