Sunday–A Day of Rest

It was rather a quiet week…no storms, no rain, no trauma….nice and quiet but work continues.  Still lots of palm trees to be skinned. 

Work continues on the sprinkler systems.  Must keep those greens looking good for you golfers!

A new park model home just arrived on one of the few remaining spots on Oasis.

Looks like three more lots are being prepped for village homes back on Shimmering Sand Lane. 

I saw Neil from the maintenance crew parked under an umbrella as he was working on a water line.  I stopped by to chat and see what he was doing.  It’s always interesting to learn more about what it takes to keep our park in shape.

I learned a LOT.  The umbrella was not just for Neil’s comfort and respite from the hot sun.  He had a generator going so he could freeze the water pipe.  While the pipe is frozen, he can cut it off and replace the part that had split and started leaking.  That way he didn’t have to shut off all the water in the surrounding area.  He carefully explained how he had to adjust the pipe fittings so he could upgrade to a better quality…………..or something like that.  I’m not a mechanically inclined wizard but I think I got the gist of what he was trying to tell me.  Thank you, Neil, for your patience with my silly questions.

I enjoy watching the great efforts people go through to try and keep the doves from roosting on their house or patio.  I saved two photos to share with you.

These folks went to quite the extreme of home made spikes all along their eave to discourage the doves from nesting……to no avail I’m afraid.  Mama dove is determined!  Bless her heart for enduring the direct sun and prickly surroundings.

Ever since Marlene Martin moved into their new home here, she has wrestled with discouraging the doves from building on her porch light fixture.  Mama dove managed to tear off the cardboard that was affixed to the fixture and she ignores the bright strings of ribbon.  The big July 5 haboob almost downed the fixture and I can tell from the mess on the steps below that the nest was downed several times….but mama dove has overcome all obstacles and is still there!

 

It is quiet around here this weekend (except for our crazy cat, Hiway, who is craving for more treats than she is permitted.) 

Don is in his ‘man cave’ flying across the country on his flight simulator program and I have been curled up with a good book (Game of Thrones) while the sun above has spiked at 109 so far – (1:30).  It still has a few hours to go higher as it tops out around 4:30 – 5:00 before the hot star starts it’s downward trek across the clear cloudless sky. 

 

We spend these hot days indoors, of course, and venture out only during the cooler hours of early morn.  To stave off cabin fever, we went to Harkins Theatre yesterday and saw “Cowboys and Aliens”.  The Sci-Fi genre is not my favorite but curiosity made me want to see the flick because of all the good actors in the cast.  I must say that it was VERY entertaining and I enjoyed it!  Steven Spielberg would be happy to hear me say that I almost jumped out of my seat several times.  He’s really good at sudden surprises.

 

After the show, we stopped at Mimi’s for dinner.  I admit to enjoying free food so wanted to be sure to use my Buy One, Get One Free coupon I received in my email from Mimi’s.  In today’s electronic age, most restaurants have a nice website posting their hours, locations, menus, etc. and if you sign up for their email program, they graciously email you a coupon now and then for a big discount or a free meal.  If you haven’t already discovered that, be sure to check it out.  Eegees, Mimi’s, and Dairy Queen have a birthday club so if you sign up with them, you get an email for a free meal the week of your birthday.

 

Speaking of email:   I cautiously use an anonymous Hotmail address when shopping or browsing the web as I want to avoid getting on an annoying spam roster.  Even with caution, you can still get bugged…………..as I was this past week when a Trojan hacked that hotmail account and sent out an email to everyone in my hotmail address list.  If you received something from me with a hotmail address, just ignore it.  Virus has since been wiped clean.  It’s nice having Don’s expertise so close at hand to eradicate those nasty virus issues. 

 

We had a wonderful pot luck dinner up at the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon.  There weren’t many people in attendance as I don’t think anyone wants to cook in this hot weather but the food was fantastic!  I became an instant fan of Lynne Rogers and her chili recipe!  I hope she submitted it to the Palm Creek cookbook….which should be coming out soon.  I’ll be sure to post the announcement when it comes.

 

That’s all my news for today.  Tomorrow starts another interesting week.  Have a GREAT day!

 

 

Just another day

Whoops….it looks like the lightning strike is going to do in the palm tree.  It looks rather ‘stressed’ doesn’t it?

We finally had some rain yesterday.  It was enough to make the street wet but not enough to even form a puddle!  We did our morning rounds during the “downpour” as it wasn’t much of a deterrent as you can tell from the windshield of our golf cart.  BUT……it certainly made things uncomfortably humid!  Our humidity was up to 60%!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We’re not used to that yucky thick air.  I’ll take my 100 triple digit and my 10% humidity rather than that anytime.  Save that humid dense atmosphere for you folks back east. 

No other ‘big exciting’ news to report but we had fun just driving around the resort looking for some action as my camera trigger finger was itchy.

Found Sherri Puente hard at work up at the sales office.  Say Hi to Sherri.

Eddie was hard at work fixing the door on the shed at the tennis courts.  There are a multitude of little ‘chores’ that need to be done to maintain our buildings.  I like to call them “honey dos”……honey do this, honey do that, etc. 

Larry and Vera Burke made the mistake of stopping to say good morning while my camera was still active.

Landscapers are still hard at work.  Their “to do” list is NEVER done!

 

Spotted these two little burrowing owls on top of the house at 1160.  It is one of their favorite perches!

We also saw a whole ‘herd’ of baby quail this morning tagging along after their Mom and Dad but they scurried off into the bushes before I could get a decent picture.  Dang!

