Museum

 Our resident activity (educational series) this week was a talk with Arlo Cairo from the Casa Grande Museum.  She presented some slides and information about the stone buildings that were built by Michael Sullivan back in the early 1900s.

It was interesting to see pictures of the people who went out into the desert to gather these rocks, toss them into a wagon, and haul them to the construction site.  The photos showed some of the women in their long dresses and hats.  Imagine that work in our 100+ temperatures?

Here's the Woman's Club building which is still in active service.

Here is the first electric company that provided electricity to the city of Casa Grande back in the 1920s.  Quite amazing!

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Hot news for our summer residents!  Avocado Nursery is having a big 50% off sale on some of their plants.  Can't resist advertising such a great opportunity.

If you are interested in learning more about desert landscaping, irrigation, pruning, etc., keep an eye on the Casa Grande Facebook page as they list some great information resources.

https://www.facebook.com/saveitcg

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I keep reporting about the tree trimmers that are here these past few weeks.  They are truly doing an amazing job.  Now they're trimming trees along the golf course.  Their equipment can reach way up to the top of those tall pine trees.

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Readers often ask for more cat pictures so I end today's post with a couple boring cat photos.  It is their quiet time of the day and, for a change, they are well behaved. 😺😸

Kat

Mouse

Tidbits + LifeLine Information

All our wonderful rain was just too much for this huge cactus in front of site 1607.  Linell was worried about it crashing into the street and perhaps doing damage but it lasted until a landscaper came the next day to haul it away.  These big cactus can absorb too much water and get top heavy resulting in the "whoops".

Ranger Tom was on hand to help keep it supported for the night.

Our landscape crew was cleaning up the mess of pine needles and tree debris from the backyards of houses along the golf course.  I see them doing that every year at this time.  

The tree company is still here trimming some of the olive trees and pines along the road.  The trees all look nice with their fresh haircuts.  😎🌳

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Palm Creek residents want to continue offering help to the Casa Grande community.  Linda Wright has volunteered to continue the Palm Creek Food Bank.

We can all easily start by bringing a canned or bagged non-perishable food item to the next Tapas Tuesday.

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Keep in mind our Wizard of Oz Party on Monday, Sept 5.  Barb Poole and her staff of volunteers are working hard to make it a great event.

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How are the cats you ask.  It was time to change the furnace filters so, of course, Kat was there to inspect the job.  That door has to be screwed shut in order to keep him out.  He used to like to sleep on the filters and crush them.

Mouse was busy watching the doves.

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I take this opportunity to post some information from Don as he did some extensive research regarding a LifeLine device.  

LIFE LINE

While we love living here in Palm Creek, there is one brutal truth we will all face. Sooner or  later, we will be living alone. Maybe you already are.  

Sue and I had an experience recently that is the driving force behind this essay. We received a  distraught call from a relative of our neighbor requesting that we make a welfare check. They  had been unable to raise our neighbor on the phone and were deeply concerned. Of course,  we dropped what we were doing, grabbed the key (you all have a copy of your neighbors’ key,  right?) and went to see if there was reason for the concern. 

There was. 

This was a scenario that could happen to any of us or all of us. This bothered me enough that I  researched possible preventive solutions. Alone we could be, but not without the means to call  aid if we are struck down. I compared several different medical alert companies and systems.  Here is what I found. 

Lifeline is the largest provider of medical alert systems. In addition to being recommended by  AARP, Lifeline is recommended by more hospitals than any other medical alert company. 

They have a great all in one out-of-home mobile medical alert device that has 2 way voice, fall  detection and GPS, but is still small and nice looking. 

Current Discount: Lifeline offers a 15% discount on their monthly subscription price to AARP  members, plus free shipping and activation. You must call and provide your AARP membership  number to get access to the AARP discount. 

The On the Go mobile solution provides fast access to help 24/7/365. The all-in-one help  button, which you wear around your neck, includes an advanced GPS locator so that you can  quickly get the help you need in your home or on the go. Automatic fall detection can call for  help if a fall is detected and you are unable to press the help button.* 

$49.95/month 

*Plus one time $99.95 device fee 

Delivery: When your order is placed, a Sales Consultant will provide you with a shipping  timeframe. They offer self-installation or technician installation options at checkout. Items can  be returned within 30 days of order.  Package Includes: On the Go all-in-one unit, charging cradle, power cord, and user manual. Call: (855) 410-3191 

Please investigate this or one of the many others available on the market.  Personally, if AARP recommends someone, that is good enough for me.

Believe me when I say you do not want your neighbor or loved one to go through what Sue and I went through.  

Monsoon Rain

 Wow.  We had a dandy monsoon thunderstorm last night.  Our rain gauge shows 1.46 in. within the last 24 hours.  That's GREAT for our dry desert.  It's fun to watch but it does leave a little flooding until it all drains away.   

