Wednesday 11-29 Doing Errands

Running Errands

What a beautiful day!!! We woke to sunshine with the temperature in the mid 40's and it ended up getting to 68 degrees. The wind blew all day.

We started the day by walking the trail along Nolan Creek. It was cool considering I was in a short sleeve top, Larry offered me his jacket from the car, I told him I was fine. Usually, when we go for a walk it warms up considering we're moving. We walked for forty-five minutes. 

After our walk we did a few errands. First up was to pay for the tags for the truck at the Bell County Appraisal Office. The second errand was grocery shopping at HEB. The third was get our mail at the UPS Store.

Grocery Shopping

The other day when we were watching the GizWiz, Chad was doing a segment where he tries different inexpensive products to see if they work or not. The product he played with was a Mini Waffle Maker. You can buy them at Bed Bath & Beyond for $9.99. Yesterday we stopped by and bought one. When we got home we made mini waffles for lunch, it worked excellent. One neat thing about the Mini Waffle Maker is that it is so small that it fits anywhere, we can even take it with us in the RV. We have a Belgium waffle maker that we love, it makes perfect waffles every time but as the years have gone by we find that we eat less so now when we make waffles we only make one and we share it. By using the Mini Waffle Maker the waffle is small and we don't have to share it.

What the waffle iron looks like

The Mini Waffle Maker

Today while we were grocery shopping HEB had a coupon for Campbell's soups, if you bought two Chunky soups you get a free new Chunky Maxx soup. You can chose from different kinds and Larry decided on the Bison Bacon Burger with carrots and potatoes. That's what we had for lunch. It was ok but it wasn't any better than the other soups and it certainly wouldn't be worth the extra money.

After lunch Larry started to wax the Minnie. Before doing so he scrubbed off the dead bugs and rinsed off the dust. When Larry waxes the Minnie he uses his small buffer. He did the back and front of the Minnie before calling it a day.

Waxing the Minnie's overhead

Waxing around the ladder

In the evening we went to Shirts 'n' Skirts to attend their Fall Frenzy Dance. They had Dale Smith as their caller. We hadn't danced to Dale in a long time and we had fun. Lucy and Jerry Pate cued the round dancing. There were six squares and a lot of round dancers. Dale called six tips and two of them were plus. We had a very nice evening of dancing with friends. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

Round Dancing to Lucy Pate cuing

 

Tuesday 11/28/17 Doing This and That

Having fun doing this and that!!

We started the day off by going to the dentist for a follow up on Larry's implant. 

Yesterday, when I was closing the pantry's doors a ball from one of its latches shot out. We were lucky it didn't hurt anything. We stopped by Lowe's to get a replacement part. When we got home Larry tried to fix the door but the part we had bought wasn't the right one. We'll have to return it, he found the right part on Amazon. 

Visiting the dentist

Yesterday, we had dropped the Minnie off at Ponders to get things check out and while we were having lunch they called and said it was ready. After lunch we decided to go and pick it up. We brought it back to the house because Larry wants to wax it.

When we got home Larry went back to entering the data into Fuel Buddy. He finished doing this but he said he needs to work a little more on it before we can use it. While he was doing this project I worked out with Gold's Gym and Just dance. I read some more of the Secret Supper. 

Working out

Reading is fun

For dinner I fried some potatoes and we had ham to go with them. 

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. A while back ROKU added a channel called ROKU Channel, where you can watch free movies and shows. During the evening we decided to watch Short Circuit. It was a 1986 movie about a robot. It was a cute movie but we won't be watching any more movies off the channel considering there were too many commercials. I occasionally work out with a program on All Fitness TV and it has commercials but they're at the beginning of the workout. During Short Circuit they were like every ten minutes. After the movie we read until it was time to go to bed. We had a great day!!!!   

Monday 11-27 Lovely

We started the day off by taking the Minnie to Ponders Automotive to get some things checked out. On the way home we stopped by the Valvoline Oil Change to get the truck inspected. We were the only customer so we were in and out in a few minutes. Once the truck was inspected we went to Pepper Creek Trail, where we walked 2.25 miles. It was cool when we started the walk but by time we finished we were sweaty. We had a very nice morning.

Getting the truck inspected

Larry now has two miter saws and he really likes the new sliding one but it is bigger than the other one. He measured the sliding saw and found that it was too tall to fit in the bed of the truck and have the cover close. He was going to give the smaller saw away but he decided to keep them both. Once in awhile he needs to use a miter saw to do projects for Louise. So when we finished lunch we reorganized the garage shelves to fit both of the saws.

