WOW!!! We actually had a real thunderstorm last night with real rain and quite a bit of it. I planned on attaching a picture of a true rain puddle but slept in till 8:00 this morning and the puddles are gone. That’s surprising too because we had a lot of rain last night. There was a small river running down our street so I thought surely the golf course would be flooded. I guess it’s been so dry that everything soaked in immediately. That’s the first significant rainfall we’ve had since last September. I bet those saguaros out there in the desert are soaking it in for all they’re worth. There’s a nice breeze this morning and its not even 90 yet. The forecast says we’ll have a couple days below 100 this week. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Desert storms are quite magnificent. Don and I sat on the patio for a long time to watch the sky full of lightning. It was like a giant strobe light with lightning all around us. It was distant because we couldn't hear thunder at first. Then came the strong wind which brought the storm directly overhead along with the loud crashes of thunder. Awesome, but downright scary at times.
Don took me to dinner and a movie to celebrate my birthday. We didn’t want to travel all the way to Chandler so stayed in town and went to the mall cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I wasn’t expecting much out of the show, but we surprisingly really enjoyed it. Thought it was very entertaining with incredible special effects and costumes. Captain Sparrow is a real hoot. Those of you who have been to the Casa Grande theater can understand when I say its even in worse shape than it was before. Oh my gosh. I felt like I needed a disinfectant shower by the time we left. The sad news is that there’s still no ground breaking or signs of a new theater coming our way. We still had a good time and just laughed when we had to peel our shoes off the sticky floor to depart.
Welcome back to our winter paradise frequently called "Winter Camp for Seniors".
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Arizona Weather
Welcome to Arizona summer temps. It's 2:30 in the afternoon so we have two more hours to reach our high for the day. Our thermometer reads 114. To quote a well known saying: "But it's a dry heat." Our handy dandy weather machine reads 3% humidity today.
Our bobber club still gathers at the pool every night around 7:00 to discuss the day's events. One night last week, we commented about the temperature of the water coming from our faucets at home. The cold water faucet feels the same as the hot water. It never does get cool because the pipes are so warm even under ground. To take advantage of that, I experimented by shutting off our hot water heater. Thought I'd give it a try and only turn it on when I wanted to shower. Three days later, I realized that I hadn't given the hot water heater a thought in several days. It was turned off and we didn't even realize it. Dishwater, wash machine, and showers are very comfortable without a water heater! See? I knew this heat was good for something.
We had a dandy dust storm this week. As many as I've seen, I still am amazed to watch them. There can be strong winds, lightning, thunder, storm clouds, and.........dirt. No rain. Just dirt. The dust storms come and go with little warning. The one this week came late in the afternoon so the sunset was utterly spectacular. Look at the red sky!! It was awesome!
Our bobber club still gathers at the pool every night around 7:00 to discuss the day's events. One night last week, we commented about the temperature of the water coming from our faucets at home. The cold water faucet feels the same as the hot water. It never does get cool because the pipes are so warm even under ground. To take advantage of that, I experimented by shutting off our hot water heater. Thought I'd give it a try and only turn it on when I wanted to shower. Three days later, I realized that I hadn't given the hot water heater a thought in several days. It was turned off and we didn't even realize it. Dishwater, wash machine, and showers are very comfortable without a water heater! See? I knew this heat was good for something.
We had a dandy dust storm this week. As many as I've seen, I still am amazed to watch them. There can be strong winds, lightning, thunder, storm clouds, and.........dirt. No rain. Just dirt. The dust storms come and go with little warning. The one this week came late in the afternoon so the sunset was utterly spectacular. Look at the red sky!! It was awesome!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Another Indoor Activity
Here's another Palm Creek indoor activity very worthy of note. Frank and Joanie Cichon (Site 1705) spend lots of time in the woodworking shop creating beautiful masterpiece bowls. I am in awe of their talent and finished products. Their hobby starts by choosing just the right kind of wood for their project, then cutting it into the precise sized pieces, gluing it together into rings, and then grinding it down into their finished bowl. Take a close look at the workmanship involved in the process. Congratulations Joan and Frank! 
Speaking of hobbies....I'm afraid BJ really has me hooked on her bead making stuff. I spent a couple hours at the kitchen table last night. Look at my pretty creations!! Thank you, BJ for being such a great instructor. I look forward to more lessons!
I keep talking about all the pretty cactus plants found here in the park. I hope Pauline and Len have had a chance to see theirs in bloom.
Speaking of hobbies....I'm afraid BJ really has me hooked on her bead making stuff. I spent a couple hours at the kitchen table last night. Look at my pretty creations!! Thank you, BJ for being such a great instructor. I look forward to more lessons!
I keep talking about all the pretty cactus plants found here in the park. I hope Pauline and Len have had a chance to see theirs in bloom.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Hot Weather Activity
Whew! Is it hot! 113 again today and no relief in sight. The good news is that we still manage to have fun.
