A hot busy week.

The full moon last night from the backyard. Listen to the wind. It was strong enough to move my arms and I had them braced on the Jeep - yes it is in the back yard again.

So where to begin?I think I'd left off on Monday - so lets go back to there. This was taken Monday night, usually I take sunset pictures facing the other direction. But there was some color in the eastern sky so took it facing north east. 

 Tuesday morning the wind wasn't blowing too bad so we went over to The Wetlands for Bill to fly his new drone. It is a little smaller than the other ones and supposed to be more sophisticated...Getting it set up. 

 While he was flying I walked around the little play area some. A big cement snake to climb on. 

 He is in the shade of a climbing wall. Hard to see the tablet that sees what the drone is seeing while in the sun. 

 More of the climbing wall and the desert view. 

 All kinds of animals are etched into the concrete, but hard to get pictures of with the sun and shadows. 

 While wandering around I found this painted rock.  

Turned it over and read this sign. I left it there. When we got home I went to their facebook page. They have left painted rocks all over Las Vegas. Several more are in the Wetlands. But too hot - three days of over 95 last week - to go look for them. 

More from the playground. A big bullfrog to climb on. 

 Sunrise mountain way over there in the back ground. 

In the afternoon Bill had another appointment with a different eye doctor. A specialist who would clear him for cataract surgery. So way across town to see her. Thank goodness I took my Nook with me, another 2 1/2 hour appointment. All cleared for surgery. When we got home I had to start drinking water to hydrate myself for my pending CT scan. Slosh,  slosh. I also finally was able to make another campground reservation in Oregon for early August. . So we have reservations at three campgrounds up the coast of Oregon for June through August. 
Just a picture of the tree and bush blooming in the back yard. So colorful.

My plant that we snuck home from Mexico has a new arm and is doing great.  

 Wednesday morning was my CT appointment. In and out in about 40 minutes. Then to WalMart to get the batting for the quilt and out to breakfast. Trying to do things before the heat. 
When we got home there was a message from the mechanic. Two of the bad oxygen sensors were replaced and working BUT could not get rid of the third "won't pas the smog" problem. It is the sensor in the fuel pump!!! What did we want to do. No choice but to fix it. He would let us know when it was done. 
So once home I called the cataract surgeons office and started setting up Bill's appointments. He is getting both eyes done, one at a time. Had to schedule six different appointments. And had to work around other appointments. Our May calendar looks like it has measles. 

Forget which day during the week the RV dealer called and told us they had the parts for the back up camera/nav system when did we want to bring it in. Right away, actually the next morning. They ended up replacing the entire unit and all the wiring. Then of course we had to pick it up and bring it home. Hopefully it continues to work. I'm trying to get a hold of Jayco to see if we can get a new warranty on it - just in case. 
Bill put up our Mi Casa es Me Casa plaque. I love it - My house is My house. It is in the back yard where we can enjoy it. On the front of the house we have one that says Mi Casa es Su Casa. My house is your house. But the snarky part of me likes the other one.  

 So where were we - oh yes, the mechanic called. The Jeep was ready to be picked up and he had taken it to be smogged. It passed. That was done. Went over and picked it up. Then home to make an appointment with the DMV to get the registrations taken care of. Needed to do that before Bill's eyes got worked on. Will be going there this Thursday. Whew. 
Of course in among all of this we had to watch the Golden Knights hockey games. And the NASCAR races. While watching TV I worked on and finished my baby quilt. Just have to make the label for it and it is ready to go. And of course soccer games. Barcelona has cinched the league championship for this year. 

Also made two trips to UPS to send something to Canada, return something Bill ordered from Amazon and send back one of the Direct TV boxes we didn't use.  Also had to call Direct TV to see why I hadn't received the "special label" to return the other box we didn't need. Still waiting on that - it is coming in the mail. 
We never saw the concrete guy again. But are waiting for the man who is going to install the patio to get the materials. 
Did go out to dinner last night. Discovered our favorite go to quick restaurant was closed - for remodeling so went to Applebee's. The food was good but the waitress was a witch - no service or friendliness at all. First time I've ever not left as tip. She took the order, someone else brought it to table, never saw her again until she slapped the bill on the table. She wasn't on a break and the restaurant wasn't that busy. 
And so that was our week. Oh yes, also fooling with Bill's drones, trying to get the applications on the tablets to work okay. Also had to take one in to get repaired. It landed in a palm tree...

More items checked off the list.

I'm sorry I complained about it being cool and windy here. We have entered summer with a bang.  Come Saturday and Sunday though it will cool again to the 80's but only because the wind will really be picking up again. We were thinking about taking a three day trip to a ghost town north of here. But with gusts up to 40 mph, don't think we will. We are also still waiting for the parts to get to dealer to fix the nav/camera system. 

