Restoration Cowboy Style

When we purchased this project there was that ugly green cast iron bathtub, a toilet and a sink in the main house bathroom–a very small bathroom.  The Cowboy said, “I would really like for this bathroom foot print to stay the same.”  I gave him “the look” and said, “not happening, get out your jackhammer.”  The blame shifted off my shoulders when we discovered the sewer pipes were all cast iron, had holes and had collapsed in placed–whew! We now have a start on the plumbing for the main house and the Cowboy cemented in those new pipes on Tuesday.

And Emmi only put one paw print autograph in the cement before it dried–we aren’t sure how she managed just one paw but there it was.

I am absolutely loving my new yoga class–the instructor is fabulous and all the ladies I’ve met so far are so nice.  It’s well worth that 25 mile one way drive.

Chilly and cool weather makes it easier to dig tumbleweeds and I’m making great progress.  In just 2-3 more days I will hopefully have all the tumbleweeds dug on the west side of the house.  It’s been so damp in our desert–really unusual we are thinking.  There is snow on the Chiricahua Mountains.

While the Cowboy was mixing cement on Tuesday, he came inside to get me–he had a visitor–probably a tarantula??  We scooped him/her up in a shovel and moved him/her to safer pastures.  That was our first tarantula to see here but while I was digging tumbleweeds today another one startled me–ugh–I’m not a fan of any spider but ones this big with hairy butts and legs freak me out!!! 🙂

Today the Cowboy decided to re-level our RV parking spot.  He moved dirt here and there and now thinks it is “Larry level.” 😉 😉

I took this photo before he was completely finished.

We sure have good luck selling stuff on our local Facebook group pages–we had an extra dishwasher and an extra security door.  Sold the dishwasher last night right after I placed the ad.  Still have the door as it’s an odd size but I bet it sells.

Merry Christmas!

On Friday before we had even finished our coffee it began to rain and when we went to bed Friday night it was still raining.  Three quarters of an inch by the time it stopped–unusual for this time of year but awfully nice!  A friend made this statement, “So much for your tumbleweeds! You will have a new crop!”–With friends like Louanne who needs enemies!  🙂 🙂

I braved the rain and went to yoga, the Cowboy drilled some more holes in concrete, knocked out walls–mostly demolition.  I’ve been baking–cookies for shipping off to here and there–and we’ve been sampling too much!

Saturday I tangled with the tumbleweeds again–I only dig for about a hour every morning after walking Emmi and I’m making a dent in the dang things.  Now if we can just keep them from coming back!

When we stayed in Montana for the Christmas season one of our favorite holiday season events was the lighted Christmas parade in Big Timber.  When a friend and I owned Cinnabar Creek, a small shop in Big Timber, we were responsible for starting several of the holiday traditions still celebrated in our little home town.  The first year of the lighted parade (maybe 1999) I was responsible for meeting all the floats at the high school parking lot and getting the vehicles arranged in some sort of order.  I wore insulated Carhart coveralls, wool hat, and snow boots–a blizzard was happening and it was so dang cold and windy out there in that parking lot.

In Willcox, AZ last night it was chilly but at least it wasn’t below zero!!  And no wind.  We enjoyed dinner at our favorite Mexican food restaurant before heading over to Railroad Avenue to watch the parade.  People were so friendly, stopping to talk to us, introducing us.  Someone with a fantastic voice was singing Christmas carols from an open trailer near the judging stand.  This woman with the fantastic voice also nailed the Star Spangled Banner a cappella! It was a special evening and we enjoyed ourselves so much!  This is a very short video–

Getting ready for the parade–with all the rain it’s been damp and foggy–strange weather for Arizona!

Big tractor from the Coronado Dairy near Willcox.

The Willcox fire engine was last in the parade. Remember I stated we were on Railroad Avenue–see the train lights to the right of the fire engine? Willcox is a train quiet zone–trains don’t blow their horns when coming through Willcox but last night they did–all part of the Christmas celebration.

Today dawned clear but cold–a low hanging fog shrouded the mountains–

The steam from the coal fired electrical generating plant rising above the fog.

The Cowboy made it to the toilet so to speak-:)

He drilled and dug all the concrete from a trench for the toilet drain–today he reached the spot where the toilet will be located.  That was a LOT of work and he’s glad it’s done!See the smoke coming from the chimney!

Merry Christmas!

