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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Honey Do's and Pinewood Derby


Riverton, Utah High 63 Low 37

It was warmer today with very little wind, so I did one of Cindy's honey do's. She wanted black plastic on her garden because Tammy and Heather didn't want to do any gardening. With the lack of wind, I was able to get it covered and found enough stuff to hold the plastic down (I hope).

I also got all the propane bottles filled, and the truck washed getting it ready to leave tomorrow. We will be gone one week for sure and maybe until Cindy's Dr appointment on the 20th. We got most of our stuff into the trailer today and will leave sometime tomorrow.

We are going to a campground by Francis, which is about 60 miles east of Salt Lake in the mountains, and I don't know if we will have internet or not. We have been home long enough we just want to get away.

Tonight we went to Devon's Pinewood Derby. Each of the boys ran their cars 6 times in different tracks each time. Devon won once, tied for 2nd once and was 4th or 5th the rest of the races. He felt bad that he didn't win more, but still had fun trying.



The one with the Y was the big time winner. The silver one with #18 is Devon's.


One of the boys had a car painted in BYU colors, and I think he won every race he was in.

The little blond boy facing us is the one that had the BYU car.
Several of the cars weighed more than 5 ounces, and has to be drilled out to get under the limit. The computer timing the races showed an equivalent speed of over 200 miles per hour. the man running the races told us it was based on if they were full size cars.

They had lots of dessert's and everyone had a good time tasting the different things.
There was soft ice cream cones in addition to what's on this table.
Lots of Cub Scouts and their family's.
Thanks for visiting.


Monday, April 28, 2014

Update

Riverton, Utah High 50 Low 30

It has been cold and windy all day. This morning I moved the truck I sold from our driveway to the street and noticed ice on the water in the truck bed.

We drove over to Home Depot to get a couple of fence posts to tie our little plum tree up, and although we had sunshine, there was some snow (the awful 4 letter word) coming down. The snow level on the mountains is a lot lower also.

I wasn't going to talk about my experience selling the truck, but changed my mind. The first man that looked at it and acted interested, kept finding minor things wrong to complain about. He did ask how much my bottom line was, and then proceeded to offer a lot less. I told him what I would take and after a lot of hedging, he finally agreed depending on a mechanic's inspection. He then made an appointment with the highest priced shop in Riverton.

After their inspection, they found a few small things that might be wrong. They said the valve covers were seeping, the transmission oil pan was seeping, and a few other things that might be wrong. We are talking about a 14 year old truck with 104,000 miles on it. I guess he wanted a new truck for a used truck price. After the inspection, he asked the shop how much to do all the repairs, and they told him about $600.00 dollars. I was asking less than average trade in according to the NADA guide, and I think it was really in excellent condition.

As for the supposed oil leaks, the truck has been parked in my driveway for 2 weeks without moving, and had a spot on the driveway the size of a dime. Oh, how awful! Anyway, I told him I wouldn't come down on my price any and he said he guessed he wouldn't be buying it.  At that point, I was glad and told him fine and left with the truck.

Saturday,the man that ended up buying the truck, drove it maybe 2 miles altogether, and after looking at the engine and at the inside and the body, said it was exactly what he wanted, and asked how much would I take. I told him my bottom price and he agreed. He told me he would get a cashiers check and would have it to me by 9:00 this morning.

At almost 9:00 AM he showed up with a check and I signed the title and gave it to him. I couldn't believe the difference in the two men. I think the first one didn't know a good deal when it stared him in the face. He spent almost 4 days playing around, and the second took maybe 1/2 hour. I was totally upset at the first, and got back my faith in people with the second.

I guess you probably didn't want to hear about my troubles, but I felt like I had to share them.

Thanks for visiting.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

This and That

Riverton, Utah High 45 Low 34

The weather has been awful. Yesterday the wind came up after noon and last night there were thundershowers. The rain we got last night was very dirty, but it turned out OK because it has rained all day today and washed the dirt from last night away. Also from above you can see that it has been cold.

Yesterday before all the wind, I went to the County landfill to get a load of mulch. Cindy has been wanting to put mulch on her flower beds, and because I was trying to sell the old truck, we decided yesterday was the day. The truck is the one I drove at work and it has sat for the last year or so.

Inflation has hit even the cost of mulch. I used to be able to get a load that was spilling off the truck for $20.00. Now you get two scoops, which only half fills the truck, and the price is $30.00. We ended unloading it in some of the wind we got yesterday, and it wasn't too pleasant, but we got it done. I would have hated trying to unload mulch with all the rain we got.

I had someone call about the truck and he wanted to come and see it. He liked it and agreed to buy it, so it was good we got the mulch when we did.

Last night the quilt store we like had a free sew night, and we went to it and worked on one of Cindy's quilts. There is always a pot luck and everyone has a good time visiting. We left earlier than usual because we were both tired from unloading the mulch.