Today I attended a beading class conducted by BJ. BJ has been in the beading business for mega years so has a vast collection of beads and all the trinkets and dodads it takes to make jewelry and anything else associated with beads. She loves to teach classes and despite my hesitation at jewelry making, I'm afraid she has me hooked. I don't even wear much jewelry so didn't think I'd be interested, but she has me hooked and I find it very entertaining and just plain fun. The comraderie of getting together with a group and learning together adds to the enjoyment. We're all hoping that BJ will teach classes this coming season here at Palm Creek. My bet is that she'd have a waiting list of students eager to attend. Then we could all go downtown to Ruthie's store called the Gingerbread House to get our beads and supplies.
BJ & Sue Sally, Karen, me, Stella, and Pat
Look at our pretty new necklaces and earrings!
About 7:00 every night, you can find our "bobber club" at the pool for a refreshing respite from the heat. We're called the bobber club because we basically just bob around with our styrofoam noodles and converse about the latest news.
Here's Stella, Verna, Mike, Peggy, Jan, me....and that's Aldo under the surface. He always brings along his floating jug filled with his secret potion. Thank you, Bruce, for taking our photo.
Today I attended a beading class conducted by BJ. BJ has been in the beading business for mega years so has a vast collection of beads and all the trinkets and dodads it takes to make jewelry and anything else associated with beads. She loves to teach classes and despite my hesitation at jewelry making, I'm afraid she has me hooked. I don't even wear much jewelry so didn't think I'd be interested, but she has me hooked and I find it very entertaining and just plain fun. The comraderie of getting together with a group and learning together adds to the enjoyment. We're all hoping that BJ will teach classes this coming season here at Palm Creek. My bet is that she'd have a waiting list of students eager to attend. Then we could all go downtown to Ruthie's store called the Gingerbread House to get our beads and supplies.
BJ & Sue Sally, Karen, me, Stella, and Pat
Look at our pretty new necklaces and earrings!
About 7:00 every night, you can find our "bobber club" at the pool for a refreshing respite from the heat. We're called the bobber club because we basically just bob around with our styrofoam noodles and converse about the latest news.
Here's Stella, Verna, Mike, Peggy, Jan, me....and that's Aldo under the surface. He always brings along his floating jug filled with his secret potion. Thank you, Bruce, for taking our photo.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Home Again
We're back home after visiting our kids in Ohio. What a wonderful time we had! Our new RV was perfect for this kind of trip and all went better than expected for the 16 days we were gone. (Details of the trip are posted in the Hepler Journal. See link on right edge of this blog page.)
Whew! Is it ever hot here. Temps are in the triple digits every day and the humidity is up to 30-40%. It wasn't so bad in the spring because it still cooled down at night but that cooling down stuff seems to be over. We're on full air conditioning now. We're officially in the monsoon season as the dewpoint was above 55 for three consecutive days. That is the official start of the season. I hear from the neighbors that we had two significant storms these past two weeks. It was mostly just dirt and dust but there was actually enough rain to get the street wet...about 1/4 inch. Welcome home to the dirt on our patio. Yuck. I just took a hose and washed everything down to make it livable again. The whole house needs a thorough washing, but it can surely wait till September when this storm season is over. Thank you, Ralph and Peggy, for keeping an eye on the homestead while we were away.
We were only gone two weeks but it’s amazing to see how much construction was done. There are new park models all over the place! There are six new village homes and I understand there are at least six more on the way. There are quite a few holes dug for upcoming homes so the area looks like giant gophers at work.
Whew! Is it ever hot here. Temps are in the triple digits every day and the humidity is up to 30-40%. It wasn't so bad in the spring because it still cooled down at night but that cooling down stuff seems to be over. We're on full air conditioning now. We're officially in the monsoon season as the dewpoint was above 55 for three consecutive days. That is the official start of the season. I hear from the neighbors that we had two significant storms these past two weeks. It was mostly just dirt and dust but there was actually enough rain to get the street wet...about 1/4 inch. Welcome home to the dirt on our patio. Yuck. I just took a hose and washed everything down to make it livable again. The whole house needs a thorough washing, but it can surely wait till September when this storm season is over. Thank you, Ralph and Peggy, for keeping an eye on the homestead while we were away.
We were only gone two weeks but it’s amazing to see how much construction was done. There are new park models all over the place! There are six new village homes and I understand there are at least six more on the way. There are quite a few holes dug for upcoming homes so the area looks like giant gophers at work.
New village homes on Mountain Mirage Lane, Sites 1310, 1311, and 1312.
More home sites being prepared.
This is the view from the north end of the golf course. Thse sites were all empty in the spring. Almost all the golf course lots are filled.
This one looks like a new style of park model with the big bay window on the front.
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