Monday 7-30 A Day of Having Fun

Smile and have fun all the time

We started the day out by going to town to play with our new camera. We stopped at Nolan Creek and took pictures with the new camera using different settings and compared them to the same pictures taken with our old camera. While taking pictures we witnessed a big tree by the playground falling down. It didn't come down in one piece, we saw one arm fall and then shortly afterwards the rest of the tree. The city of Belton was very lucky there were no children playing on the swings. A park employee was notified and she went and got a chain saw to cut the tree into smaller pieces to remove it. We decided that the new camera took a lot better pictures than the old one.

New camera

Old camera

A couple weeks ago Larry bought a tire pressure monitoring system for the Minnie. Today most cars come with this. We have one in our Equinox and it came in handy when we had a tire that was low. When it indicated our tire was low we immediately went to Discount Tires and they found a nail in the tire. Larry bought the air pressure monitor system for the rear tires on the Minnie. The kit comes with sensors that screw on the valve stems of each tire. The monitor tells you the temperature and air pressure of all four tires. It also has an alarm, if a tire is low the alarm goes off and the monitor will show you which tire is low. He has been playing with it on the car tires and it works perfect so he'll put it on the Minnie.

The ZEEP TPMS Solar Power Universal Wireless Air Pressure Monitoring System

     

In the afternoon I worked on my puzzle and Larry worked on my annual book.

After dinner we went to Sun City to dance with the Sundancers for their regular Monday night dance. There were six squares and we had enough people for one square for an A tip. Brad did a super job of calling. We had a lot of fun dancing to him and with friends.

Friends having fun dancing to Brad

Waiting for the next

Sunday 7-29 We're home

We're home

After an outstanding weekend of dancing we're home. 

There were two dances we really wanted to attend this weekend, there was the Advanced dance that we went to in Abilene and in Waco at Allemande Hall, Scott and Brad had a high energy DBD dance that we have been attending for years. We made it to Waco in time for the closing dance. We had a warm welcome from all the dancers. Brad made an announcement about us getting up at 4:30 in order to make it there at 9:00. This dance is so much fun, it is fast and challenging. Scott and Brad are really good together and everyone has so much fun. I can't believe I messed up twice on all ladies don't enter the center for a tea cup chain considering I have done this multiple times and Brad had just walked us through it before calling it. It was all good. 

The dance started at 9:00 and was over at 11:00 so we were home a little after noon. I unpacked the suitcase and made lunch. After lunch I laid down and took a couple hours nap. While I was napping Larry caught up on reading his newspapers. When I woke up I worked on my puzzle until it was time to make dinner. I made spaghetti.

In the evening we rented the 1976 movie A Star Is Born starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. It was still good after all these years. We had a relaxing evening.  

Saturday 7-28 A Fabulous Day of Dancing

We had a fabulous day of dancing with friends to Bill Haynes calling.

We started the day out with a two hour workshop, another two hour workshop in the afternoon and a two hour closing dance. Bill did workshops on moves we do a lot but he put us in positions we're not use to being in. At times we all struggled and broke down but we kept on smiling and laughing. Bill was patient working us through the problems and laughing with us. Bill is very good at cueing the dancers through the moves. We had five squares in the morning and four and a half squares in the afternoon. The evening dance was one person shy of five squares. The club had a lot of snacks and served ice cream cups. By the end of the night we were tired. We had a super day of dancing A with Bill Haynes calling. LIFE IS GOOD !!!!

Look at these handsome men (Larry and Garry) 

Friends having fun dancing to Bill

Mary enjoying herself with friends

Renee visiting with friends in between tips

In between the workshops we had two and a half hours to rest. On the way back to the motel we stopped by Wendy's and had lunch. Wendy's makes outstanding salads (Spicy Chicken Caesar, Taco, Berry Burst Chicken, Apple Pecan Chicken and Southwest Avocado Chicken). You can either have a whole salad or a half. Larry and I shared an Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. For dessert we shared a Jr. Frosty. Because we had donated $3 dollars towards an orphanage when we were in the Rio Grande Valley we got it for free by using our key pod. After the last workshop we stopped at Wendy's and bought a Spicy Chicken Caesar for our dinner. We like the Apple Pecan Chicken salad better.

Friday 7-27 Big Country Summer Fest

Having fun with friends

Every year Bill Haynes is invited to come to Tye Texas to call a weekend of A-2 and C-1 square dancing at the Wagon Wheel. Tye is a small town right next to Abilene, it is about 185 miles from our house. We left after lunch and it took us three and a half hours to get there. The drive was mainly two lane highways. We arrived at the motel around 3:15, the dance wasn't until 7:30 so we had plenty of time to check in and relax.