Speaking of bird pictures…….check out this awesome photo from Don and Dorothy Quigan at Site 43.  Don says this roadrunner comes up on their patio quite frequently to peek in the door or at least to look at his handsome face in the glass reflection.  This day he brought his lunch…………a cute little tree lizard.  Thank you to Don and Dorothy for sending us the picture!

Not everyone we see around the resort is working, however.  Some folks are busy playing.

And that’s my story for today!  Don’t forget to sign the guest book.  You can always leave comments there.  Enjoy your day!

A Note from “MR. Sue”

As readers cruise through this blog, they frequently come upon the link I published some time ago regarding Don’s books.  Yes, I’m proud to say that he is an authentic published author of nine western novels.  Having a profound interest in the internet and thus ‘electronic books’, Don recently published two more new items with Amazon.com so people can download them to their computer or their Kindle.  This project started just out of interest to see if he could accomplish it but has since become quite popular.  The two Kindle books are:  Bodytalk (about a forensic pathologist) and another western titled:  Store Bought Woman.  In response to questions he receives, he wrote the following as a letter from “Mr. Sue”.  He laughs because he frequently hears the familiar line of:  “Oh, are you Sue’s husband?” 

  

 

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Many thanks to all of you who downloaded my book “Bodytalk – Book One” to your Kindle.  I appreciate the praise and want you to know that it is an honor to write something that people read and like.

 

No, I did not ever see an autopsy, I just did a ton of research.  You’d be surprised at what’s available out there, especially through libraries.  Glad you liked the characters.

 

In answer to another question:  Yes, if you don’t have a Kindle you can download Kindle books purchased in the kindle store to your PC or Mac with the Kindle for PC application.  Kindle for PC is a FREE application that lets you read Kindle books on your computer – no Kindle required.  Kindle for PC is compatible with PCs running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.  To get the application, click the “Available on your PC” option on any detail page in the Kindle store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) or go to the URL below to download and install:

www.amazon.com/kindleforpc

Kindle for Mac is a free application that lets you read Kindle books on your Macintosh computer running Mac OS 10.5 or higher.  Detailed information about Kindle for PC and Kindle for MAC can be found at:  www.amazon.com/help/kindleforpc OR  www.amazon.com/help/kindleformac

 

I hope this helps and answers many of the questions I receive.  Thanks for your interest.  By the way, I’d appreciate it if you would make a quick review of the book after you read it.  It’s easy to do and others would appreciate the info.

Lightning Strike!

Hey…..we ‘almost’ got some rain last night.  Not a drop fell but the wind (and dirt) blew and we heard some rumbling thunder in the distance.  Then BANG!   We heard a LOUD crack of thunder.  Don and I went outside but couldn’t see anything.  There was only that one bang and then just wind and rumbling in the distance.  On our rounds this morning, we found where that loud BANG came from.  Lightning hit the palm tree located between Sites 9 and 10.  Lots of folks were gathering there to see the damage. 

I’m so surprised with a direct hit like that that the tree didn’t splinter apart!  A ‘real’ tree usually explodes when hit by lightning but a palm tree really belongs to the grass family so that must make the difference.  Folks said the fire department was here too.

 

Suk and Corry Cookingham were at the scene when we arrived this morning.

Gary Lambert (Palm Creek’s Office Manager) drove by and said Good Morning!

A little later we met up with Bob Debonville (sp?) as he was cruising around in his fancy new golf cart.  That machine can take off like a rabbit!

This energetic young man from Edkins Construction is preparing the site for some pavers alongside the driveway at Site 1439.  Try to imagine running a jack hammer and shovel in this 100+ heat!   Edkins has done quite a few jobs in here already building sheds, patios, etc.  He said they are finally catching up with their projects so if you are going to make an expansion, this might be a good time to contact them.  480-861-0909

We like to stop to say Good Morning to the landscape crews as they work around the park.  They’re really making an effort to attack the weeds this year!!  We will all benefit from their hard labor as we enjoy the pretty park this coming season.  Be sure to say Thank You and give them a friendly wave when you come back.

Those who know Ken Reese will be pleased to see him in good health and back at work on his front flower bed.  Ken is forever working on one project or another.

Speaking of WORKAHOLICS, here is Bob Herinck.  When he isn’t out working on housewatch business, he volunteers in the mailroom or at many of the other odd volunteer jobs around the park.  He is also an avid go-getter for raising funds for the Cancer Society. 

Looks like gardening season is over for the summer.  No more tomatoes.  Thank you to Jim Dawson and crew for a GREAT project!!  We really appreciated the fresh produce.

Painting projects continue in the front administration buildings.  I never took a close look up at that high dome ceiling in the Sales Office before.  WOW.  Glad we called in the professionals for this one!

Okay.  Morning chores and rounds were done so we headed to the showers and then to Chick-Fil-A for our weekly FREE breakfast!

I noticed the cute sponge rubber added to the door handles to protect us from the hot sun.

Once inside the building, it turns into a welcoming party of Palm Creekers!  Say Good Morning to everyone!

Even the ladies from our Housekeeping staff came in!  Good to see you here!

We want to thank Travis and his team for the great hospitality and good food.  I know many of us make it a point to stop in at other times to give them the business and repay their kindness and generosity. 

Then Popkorn came up with a “great idea” for a blog photo!  Thanks a lot, Popkorn!!

 Yes.  That’s ME. 

On the way home, we snapped a quick photo of the new Chevron gas station that is being built next to the Holiday Inn Express on Florence Blvd.

It has already been a fun and interesting day and it is only 11:00 a.m.  Life is GOOD!