Monday 4-13 A Special Visitor

A gorgeous day

It was another cool day, started out in the low 40's and didn't get out of the 60's. The wind blew hard all day.

I spent the morning doing my Solitaire Daily Challenges and The Event: Two Game Tango (10 Spider and 10 Free Cell). It took me 3 hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds to complete because I got stuck on the last two games of Free Cell.

While I was playing computer games Larry finished editing my book. The book is ready to be published. We will wait until Blurb offers a good discount and then we will submit it.

I tried to take a nap but I couldn't. I ended up laying down for a half hour. While I was napping Larry saw a racoon on our back porch. He said the racoon went between the bars on our porch railing and thought about jumping down but came back through the bars and went down the stairs. This was the right decision because the porch is over five feet tall. We also continue watching the hummingbirds going to the feeder for a drink.

Checking out the porch around the grill

It's time to go

Before I got up Larry looked to see the available times for us to pickup an online order at Walmart or HEB. We prefer to shop at HEB because we like their band of products and the overall price of groceries are cheaper. Since the coronavirus crisis has started the only available appointments at HEB have been two weeks out and we would have a hard time placing an order that far out. Now HEB will not let you order out past one week so it will probably be even more difficult placing an order, however, this morning Larry got on the HEB site and found there was an opening today at 4:30 in the afternoon so he put in our order. HEB Curbside charges 3% more per item and an additional $5.00 for the shopper. When they substitute items with another brand you are charged whatever the price is of the substitution. When Walmart substitutes an item they charge you the lesser price of the substituted item or your original item and they don't charge you the 3% or the shopper fee. When we picked up our order we had a great experience, they substituted a few items such as toilet paper and paper towels. This is the first time we have been able to get any paper products since this all started a month or so ago. It's good to see that more items are becoming available. We'll continue shopping online at either HEB or Walmart until the coronavirus goes away.

Shopping at HEB

In evening we watched a couple of movies off Amazon. The first one was The Giant Mechanical Man, it was about a silver-painted street performer and a soft spoken zoo worker who fall in love. It was a romantic comedy. I liked the movie. The second movie was Alien Trespass, which was a comedy Sci-Fi about a crash landing of a space craft. it was a little corny but entertaining. Afterwards I finished watching the Murdock Mysteries movies. Then I watched the first season of Above Suspicion, which was a detective series starring Kelly Reilly and Shaun Dingwall. I did 23,000 steps today.

            

Sunday 4-12 Happy Easter

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. I hope everyone had a great day.

Our day started out with a hard rain but by mid-morning the rain was gone. The wind stayed around all day. By the afternoon the sun came out and the day became a gorgeous Easter day.

Our hummingbird feeder was busy in the afternoon and early evening with a couple of hummingbirds coming to it for a drink. Sometimes one of the birds tries to drink but another one will chase it away, last year we saw the same thing. We read that a hummingbird can be very possessive of the feeder. It was very relaxing watching the hummingbirds at the feeder.

A hummingbird flying to the feeder

The hummingbird drinking from the feeder

In the afternoon Larry started to re-edit my annual book from last year. I took a nap. Then I worked on my puzzle and worked out for an hour. I used the Wii Fit for a half hour and the Gold's Gym for a half hour. It had been over a week since I used the Wii Fit. But in the evening I do fifteen minutes jazz routine I had learned years ago. I did 20,000 steps.

Working Out

For dinner I barbecued half of the rack of pork ribs. 

Pork ribs

In the evening we finished watching World on Fire on PBS. It was very good but the ending of the season was a cliffhanger so we have to watch it next season to see how it comes out. Then I started watching the Murdock Mysteries movies. The movies starred Peter Outerbridge as William Murdock and Keeley Hawes as Julia Ogden. There are three movies and each one is an hour and a half long. I watched the first two. The movies were where the Murdock Mysteries series came from. I like the series but I like the movies a lot more. I did my daily challenges. 

 

Saturday 4-11 Wyze Scale and Propane Project

Smile and have fun

We had another cool day.

In the morning Larry finished up the propane line project in the Minnie. He crawled under the Minnie and connected the new line to the main propane tank using a tee connector. Then he checked the connectors for leaks by using soapy water. There are a lot of pipe connections and he was surprised that none of them leaked. The last thing he did was test out the new line by setting up the propane heater, it worked perfect.