The other day I wrote that Larry found a new program to track maintenance and fuel on the vehicles. He hadn't heard from the developer on how to import the old maintenance records so he decided to work on figuring it out himself. He played with the program most of the afternoon and thought he had it figured out, maybe not, he might have to enter the maintenance records manually. While Larry was playing with the program I read and worked out with my Wii Fit and Just Dance.

Working out with Wii Fit and Just Dance

In the evening we went to Sun City to dance with the Sundancers for their Monday dance. At the beginning of the dance there were seven squares but by the end we had one square. Brad decided to call a complex plus tip. We had a super time even though we didn't dance an A tip. 

Dancing with friends

Sunday 11-26 Celebrating Thanksgiving

Celebrating Thanksgiving with Louise

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with Larry's sister Louise and her dog Alice. Louise had to work on Thanksgiving so we celebrated today. The dinner I made was pretty traditional, it include ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, homemade noodles, deviled eggs and a relish tray (sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, salami and crackers). Louise brought brownies for dessert. She visited with us for a few hours. We had a super celebration.

Louise and Larry ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner

Alice

Louise's brownies

Thanksgiving dinner

In the afternoon I did the dishes and worked out using Just dance. We had leftovers for dinner.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. Yesterday we had rented the movie Atomic Blonde, these rentals are for a 48 hour period so tonight we watched the movie again. After the movie we read before going to bed. We had a great day.   

Saturday 11-25 Another Gorgeous Day

Another gorgeous day

We woke up to sunshine with the temperature in the 40s. The high temperature was 70 degrees, it felt like a fall day in Texas. We had a gorgeous day.

We started the day by going for a walk along Nolan Creek. We parked at the Harris Community Park and walked to Confederate Park where we turned around and walked to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Near the university we heard their band practicing for their playoff game today. We walked for 45 minutes and total of 2.25 miles.

We haven't used our charcoal grill in awhile so for lunch I decided to barbecue a couple of pork chops.

Finished

Barbecuing on the charcoal grill

For years we have been using a program called Car Care to track maintenance and fuel on our vehicles including the boat. It only works on the computer and Larry would like a program that also works on our tablet and smartphone. He researched different programs and finally found Gas Buddy. He installed it and was able to transfer all of the data for the vehicles and their fuel records but to transfer the maintenance records the documentation said to e-mail the developer, Larry is waiting to hear what to do next.

While Larry was playing with Gas Buddy I started another book called The Secret Supper that's written by Javier Sierra. I also worked out with my new Just Dance for a half hour.

Tomorrow, we're going to celebrate Thanksgiving, in preparation for our celebration I made noodles, they will dry over night, I also boiled eggs for deviled eggs. When I finished doing this I barbecued hamburgers for dinner.

The other day the memory reader on the computer I use for pictures stopped working. Larry ordered an external USB memory reader and it came yesterday. Today I played with it and it works perfect.

New USB Drive

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. Google Play had a special going on where you can rent a movie for $.99. We rented Atomic Blonde starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy and John Goodman. It was a mystery thriller action movie. It was a good movie. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!    

 

Friday 11-24 Black Friday

Black Friday

It's Black Friday, what did you do today?

We're not really shoppers but if we find a good price on something we need or use we will purchase it. The Home Depot and Lowe's had a great deal on both AAA batteries and AA batteries and we are getting low on both. Larry did the math and found that the best deal was at Lowe's. That's where we went for a Black Friday special. We bought 36 AA and 36 AAA batteries for $5.97 each, we saved $9.00.

On the way to Lowe's we stopped by HEB to pick up a few things. 

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After doing our shopping we headed towards the house. We were driving near the Pepper Creek Trail so we decided to stop and walk the trail. It was still cool outside so the walk was very nice. We walked for an hour. Last time we walked the trail the waterfall was not running but today it was. I always thought it was a natural waterfall but Larry told me they pump the water from the creek and recycle it. It's still a very nice waterfall.

Pepper Creek Trail

The waterfall

During the afternoon I read and finished the Archer's Tale. It was a good book that took place in the Mid-Evil era. I also played with my new Just Dance program. While I read Larry changed the transmission fluid in the car for the second time to make sure it was clean. Then he cleaned the throttle body. Before doing this project he watched a few videos and researched the project. He didn't want to damage anything. Our local Chevrolet dealer quoted us $535 to do these two things, it took Larry less than 2 hours and he spent a total of $75, a savings of $460. Now that he knows how to do each of these he could do them in even less time.

