Business News

Found in today's newspaper:

There are no firm committments yet but Target is set to open 30-40 stores over the coming year.  Hopefully Casa Grande will be one of them.

This paragraph from the article is interesting:  Looks like our city is really due to expand.

Another new restaurant is set to open.  

The former JB's Restaurant was torn down in February of 2021.  In it's place is the new Salad and Go set to open Monday, June 7, at 6:30 a.m.

The restaurant will provide breakfast and lunch for under $10.  They focus on nutritious fast food offering burritos for breakfast, salads for lunch, and $1 cold drinks.  Sounds pretty good to me!

Curiosity satisfied:  I was still wondering why that water truck is spraying all the graveled sites so I flagged down the driver today and asked.  He smiled and said he's been getting a lot of questions about what he's planting.  😊  The answer is that the pre-emergent that was spread to kill the weeds needs water to activate it.  Since we've had ZERO rain, they decided to spray enough water to wash it down into the soil.

From Sunday's newspaper:

I can relate to this!

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  All Palm Creek offices are closed for a four day weekend (including the mail room where my packages await me 😢.)  Our roofing crew still worked on Friday though.

I am amazed to watch these men at work up there on that HOT roof.  Today I watched them with these huge saws so they can shape the tiles for corners.  I could never do that on solid flat ground much less up there on the slanted roof.

Take a second to play this small video.

(If videos don't work on your phone, go to YouTube and search for Sue Hepler.)

I still get to see the occasional cactus flower and can't resist getting their photo.  These were at site 630 so if you know the owner, you can send them the picture.

I spotted this big water truck going up and down the streets spraying this huge arc of water across the gravel sites.  I'd never observed this before so found it interesting.  Maybe it is just to keep down any dust?  I'll inquire about it on Tuesday to get the facts.

The driver abruptly shuts off the spray when he nears a house or RV.

WOW!!!  Look what Don and I spotted on our rounds this morning!!  I've never seen a pheasant in here before.  Beautiful bird!  He didn't have the typical long tail feather but maybe he is a juvenile?  Do any of you hunters have some info??

He strutted around like he owned Granite Drive.

We still have our beautiful early morning temperatures although it definitely heats up by 10:00a.m.  

You readers always ask for more cat pictures.  I heard my critters playing with the floppy fish so thought I'd get a cute photo for you but when I entered the room, all action ceased.  They just sat and looked at me..........."What do you want Mom?  We weren' doing anything wrong."  To me they look guilty of something.  😺😸

The June calendar has a few more upcoming events for us during the month.  It's nice to have something on the calendar so we get together with friends, meet new people, and an occasion to gather.

Speaking of calendars:  Activities (namely Marion and Terri) are anxiously awaiting signed contracts from the bands, performers, and various acts they have contacted for our winter season.  They hope to have everything booked, signed, sealed and ready for ticket announcements by the end of July.   Let's hope the country stays healthy so we stay on track.  

We bought an odometer for our golf cart last week.  For curiosity's sake, we drove around the inside perimeter of the park along the walls and found the distance to be 3.27 miles.

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It's no wonder we see quite a few herons and egrets at our ponds.  We tried to get a photo showing the swarms of fingerlings at the edge of the lake yesterday.

I could hear a dove making a lot of noise and it sounded like he was pecking at the glass window so I went to investigate.  Here's what I saw:

Cute Video:

(In case the video doesn't open on your phone or iPad, you can click here:  Dove and Cats

Did you know that a cat drinks with the use of the back of it's tongue?  For some reason, Kat always drinks from the far side of the water dish.  

Don captured the action with the slow motion option on his phone.

Kat Drinking

Quiet Sunday

What a beautiful day!  It's 1:30 in the afternoon with only 87 degrees.  It's still cool in the house since the windows were open all night at 57 degrees.  In fact, it was too cold for us to comfortably sit outside for morning coffee!  Upper 90s are in the forecast though so we'll enjoy this while it lasts.

Took a ride through the park and am amazed at how much the park is doing this summer.  All those buildings with new roofs and a small fleet of new white pickup trucks.

The annual plants have been pulled for the summer.  This year our landscapers are trying something new to tackle the invasive weed problem.  They dug out the top layer of dirt and laid down this garden shield.  Next they'll bring in new soil (hopefully without weed seeds) and then plant some summer flowers.  Will be fun to watch.

I was surprised to see this towering dust devil since there is hardly any breeze at all.  It's done by the magic of our intense sunshine.

It doesn't show up much in this photo but it was swirling in an upward stream.  Fascinating to watch.

So many of our readers request more cat pictures.  The furry kids aren't very active in the afternoons.  They need long naps after getting us up at the crack of dawn each day.

Kat

(notice which small bed he prefers rather than our newest purchase)

& Mouse

Mouse is reminding me that I didn't hang up my swim suit.

First Glimpse of new roof

Final touches of black paint.  Paint all those little circles too.

New roof section.  Looks nice!

Looks similar to old style but nice and even.

I missed seeing how those heavy tiles get lifted to the roof tops.

The sales office may pose a greater challenge with it's round shape.  Lots of trimming and shaping to do here.

Bingo

Thank you to Activities (Terri Wellman) for hostessing a fun little bingo game yesterday.  Now that the mask issue seems to be resolving itself, more folks are turning out for events.  Masks are now optional.

Nice prizes from the golf shop.

Work continues on the roofing project.

The main pool had to be closed for the day as that main building is being stripped.

There are still a few avid lawn bowlers out there each morning.

more roof, mask info

President Bidden and our Govenor Ducey have declared that masks are no longer mandatory.  It sounds like private businesses can state their own laws and continue the mask policy if they wish.  The world seems to be opening up once again.  This morning I'm told that Palm Creek guests and residents are no longer required to wear masks.  Employees will continue to do so for a couple weeks yet.  

I went to play bingo at the American Legion last night for the first time since Covid closed them down.  There were about 45 players present so had a pretty good turn out.  Out of the possible 45 people, only 8 of us were wearing masks.  I'm still the nervous type so will continue to mask up when I'm in a group or inside a building.

Landscapers are cleaning up the flower beds for the upcoming summer.  This year they're planting summer flowers in the pots along the entrance and at the four way stop.  

The front gate area has been fun to watch with all the in and out traffic weaving through cones as the roof crew tackles the tiles over the entry way.

Whoa!  Maybe it wasn't a total waste of money to buy those new cat beds after all.  Looks like Mouse might accept their comfort.

He still doesn't have the knack of curling up in comfort though.

.......or maybe we need bigger beds and chairs.

Kat is no problem.  He'll curl up wherever he lands.