North Gate Announcement

The following message was printed and placed in mailboxes today:

Effective immediately, the ‘Out’ side of the North Gate will be available 24 hours a day. If you approach the gate from the inside, the gate will automatically open and allow departures, and close as soon as the vehicle departs. Anyone wishing to re-enter the Resort outside of North Gate hours will have to use the main gate.

Memorial Day

After a moment of silence and prayer to honor those who sacrificed for our freedom, we enjoyed a wonderful potluck luncheon today.  Actually, it was our regular Tapas Tuesday affair except it was celebrated today in honor of the occasion.

Barb Poole set up tables and was anticipating about 40-50 people.  To avoid any last minute surprises, she set up for 80 people just in case.  Aha!!  We wound up setting at least three additional tables as over 100 residents attended!!  

Needless to say, the event was a great success......and the potluck portion was delicious!!

Looks like the month of June will definitely bring the triple digits but we'll still be able to enjoy the lovely cooler mornings.  Pickleball now starts at 6:30 a.m. to beat the heat.

Came across this "cute" baby finch waiting for his Mom to come feed him.

He certainly looks fragile.

The local Casa Grande Dispatch announced that the Promenade Mall has been sold to a company based out of New Jersey.  Let's hope they can pull in more business ventures.  

Photo from Casa Grande Dispatch

CASA GRANDE — The Promenade at Casa Grande has a new owner.

Lamar Companies, a New Jersey-based proprietor of shopping malls, purchased the 125-acre shopping center on May 17. 

According to the company, the “open-air town center provides a vibrant destination for shopping, dining and entertainment.”

“Promenade at Casa Grande is the dominant shopping center in the market, and we look forward to implementing our business plan to further improve the tenant mix and occupancy of the asset,” said Frank Maresca, vice president of Lamar Companies. “This particular deal fits very well with our investment strategy, which is focused on acquiring undervalued retail assets with both immediate and long-term growth potential.”

More Green Belt Progress

Lots more plants, trees, and shrubs arriving to be planted along the green belt.

Oleanders are being planted all along the streets.  They're cute spindly little twigs right now so it will be fun watching them grow over summer.

Work continues on the block wall on the perimeter.

Still installing more sprinkler system.

Construction continues on the new houses already in place.

 Another 25,000 square feet of sod has arrived.

A crew of six are unloading and laying each (Heavy!!) roll.

(Advil anyone??)

Watch them in action.

Came across Dave and Sam discussing world events. 

The girls still gather for Pegs & Jokers every Thursday.

Mouse still finds comfortable resting places.  He seems to prefer anywhere in the house other than the $40 expensive cat bed we bought for him.  We now use that bed for a toy box. 

Tapas Tuesday

I stopped in at the weekly Tapas Tuesday event to take photos of the folks attending so you could see who is still among us.

Evening and morning temps are still in the 60s and the triple digits are nearing so we're still enjoying our weather.  Afternoons are a great time to head in doors and keep each other company.

Our hard-working landscape crew has started with the annual tree trimming routine.  They started with the entrance street this year.  With all the bushes gone and the trees trimmed, our entry way really looks nice!

Although it was quite windy today, Don took Maverick out for a ride over the new section so you could see that the "green belt" is definitely under construction.

Tom and Mary Williams taking their golf bags for a stroll.  

Pickleball Rocks

Big News!!  AJ and Irene Fraties have written a book about pickleball and are selling it on Amazon!

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I received this email from AJ this morning:

Looking for a good summer read? Want to know something about the strange, sometimes mystical world of pickleball? Want to learn something new? Want to do it all by reading one book? The Fish Finder Chronicles: Volume One, Arriving Through Pickleball is now in general distribution. 

The unique Fish Finder trilogy traces the journey of Jon "Fish" Fisher as he finds himself on the pickleball courts. The first volume, Arriving Through Pickleball, introduces us to Jon, a 52-year-old ex-tennis star,  in the middle of a profound midlife crisis. In trying to work himself out of it, and with the help of his therapist Sam Blaskin and a strange, mystical figure known only as The Aardvark Rinpoche, Jon takes, at first, baby steps back to himself and later discovers he might find a way to special powers and a much bigger family than he ever knew.
Veteran pickleball writers A.J. and Irene Fraties collaborate to bring this first mainstream novel featuring the odd world of pickleball.  The first volume in the series has already been described as "a fun,.... moving read," "a real page-turner," and "a well-written journey through pickleball."
Volume One is available for Kindle and hard copy through Amazon. (Volume Two is set to be finished in July, 2019 and Volume Three is anticipated in in late 2020.)
Please give this book a look. And spread the word, too!


​My book is already ordered from Amazon Prime and will arrive by Wednesday of this week.  Congratulations to the Fraties.  We know from our own experience that getting stuff published is no easy task.  

Here is the link to AJs book:  Fish Finder Chronicles

Want to read more?  Here is a link to Don's books:  Frontier Justice

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Clearing the edge of the golf course

Wow.  Lots of activity along the edge of the golf course the last couple days.  Looks like all the shrubs are being removed along the fairways.  Fernando is out with the backhoe pulling up the bushes to haul them away.  I'll try to track down Mark and Fernando to get the scoop and see what the plan is.

LOL..............I'm guessing it will be a lot easier to find your golf ball when it slices or hooks off the fairway!