The sunrise yesterday morning. It was a beautiful day - not too hot and no wind. A day like Bill has been wishing for for weeks. But wouldn't you know he woke up not feeling good and spent most of the day in bed...

While he rested I worked on my baby quilt. Got almost the whole front of it done. Now have to get the batting and something soft and cute for the backing. It was fun to be sewing again. No mistakes in measuring this. 

Today we got out bright and early. Had to drop some stuff off and then go to the car insurance agent to get the policy for the cars for Nevada. Sticker Shock. We went with Progressive, seemed to be the best price for us and "bundled" the cars with the RV. 
Left there and took the Mustang to be smogged. Surprisingly it passed. It has not been smogged for over 11 years. Took it home and drove the Jeep to the smog place. Oops - it didn't pass. The sensor for the "Check engine" light has been on for years. Every one we've taken it to has agreed that the sensor must be bad. If the light is on, the smog device will not pass the car. So went to the mechanic. He said leave it...couldn't do that, no way home. So went home, Bill drove Jeep back and I drove the Mustang to garage to bring Bill home.  Still no word from the mechanic. Once it passes the smog we can get them both registered here in Nevada. Some where in there we also ate breakfast out.  
And we stopped at RV dealer to see if they knew any more about the diodes that went bad in the nav system. Nope they are just waiting for Jayco to send them. Tomorrow I think I'll call Jayco. 

Got home in time to talk to a concrete contractor about doing a fix to our garage floor, right where it meets the driveway. It is crumbling and Bill wants it fixed before it gets worse. We'll hear from him tomorrow. Hopefully. We also talked to another contractor last Friday about extending our patio cover. He is supposed to call back too. 
Meantime tomorrow Bill has another two to three hour appointment with another eye doctor - clear across town! Then maybe his cataract surgery can be scheduled. 
The house next door sold and the people are in the process of moving in. For some reason they leave their one or two dogs here alone at night and they yap continually. Either that or they have a yapping dog record they leave on. Such fun. 
Loved the weekend racing. #18 won the  Cup race, that makes three in a row he has won. 

Plumber was here problem fixed. A drone video.

For a day, Thursday,  that was blank on my calendar it sure tuned out to suddenly become a busy day.
Since we've been home I've heard gurgling in my bathroom sink. Well now we know why. Flushed and water came up in my bathtub. Glad I don't use it. Tried Liquid Plumber and things just got worse. Called our son, he no longer has any snakes. So called home warranty company. Some one will be out here today, Friday, between 10 and 2. Sure hope it is closer to 10. Kitchen and Bill's bathroom are working fine thank goodness.
Then we decided we'd better start working on getting the cars registered. First we needed to get them insured. WOW southern Nevada is very, very expensive to insure a car. And you can only get six month policies. It will cost more for six months for both cars then it cost for a whole year in Indiana. Spent better part of the afternoon on the phone with this. Finally decided to go with Progressive as we can "bundle" it with the RV insurance and they actually had the best price. Will go over to the agent Monday morning to complete all paper work and pay. Next we have to get both cars smogged. Hopefully they pass, they haven't been smogged for over 10 years. Wasn't necessary in Indiana. Haven't checked what the licenses will cost yet.
Friday - Luckily plumber came around 10:00. I think the job turned out to be more involved then anyone thought it would be. He was here over two hours. He kind of complained that there should be more ways to get into the pipes then there are. Seems like the stoppage was right in the middle of the house. Couldn't be reached from either end. Finally had to take the trap off under the kitchen and go from there. Eww - the smell. But all done now.

I was content to be home as there was NASCAR on TV most of the day. Practice, qualifying and an Xfinity race.
Finally the wind let up enough for Bill to get one of his drones outside to play with. Here is a video of the Wetlands behind us. Towards the end you can see kids playing in the play area.

Bringing it down he unfortunately lost it in the sun and crashed into a palm tree. Guess there will be a visit to the hobby shop soon to see about getting it fixed. Not damaged too bad and for sure fixable.
My ocotillo is really getting its leaves now. Every day more branches have lots of leaves on them. Doubt it will bloom this year though.

We are going to have one week without wind but it will be in the low 90's. Maybe we'll be able to get out somewhere where Bill will be able to use his drones.
I made this quilt for Bill years ago, just thought I'd share it. It is all jungle/animal prints. That is faux fir for the sashing.

A closer look at part of it.

And this is the back. Found the lion in fleece. Except for the borders there is no actual quilting on it.

