Christmas 2020

 As with many families our Christmas was different. We had our Christmas service online, but even that didn't help the feel of being Christmas Eve. We like to go "IN" for the service. But we don't feel comfortable being around people, especially when we don't know how well they follow the safety guidelines.  Not enough people take it seriously enough. To us, even small groups are not safe. Anyone outside our home, puts us at risk....where have they been, were they exposed and don't know it or have the virus and don't know it, do they mask all the time, wash hands and surfaces?  That being said left us to have our Christmas Eve church service online and no one invited in for Christmas goodies on Christmas Day. We opened our gifts which were all purchased online. No fun time shopping in stores and actually getting some ideas. But what we did have was another Christmas together that we weren't sure we would have this year. God is good, all the time, God is good.

Almost all the Christmas cookies were gone the day after Christmas. This is why I do not bake just half batches of any kind. We love cookies and Christmas cookies are a once a year treat! After the few that are left get eaten it will be back to baking every day cookies such as chocolate chip, peanut butter, molasses cookies and the like. The candy, which isn't much, is about gone too. No more candy will be made this year.

Our days and weeks are blending into one another. Some days we aren't sure what day it is unless we happen to look at the tv schedule. hehehe And I have to mark off each day on the calendar at bedtime too. Retirement is great, but with limited things to do now, because of the trump virus, it's boring at times too. But we are thankful that our needs are met and we don't have to work outside the home for an income anymore. Our prayers go out to all of the people that work tirelessly to keep us in food, safety, provide all with healthcare services. God bless the frontline angels. 

Soon we will be into a new year. Our prayers for a healthier year for all, a much better government than the last 4 years,  and God's blessings for all who receive Him.

Too darn close

 The other day we got a notice in our mailbox that someone in the park has COVID. So i am back to bringing a sanitizer to wipe off all the machines that I needed to use and more thoroughly. I was planning on it anyway with all the idiots here now. We are not leaving the house to go anywhere in the park anymore except to get the mail. And as always we wear our masks when we leave the house.

 All these damn snowbirds that don’t social distance or wear masks have really pissed me off, again.  I will no longer hold my tongue at all. The managers have signs all over but the birds don’t give a damn. All they want to do is have fun, well there is none of that here anymore either. That is making them all angry. LOL. I hope they all leave early and leave us to heal. Stupid republicans.

The last of the Christmas treats were made today. The last of the cereal crunch is done, popcorn balls and candy all done. Now I can just sit back. LOL Like that will happen. There are still all the daily and weekly chores to do. They don't wait for Christmas to pass.

 No Christmas eve service to go to this year. Online is still available but it's just not the same. Our church doesn't do the best at social distancing or enforcing mask wearing. So we don't go in house at all anymore. The message will still be the same at least. And we still plan on driving around to see Christmas decorations. That is a tradition we have had for many years.

Not much else new around here when we really can't go and do anything. Picking up our groceries or a lunch, is about it for "going out".  Better to be safe than sorry.

Batteries for the Solar

 So our solar batteries finally reached the end of their life cycle. Not bad when you consider all they have done during out quest. This is the same solar system I had built for the 5er so we got somewhere between 4 and 5 years out of the batteries. Not bad in my opinion.

I admit to nursing them along over the last year or so, but then they didn't have a hard job since they were only running the electrical in the shed. So now I have limited the solar system down to 3 batteries from 4, mainly because of the cost factor as each battery cost is between $100 to $140 dollars.

Keep in mind Yuma is billed as the Sunniest City in the United States so charging "Usually" is no problem..... Notice "Usually" is being hi-lighted. As after the install I started working in the new carport running the skill saw, drill and air compress. Not noticing what the charge level was on the batteries till my new air compressor, Thank You Honey, stopped running while making an unusual noise.

Oops the charge of the batteries had dropped below 1/2 capacity, a no, no, in solar systems. Ok so here comes again my being a little too tight. I had wired one of the old batteries, again a no, no, to the 2 new batteries, first in series then in parallel turning 6 volts into 12. The voltage of the old battery showed it was still with in specs but as I had no way of load testing it, its true condition was really unknown.

So as the charging portion of my solar system check out fine it turned out the old battery was eating up the majority of the charge going to the batteries so the new once were being starved. Something I and most people know might or in my case will happen. But you have to try right.... In battery clusters like my battery array is, if you need to replace one or more older batteries you need to replace them all. END of STORY.

So I removed the old battery and now have the two new ones working just fine. Same amount of power as with 4 batteries but with a shorter mount of supply. But again I have less need for the electricity at this time.