Sunset Wednesday afternoon was stunning!

But I’m not so sure our day off was very restful.  For some strange reason (Christmas with their family perhaps??) Louanne and Dan left Arizona and flew to Oregon Tuesday–we were pleased to be their shuttle drivers.  I had an email from Louanne this morning and it was eight degrees–they were questioning their sanity.  It was very cool here yesterday but certainly NOT eight degrees!  After dropping Louanne and Dan at the airport and having a little lunch we headed to Home Depot.  The Cowboy researches his needed items on the internet and notes the location of aisle and bin numbers on his list.  So, it’s a touch easier to find things in that huge box store but Tuesday the elves had failed to stock the shelves.  Four times I had to go find someone to retrieve our needed items from the upper shelves.  It was an ouch day when we paid the bill–plumbing supplies are expensive!

On to Costco where it was another slightly aggravating day and another ouch day when we paid the bill.  On our last trip to Costco while still in Montana I picked up a bag of dried tangerines–we ate the entire bag on our way to Arizona–those things were delicious and I was so excited to get more.  Nope, out of stock, seasonal item–so disappointed!!  Also out of stock and probably not going to be available again was Emmi’s dog food–that’s a big deal for a sensitive stomach little doggie.  I was so aggravated I went and found a manager type person and voiced my displeasure–nicely–but voiced.  Costco was also out of whipping cream–good grief.

We braved I-10 leaving Tucson during rush hour and made it home to our little slice of heaven about 5pm.  This little part of Arizona isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it sure is ours!

Wednesday the Cowboy demolished some more walls and drilled through more concrete.  I tangled with the tumbleweeds and went to Willcox in the afternoon for a haircut.

Wednesday toward evening, the Cowboy decided it was time to remove that ugly green bathtub–the only problem, the two of us couldn’t budge it!!  So, my handy husband devised a strategy!!  He hooked a heavy duty crank strap to the tub and the backhoe, I stood in the doorway and directed while the Cowboy used the backhoe bucket to drag the tub across the concrete floor in the house.  Getting close to the door.

Out the door.And away–out of the house–geez that thing was heavy!

Today the Cowboy drilled more holes in the concrete–we’ve decided where the toilet is going to be located in the master bath so he’s headed that way with his drilling of holes.  This afternoon I was ambitious and demolished some drywall and nasty insulation–as the Cowboy said this afternoon, “we are about at the stage we can start re-building instead of destroying!”

 Here comes the UPS man.  OK, Al and Kelly–recognize this place in the photos below??

The mesquite has grown so tall in front of the house and there were people outside so I didn’t want to get out of the truck to take photos–this is the best I could do with the phone.

 

The Cowboy must have been feeling energetic Saturday.  He knocked out drywall and actual walls–nasty, icky stuff.  If you will remember these two houses had been abandoned for at least 10 years and both had horrible, leaky roofs.  The drywall and insulation was falling from the ceilings of both houses.  All these issues led to both houses being infested with critters so when I say the insulation and drywall were icky–take my word! It’s nice to see all that nasty stuff going out the door!  Here are the results of the demolition–

I spent the day cooking and getting ready for Saturday night guests.  Dan and Louanne have fed us multiple times and we decided it was time we fed them.  It’s been cold and damp here (yes, we are still in Arizona) so comfort food was on the menu.  I make wonderful spaghetti sauce and we had homemade bread and a salad to go with the spaghetti.  Looking back through all my salad dressing recipes in Dropbox I found one labeled–Great Salad Dressing adapted from Real Simple magazine.  It’s funny how something so simple tastes so good so this really is a Great salad dressing!

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 TBS fresh lemon juice

1/2 TBS Dijon mustard

1 TSP Honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

After we had all gorged on spaghetti we had dessert–Pioneer Woman Chocolate Pie–the pie my husband said is the best chocolate pie he has ever eaten.  Granddaughter Katie said the same thing–it truly is one delicious pie.  And we have leftovers–of everything, including pie!

Sunday I went to church and as always this time of year I really enjoy the music–all those Christmas carols.  Back home we enjoyed leftovers for lunch and watched a little TV and the backs of our eyelids–and we spent the rest of the day doing exactly that.

Monday it was back to work!  The tumbleweeds and I did battle once again.  Tumbleweeds if left to grow–well, they grow like weeds into enormous tumbling, weed seed dropping monsters.  When Emmi and I took a walk on Sunday morning we ran across this gigantic tumbleweed–Way larger than Emmi!