Still haven't found a pattern for my baby quilt. But still have lots of magazines to go through.

Another busy day

How about those golden Knights! Beat the LA Kings in 4. On to the 2nd stage of the playoffs!!!!!
Another busy day today. The wind has finally quit blowing for a while, supposed to start up again tonight, but not so strong.
Just a picture of our view as the sun gets low in the sky. The mountains really light up. 

Was out walking around in the back yard. Lots of things blooming. Lots of orange bell shaped flowers on this bush. Its brother? though has not started to bloom yet and is not as big. 

The Palo Verde tree has started to get blooms. It is such a pretty tree when full of bright yellow flowers. 

Don't remember what kind of plant this is but it is interesting looking. Kind of like a spider with legs going in all directions. 

The orange and yellow lantana are blooming like crazy. 

The jasmine is really blooming now, can smell it in the house. 

But back in the house. This is the main material I am going to use for the quilt for new great granddaughter due in summer. Have not decided on a design or other colors for sure yet. 

Both had family doctor appointments this morning. Bill got a doing good and I got stuck with more labs and more appointments. Should learn to keep my mouth shut. After we got home we got the last two new Direct TV receivers up and working in the RV. Now just have to wait for labels and mail two boxes back. 
Bill spent part of the afternoon cooking up a batch of milanese - delicious. 

Packaged some up and will freeze them for a day when we don't want to cook. 

Good, Bad and Ugly - Win, Window, Wind

Yesterday started out good with #18 Kyle Busch winning the rain delayed Bristol race. 26 hours after it started it finished. Kyle had the pole and got the trophy. !!!

And then things turned bad...Not earth shaking bad more like "I can't believe I did that" bad. I had finally finished my window the day before so Bill went to the garage to get it and install it. We do not replace the regular window, we just put the stained glass over the regular window. Here is the bathroom window where it will go. Next to the one I did a couple of years ago.

Bill with the new window, setting it in place. He is standing in the bathtub.

I mentioned I changed the colors of some of the flowers, so it isn't exactly the same as the first one. Thinking on what he will need to secure it. 

OH SH!T - See the problem? In all the years I've been making stained glass I've never made a major mistake like this. The window is too small for the space!. When printing out the pattern I must have put the dimensions into the program wrong. It is about 2 inches too short and 1: inch to narrow. Silence...Only way to fix it would be to redo almost all of it. Not going to happen. I'll learn to live with it. Bill suggested some kind of valance over the window...will have to think on it a bit. 

So it is done and it is installed. With the plant hanging there in front of it it isn't too noticeable. Probably will put something up there to cover it up don't know yet. 

The winds picked up around here late last evening. Really picked up. Enough that one of our window awnings broke. Thank goodness it didn't blow away. Looks like Bill will be able to fix it. So tired of this wind. 

 Just a look at the back yard - plants are all happy and healthy and view is great. 

Bill had appointment with eye doctor this afternoon. He will be having cataract surgery. But first has to see another doctor as he has water in his retina.
There is absolutely no wind tonight, not even a little breeze.

Is TV worth it?

On Friday we found five boxes on the front porch. My first comment was to Bill, "What have you bought now? And five of it?" He gave me a blank look, shaking his head no. Took a closer look it was the Direct TV receivers. That was quick I'd only talked to the the day before. Impressed.

Both of these go in the RV. Haven't wanted to deal with them yet.

We did not even open the boxes Friday. So Saturday morning early we opened three of the boxes. We have three TVs in the house. One - the new one - in the living room, one in the master bedroom - we bought it when we moved to Vegas and didn't get our furniture for a month, and one in the guest/sewing room. Came with furniture from Indiana. So started with the one in the sewing room easiest to get to. Got it connected then it had to be activated. So called Direct TV. Thank goodness I got a representative, a woman, who was an angel. And she spoke English as her language. When I'd called DTV a couple of days before to order the boxes, I could barely understand the person I was talking to.  I know Not PC - but I'm old! and cranky. She walked me through every step of setting it up and getting the remote to work with that TV. Then we went to the bedroom TV. Bill had already connected it. Walked me through setting it up.  Last was the living room TV. Luckily the lady knew her business and told me, "You already have a new receiver on that TV. You don't have to change it." Then silence from her for a minute or two. "The one we just set up in your bedroom, it didn't need to be changed either. It was a recent box." OMG. "Why did they send me five boxes then", I asked. "They shouldn't have," was the reply. Great.
Then the problem became what to do with the new one still in the box and the old new one that had been already changed. The old old one from sewing room could just be thrown out after removing the card. The cards were the only things that needed to be returned. BUT...The one we didn't take out of the box has to be returned to a special place, so it needs a special mailing label that will come in the mail within 5 - 7 days. The one we replaced that didn't need to be replaced need the card put back in it and I would receive a mailing label in an email - still haven't received it. But I'll probably need to call DTV again while setting up the two in the RV. They are both old, old, old so just need to take cards out of them and then throw them out.
We were getting ready to go get it and plug into the house and change them when the new owners of the house next door showed up with a moving truck. Oh well, don't feel like fooling with the receivers anyway. The ones in the RV are hard to get to.
So they are still sitting in their boxes waiting.
With all the wind and spring pollen Bill has not felt very good the last few days, allergies taking his breath away. We went to pharmacy and got some pills recommended by pharmacist but didn't think to ask if they were non drowsy. Good night Bill.
I went to lunch with friends from Canada whom we met in Mexico, they are here for a couple of days on their way home. Left Bill sleeping. This rose was at the restaurant.

