Saturday 11-20 Minnie Project and Dancing

 

Awesome Day

We had an awesome day. It was nice and cool with a little wind. 

Larry waited until it warmed up a bit and then he went outside to work on the Minnie. The step to get into the Minnie's is mounted toward the rear of the motor home and occasionally when you go through a dip it will drag and get bent. Sometimes so badly that it will not work and other times it still works but is a pain to slide in and out. On our last trip it drug when we went through a drainage dip in a street in Gunnison. The step still worked but was difficult to slide in and out. Larry decided to fix it today. He started by taking it apart and removing it. The step itself wasn't damaged but the frame was. He took the frame into his workroom, disassembled it and then used a vice and a sledge hammer and bend it back in place. Then he put everything back together.

 

Removing the step

Inspecting step for damage

We went to town to get our mail and made a quick stop a Walmart. Picked up a rotisserie chicken while we were there. Normally we are in Walmart early in the day and they don't have any rotisserie chickens.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Tri Peaks and 3 Pyramid). It took me 18 minutes and 48 seconds, which put me in 31st place in my group. I also did some Sudoku games.

We attended one virtual square dance, which was Don Moger's Weekly Saturday Night Fever at 6:00. Don was calling in person so  Dayle Hodge called the dance by himself. He called three tips of A2 with 27 participants, one tip of two couples C1 class level with 26 participants, one tip of four couples C1 class level with 21 participants and one tip of two couples C1 with 16 participants. Dayle did a great job of calling and we had fun.

After the dance we watched an episode of Vera. Then I started watching the 5th season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 26,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.

Friday 11-19 It's Friday!

 

 

It's Friday. I hope everyone has a great weekend doing what they enjoy.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Klondike and 10 Spider). It took me 2 hours, 12 minutes and 54 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. I also did some Sudoku games.

Larry's paper crafting has now shifted into Christmas.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Four Couple A1/A2 at 11:00. He called two tips of A1 and two tips of A2 with 15 participants. We had a fun time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Second was Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 at 6:30. She called four tips of A2 with 23 participants, one tip of four couple A2 with 21 participants and one tip of C1 at the class level with 20 participants. I danced by myself and had a great time.

After Ett's dance we watched an episode of Vera. Then I finished watching the 4th season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 26,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group. 

Thursday 11-18 Wildlife, Crafting and Dancing

 

We had a great day. A cold front rolled in overnight. The high today was in the low 60s with a breeze out of the north.

We started the day out by going to Walmart to do our Thanksgiving grocery shopping. We wanted to beat the crowd. We have noticed lately that some items are hard to keep in stock. But today we had no problem finding what we needed. 

 

Grocery shopping

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. He called four two couples tips with 15 participants and one four couples tip with 14. During the dance he worked on Triangles and Interlocking Diamonds. Dayle helped us out when we needed it by cueing where we should be. We had a great time.

Second was Jeremy Butler's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:00. Jeremy called three two couple A2 tips with 10 participants, one four couples A2 tip with 8 participants and one C1 tips with 6 participants. We had wonderful hour of dancing to Jeremy and with friends.

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 36 minutes and 4 seconds, which put me in 29th place in my group. Then I did some Sudoku games.

In the late afternoon we saw some deer in the backyard. What caught our eye was a doe being chased by a buck. I guess it must be rutting season. At one time we saw three bucks and three does. We saw one of the bucks chase another away from a doe. I put bird seed at the base of a tree multiple times a day. Birds, squirrels, possums, raccoons, fox and even deer find there way to the base of that tree. Today I made sure the bucks were gone before I filled to bowl. Larry suggested that I should wait because you never know what behavior the deer will have during the rutting season.

 

One of the gorgeous bucks
 

After Jeremy's dance we watched two episodes of Vera, the last episode of the 5th season and started the 6th season. Then I started 4th season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.