The throttle box all cleaned up

Putting the cover on top of the throttle box

Doing Just Dance with other people around the world.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos and an episode of GizWiz. We rented a movie off of Amazon for $2.99 called Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio. It was a good entertaining movie except it was bloody at times. We had a super day.  

Thursday 11-23 Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We're going to celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday with Larry's sister Louise. Today we did a little Thanksgiving dinner. Our dinner was spiral ham, potatoes and gravy and dinner rolls. 

The day started out in the high 30s, it was a perfect temperature for a walk. We hadn't walked to Temple Lake Park in a long time so that's what we did. During the walk we met a few people and their dogs. As we were walking up Adams towards the house we saw a gentleman having trouble with his motorcycle, the fuel line had cracked. Larry told him that he may have some fuel line back at the house. Off to the house we went for the fuel line and some tools. We loaded the tool box, fuel line and a couple of small clamps into the truck. We drove back to where the gentleman was. The design for the fuel line had a little bit of an angle so the guy had to drive the bike back to his house with the fuel tank up a bit. He thanked Larry for his help. He got the bike started and headed towards his house, we followed him for a bit to make sure it would stay running.

   

During the day Larry did a few little projects. The first project was rebuilding a small shelving unit in a outside storage area of the Minnie where he stores knickknacks. The second project was making a metal plate to attach the temperature gauges for the freezer and refrigerator in the Minnie. The gauges are magnetic so he bought a metal cookie sheet from the Dollar Tree and used that as material for the project. 

While Larry was doing his projects I read and worked out with Just Dance for a half hour. Then we watched an episode of GizWiz and YouTube videos.

I have four different Just Dance programs I use when I work out. Larry was reading the adds for Black Friday and saw that Walmart had Just Dance 2018 on sale for $19.00 and it usually is $40.00. They were going to open up at 6:00 pm today for an early Black Friday. After dinner we went to Walmart, it was swamped, the parking lot was almost full. When we got inside you could barely move around, there were people pushing carts full of items. We weaved our way through the crowd to get to the electronic area. Walmart was well prepared for the crowd, they had employees all over the place to assist customers. We asked a worker about Just Dance 2018 for the Wii and he knew exactly where it was and handed us one. When we went to check out we had to wait in line. They had every cash register open. The customers had to wait until an employee directed them to which cashier to go to. It really didn't take as long as we were afraid of we were back to the house before 7:00. 

New Just Dance program

After going to Walmart we watched another American Experience documentary. The documentary was called Henry Ford and it was about Henry Ford's legacy. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about Henry Ford that I didn't know. We had a super Thanksgiving.   

Wednesday 11-22 What a wonderful day!!!!

Be happy and have fun

We had replaced the mattress in the Minnie last spring and the old mattress has been in the garage ever since. We also had the old refrigerator from the Minnie in the garage. Yesterday, Larry decided to get rid of them, he took pictures and then put them on Craig's List as free. He had just posted the refrigerator when we received a phone call from a gentleman who wanted it and said he would pick it up at 7:00 am today. We received another call a little later on the fridge and the lady said she would come right over to pick it up. Larry told her if the gentleman didn't show up he would be more than happy to give it to her. As we were getting ready to go to bed last night Larry checked his e-mail and found he had received a couple of e-mails about the mattress. He wrote the first person back and the gentleman said he would be by around 9:00 am today.

The gentleman arrived right on time for the fridge, he and Larry loaded it up in his truck and away it went. The gentleman that was interested in the mattress sent an email saying he couldn't make it so  Larry wrote the next person on the list. The lady called him and said her daughter would be by to pick it up. They showed up at 4:45. Now that the mattress and refrigerator are gone we have more room to walk around in the garage.

Old mattress and cover

Old refrigerator

While hanging around the house Larry finished up the panels for the new refrigerator and put them on the doors. He worked on writing reviews for three items for The Seeds Program. They were: The DigiPure 9000S water filter, Delta Cruzer sliding miter saw and Scale Watcher. While he was reviewing the items I read.

Delta Cruzer Miter Saw

DigiPure 9000S Water Filter

In the evening we watched YouTube videos and an episode of PBS American Experience called Battle of Chosin, it was a documentary about the Battle of Chosin Reservior during the Korean War. It was very informative. It talked about the Korean War and what the servicemen went through. We had a wonderful day.    

