More Dirt–No Rain

I used to just post to this blog once a week or so when something of interest occurred…………..but this summer, I find myself writing almost every day with newsy ‘stuff’.  Between the blog and all the emails I send to our house watch customers, my keyboard stays busy.  Looking at the bright side…..at least that’s one part of my house that isn’t dusty! 

 

Yes, we had ‘another’ dust storm last night.  Some of you saw it on the news so thought I’d better confirm.  No damage done that we know of…..just more dirt.  NO RAIN.  Here are some photos from my kitchen window and the hood of my car this morning. 

 

Speaking of the MAJOR storm from July 5, Wayne and Gwen Black (site 917) sent me a link to a professional photographer from Phoenix who has some AWESOME photos as the storm hit.  He also has a wonderful blog.  Follow this link:  Apocalyptic Dust Storm Swallows Phoenix

 

I forgot to mention that we had about a half hour power outage a couple days ago unrelated to any storm.  The whole park suddenly went without power.  All the neighbors came wandering outside to check if they were the only ones or to find out what happened.  I called the Gate House but they didn’t know what happened either.  Must have been a light pole down somewhere or maybe a squirrel ate through a transformer??  We’ll never know but LUCKILY our wonderful AC kicked back on and life came back to normal rather quickly.  Didn’t see anything in the paper either but we know the signal lights were out too.  Anyway………when you come back to your homes this fall, all your digital clocks will be blinking at you and will need to be reset.  Thank goodness I have Don to do that kind of techy thing.  I hate messing around with changing all those settings on the clocks, stove, microwave, TV, coffee pot, etc. etc. etc. 

Last night’s wind and dust wasn’t enough to keep about 35 loyal bingo players at home though.  We had a fun time at our monthly summer bingo party with soda and popcorn and good fellowship.  I got to call the numbers again!  Maybe I’ll see you at the big league games this coming season.  Flo Fillipe, Loren, and I were up at the club house in the early afternoon to get the equipment set up and the Housekeeping staff was there dusting and sweeping for our gala event.

The lucky bingo winners each got a payout of $5 per game and the final blackout was a whopping $41 won by none other than Diane Gaines!

Sorry about the quality of these photos but I took them from way up on the stage while I was sitting at the caller’s station.  Linda Berry plays a major role in bingo as a supervisor so helps sell tickets and figure the payouts.  She said her family back home checks the blog frequently so I’m posting her picture so they can wave at her.  Say HI Linda.  It takes a lot of volunteers to make the bingo games a success and the games help to entertain many many of our residents.  AND during the height of the season, some of those big jackpots of almost $1,000 give some folks a fatter wallet!

Our landscaping crews are hard at work at their next major project of weed control.  That’s another subject that few of our winter residents understand or appreciate.  Without proper control, our acres of gravel sites and golf course would be rampant with weeds.  It is a never ending task to keep weeds under control and another huge expense I’m sure.  This year we have an outside company here to spray the pre-emergent.  Saw some of their trucks out this morning.

Meanwhile, our crews have to keep ahead of the sprayers to get rid of the weeds.  I’ve seen them all over the park hacking away at the weeds to keep our park beautiful.  Thank you to every one of them for their efforts! 

We saw a crew of our guys over by the drainage ditch on number 6 actually moving every rock to pull up the spurge and weeds growing in that area so the pre-emergent can take effect when the area gets sprayed.  Talk about a chore! 

Spurge is that nasty persistent annoying weed that seems to grow everywhere.  It loves the hot baking sun.  Give it a little moisture and BOOM…you have a fresh garden of spurge.  It is a tough pest to get rid of as it throws off its seeds and also grows more plants from its root system.  Thus a pre-emergent spray is necessary to keep the weed from springing right back once you pull it up.  That’s why the crew is taking such care to get rid of the old plants in this area….so the pre-emergent can get to the soil surface. There are many different kinds of spurge.  Here are most common:

  

We have the urge to purge spurge!

(I learned this from my trusted Wikipedia reference source AND from chatting with Fernando.  Fernando always finds time to answer my crazy questions when I find him out at a job site.  Thank you, Fernando!)