 

 

 

Wednesday 11-17 Minnie Project Finished & Four Dances

 

Beautiful Day

We had another windy day with sunshine and a high of 78 degrees.

Larry finished waxing the passenger side of the Minnie. Then he turned the Minnie around so he could finish the overhang and cab. He polishes a side and then waxes it. It took him a few days of hard work but he is now finished. He normally waxes it at least once a year and every three years of so he polishes it. If it only needs waxing it doesn't take nearly as long.

 

The back of the Minnie all polished, waxed and clean

The Minnie all cleaned up

Polishing and waxing the overhang

 

The Minnie is about 25 years old, the toilet seat is made of plastic which became brittle and one of the hinges broke. Larry ordered a new one and when he finished polishing and waxing he replaced the seat. 

I attended four virtual square dances while Larry worked on the Minnie. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00. Di and Terry called five tips with 19 participants. They walked us through moves the dancers had problems with. I had a fun time.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00. Dayle called two tips of two couples A1/A2 with 22 participants and one four couples tip with 21 participants. Dayle made announcement that his four dances next week are cancelled due to Thanksgiving. I had great time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Third was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00. She called four tips with 18 participants. If a dancer had a problem with a call she walked us through it. Ett did a great job of calling.

Fourth was Dave Eno and Dave Hutchinson's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:30. The format was two C1 tips, five A2 tips and one C1 tip. During the C1 tips they had 8 participants and A2 they had 10 participants. In between the tips played trivia. They both did a great job. I had fun.

In between the dances I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Pyramid). It took me 24 minutes and 7 seconds, which put me in 35th place in my group.

After the last dance we watched an episode of Vera. Then I finished watching the third season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.    

Tuesday 11-16 Dancing, New Doctor and Continuing Minnie Project

 

Hold on tight

We had a windy day with the temperatures in the mid 70s. At the house it got to 78 degrees. The wind kept it cool. It was a pretty  with a lot of sunshine.

Larry had a doctor's appointment at 8:00 am for his annual Wellness check up. Should be annual but it was almost three years since his last one, of course Covid delayed many things. Since this was our first year with a new insurance company he also got a new doctor. He really likes the doctor but the wait time to get into see him or any GP in the Scott and White network is abysmal. The onsite lab took a blood sample and before the day was over he got an email saying the results were posted online. That was really quick. Everything looked great.

On the way home he stopped by The UPS Store and picked up a package and the mail. The package was our Christmas gifts and a couple of goodies from his Aunt Barbara. He stopped by Valvoline Oil Change to get the truck inspected. Due to Covid they have made inspections quicker and easier, it appears they only check your lights and turn signals, you don't even get out of the car. On the way back to the house he bought a couple of donuts at Top Donuts.

While he was gone I played games and vacuumed the house.

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 10 games. It took me 30 minutes and 19 seconds to complete, which put me in 11th place in my group.   

We attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A1/A2 at 10:00. This week Di and Terry were traveling so Di asked Ett McAtee to call for them. Ett called four tips with 16 participants. A dancer was having problems with box recycle so Ett workshopped it. I attended the dance by myself and had a great time dancing to Ett and with friends.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Plus/DBD at 11:00. Dayle called three Plus tips with 13 participants, one DBD tip with 12 participants and one four couples tip with 11. Larry joined me. Even though Dayle separates the Plus and DBD tips he calls some DBD in the Plus tips. We had fun dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Third, Dave Eno and Dave Hutchinson put on a special A2 dance at 6:30. They called 7 tips with 8 participants. They took turns calling the first 6 tips and called the last tip together. Each tip they called separately they introduced us to a move we don't and after the tip they asked if they made the move up are is it from caller lab. The dance was a lot of fun because we had to remember the moves throughout the dance. I attended the dance by myself, Larry was tired after working on the Minnie all afternoon. Dave Eno and Dave Hutchinson did a great job of calling.