I also, after putting everything back that was stored in the old canvas carport into the new one, have salvaged an old extension cord and voltmeter and installed them in the new carport so I know what the charge level is on my batteries. Reside in the other what we call wood shed. And no I do not cut wood it is in reference to the material the shed is built of.......

It is Always an Adventure!

What a busy week.

 So the CarPort got to a slow start yesterday as my morning included softening the water, Manually, and refilling our propane cylinders.

We still use the same small softener we had when we were traveling in the 5'er (5th wheel camper). I have built a three valve manifold attached to the outside of the house that controls water direction, incoming, house and drain. All of which, at the right time, must be switched by hand. No big deal if you have done it as many times as I have. But to someone new to attempting it, it can be quite daunting. All went well but it is just time consuming.

The propane cylinders were a different story. I spent hours diagnosing and then correcting the reason the cylinders would not refill past 3.4 oz.. These cylinders are the fuel for our supplemental Big Buddy propane heater, again a tool we still use from the 5'er days. I have refilled hundreds of these tanks over the course of the last several years. As the cost of buying new vs refilling is substancial.

Well this time the first tank filled like clockwork as normal, but the other 7 refused to cooperate, filling only to the for mentioned 3.4 oz.. A key here is the constant, 3.4 oz.. So after swiping tanks, draining tanks using the pop off valve, swapping out the refill tool, key here is you know you have done this job often when you keep a spare refill tool on hand. And every other scenario I could think of, including getting our other and much larger propane tank refilled and attempting to refill the tanks from that to no avail.

Well I finally found the problem, the pop off valve was not reseating fully, which was closing the fill valve prematurely, hence the exact 3.4 oz fill. So after hours of wrestling with the tanks I finally got them all refilled to their 1 pound capacity.

But by now it was lunch time so I really didn't get started on the CarPort until later in the day. But there was progress on the task after lunch, as I got the used pegboard spacers made, drilled and installed both on top and bottom of the pegboard. Giving me a organized space for the stuff that had accumulated on top of the bench.

Moved my tool box which requires removing each drawer and in some cases emptying tools out of said drawer because of weight. Carrying each draw to the CarPort from the wood shed I had been storing the toolbox in. And then reinstalling them after setting the box in the space I had provided. Now for a "Normal Person" this would have gone like clockwork, again notice the inclosure of "Normal Person", well as my loving bride often says, "There is nothing normal about you", I once again got the opportunity to prove her right.

Things were going so smoothly at the time that I let my mind wander onto the next task as I install the first several drawers back into the toolbox, paying absolutely NO Attention to what I was doing. That is until I attempted to slide one of the larger drawers in and was met with quite some resistance...... Yep I had put the very first drawer, a small drawer into one of the slot for the big drawer. In short I had to remove all the drawers and start all over. Did I mention I also, to accomplish this task, had to pull the toolbox out of it's said location to gain access to the slide lock on the right side of each and every drawer......

Moving on so I emptied and moved several shelves into the CarPort and put about a 5th of "Our Stuff" on the shelves. If you noticed I enclosed "Our Stuff" as (Ok and this is important) if you read my previous post my loving bride had claimed it was all my stuff....... We Surprise, Surprise, that is not quite the case as she has several shelves worth of boxes, not to mention all the totes she has full of Christmas decorations. And lets not forget her 4 coolers! So it was a busy day. Hey, they are not MY coolers! It seems Christmas is for us, not just me. Santa will get you for that. And I only have one tote with stuff in it. (edited by Cindy)

As you can see the door is not yet made, but with help from a sunscreen from the 5er, this works for now.

Oops I left out she changed our satellite tv provider so now I get to listen to her verbally discuss the issues she will have learning a new system and controller..... This will be fun, Trust Me.......Lol

Unfortunately today the morning is already scheduled as I have a appointment that I am hoping among other things restores my driving privileges to full capacity. Cindy will be happy to not have to drive so much, but with Marks distracted driving I'll tighten my seat belt once again. So the moving stuff into the CarPort will not start again at best until this afternoon. Once the porch is cleared it will need some hefty cleaning. It will be nice to have use of the porch again and get into the cabinets on the porch.

As mentioned before.

It's Always an Adventure!

Just about done.....

 Just about done...... with the New CarPort. Have the canvas sides on all but the front, most of the kick boards installed and the solar power is in and wired.

My loving Bride gave me a compressor for my birthday and I found my old hose and blow gun which happened to have the right air fitting to work with the compressor.

The bench which is made from a discarded piece of warped plywood got twisted back together with by using a steel back splash and some clamps. The legs of which came from an old table we had.