Yesterday was NASCAR race day. But will watch the end of the race today. Raining in Tennessee so postponed. Here the weather was warmer but by afternoon the wind had picked up again. And dark black clouds covered the sky. Made for an interesting sunset.

Also been watching the Las Vegas Knights hockey team playing Los Angeles. So far Knights have won the three games played. Great team.
I also finished the window yesterday. All ready to be put up.

Talk about that later...

Ugh technology - I hate it

From toys to telephones to tv's This week I've hated them all. First off when I went to take the pictures off my camera using the memory card slot in my computer IT WOULDN'T WORK! Actually that is not correct when I went to download the pictures from the micro SD card from this little new drone It didn't work. I thought it was the drones problem, because I'd just used the memory card slot earlier in the day. So we fooled around with the drone for over an hour. Tweaking settings, taking pictures trying something else. Nothing worked - the computer just would not recognize the drones SD card. Then I got to wondering and took a couple of pics with my camera and put the card into the computer - NOTHING - Not the cards it was the computer slot not working. Called Best Buy and made an appointment to take computer in. Geek suggested I just buy an USB multi card reader as he didn't think they could repair the PC. Made the appointment anyway. For today at noon. Have since cancelled it.
But anyway, this is Bill's newest drone. It is smaller than the others and the camera is better. The wind finally let up enough for a few minutes that he could get it up in the air just outside our door.

 Having to learn a new controller, but he is doing fine. The pictures were good but I didn't see them - 'cause MY card slot wasn't working.

 Also got the goggles working, but they work with one of the other drones. So that was done.
I took a break from electronics and worked on my window some. The front is completely soldered except for the edges. A strip of metal goes all around the outside edges to hold it together. Bill cut the metal for me.

Then we got a letter in the mail from Direct TV - all of our TV receivers have to be replaced by THE 16th of this month! So had to call them. No problem they would send them to us. Why did I need so many. Well I have a lot of TV's in my house and RV. Okay no problem, but they needed the last four numbers of the serial numbers so they could deactivate them. It was lots of fun getting the numbers. Finally got the ones in the house but not the RV, so they told me to call back today with those. And of course those boxes were secured for traveling. Finally got them unstuck and pulled out enough to read the tiny numbers. Called them back - 45 minutes on the phone. 30 of those minutes she was trying to sell me new program services, fancier boxes and change my internet and cell service. What part of "I don't want to make any changes" don't they understand. Finally I told her "I'm a little old lady of 80 and I can't handle changes or figure these new things out." Silence......"Oh, okay. Do you have any more questions?" Nope, good bye. So when the new boxes come it should be another fun day. Think I'll chill the chocolate wine.
It continues to be very windy, gusts up to 65mph the west valley and today it is below 70 degrees after a couple of 90 degree days. Our yard plants are loving it I guess. My ocotillo is finally getting leaves, lots of leaves.

 And a bunch of new branches coming up.

 Bill's jasmine is blooming like crazy. Sure smells good.

 The bushes are getting more orange bell flowers and the palo verde is almost blooming.

 So this morning we went to WalMart to get my USB Multi-card reader. Only $10. Works great. While there I noticed these piggy heads with ears and all in the meat section. Have never seen pig heads any where except Mexico.

 Came home downloaded my pictures using my new USB card reader. Then went out to the garage to work on the window. Got the metal pieces attached with solder to the edges, flipped it to the back side and did enough soldering to stabilize the window. Now I have to finish the soldering of the back - the side that is in this picture. Getting closer to being done. the whole interior of the window - sky, flowers, etc. still needs solder. Then cleaning and putting on the patina.

We did get the RV smogged and sent in the money for the registration. One more thing off the to do list.