Larry continued working on the Minnie. I worked on my annual book. I did some Sudoku games.

After the last dance we watched the second episode of the fifth season of Vera. Then I started watching the third season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 2nd plac in my group.

Monday 11-15 Dancing, Minnie Project and Ham Hock & Beans

Having fun with friends

We had super day.

We started the day out by attending Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop at 9:00. Di called five tips to 26 participants. She workshopped Interlocked Diamond Formations, Finish a Move and other moves that were requested by the dancers. Larry danced with me. We had an outstanding hour of dancing with friends.

After lunch Larry went outside and continued working on polishing and waxing the Minnie. He finished polishing and waxing the driver side, then he turned it around and finished the back. He is about half way done.

 

Waxing the back of the Minnie

I did the Daily Challenges of the Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 17 minutes and 44 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. I also did a few Sudoku games.

After playing games I worked out for a half hour on my Wii Fit.

Awhile back we bought a spiral ham. Last night I made ham hock and beans using the ham bone and navy beans. When had this for our dinner. It came out really good.

 

Ham Hock & Beans

In the evening we finished watching the Royall Flying Doctor Service and the 6th season of Grantchester on PBS. Then I finished watching the 2nd season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.    

Sunday 11-14 Pickle Day Dance & More Polishing

 

National Pickle Day

November 14th is National Pickle Day, to celebrate Ett McAtee held a Pickle Day Dance from 1:00 to 3:15. She invited Di Green from England, Tony Collingwood from England, Barry Clasper from Canada and Bill Van Melle from California to help call the dance. The dance was multi C levels, C1, C2, C3a and C3b. I attended the dance by myself and stayed in the C1 breakout room because I don't dance the other levels. Di started the dance with two C1 tips with 58 participants. During the tips she called four couples moves. Then we broke into different levels breakout rooms. I danced two tips to Di Green, Barry Clasper and Bill Van Melle. In the C1 breakroom we had between 23 to 26 participants. In between the tips Dawn a dancer from Canada did some pickle jokes they were pretty corny. We have been dancing with Dawn ever since we started virtual square dancing and she is very friendly and nice. This was the first time I ever danced to Bill Van Melle and he is a very good caller. I didn't get an opportunity to dance to Tony because he was calling the other levels of C. We have danced to him during our Sundancers Tape Group on Thursdays. He is very good but more complex and a bit harder to understand. I had a super time dancing to Di, Barry and Bill and with friends.

 

Barry Clasper

 

Di Green

 

Bill Van Melle

 

Ett McAtee

 

Tony Collingwood

 

The second dance we attended was Loren Smith's Weekly A2/C1 at 7:30. Loren called three A2 tips with 19 participants, one C1 Teach tip with 18 participants and two C1 tips with 14 participants. During the C1 teach tip Loren taught Two Thirds Recycle and One Third Recycle. He also reviewed the calls he already taught. We had a great time.

Larry was back polishing the Minnie. His pads for his polisher are about 15 years old, two of them fell apart and his other ones were disintegrating. He checked Harbor Freights website to see if they had any. They had some in stock but he could order a pack of five from Amazon for the price as two from Harbor Freight. He ordered the pack but he needed one now so off to Harbor Freight we went. Their pads were different and much harder then he normally uses but he needed one and who knows they might be better.

After lunch Larry was back polishing the Minnie. I didn't join him because I went to the Pickle Day Dance. He has one side left to polish, however, the sun was shinning on that side so he will do it early in the day or he will have to turn the motor home around. He started waxing the other side. So in the end it is partly polished and partly waxed. He thinks it will take him a couple of more days to finish. It's looking great.

I did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 35 minutes and 14 seconds, which put me in 27th place in my group. I did some Sudoku games.

After Loren's dance we watched the 6th episode of the Royall Flying Doctor Service on PBS. Then I started to watch the second season of Death In Paradise. I ended up doing 25,500 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group for the week with 189,093 steps.