We went to dinner at Denny's and then went back to our room for about an hour. The dance was shy one person to make five squares. Bill was very challenging. There were a lot of cookies and candy to snack on during the dance. We sat out one tip. After the dance Bill called a C-1 tip. We had a super time dancing with friends.

Bill Haynes

Getting ready to square up to dance

John and Lois having fun dancing to Bill

Friends enjoying the dance

Friends waiting for the move

Thursday 7-26 Special A2 Dance

Bright sunny day

We had a wonderful day. 

We started the day out by giving the car a bath at Mister Car Wash. Next stop was our weekly grocery shopping. We normally do our shopping at HEB but this week we went to Walmart, it was nearby and we really didn't need much. We picked up our mail at the UPS Store and then went to Family Dollar to buy Mini Moon Pies.

Grocery shopping

During the afternoon Larry worked on editing my annual book. I did my weekly household chores and baked some Crispy Butterscotch Cookies to take with us to tonight's dance.

Doing weekly chores

In the evening Larry and Patricia met up with us and we all went to Sun City for our weekly A dance. This week we had a special caller, Bill Haynes, who is a very challenging. There were four squares. We had a super time and the cookies were a hit.

Friends having fun dancing to Bill Haynes

Friends having fun doing moves that were called

Friends having fun

Wednesday 7-25 A Beautiful Lake Day

A beautiful lake day

This morning the lake was the smoothest we have seen it in a long time. The lack of wind made it a great day for activities on the lake but also made it a bit warm. We practically had the lake to ourselves. As we were launching there was a couple of kayaks going in and a fisherman coming out. The conditions were perfect for trying out the water ski linings Larry had reformed. Larry did a set of skiing and then it was my turn. I had tightened the straps of the front binding too tight so my front foot hurt. I complained about the lining but it was my fault because when I got back on the boat the top of my foot was red. Even though the binding was too tight I still did a great set of skiing. After resting a little we got the Air Chair ready. We both did a set of flying down the lake. We were at the lake an hour and a half and had a super time. I forgot our new camera at home so no pictures.

In the afternoon Larry downloaded the instruction manual for the new camera and read the entire thing. As he was reading he experimented with the different settings. I worked on my puzzle. After dinner we watched a few episodes of Scott + Bailey. We got lucky, today it only got up to 102 degrees.         

Tuesday 7-24 Staying Busy

Doing Projects

We started the day off installing the shelving unit from the Home Depot Seeds Program. It is called Closet Culture and manufactured by Knape and Vogt. The unit didn't come with any instructions, you had to rely on small pictures attached to each piece. The kit came with four shelves and four clothes rods. The first step was to install two mounting bars as close to the ceiling as possible. You then hang the upright bars and screw them in place, then attach the shelf brackets. Before installing the shelves you have to screw four clips on each shelf, then the shelves snap on the brackets. Once the shelves were in place you put a cover on each bracket. Then you install the clothes rods using attachments that are provided. You can adjust the shelves to the height you prefer. The kit is very nice but it needs instructions on how to assemble it. 

The pieces in the kit

The four shelves

Larry installing the bar that goes on top of the unit

The brackets installed on the shelves

The finished project

   

Next up was replacing the GFCI plug in the garage. When Larry was using his power tools on the last project the breaker on the GFCI plug would trip. He had ordered a replacement so after installing the shelving unit he replaced the plug.

New GFCI Plug

We have had our current camera for a number of years and while it does an ok job more and more often the pictures are a little blurry. I suppose dropping it a few times didn't help anything. Larry has been researching cameras for days and decided on a newer model of the camera we are now using. He decided to buy it at Best Buy, they had it in stock and if we don't like it we can return it locally. After dinner we picked it up. Tomorrow we'll play with it.

Canon SX720 HS

In the evening we finished watching the first season of Scott + Baily and started the second season. We had a fun day of doing projects     

Monday 7-23 Boating, Dancing and Having Fun

Great day of fun

Temple had a record high of 111 and Waco had a record high of 114. Boy, it's hot and it's not even half way into the summer.

This morning there was a breeze out of the west so the lake wasn't smooth but we did a set of wakeboarding and then swam. The wind has been weird this year. Usually the wind is out of the southeast and you can find smooth water on the south bank but not this year. By the time we were leaving the breeze was going down and the lake was getting flatter. We had a very nice day at the lake. 