Laundry and truck cleaning–the Cowboy does the outside, I do the inside.  Emmi, much to her dismay was bathed and trimmed today–she collects sticker-y grass seeds inside the pads of her paws and if not removed they can puncture her skin.  It’s a chore to cut that hair/fur between her pads–she wiggles a lot–but we got it done without too much stress.

The Cowboy dug tumbleweeds, fixed tires, helped a neighbor and loaded the truck for the weekly dump run.  A very busy day for both of us.

There used to be an outside door in this opening and a wall–not any longer! It’s going to open up the kitchen so much–the kitchen which isn’t built yet!  Behind the Cowboy is a yellow door propped against a wall–that wall is also leaving which will open the kitchen up toward the living room.  We’ve been scratching our heads and taxing our brains trying to decide the master bath layout–today while I was at yoga the Cowboy tore out more walls so we could kind of “see” how much room we would have.  There is a lovely green cast iron bathtub in that old bathroom which has to be moved–ugh!–it’s going to be heavy!

 Thursday the Cowboy decided to try his hand at destroying concrete–we/he has to run all new plumbing and this old house sits on a concrete slab.  He ran sewer pipes last season and the pipes are located under the floor of the hallway addition to the Cowboy’s left.  But the rest of the sewer drain pipes to the bathroom and kitchen sink have to have a path jack hammered through the concrete floor.  At this point in time I’m thinking the Cowboy is wishing we had just built from the ground up! 😉  He purchased a rotary hammer drill the first year we owned this place and he is using that tool to drill a series of holes on either side of the path in the concrete.  He then whacks the concrete with a sledge hammer–it seems to work.

We keep reminding ourselves that it is winter even if we are in Arizona.  The wind blew yesterday and really blew last night bringing some torrential rain–lots of puddles and even some mud on the road.  Our high temperature today was only about 54 degrees and this cool weather is to continue for a while–it is winter in Arizona.  The dust brought by the wind coupled with the USFS produced smoke brought us a gorgeous sunset Thursday night.

I dug tumbleweeds both Wednesday and Thursday–we actually have some grass under all those sticker weeds!

Today was yoga for me and then we headed over to Willcox for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We also made a Safeway run. I sure wish this stupid romaine lettuce debacle would hurry up and end–that’s our lettuce of choice–it lasts so much longer than any other kind of lettuce!  I had to buy red leaf lettuce today–I’m not a fan of iceberg–the Cowboy likes it but as I’m the cook you know what kind of lettuce we usually eat! 🙂

Now a little family overload–these were of course all taken last summer but the photographer had a bit of trouble with her computer–these are some of the latest batch to arrive and I love them!

 Grandpa Lonn, daughter Katie and her two babies, Brooks and Millie. Lora Elizabeth–our little blond doll!

 Katie, her husband Michael, Brooks and Millie.I think Lonn likes being a grandpa and Brooks love his Grandpa Lonn.

It’s highly doubtful that we are becoming bums but we are taking more time away from demolition and restoring lately.  Sunday we made a supply run to Home Depot and the grocery store.  We didn’t need much but it was a beautiful day to be out and about.  Emmi was allowed to tag along and we enjoyed having lunch on an outdoor patio.

Monday our new ATVing recruits Dan and Louanne decided we needed one more outing before they head back to Oregon for a while.  We decided to attempt climbing China Peak.  Right off the bat we all decided “better safe than sorry!!”  The Cowboy had researched the trail and knew it would be tough but we ran into really tough stuff right away.  Larry and Geri always said–“better safe than sorry” and we turned around, heading for home.  We drove up a couple dead end roads and smelled the smoke before seeing it.  We knew the USFS was doing a prescribed burn and we had driven by several of their vehicles on the way up.  Seeing the smoke boiling up over the ridges made us a touch nervous and we decided once again, “better safe than sorry.”

 Water in the desert–kind of icky looking water but water nonetheless! There was a slow flowing spring right above this pool. About the time we decided not to climb any higher up the peak. Hey, did you forget about me???

 We can see this ridge and the smoke from our house.It was a chilly, mostly cloudy day so our photos are a little blah.