Monday seems to be a big day for pickleball.  I believe guests come from Mission Royale and Robson to challenge our residents.  The courts were quite busy yesterday as we made our rounds.  I don’t know if you can recognize anyone from my long distance photos through the fence.  I certainly give these folks credit for getting out there so early before the temperatures rise.  I think they start at 6:30 a.m. during summer hours. 

Some of us prefer a quieter cooler sport.  Meanwhile, back in the library:  I can’t seem to catch these puzzle people at work but they’ve been busy!

Okay…..that’s enough news for today.  My fingers are getting tired and my little mouse is overheating!

Employee & Volunteer Luncheon

Once you have sampled the homemade chipotle chicken salad from Linda Balzan’s personal recipe, no other chicken salad will ever live up to the same praises.  Her chipotle chicken salad wraps are simply delicious and were served again at this month’s employee and volunteer luncheon.  Thank you, Linda, (and Diane) for a great lunch.  The wraps were served with sun chips, soft drinks, fresh fruit salad, and a fantastic dessert of razzleberry torte.  Even better news was the fact that there were a few leftovers for the kitchen help (ME and Connie Morin) to take home and enjoy again later.

Maria, Maria, and Nora from Housekeeping staff.

 

To add to the festive occasion, we were served by none other than Wendell Johnson and Jim Dawson.

And, of course, don’t forget those good looking women helping out in the kitchen!

   

Meanwhile, back at the club house, the painting project continues and Dora staffed the desk.

Kim from Cooper Painting does an excellent job of paying attention to all the little details that make a paint job look professionally done.

I found Ranger Bob brushing up on the daily news in the library.

Nora and Maria making their daily rounds of ALL the restrooms and public buildings in the park.

And…………just to let you know that outdoor life does continue even when the thermometer reads triple digits, here are some friendly faces just enjoying a friendly chat.  Say Hi to Sandi Feller and Rosemary Reese.  Rosemary has done a great job of keeping the pickleball blog up to date this summer.  Pickleball doesn’t end when the dedicated players leave the park as they continue to follow their sport across the country.  Read Rosemary’s blog at:  PalmCreekPickleball.

Pastor Ken Stucky

I have a strong policy of not posting anything health related for any of our residents or friends but am going to make a one-time exception to my rule for Pastor Ken Stucky because he has played a special part for our Sunday services and has done so much for us.  If you wish to check on his progress or leave special messages for him or his family, you can do so by clicking on this link:  Pastor Ken Stucky.   

Chick-fil-A for Breakfast

All us ‘summer Palm Creekers’ are impressed with the generosity of Nathan Vickroy, owner of the Chick-fil-A Restaurant at the Promenade Mall.  Twice in the past he has invited us for free breakfast at their restaurant but this month we’re invited again EVERY Thursday.  Breakfast is served from 6:30-10:30 so it is fun to go for a nice leisurely meal and get the opportunity to chat with other residents.  When you return this fall, be sure to stop in and get a great breakfast or luncheon sandwich. 

Say hello to Homer & Shirley, Mel & Debbie, Dorothy & Don. Great way to start a summer day!  If you know these folks, send them an email or a quick phone call to tell them how nice to see them on the internet. 

 

Don and Flo were there as well plus Flo asked if I would be the bingo caller again Monday night.  Guess I didn’t get fired yet.

Derrick and Iris have worked hard to get their new village home ready for occupancy and Derrick now has his bike back to its shiny brilliance.

What a pleasant mode of transportation for an early breakfast in Arizona.  See the white bike outside the window??  Here I caught them as they were returning home from their meal.  What an awesome machine!!  Boys and their toys!…………………….but I think Iris likes it too!

Back at the ranch so to speak, we found Steve Endsley still working to clean up the aftermath of our dust storm.  I believe he has washed down over 30 houses so far. 

The cleaning business has been good for Mr. Maldonado as well.

We saw the start of some new construction/renovation at the 4-way stop (BJ’s place at Site 1016).  Looks like the new project will be to put in a walkway for the golfers as they progress from Hole #8 to #9 across the street.  I took a quick photo from the car on the way to breakfast so will get better pics later as work advances.

All in one day!