Connecting the propane line

Tightening the connectors

Shut off valve inside the dinette seat

The Wave3 on the table in the Minnie

Outside propane connections

I'm very lucky to have Larry, even though he drives me crazy at time. I'm amazed how his mind works because he can figure things out and enjoys doing things with his hands. Larry has saved us a lot of money by doing projects around the house and on the vehicles. I think I'll keep him for awhile.

I wrote yesterday that we received a Wyze Scale. Below is all the measurements it captures, at the bottom it even has my heart rate. How accurate are all of these measurements, I have no idea but they are interesting.

   

I spent 5 hours, 50 minutes and 27 seconds to finish my Solitaire World Tour of 30 Solitaire games. I got stuck on a couple of games but when I went to bed I was in 6th place in my group. I also did my daily challenges. Can you imagine spending almost 6 hours in one day playing a game on the computer?

In the evening we started watching a series on PBS called World of Fire. It is a World War II series. We watched three episodes so far and I like it. Afterwards I finished watching Hunters. If Hunters has a second season I don't think I'll be watching it because I didn't like how it ended and there was too much violence and bad language. I did 23,000 steps today.

Friday 4-10 Wyze Scale

We had a beautiful day. It was cool with a breeze out of the north and no rain.

Larry continued working on installing a new propane line in the Minnie for our propane heater. He assembled most of the piping but he decided he needed a support piece to place under the piping to allow him to clamp everything down securely. He cut a board the size he wanted and he notched it to allow for the connectors. He drilled holes in the board so he can screw it to the floor and so that he can attach a couple of clips that will hold the straps. Then he put two coats of stain on the board. The only thing left to do is to install the line in the Minnie.

 

Propane pipe

The support to hold the pipe

Larry wanted to relocate the Echo Show he has in his workroom. The shelf he has it on is a bit too high and this causes the screen to have a lot of glare. He attempted to change the angle it sits at but this covered the speaker opening causing the sound to be muffled. Today he built a small shelf and attached it to a lower shelf. This new location worked much better. He then removed the shelf so he could stain it.

The shelves after they were stained

I did my daily challenges and The Event: Two Game Tango Mini, which was 3 Klondike and 3 Free Cell. It took me 13 minutes and 23 seconds which put me in 27th place in my group.

In the afternoon I did my weekly laundry.

Late in the day we received a new bathroom scale. It's from Wyze who also makes one of our security cameras. It monitors your weight, body fat, muscle mass, body water % and you can even check your heart rate. All of this data is sync'd via bluetooth to your phone and eventually it should work with popular fitness applications. 

Wyze Scale

Old scale

In the evening we watched a couple of episodes of Call The Midwife on PBS. Then we finished watching Tales of the Loop. Then I watched a few episodes of Hunters. I did 20,000 steps.      

Thursday 4-9 A Storm Came Through

What a hot humid day. When we got up it was 70 degrees with 94% humidity. It got close to 90 degrees then a front came through and dropped the temperature into the 60's By the time I went to bed it was 68 degrees and the humidity was 82%.

The temperature at 11:30 pm

This afternoon Larry had his table setup on the driveway and was working on adding a propane connection in the Minnie when the front came in, first he heard some thunder, then it got darker and started to rain. He had to stop and put everything away. The rain didn't last long but it rained really hard and the wind was blowing. It was nice to see the temperature drop.

After putting everything away Larry went back to reading a book.

I did my daily challenges and The Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 4hours, 16 minutes and 8 seconds. I got stuck on one game for over an hour. But when I finished I was in 16th position in my group. I also worked out for a half hour using my Gold's Gym program.

Working Out with Gold's Gym

In the evening we watched a movie on Amazon called The Wipers Time, which about a newspaper written by Captain Fred Roberts and his men in the trenches in 1916. The stories were humorous stories about the war to make the troops laugh and relax. It was a great movie and made you laugh. Then we watched a couple of episodes of Tales of the Loop, Then I finished watching Winter and watched an episode of Hunter.  

Wednesday 4-8 Wildlife and Flowers

Beautiful Day of Sunshine

We had another beautiful day with a lot of sunshine. When we woke up we had a little fog but it didn't last long. By the afternoon the temperature got into 90's and humidity was 41%.