Tuesday morning it was obvious we had lost power sometime during the night–all the clocks were blinking.  We’ve spent the day working on various projects–the Cowboy has started a major demolition project in the main house.  I waged war on the tumbleweeds and after lunch put a new zipper in the Cowboy’s favorite vest–not an easy task!

And that’s what we’ve been doing.  Did you know Amazon will ship to APO boxes belonging to military personnel stationed in Germany–learned that little tidbit today.  And I used my Instant Pot last night and this recipe was a keeper.  You really wouldn’t have to have an Instant Pot but it sure makes quick work of getting the meat fork tender. The recipe is from the blog Pressurecookingtoday.com.  The only modification I made was to add about a quarter cup of red wine to the beef mixture after the pressure cooking cycle.

YIELD: 6 – 8 SERVINGS

PRESSURE COOKER BEEF STROGANOFF (from Pressurecookingtoday.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds beef round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 package (12 ounces) white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Egg noodles, cooked

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning. When oil begins to sizzle, brown meat in batches until all the meat is browned – do not crowd, add more oil as needed. Transfer meat to a plate when browned.
2. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and tomato paste and sauté 1 minute.
4. Add beef broth and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
5. Add browned beef and any accumulated juices. Select High Pressure and 18 minutes cook time.
6. While the beef is cooking, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add the mushrooms and cook until golden. (I cooked them in two batches.) Season with salt and pepper.
7. When the cook time ends, turn pressure cooker off and allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a quick pressure release to release any remaining pressure. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
8. Combine the cornstarch and water, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to the broth in the pot stirring constantly. Select Simmer and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Add 1/3 cup of gravy to the sour cream and mix until well combined. Add the sour cream mixture to the gravy and stir until well blended. Stir in the sautéed mushrooms.
9. Serve over prepared egg noodles.

We’ve been having some chilly days in southeastern Arizona–Thanksgiving Day was gray and chilly.  I thought the freezing morning temps were finished for a while and filled the bird bath–I was wrong!

We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving Day at the home of friends Dan and Louanne–every year they gather a group of friends and sometimes family to celebrate this day when it’s good to be with family and friends.  And as usual the amount of food prepared was mind boggling and all so, so good!  It might have been the best turkey I’ve ever eaten! Dan and Louanne, our hosts.

And the food!

It was a perfect Thanksgiving Day and we are so glad to have met Louanne and Dan last season–they are great friends and they also can both cook!!

Friday was decorating day for me and kitchen cabinet day for the Cowboy.  I spent the day putting up the tree and re-discovering all my beloved Christmas decorations–my nativity scenes, the little porcelain angels orchestra which survived our fire of 2000, the Cowboy’s yarn santa made by his grandmother when he was a little boy–all much loved.

Here is a before photo of the kitchen cabinet with a problem–Notice this cabinet is sitting right on the floor and is lower than the sink counter and the stove??  What were they thinking??–maybe it was just one of those things which never was finished??  The “counter top” is just a piece of plywood–ugh!  And they left too much space for the stove between the two cabinets.  Most of the time the Cowboy putters along with whatever project he wants but this season I told him I wanted that cabinet fixed as in fixed soon after we arrived–yesterday he did just that.  This little guest house is old–and matching the formica counter tops was not going to happen.  So we came up with the idea to use butcher block.

Saturday was dump day (the transfer station is open on Saturday) and as always we had a truck load.  Back at home the Cowboy started creating another dump load by demolishing some drywall and stud walls.  I finished decorating and applied mineral oil to the new butcher block–I am so placed with this new counter top!  Homemade pizza for lunch–very good.  The Cowboy is cooking supper and you know what that means–popcorn and ice cream!

 This guest house is tiny and I was hard pressed to find two wall spots large enough to hang these quilts.

When talking about the blog one day, Lonn accused me of being “wordy!”  Some days I am, some days I’m not, this is a wordy day with lots of photos plus a Gina and Rollie update!  Monday we took the day off–can you imagine that??  Our friends Dan and Louanne purchased their first side by side ATV this summer–a CanAm, same model as ours.  Monday we left our house and headed up into the Dragoon Mountains–we had a great day, the weather was perfect and the scenery amazing.  This road is coming down from attempting to find a spot named China Camp.  It was getting late in the day so we all voted to save the actual China Camp for another time.

 Here comes Dan and Louanne.

Smiles on our faces!