Tuesday 11-21 Surpise Gift

Saying good-bye to friends

Paul, Roberta and Liberty hung out with us for a few hours. I baked biscuits for breakfast and then we visited. Liberty is only 14 months old and she has a lot of energy so we decided to take her for a walk to the lake. She liked the walk except when she got to the water, she didn't want anything to do with it. She pulled Robert up the ramp as far away as she could. The funny thing is that Boykin Spaniels normally love to swim. Hopefully, she will overcome being scared of the water. When we got back to the house we visited until 10:30 when they headed to Houston. It was terrific having them visit.

Paul, Roberts and Liberty

Liberty

After lunch Larry put a coat of the Spar Urethane on the refrigerator panels. The directions said you need to put on three coats and to wait at least two hours between coats. While waiting for the coat to dry we went to town to get a Seeds Program package that was waiting for us at The UPS Store. Now Larry has another product to review.

When we got home the mailman delivered a couple of packages from Amazon. We have a Kindle that we take with us on trips considering it is a lot easier to carry than a bunch of books. Larry has been downloading some of the free books he gets to the tablet so I can read them but other books can only be read on Kindles. It will be great having another Kindle that way I can read the same books at the same time. He had put a watch price on Amazon and the price came up so he ordered one. The new Kindle is white, this was on purpose considering we don't want to get the Kindles confused but he could have ordered a black one considering the new one is smaller, thinner, shaped different and weighs less than the old one. When he ordered it he didn't know they had been updated. I'm so excited about getting my own Kindle.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. While I was trying to get some pictures off my camera and putting them on the computer, the computer wouldn't recognize the memory card. Larry worked on it for hours and came to the conclusion the built in reader had gone bad. He ordered a external reader off of Amazon.

Larry had recommended a couple of books we have in paperback and I hadn't got around to reading them so while Larry was working on the computer I started one of the books called The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell. We had a great day.

   

Monday 11-20 Friends Visit

Friends

I spent the day doing my weekly cleaning. I did a few loads of laundry, vacuumed the house and mopped the floors. We also worked on our Minnie project. Larry used a router to modify the refrigerator panels so they fit correctly and he put another coat of stain on them. 

Our friends from Florida, Paul and Roberta swung by for a visit on their way to Houston to visit family. They brought their dog, Liberty along. Liberty is a Boykin Spaniel. They are staying overnight with us. We were very excited about this considering we don't have many visitors spend the night. We had a great visit with friends. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

Sunday 11-19 Smoking Pork

What a beautiful day!!!

We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and wind. The high temperature was in the 60s. 

We decided to build the refrigerator door panels for the Minnie. We started off by going to The Home Depot to pick up a couple of items. We looked at plywood and wood paneling but didn't see anything we liked so we headed to Lowe's where we found a sheet of plywood that we liked. We knew what sizes we needed for the panels so we had one of the workers cut the plywood. We ended up having more than half the board leftover, Larry will be able to use it for some other project. 

When we got home Larry checked the stain we had. We didn't have exactly what he wanted, after a little research he located it at Walmart. Larry printed off the information and we went to Walmart. While there we bought a cheap paint brush.  

Yesterday, while we were working on our project we smelled someone smoking meat. It smelled so good. Larry remembered we had some pork lion in the freezer. We hadn't smoked meat in a long time. In the afternoon Larry got the grill ready and I prepared the pork. Then we started the smoking process. I kept an eye on the temperature of the grill, I kept it at 225. After two and a half hours it was done, in fact I think I over cooked it a little. I kept the grill temperature at the right temperature but I forgot to keep an eye on the meat temperature. Still tastes good.

Smoking Pork with pellets

Finished product

Smoking pork on the grill

While the meat was smoking Larry stained the wood panels. He put one coat on the panels and then we compared the color with the color of wood in the Minnie. It looks really good, a second coat will not be necessary. Then he tried to slide the panels in the refrigerator door but they wouldn't go in. They are the exact size the book called for but they are a little too thick, he will have to modify them a bit, it has gotten late so maybe tomorrow.

Sanding the panels before staining

The stain and urethane

Applying the stain

 

Wiping the extra stain off

The finished product

In the evening we watched YouTube videos and an Amazon documentary called Azonian Rising of the K129 Sub. The documentary was about a Soviet Union ballistic missile submarine that sunk in 1968. It was a bit dry but interesting. We had another busy day.

Relaxing in front of the television