What have we been up to?

The April A to Z Blog Challenge is winding down with the final letter, Z, being posted tomorrow. I had intended to post a personal update last Sunday but ran out of energy. I've been fighting a cold with a lingering cough. Ugh!

Winter has FINALLY left the area...there were days we thought it would be here forever. Of course, then the spring rains moved in. This weekend has been delightful, though. Reasonable temps (in the sun) made for a big smile for both of us.

We had company two weekends this month. The weather cooperated both times. The first was a long-time friend of mine (think it's been over twenty years?) who was headed to Knoxville for a wedding. She spent two nights here and we got to take her to Muddy Pond Community one day. Nice outing.

Then along came the day I kicked Stu out of the house and sent him on a motorcycle ride...finally! He was in hog heaven (pun intended).

The other company was our good friends from Maryland. Stu has known them for over twenty-five years and I met them in 2008. They moved to Tennessee ahead of us (other than owning our property in Jamestown) and are now less than ninety minutes away. They came over to do some vacation planning for our joint vacation next October as well as visit The Wall That Heals in Cookeville (the only stop it made in Tennessee).

Saturday we headed off to Cookeville to see The Wall That Heals (aka The Moving Wall). Our friend Pauline had two names she wanted to find. The volunteers were tremendously helpful and were doing a wonderful job. She found both names, one was for a good friend and the other was her distant cousin that she'd never met. The crowd was steady, lots of motorcycle groups riding in (they had designated parking, a nice touch), the mood somber and respectful.

Here are a few photos, you can see them all in our SmugMug album.

This is a panoramic shot that Stu took with his iPhone. I think if you click it, you will be able to scroll left and right (can't try it myself until this post publishes).



After that we drove down to Sparta, where I lived with my late husband, to see visit the first 2018 Cruise-in. NICE turn out and we got to visit with our friend (and realtor) who helped us find our house here. You can see all the photos in our SmugMug album.

We have been doing a lo carb diet since we returned from our cruise - Feb 13th was the first day. Stu has lost twenty-five pounds and just bought size 34 jeans! You can see the difference in the photo above, at the car show. He'd like to lose another 10-15#. I'm down seventeen pounds and back into my size 12s. I'd like to lose another 10-15# as well. Here are some photos I've taken of me along the way.

Stu loves the chocolate peanut butter fat bombs I made for him...says they taste like fudge. They do look good, don't they!

We recently got a good deal on an air fryer and decided to try it. Well, we liked it so much we decided to upgrade (we'll use the original one in the RV) to a Cuisinart Combination Toaster Oven, Convection Oven and Air Fryer!! It sits where our old toaster oven and air fryer sat (the air fryer having taken over for the original old fashioned - snicker - toaster).

First meal? Bacon wrapped hotdogs...

They were DELICIOUS and on our diet!

The #2Doods are doing great. They both got shorter trims and now we have a hard time telling them apart unless we can see the face or collar. LOL!

They have discovered mice and moles...who needs a barn cat? They're decreasing the population daily!! LOL!

Ciao for now!

One Week Post Cataract Surgery

It's been busy since we last posted. Thursday we visited the mall where, at Books-a-Million, we discovered that what is old is now new. Wow!

     

We also discovered the big stuffed animals that kids can rent for riding around the mall, aren't just for kids!

We took in a movie, "Snatched", and loved it. Definite for adults only (R-rated) but a hoot! We both laughed out loud several times. But if you get offended easily, pass it by. ;) We capped off the day by having dinner with our Thursday night friends. Delicious Japanese Hibachi Grill...YUM!

We had a fun Friday last week, taking on a last minute babysitting request for little Waverly. She will be three next month and we enjoyed our afternoon with her. After breakfast at Cracker Barrel, where she devoured pancakes like a pro, we headed over to a local park. She was familiar with it since her mom, Stu's youngest girl, takes her there often. Here are a couple of photos...

     

     

Three hours later, we headed back to the rig for a little TV and a two hour nap...

The weekend turned nasty, for the most part, with a lot of rain. We stayed in and watched recorded movies on the TV. Nice to be able to do that!

Yesterday was my one week post-op cataract surgery checkup for my left eye. I'm happy to report the surgery is officially deemed a success with 20/20 vision! Now on to the right eye, scheduled on June 12th. Because my right eye is so nearsighted, there is a good chance I won't get to 20/20 but it will still be a dramatic improvement.

I will still need glasses for distance to correct the astigmatism in both eyes and will go with progressive lenses, as I have since my 40's, to take care of needing readers. As it stands now, I will be getting those back in Tennessee.

I'm still on restriction from over-exertion and lifting anything weighing more than 15-20 pounds. I have to wear the eye patch for another week and I'm still using eye drops, although less often. The drops will continue until my next surgery - and of course, I start the drops in the right eye three days before surgery. So we will be double-dropping my eyes. LOL! Sorry, somehow that struck me as funny.

The eye patch - that's another story. You may remember the clear patch being taped to my face from my previous post. I tried that for a couple nights and the tape was really irritating my skin. So I ordered this cute little eye mask to try. The first night I just slipped the patch underneath. No go - it was lost in the bed the next morning. I tried taping just the top under the mask and ended up with a bruise on my cheekbone from the pressure. So the next night I tape it over the mask. The goal is to keep me from accidentally rubbing my eye. This worked well!!!