Larry wiping down the boat

   

We received an e-mail that we had four packages at the UPS Store so after lunch we went to pick them up. They were a shelving unit from The Home Depot Seeds Program. We're going to put it up in the garage on the wall behind the boat. Now Larry has a new project to work on. We'll start tomorrow.

I spent the afternoon working on my puzzle and doing Sudoku puzzles. Larry did some reading. For dinner I made a new dish from All Recipes called South Asian-Style Ground Beef. I substituted pork sausage for ground beef. I followed the directions but the meat was a little over cooked, next time I won't cook it as long. The dish came out good even though the meat was over cooked. 

In the evening we went to Sun City to dance with the Sundancers. There were six squares. The last plus tip was a lot of fun because Brad put us into positions that we're not use to being in. It was really challenging. After this tip Brad called a great A tip. During the tip he threw in moves out of non-standard positions making it very challenging. We had a super day.

Sunday 7-22 Just Another Day

A lazy day

Today it got to 108, gives us 14 days over 100 degree this year.  I guess everywhere in the country is hot. Everyone be careful and drink a lot of water and keep cool.

We didn't have anything on the agenda, we didn't even leave the house. I worked on my puzzle and did some Sudoku puzzles. Larry started editing my annual book. We watched our weekly GizWiz and YouTube videos.

For dinner we had a t-bone steak that had been marinaded in the sweet teriyaki sauce I used for the sweet teriyaki beef skewers. I grilled it according to directions I got off the web, it came out great.

After dinner we finished watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel first season. Then we watched a couple episodes of Scott + Bailey, which is a British detective series. We had a very laid back day.

Relaxing in front of the television

 

Saturday 7-21 Whats on the agenda?

What should we do next?

It got to 106 degrees today and it's not suppose to cool down for at least a week.

We have three propane tanks for our grill, yesterday Larry had to change to our last tank so this morning we went to Walmart to exchange the two empties. We certainly could have waited to do this but we didn't have anything else going on.

We're all caught up with projects. What should we do next? Larry has two pairs of tennis shoes that he has put leather soles on and only uses for dancing, one is white and the other is black. The black pair has worn out and hurts his foot so today he glued some leather on the soles of a new pair of black tennis shoes. He was able to remove the no tie shoe laces from the old pair and reuse them, we have been using these laces since early this year and really like them. They are easy to adjust, can not come untied, come in great colors and are inexpensive. The only downsides are they are a bit tricky to install and you can't purchase them locally.

No Tie Shoe Laces

Larry also changed out the air conditioner filter in the hall, it is actually a charcoal pre-filter that he cuts to size and attaches to the air intake with Velcro. 

While Larry did little projects I started a new jigsaw puzzle called Feline Bookcase made by Cobble Hill. I got the frame together. This puzzle is different, instead of assembling it in the landscape direction it is in the portrait direction.  

Feline Bookcase puzzle

In the evening we watched three episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. We have two more episodes to finish the season. I like the series but I do not like the vulgarity. This is a show set in the late 50's and I am quite sure very few people used this type of language in public during those times.  

Friday 7-20 Killeen Kickers Dance

Dance and have fun

We had a fabulous Friday. We started the day out by going to the lake. When we left the house there was a lite breeze and by the time we got to the lake the wind was stronger. The lake is down four feet and the dock is almost on the bank so I have to be careful picking Larry up. Larry wanted to try out the ski liners he resized but to waterski we want smooth water. There is a small area near a protected bend on the lake where many times the water is smoother. It is a bit of a ride to get there so we don't always make the trip but this morning we headed that way. Unfortunately we were out of luck, it was also rough. We turned the boat around and headed back to Rogers Park ramp area but before getting there we drove by Cedar Ridge Park. It wasn't that busy considering it was only 9:00 in the morning. When we got back by the ramp we swam for awhile and then called it a day.

Weekend get-a-way homes at the marina

A very nice weekend house

In the afternoon Larry finished up the storage tube for his motorcycle. The other day he primed and painted the pieces. Today he installed it on the bike. It looks great.

The brackets, bolts and nuts after their paint job

Storage Tube Installed

In the evening we went to Killeen to dance with the Killeen Kicker. They had invited Brad Caldwell to come and call their Elvis Dance. Elvis showed up and called an outstanding dance. I don't know how Brad did it but he wore platform shoes all night and he even danced in them. I probably would have fallen down. There were seven squares of dancers and a lot of delicious food. There were seven tips and in between each tip Brad either sang or he did line dancing. Everyone had a super time.

Deann having fun dancing to Brad

Friends waiting for the next call

Our friends Dale and Pam Smith

Elvis line dancing

Brad singing in between tips