We saw lots of activity around the park this morning while out on our rounds.  It is so nice to see the landscape crew out helping homeowners with their weed crop that grows so rampant in the summer months.  I’ll bet many folks never know they’re being helped this way.  Your yards would be an overgrown weedy mess without some behind the scenes help.

Work still continues on cleaning out the creek bed that runs through the park.  It has been many years since this was done so this is a KING SIZE chore and not very pleasant.  This week work continues on holes 14-18.

Farther up Oasis we could see activity over behind the gardens so went to see what was going on.  Dirt is being piled up along that far fence line to “block the view” as you drive down Cottonwood.  Then the compost pile will be moved over there so it is out of site of the City Fathers or whoever else complained that the area was unsightly. 

From there we proceeded south on Cole Circle and found a crew replacing some broken curbing or concrete in front of 1330.  Handling that jack hammer takes some muscle and fortitude.  Yow!

Approaching the middle of the park by the tennis courts, we came across this gent still trimming the bark off more palm trees.  I can only imagine the blistered hand and sore arms I’d have if I would attempt even one tree!

Then I needed to swing by the front administration building to mail my Netflix disk.  (What would we ever do without Netflix here in the hot summer afternoons??!!)

I spied this Cooper Painting truck outside and sure enough, my good friends (Kim and Pat) were inside taking their lunch break.  Cooper Painting has the job of painting the whole inside of the admin building!  I’ll have to keep going up there every day for a while to watch their progress.  Pat and Kim (husband/wife team) were the ones who painted our house inside and out last summer and did a great job.  It was a pleasure getting to know them.

Looks like we’ll have some different colors.  This photo is Denise at work at the front desk ‘before’ painting started.

And here’s the lobby area ‘before’. 

While walking down the hall, I noticed the jig saw puzzle in the library all put together so stopped to take a look.  WOW!  That took someone with eagle eyes to put it all together.  I left a note for whoever it was to contact me so I could congratulate them.  I found out (down at the swimming pool last night) that it was Vera Burke who did most of it with some help from Bev Johnson.  This was a toughie!  Congratulations on the diligence to accomplish the feat.

Speaking of the library…..hats off to our summer librarians who keep the books on the shelves, all in the proper place, and handle all the new donations.  We have some very avid readers here in the summer!  I’m guessing that Barb Weaver is the heavy hitter who keeps the room ship shape.  Thank you, Barb.

I glanced through the local paper that was laying out on the table and spotted this article about local pickleball classes being conducted in town.  I think that sport is really catching on and becoming more popular all the time. 

As I was leaving the building, I spotted Eddie over by stained glass so went to see what he was up to.  He was repairing a latch on the door.  Eddie certainly does a myriad of repairs around the park so I’m always bugging him with camera in hand to investigate his projects.  He just groans and mumbles at me when he sees camera in hand.  Smile Eddie!

Yesterday I found Eddie up on a ladder repairing the netting that tore loose in the big dirt storm.  His “honey do” list never never never ends.

Out in back of the office area, I saw this impressive line up of Dish trucks so there must be a meeting going on someplace.  Couldn’t find anybody to question though so I don’t have any new about them…….yet.

Finally it was time to head home for lunch but as I was coming up my street (Starry Night Lane), I found this FANTASTIC cactus in full bloom in front of 1703 (Les and Betty Jacobsen).  Yes….I have already emailed a bunch of photos to them.  Too bad they can’t see them in person!  I’ll definitely be adding these pictures to my collection.

Those of you who know “Popkorn” can say hello as he lives next door to Les and Betty.

After reading all this………………..are you still awake?  I have one more hilarious story to share regarding our house watch rounds yesterday.  Touring houses is quite a routine for us by now so Don grabs his smart phone and heads around back while I enter the front door.  As soon as I walked into 1742, I could smell coffee.  Then I noticed some lights on.  Hello??  Oh my gosh………..Richard and Linda came back to their park model last night and I hadn’t read their email alerting me to that yet so I walked right into their home!  It was hilarious so we got a good laugh out of it but I was so embarrassed to just barge into someone’s home not realizing they were there.  Don ran into the same thing as he walked around back as Linda was out working in the yard.  “What are you doing here?”  I’m glad they were good sports about our unexpected visit.