I finished quilting one of Cindy's quilts and she says I'm only 19 behind. The down side is that I've been working on the easy ones, and still have the hard ones left, but oh well.

About the only to do left is to cover the garden with plastic, as Cindy won't be home to plant or take care of a garden, and Tammy or our daughter-in-law don't want to plant anything. They must not care about fresh out of the garden tomatoes or vegetables, their loss.

Devon has hid pinewood derby next Wednesday and we hope to go somewhere for a couple of weeks before Cindy's Dr appointment.

That's all I have to report, thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Wind Damage

Riverton, Utah High 70 Low 37

We started out the day with both of us quilting. At noon Cindy had an appointment to have one of the ladies at the quilt store to help her with her embroidery program. At first neither one of them could get the program  to work, and then they decided they weren't pushing the buttons on the computer hard enough. Then everything worked as it was supposed to.

The weather this morning was overcast, but nice and warm. Then this afternoon the wind came up and got quite violent. The neighbors across the street weren't home and about half of their tree broke off in the wind. A lot of the neighbors got together and cut the large branches into pieces and moved them from the road.


I imagine they weren't too happy with the damage, but probably were glad that we had cut it up and got it in a pile off the street.

We have a little plum tree in our back yard that doesn't seem to have a very good root system. It was staked up, but blew over in another direction. We tied it up , but I don't know if it will make it.



While we were across the street moving the branches, the temperature must have dropped 20 degrees. By the time we got through it was chilly. It is supposed to be a lot colder tomorrow. There are thunder showers predicted for tonight.

The weather forecast for Friday is calling for more wind, and we will have to wait until next week to take the fiver out. We just heard a blurb on TV, that hurricane force winds are predicted. It doesn't sound like a good time to take the trailer out.

Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter

Riverton, Utah High 71 Low 45

Cindy has been busy fixing things for an Easter feast for several days. We were having lots of family over for a late lunch. Tammy told us the grandkids woke her up at 2:30 this morning wanting to find out if the Easter bunny had been here. She wouldn't let them up to find out until a more civilized time.

We had 4 more grandkids over with their parents for lunch. We had a large ham, Potatoe casserole, a jello salad, a vegie tray, and a nice home made carrot cake.

After lunch the younger grandkids got to hunt for Easter eggs. The youngest one, Taylor got a head start because he is so little. All the kids had fun finding the eggs filled with jelly beans and skittles.







Skyler got quite a haul.

Devon is the oldest and got the most eggs.

Taylor, our little ham, got a lot of eggs.



After the Easter egg hunt, we all sat down and played an Easter bingo which was designed for kids. The grown ups even had fun.

We had so much for lunch, that no one wanted dinner tonight.

I hope you all had as happy an Easter as we did.

Thanks for visiting.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

More Trailer Repairs

Riverton, Utah High 70 Low 48

Yesterday I decided to install a sub-panel on our inverter system. There have been times when we ran too many appliances and kicked out the reset switch on the inverter. I have read that you do not want to run all the electrical through the inverter if there is not a 50 amp switch in the inverter. The one we have does not have one that large. I ended up taking 5 plug circuits out of the main panel. It was a major change and that is probably why I was too lazy when I installed the inverter. It took most of the day, and I had a few little things to finish up today. When I got through, everything works as promised and I feel better about the system.

Scratching my head, wondering which wires to take out of the panel.
Now we are truly ready to go. Devon is running his pinewood derby car next Wednesday, which is a week earlier than we expected, so we probably go somewhere nearby for a week or so, before Cindy's Dr appointment on May 20th.

One of my brothers is here from St George, and another brother suggested we all go out to eat somewhere. They chose a Mexican place we haven't been to before. It was really good food and the waitress was super. We might have to go there another time.









Me, my brother Glade, His wife ReNae, my brother Garth that lives in St George. Garth had some of his golfing buddys with him, but they are behind the post.











I wanted to put some pictures of the various quilts we have finished since we have been home. One is one of the tops we found in the pile of fabric from the yard sale last week. There are two more exactly like it, and we had enough material for two backs. I got the first one quilted.






This shows the pattern we chose better.

This quilt is made from old ties.


This shows the pattern better.
I may have told this story before, but Cindy likes to make quilts out of small pieces. She took the first one to a class at one of the fabric stores. The teacher took one look at it, and told Cindy she was a sick puppy for making a quilt out of such small pieces. So forever after, we call the design, the sick puppy quilt. This picture is the third one she has made. They all have had different colors. I placed the quarter one one of the squares to give an idea of how small the blocks are.






Today the grand-kids colored Easter eggs for tomorrow. I guess they had fun doing it.



That's what we've been doing.Thanks for visiting.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Getting Ready to Leave

Riverton, Utah High 54 Low 37

It was a little chilly all day, but is supposed to get warmer tomorrow.