(near hole #2)

(near hole #3)

You can't keep an avid golfer down though.  Found this gent enjoying the cool air even if he had to avoid the new ponds and lakes left behind from the storm.

Bill DeBoard is a new year-round resident.  Bill was videoing the storm last night and was willing to share here.  Thanks, Bill.....and welcome to PC!

Don tried to get a little video showing how hard the rain was flowing off the rooftops.  

Coffee with Dennis

We had a good turnout at our monthly coffee and donuts this morning with Dennis Jordan.  Marguerite Houle, Sales Manager, was also present to address the group.

Terri Wellman

Terri Wellman was introduced as the events supervisor and will be overseeing all events and activities.  Congratulations, Terri!

Marguerite Houle

Marguerite talked about the housing market and the great demand for Palm Creek homes.  Our property values are at an all time high.  There is actually a waiting list of customers who want to purchase within the park.  Sun maintains 85 rental homes plus our sales department manages several brokered rentals for homeowners who rent out their house for a season.  

Other items mentioned during her presentation:

• Over 150 palm trees were planted within Phase 3 this summer.
• We still have over 700 RV sites in the park
• At this time there are still no plans to eliminate the "no pet" section.

Dennis Jordan

Several folks from the audience wanted to officially praise the tree trim crew this year and it brought a big round of applause.  Dennis announced that in addition to the over 3000 palm trees, the trimming company is being asked to stay an extra week to trim some pine trees and others along the golf course.

Initial quotes to trim all our trees started at $180,000.  We were able to secure the contract this year at just over $90,000.  There was rumor that the palm trees could get skinned to alleviate all the bark pieces that fly off after a storm.  Negotiations are taking place to at least do the front trees along the entry way or along the golf course.  

Residents thanked Dennis for the good quality of the golf course and the greens this summer.  That's the best condition for the course in many summers.  The same compliments were spoken about the care of the green belt area.  From April to June, the green has been brought back to the green belt.  The yearly scalping and reseeding of the golf course will start in late August or September.

Street repair or resurfacing was discussed.  Quotes are being submitted.  Dennis said this is being negotiated over a five year period as the quotes are in the $1.5 million dollar range.  It will be broken down into sections of the park.  This kind of work cannot be done in summer due to the high temperatures so will have to wait until Sept or October.   

The park will be resurfacing 8 of our current pickleball courts.  It was mentioned that Palm Creek will probably not be hosting the huge pickleball tournament again this year as it is too big of a burden to our park.  It required over 200 volunteers from our local members plus overtime for our entire staff....not to mention the wear and tear on our facilities and parking issues.  It also diminishes the amount of court time for our residents.

Other items discussed:

• Repairing water lines to the shower at the sports pool should be completed within the next week or two.
• Investigating installation of outside showers for the Cottonwood pool. 
• Completing the work by the softball field to install overhead sails for sun protection and seating area for the grill area.
• The ponds and lakes lakes are being treated for sludge.  A certified vendor will come every month to insert pellets to treat the problem.   Algae is also being addressed.  It may take up to six months to clear up the lakes and then clean up the canals.  We should start to see change within 90 days.

Dennis also talked about three policies regarding residents:

• Sun employees can moonlight jobs outside of the park but not on projects within the park.
• Residents should not donate items as gifts to Sun employees.  Instead, we should donate items to Salvation Army, Goodwill or other services.  
• Residents should not dump junk items at the dumpsters.  The park service is for normal trash only.  Household items like water heaters, construction items, old appliances, carpet remnants etc. should be taken care of by the home owner or contractor in charge.  All that extra "junk" creates an eyesore for the park to store until they have a truck load to take away at the park's expense.  A list of phone numbers will be made available for when we have need to haul away construction or household items.

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We had surprise visitors at Tapas Tuesday last night!  Some of the characters appearing in our end of summer celebration "Wizard of Oz" party appeared.  Sign up in Activities for the big finale on Monday, September 5.

Photo by Barb Poole

Trees and Dust Storm

 Such an interesting monsoon this year!  The weather station just can't predict when these sudden little storms or dust events occur.  On a clear afternoon, we suddenly get a weather alert.  Avis Gray caught this rain cloud and a dust cloud headed our way.

It keeps the drive through car wash plenty busy.

AGAIN I post photos of the great crew here that is trimming the palms.  They're doing an outstanding job.  Can't imagine how exhausted they must be working so hard in 100+ weather.  Here's a sample of their nice clean up behind the trimming trucks.

So much debris falls from every tree.

I laugh as I drive my scooter down the street as the little berries sound like popcorn when they burst.