I have put 6' fence pickets run at an angle to help protect the canvas sides from things being pushed against it from the inside. And some R1 OSB laid on the ground as a floor, so things are looking ready to start moving in all the stuff that we stored on the porch while the shed was being replaced.

And before anyone gets upset about my using OSB directly on the floor, keep in mind on a normal year we only get 3.3 inches of rain. And this being far from a normal year we have not had any measurable rainfall since February.

As some may remember our last carport was all canvas and during a wind storm at a very inopportune time, the roof blew off. Thanks to Barb and David our new CarPort has a steel roof.

Hopefully I get it finished today so we can put the shelves back in and make some fine tune adjustment...... In other words I have to empty some of the junk I have been storing in it..... Or so my wife says.....

It's Always an Adventure!

Slowly but surely

 When did we get so old so fast? Everything we do takes twice as long and is twice as hard to get done. Yes, everything from making the bed to washing the car takes longer and is harder work to get done. But we get it done.

The carport is coming along nicely. Mark has all the walls up except the front. He has his work bench in place and some of the sheets of wood on the floor, lighting is hung and it's really looking nice. In a few days we should be able to start putting the stuff that is on the porch  into the new carport. The door/entrance will have a large white canvas but how it will be mounted and made functional is still in the planning stage. So for now a sheet of sunscreen from the 5th wheel is being used to cover the entrance. We need to keep it looking as a carport since we are only allowed one small shed. Mark's motorcycle makes a bikeport. 😆😆Maybe someday if we get rid of some more of the stuff in all the totes from MN, we could have room for my Helix. But I highly doubt that.

The Christmas baking is coming along slowly but surely. It's harder for my hands and arms than last year, but easier than next year. So far I have two kinds of cookies made and three candies and a third batch of cereal crunch. Monday I hope to get started on the roll out cookies and if at all possible maybe Mark can help put on the sprinkles. I do frost some but more without because Mark isn't big on the frosted ones. Last night we looked at the calendar and realized that Christmas is close at hand as is the end of another year. Wow times sure goes fast as you get older.

The days have been substantially cooler now and the nights are down right cold for us. Days run from 68º to 74º and the nights from 37º to 45º. To us that is cold. Especially since we come out of summer heat of 112º and higher. It's our fifth winter in Yuma and our 4th summer so we really feel the temperature difference when it starts to fall from the summer heat. However we look at fall and winter as our spring and summer because it's when we can be outside and get things done and just enjoy the outside. We get confused when this time of year is called winter. LOL

Busy busy

 Mark has been busy working on putting the canvas walls on the carport. Two walls are up and the turned out very nice. The back wall is almost completed and really took a toll on Mark. He had to take it slower than he liked and do things differently because he still can't reach and exert much pressure in that position without causing extreme pain. Going through thick steel, then wood and canvas, takes a lot of work. He took many breaks so as not to over work his new heart parts and chest plate. There were time he didn't listen to his brain, but he caught on quickly enough. Getting him to stop and slow down is a huge challenge. His brain is still telling him that he is 45 while his body is reminding him otherwise. 

 We both are so anxious to get all the stuff off of the porches and back in the carport. Mark will have a small work bench on the back wall and his motorcycle will fit in the center with the selves on the outside walls. He still has quite a few totes to go through and toss yet. But it will get done. God willing that we have no more health issues getting in the way.

The Christmas baking and such is under way. Today I'll be making peanut brittle and coconut brittle. Each year I make the first batch of peanut brittle for Marks birthday and this year is no exception. It will be one of about 4 batches. These two candies are the only candies that will be made. We don't care for the fudges and such. Once the candy is done I'll be starting on the many varieties of Christmas cookies. I don't make everyday drop cookies, we eat them all year. Christmas cookies are special and time consuming. Which is why they are only made at Christmas time. That makes them special and highly anticipated as well.  Since we are true cookie lovers and really love these holiday cookies my batches of each variety are quite large. As long as I'm able I will continue the tradition. And when I can't do it anymore, it will break my heart to give it up. Store bought cookies for Christmas doesn't float for us. But time changes everything.

I've taken stock of all the pounds of butter that I have in the freezer and I should have enough to get through my baking. But I may need more since we use butter for every day use as well. Margarine should be illegal in cookies, yuck. And in Christmas cookies, it should be jail time at best. hehehe Butter is better for you anyway. Anywho, I hope there will be butter on sale this month should I need more. Laughing to myself: there is seldom less than 9 pounds of butter in my freezer. I'm a sale shopper and hate to pay full price on anything. Which is why we had to buy a freezer when we decided to call AZ home.

Time's a wastin', I better get to the candy making. The busy days of December have begun!