I have been busy quilting, and Cindy has been busy cleaning up the yard. It looks a lot better.
 The only problem is she overdoes and ends up hurting. I do help her dig the hard spots, and we got a lot of the grass out of the flower beds. We went to the nursery and bought some peonies to put in some of the bare spots.

   
 I went out and greased the spring shackles on the trailer getting ready to travel. I still have a few more things I want to do before we can leave, not to mention Cindy's Dr. appointment. We still haven't decided where we want to go for a week or so while waiting for her appointment, but we both want to go somewhere. With next Sunday being Easter, we will have to wait another week or so.



We having a lot of the grandkids come over for an Easter egg hunt. The little ones seem to like it. The older ones like it when Grandma cooks a nice Easter dinner. I'm included with the older ones. The trouble is, I want to loose some weight, but have no will power.

Thanks for visiting.

Monday, April 14, 2014

We've Been Busy

Riverton, Utah High 55 Low 37

Yesterday it rained and today has been a little cooler.

This morning I went to see the Doctor and make sure I was good to go. Other than Cindy feeds me too well, he said I'm in pretty good condition. He did order blood tests for December, so I will go see the vampires before I get my next appointment. He did freeze a couple of moles on my face, but said they didn't look like anything to worry about. I've been scratching at one of them, so he agreed to freeze it and one other.

After the Doctor, I went to see my brother. When I got there there was frost all over their car, so it must have got colder than at our home.

I have a truck to sale, and it hasn't been licensed, so I stopped at the DMV on the way home to see if there was any permit I could get to let me drive it for a little while to get it sold. They told me they used to have a 96 hour permit, but had stopped them and the only way to be legal is to renew the licence. I don't want to do that, so probably will take my chances.

Cindy got her fabric hoard sorted out, and found out she had four finished quilt tops and enough material for 2 backs. The tops aren't huge, but big enough to keep one of the grandkids warm. There were also enough finished blocks to make another top. It really was a nice haul, Sandi. 

We are thinking of taking the 5er somewhere after Easter, but we don't know where, that is close by that won't be cold. We have toyed with the idea of going to Moab, but aren't sure. We both like Arches NP really well. If there, we hope it won't be too busy.

The only thing holding us here is  Cindy's Dr appointment on May 20th, so we have to be here then.

We worked on the yard some more this afternoon and it is finally looking better. There are only a few more patches of grass in with the Iris. Because of the flowers, the grass is a little hard to get out.

Tonight Cindy fixed some asparagus from our garden. She always likes vegetables from our garden.

Thanks for visiting.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Yard Sales and Yard Work

Riverton Utah High 68 Low 39

This morning we went to a few yard sales. The first had material for $4.00 per yard. Some of it was nice and Cindy filled a box. As I have said before, you can never have too much fabric. By the way, this is after she said she wanted to go, but wasn't planning on buying fabric just some books. Right.........

We had a few others on our list, but hadn't found anything we had to have. Then the last one. The only reason I wrote down the address was because it was on the way home from the others. Bonanza! When we walked up there was a whole table full of material, and a few boxes full underneath. Cindy was picking out some material, but had no idea how much they wanted for it. After she got almost a box full, the man running the sale came over and asked us if we wanted it all for $40.00. Cindy looked at me as if to ask if we wanted it all because some of it wasn't what she wanted. I'm afraid I hesitated about 1/2 second and said sure. We filled the whole trunk and back seat of the car.After we loaded it all up and got it home we probably have over 100 yards of material for $40.00.

Now she has the job of sorting what she got, and part way through, she found a finished quilt top. It is a very nice top. Now she has the problem of where to put all of today's material. I think it is a nice problem to have. Some of it she will use for scrappy quilts. There was even a whole kit with the pattern.

We went home and unloaded and went to Costco for a few things we needed.

When we got home again, Cindy put me to work digging grass out of her flower beds. Good thing it was a cooler day than it has been, because digging grass is a lot of work. We made a lot of headway, but still have a way to go to get rid of all the grass.

I have my Doctors appointment for next Monday, but because of the insurance, Cindy has to wait until the 20th of May. So it looks like we are going to have to postpone our trip east until then if everything checks out OK. We will probably go somewhere close for a week or so.

Thanks for visiting.


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Finished Devon's Car and RV Repairs

Riverton, Utah High 72 Low 45

This morning we went to Alice and Jerrol's with Devon to finish up his pinewood derby car. Devon picked out a silver metallic color and got it painted. It looks pretty good. Jerrol came out to our house after the paint dried and put on the wheels. He used JB Weld to fasten the axles, and now they have to dry.






 


This afternoon I installed the battery monitor kit on the fifth wheel. maybe now we will know more about the charge on the battery when we are using the inverter. This compartment is getting full of stuff.