Hail Storm

 This monsoon season has been very interesting.  Storm clouds appear suddenly on the radar during a sunny afternoon.  Dust advisories buzz on our weather apps.  It can rain hard on one end of town and be completely dry at the other end.  It's been pretty good news for us as temps haven't hit 110 in quite a while and we've had a fair amount of rain which is sooooo needed.

One of these "sudden" storms appeared yesterday starting with a dose of HAIL.  We haven't seen much hail here at all but we had some yesterday.

It came fast and NOISY on our metal awning.  We were happy to see the gush coming from our down spouts since we had them cleaned yesterday.

The storm didn't last long and didn't have a very strong wind.  We didn't see any damage anywhere within the park.  Just another interesting monsoon experience.

A perfect example of scattered storms.

Tree Trim News

 The tree trimmers are working on the golf course today so we took the opportunity to "meet and greet" one of the workers.  With the long arms on these trucks, they can reach quite a distance without having to drive on the protected areas.

 Say hello to Alejandro.  He has been in the tree trim business for over 30 years and says he really enjoys it and is proud of his work.

The Reliable company is based out of Palm Springs California which is a good five hour drive from here so the crew is staying in the park for their assignment.  They plan to have all 3000+ palm trees trimmed within 10-12 days.  They can do 300 trees per day!!  Last year the crew was lucky to do 70 per day.  

We have other kinds of trees that need to be pruned and trimmed but Alejandro said those trees should only be done in the fall so will have to wait.  (I hope they will be the ones chosen for the job!)

We later spotted this pile of dates that someone appears to be harvesting.  I don't know if it is the crew or someone from the park.  

Found this on the web:

1. 1. Monitor the ripeness of the fruit throughout the season. Your dates will ripen at different times throughout the growing season, so make sure to check the fruits regularly. Once they are a deep brown color and have a wrinkly appearance, they are ready to be harvested.
2. 
   
3. 2. Cut a stalk with plenty of ripened dates. Test the readiness of a date stalk from one of your trees by simply pulling a ripe date. You should be able to easily pluck it from the tree if it is ready. Cut off a stalk where most of the dates are ripened.
4. 
   
5. 3. Harvest your dates from the stalk. Pick all of your dates off of the stalk. Leave the unripened dates out on a tarp to ripen in the sun. Wash off your dates that are ripe and freeze them for 24 hours to kill any bacteria. You can now leave them out at room temperature for a few days, or they will keep in the fridge for up to a month.

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😸We found a couple more houses where prickly pear cactus have somehow found their way to the roof and are growing well.

I'm guessing that birds eat the fruit of the cactus and then deposit the seeds wherever they roost?

Tree Trim & Water Presentation

 We had a very interesting presentation from the Arizona Water Company yesterday.  We got a detailed story of how water gets to Palm Creek and the Casa Grande area.

Raluca is a water conservation specialist at Arizona Water Company and has a passion for saving water, protecting the environment, and empowering people to make decisions that can help positively impact the future of Arizona.  She has helped set up water conservation programs.  Her work can be seen through the company website and their Facebook page.  She posted info about Arizona plants and irrigation systems.

The Facebook page (Save it Casa Grande) has a wealth of information regarding conservation:

https://www.facebook.com/saveitcg

Photo by Barb Poole

Casa Grande Mayor, Craig McFarland was also present and was able to answer numerous questions from the audience regarding growth of Casa Grande and water demands.

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Our other BIG news is that trimming of the 3000+ palm trees has begun in earnest.  There are two huge trucks with long arms working their way through the park.  Watch the video to see how one truck positions itself so the employee can trim four trees from one spot.  Another crew follows along to pick up the debris and send it through a chipper for disposal.  They're doing an awesome job!!

We watched for quite a while and admired the way the driver could maneuver the bucket quite easily and fast.  He even lowered himself so he could pick up a branch that accidentally landed on a rooftop.  Always a friendly wave as we go past too.  They must be exhausted by the end of a day!

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August Calendar:

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We noticed during our last rainstorm that no water was coming out from the downspout so it was obviously plugged up.  Rain was pouring all along the side of the house instead of down the spout.  We called our friend Jose Rodriguez to the rescue and asked if his crew could clear the troughs.  Yes indeed they can.  The price was $80 but they did a GREAT job and thoroughly cleaned up the mess before leaving.  They get a gold star from the Heplers.  They climbed right up onto the roof to make sure they washed down all the dirt and debris.  We probably should have waited until the palm trees were trimmed but we're glad to have it done.  Give Sam a call to get on the list:  480-577-9035 and tell him I sent you.  😺

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Kat and Mouse watched all the action from their favorite resting spot.  Notice that there is an identical bed right alongside of them but sometimes it's more fun to cuddle with a friend.