Thermometer in the house at 3:30 pm

Last night I changed out the nectar in our hummingbird feeder and rehung the feeder. While we were relaxing in the morning we saw a couple of hummingbirds come to the feeder to get a drink. They didn't stay long and they didn't drink together but one of them kept coming back. The hummingbirds were back around 5:00 pm. They are entertaining to watch. Last night Larry noticed via our backyard security camera that at least four deer were bedded down by the septic tank. They were there for a long time. We saw them on the camera for at least an hour. We always enjoy watching wildlife.

Our hummingbird feeder

We have not been away from the house since we picked up our groceries last Wednesday. This week for our weekly grocery shopping the only available time slots for Belton or Temple Walmart's were 5:00pm or later so we decided to use the Harker Heights, we got on their schedule for noon. Last night Larry did our weekly grocery shopping online. There are still a lot of items not available but we were pleasantly surprised that everything we could order was in stock. This week they even had bread. When we went to pick up our order Larry didn't have to go into the store because everything was there. When they load the groceries into car the employees can no longer close the trunk or hatchback so you have to open and close it. The employees made sure they stayed far away from you.

Walmart is now limiting how many people get into the store. At each door people were allowed to enter in one door and exit the other door. It was roped off and an employee was at the door to monitor people going in and out.

On the way home we stopped by The Home Depot to pick up an online order. The latest guidelines from Bell county indicate that everyone entering a store should wear a face mask so when Larry went inside he wore one. He was surprised that the employees in the store were not wearing a mask nor were most customers. By ordering online you don't have to wander around the store, you simply go to the service desk and pickup your order. They have the floor marked with tape to try and keep everyone at a safe distance. We also stopped by The UPS Store to get our mail.

In the afternoon I worked on my jigsaw puzzle.

In the evening we watched a movie called Paper Man, it was about a writer who becomes friend with a teenage girl. It's a comedy starring Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds. Then we watched an episode of Tales of the Loop. I watched a detective series called Winter, it was a female detective solves a murder. It was pretty good. I did my daily challenges, I had no event today. I did 23,000 steps.

Kick off your shoes, put up your feet and relax in front of the tv

Tuesday 4-7 Solar Attic Fan

Hot Humid Day

It was a hot humid day. In the morning it was in 60's with humidity in the high 90's. The temperature got to 88 degrees and the humidity was 57%. 

Larry has been participating in The Home Depot Seeds Program for many years. A couple of weeks ago he received a Solar Attic Fan but due to the weather he has not been able to get on the roof and install it. This morning the rain was gone and it was suppose to be overcast so Larry decided to install the fan. The fan is large and very heavy, it was quite a challenge getting it onto the roof and then the roof is a bit steep so when he set it on the roof it wanted to slide off. His plan was to remove one of the existing attic vents and install the fan there but the vents were all mounted too close to the top of the roof.  He located a suitable spot and using a saber saw cut a hole in the roof using a template provided with the new fan. Next he removed a few nails and pushed up a few shingles so the base of the fan would slide under them. Getting the nails out without damaging the shingles was difficult. He slid the fan under the shingles to make sure it fit, then he removed it and put sealant around the base of the fan so rain won't leak into the attic. The sealant looks and smell like tar. Larry had to be careful not to get the sealant on him because it's permanent. Once the fan was installed Larry tilted up the solar panel and fixed it in place with its brackets. After removing the safety cover from the panel the fan instantly started to work. Larry said the fan moved a lot of air. I was on the ground and I could hear the fan running. The fan is also plugged into power so if the sun is not shining it will still run. The fan has a thermostat and will only run when the attic is above 80 degrees. It took Larry about three hours to install the Quiet Cool Solar Attic Fan. 

Quiet Cool Solar Attic Fans

Drilling hole in the roof

Cutting the hole

The hole Larry made on the roof

 

The finished product installed on the roof

Larry really doesn't like to be on the roof because it's fairly steep. He had to be careful when he put his tools down so they didn't slide off the roof. He did an outstanding job and I helped when needed.

In the evening we started watching a new Amazon series called Tales Of The Loop, it's a science fiction series. We watched three episodes. It is a weird series and very slow. Then I finished watching Single-Handed. I did my daily challenges and The Event: Two Games Tango (10 games of Klondike and 10 games of Pyramid). By the time I went to bed I was in 21st in my group. I did 23,000 steps.