I got an email from a couple that had recently retired asking about going to Alaska. My best advice to anyone planning of going to Alaska is probably don't put it off. Yes it is a long way, but in my estimation, was well worth it. We drove about 14000 miles from when we left till we got home, and yes, some of the roads are not the greatest. But if you don't get in a hurry, and drive slow when necessary, the trip can be made without any damage. Fuel was more then at home, but the trip made it worth while. I know we saw and did things that are not possible at home.

Thanks for visiting.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Pinewood Derby

Riverton, Utah High 75 Low 48

The weather is looking more like it should, but I'm sure it won't last, but enjoy while we can.

Cindy got a picture of me digging grass out of one of the flower beds yesterday.




I spent part of yesterday getting a new Iphone 5S. It took a while to get everything activated. Hopefully it is a faster phone and now I have Siri. Just what I need, another woman talking to me. lol

I also got our  taxes back from the accountant, and we got hit kind of hard because of the retirement money Cindy and I got last year. The payments got mailed today.

If you look carefully by Devon's little finger, you can see the holes where the lead goes in.
Today we went over to Alice and Jerrol's with Devon. Jerrol volunteered to help Devon with his pinewood derby car. We cut the car into the finished shape and then sanded it to finish the sides. Jerrol drilled holes in the block and filled them with lead to bring the weight up to the 5 ounces that is allowable. Devon got to do a lot of the sanding.


We took it over to the post office, where they weighed it for us, and found it was an ounce light. We went back and he drilled more holes and added the right amount of lead. He then used wood putty to finish off the holes. He told us it would have to dry overnight before it can be painted. We are going back over tomorrow to do the final sanding and painting.

While we worked on the car, Cindy and Alice worked on Cindy's Hummel  quilt. It is designed after one we saw in a quilt store in Fairbanks last summer. We both liked it, and when Cindy showed the pictures to Alice, between the two of them, they designed The quilt. We tried to buy the pattern from the store in Alaska, but all she would tell us was that she had made up the quilt, and didn't have a pattern.





Alice is using blues with the blocks, while Cindy is using greys.
Alice got her quilt finished, while Cindy is just starting out. She used different colors than Cindy is going to use. Today they got the finished applique pattern put on Cindy's embroidery machine. They also finish one of Cindy's blocks. The pictures below are Cindy's blocks.



Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

More Camperworld

Riverton, Utah High 68 Low 46

It's starting to get warmer in the Salt Lake Valley. The prediction is for the seventy's tomorrow.

I have been working on a tee shirt quilt for one of our friends. Her husband likes to go to various motorcycle rallys, including Laughlin, Nevada, Oatman, Arizona, and Stergis, South Dakota. With all the different size and scenes on the tee shirts, I was quite a while quilting this one. She seemed happy with it.












Yesterday I went to the State Consumer Protection Agency to file a complaint against Camperworld. The receptionist told me they have many inquiry's about them, but that I was the first to actually file a complaint. She did tell me they were in the process of seeing what they could do, if anything. She told me it might be a civil problem. All I really want is for them to honor the contract I have with them. She told me there were a lot of unhappy people. No matter what happens, I don't plan on giving them any more money.

After Cindy hurt her back last July, we have been trying to get our health insurance to pay the Doctor in Alaska. In November they paid $181.00 of a $3300.00 bill, which we thought was unreasonable. We filed an appeal in November, and have tried numerous times to get them to make a decision, but hadn't got any real response. We have talked to the Doctor's office more times than I can count, trying to get them to accept a smaller amount. The account manager promised to check with the Doctor and would get back to us. I called the insurance company last week, and they told me they were still trying to negotiate with the Doctor, but he seemed unwilling to accept what they offered.

The bad part of this whole scenario, was that I called for pre-approval  of where to take Cindy in Soldotna, before we ever went in, and was told to go where we went. Cindy pointed out that I had not got it in writing. If something like this ever happens again, I will asked them to email exactly where we can be seen, so I would have it in writing.

Yesterday, I decided to go see them in person, rather than on the phone. Of course, the appeal was sitting on someones desk. The receptionist called whoever had the file, and she told me to have a chair and they would see what could be done.

After waiting more than half an hour, the receptionist told me they had decided to pay what they would have in Salt Lake, $2500.00 and it was up to me to talk to the Doctors office about the balance. I don't see why this couldn't have been done six months ago.

I called the Doctor's office to talk to the Account Manager and was told she would called me back, which doesn't work, as I can count on no fingers the times she has returned calls. I told the receptionist that she never called back, and she said she would put me through. I asked her if they would drop the interest, if I paid the remaining balance now, since all that had gone on, and she agreed to drop the interest. So after almost a year, Cindy can now relax about the bill from Alaska. We would have been more than willing to pay the not quite $500.00 way back when and not gone through all the aggravation.

Sorry this got so long, but thanks for visiting.