Stu is off on the motorcycle. He had to take it in to Annapolis Harley to get the switch for the reverse motor installed. Somehow it got replaced with a dummy switch and we've had no reverse since Florida. The dealer there is covering all the costs, so we're happy.

We plan on a movie this Thursday and dinner with our friends. If the weather holds, I may brave a motorcycle ride with my fitovers...been too long!

Ciao for now!

Back Home [sub2]

After getting our  new HVAC unit installed, we quickly prepared the house for our absence. We love our new SimpliSafe Wireless security system with camera and wireless thermostat from Carrier.

Using our phone apps we can view the camera....

See the current setting of our alarm system, as well as arm/disarm the system. Plus we can see the current temperature in the under sink kitchen cabinet where we have a freeze protection sensor...

Check and adjust the thermostat settings....

With the trailer loaded with a few things, we headed off, stopping at the transfer station to leave our trash. As we pulled out, I remembered that I had forgotten the briefcase in the office with our closing documents.....AND all our interim mail with a bunch of tax statements.....AND our checkbook. Good thing we were less than three miles away.

That remedied, we headed south. At our first stop for lunch, Stu realized he had left his keys to the RV as well as my backup set of keys for the cargo trailer, back in the house. Oh well, we had extras and I still had my set to get us in. Midday I realized that I had left some cooked chicken in the refrigerator. I thought I had done so well! I had pulled out everything else but I just couldn't remember seeing the chicken, but I knew it was there. Too late to return, we'd have to mail a key to a friend and ask them to go toss it. Ahhh, memory - it's a wonderful thing, until you lose it.

We finally made it back to Florida around one-ish on Thursday and imagine our joy when everything was fine, inside and out, the rig. Phew! And, thanks to the candles I got at Tractor Supply (vanilla), it smelled good inside as well.

We dropped the trailer, unloaded our suitcases and headed out for some lunch before picking up Stu's trike that we had left at Stormy Hill HD for service. It went in for the 10k service and a couple of warranty items. It was a good thing we planned to be gone three weeks (even though it ended up at five weeks) because they ended up with a major warranty item. All is good now and Stu is happy to be out and riding in the gorgeous 70 degree temperatures.

Me? Well, the last day of travel found me in pain behind my right shoulder blade. Not a single spot, but a long vertical line of pain. No matter how I moved, I winced. While Stu went to his retiree (firefighters) reunion, I stayed at home₂ due to still not feeling well. Two days later,  he had a blast (no photos) and I am finally feeling better.

Oh, I think I forgot to share these photos earlier - our living room with the new picture, our office and a rainy day.











Ciao for now!

Returned....

Well, returned to Twin Ells Campground in West Chazy, NY. As mentioned before, we liked it here so much that we booked the week after Escapade. Now we have booked a second week as well. Wonderful riding area, quiet and clean campground with wonderful management and convenient location.

We had another uneventful trip from Essex Junction, VT to here last Sunday. Setup was easy - we knew the spot well (yup, same site). We had been set up for a couple of hours and our friends from Canada, Char & Billy, arrived. Now they camp - not like us. LOL!

Monday was a rain day and our friends planned to relax from their trip. We opted to run errands and see a movie. After recycling the battery out of our old Trip-Lite UPS (replaced with a newer, larger APC UPS) at Lowe's, mailing a package (sending off a prize to a winner of my book promotion for Paradise Down), we headed to the mall to see the new Star Trek movie. Neither of us had any idea of the plot and both greatly enjoyed the movie. Afterward, we walked the mall for steps and took a few minutes to enjoy this:

I also got a kick out of this place, we knew our younger grandkids would have loved this place.

Our final stop was Sam's Club and Wal-Mart for groceries. We spent the evening walking around the campground with Char & Billy, then sitting and chatting till the bugs drove us all inside.

Tuesday, the trio set off for a scenic ride on the bikes while I stayed behind. I needed a day to catchup with laundry and other chores, including making reservations for our leisurely trip back to DE & MD. That accomplished, I tackled some back emails. Here are a few photos Billy & Stu took...note Char's excitement at the ice cream stop!

Wednesday we all headed out to ride the islands that dot the middle of Lake Champlain. I opted to leave my camera behind and just enjoy the scenery. Sorry (not really - LOL). It was a great day, first stop at the little New York state welcome area where we picked up more maps.

We ended up in Burlington - HOT, HOT, HOT with about a gazillion tourists/pedestrians. We finally made it to the ferry and I napped while we spent an hour crossing back to New York. All in all, a wonderful day!

From there we headed to Five Guys, a first for Char & Billy. Bellies full, it was back home for showers and rest.

Thursday Stu did chores while our friends rode to Ausable Chasm for some hiking. Friday, it was time for goodbyes, no, see you laters! We sat, enjoying our coffee while they packed up the camper and trailer. Soon, they headed out....till next time, friends!

Our plans for the next week are simple:

• See the new Jason Bourne movie
• Keep tackling all those little chores that never disappear
• For me, WRITE!
• Get in at least one or two more scenic rides

Ciao for now!