Tuesday I traveled to Elfrida for yoga–I really like this instructor and the ladies in the class.  Back home I made lunch then traveled again–this time to Benson for a large grocery store run.  Took the Walmart cashier forever to run all those groceries across the scanner–I almost felt sorry for him!  Had to make another stop at Safeway for three things I couldn’t find at Walmart then to the hardware store.  Back home it took me another forever to store all those groceries!  And, I bought romaine lettuce dang it–in the garbage it went today!

Good news from Arkansas–Mom’s husband Chuck is once again mobile–he fell many, many weeks ago fracturing his ankle, had to have surgery and just yesterday received the go ahead to start walking bearing weight on that ankle.  I know he is so glad to be out of his recliner and Mom is probably even happier! 🙂

The sub floor is now finished–that’s what the Cowboy did while I was at yoga on Tuesday.  We are both having a hard time adjusting now that there is no step. 🙂

The war on tumbleweeds continues–we are a team–the Cowboy shovels some days, I shovel others.  Today I shoveled and shoveled but he helped me by driving the backhoe to each of my tumbleweed piles so I could toss the dang things into the bucket.  He had a couple of those long 2×6 boards and rather than move them around while trying to work on other things the Cowboy decided to just use the lumber–

See the board above the bricks–that will support the porch roof at some time.

Now for the Gina and Rollie update–in 2010 when we met them out in the Bouse, AZ desert they had no grandchildren.  Monday they celebrated the birth of their ninth grandchild–a little girl named Jules born to Ashley and Parker in Arkansas where both Ashley and Parker are physicians.  Jules joins a big sister and big brother.

Isn’t she beautiful!

The Cowboy and I would like to wish all our friends and family a wonderful Thanksgiving Day–we are thankful for our many, many blessings.

My talented sweet niece created this fall scene during the wedding weekend when I was home in Arkansas.  This is Princess Charlotte, their “puppy” mastiff.

 

Friday morning Emmi and I were out early for our walk–I had places to go.  Look what you see when out walking that early in the morning!  The photos aren’t the greatest as they were taken directly into the morning sun but it was so exciting to see the deer herd again and this is the first time I’ve seen a buck.  There were about six to seven deer total.

Last year a young woman started a yoga class at the community center only a mile from my house.  I attended this yoga class for a while before giving up–it just wasn’t the right fit for me–we are so spoiled having Julia as our instructor in Montana.  Yoga is so good for my body and I need the structure of a class to attend, otherwise I don’t practice.  I searched the internet for “yoga classes near me” and came up with one in Elfrida–24 miles from us.  I spoke on the phone with the instructor and liked her voice and attitude.  Friday I attended my first class and it was a great fit!!–a little long on the breathing exercises but the class is one and a half hours long so there is also lots of good stretching.

We usually forget several items when we leave Montana and this year was no different–the Cowboy forgot to bring a two inch ball for the trailer hitch–thus we couldn’t move the trailer which is loaded with lumber from the garage. The Cowboy borrowed a ball from Dan and we were successful in getting the trailer out of the garage–don’t you like the Cowboy’s “marker” he places on the corner of the trailer so he can see it when backing into the darker garage?? It’s a retractable magnet and a yellow cloth.

Friday evening we were invited to dinner at the home of our caretaker and his wife, Milton and Lucy.  There were two other couples and a single lady, Pat–we had a delightful evening getting to know these people better.

Saturday I made this:

Apple Sharlotka from Smitten Kitchen

Butter or non-stick spray for greasing pan

6 large tart apples such as Granny Smiths

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

Ground cinnamon and powdered sugar to finish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Peel, halve and core your apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks. (I cut each half into four “strips” then sliced them fairly thinly — about 1/4-inch — in the other direction.) Pile the cut apples directly in the prepared pan. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then stir in flour with a spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed apples. (Updated to clarify: Spread the batter and press it down into the apple pile. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples.) Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out free of batter. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter. Dust lightly with ground cinnamon.

Serve warm or cooled, dusted with powdered sugar.

We were invited to Dan and Louanne’s for dinner Saturday night and I volunteered to bring dessert.  This is a not too sweet cake which is also good for breakfast!  We had another delightful evening visiting with this couple and have more adventures planned!

It was hard to describe that hallway between our two houses where the Cowboy is currently working so I took photos–

Looking from the guest house back door into the hallway.

Still looking from the guest house down the hallway, the laundry room door is visible on the right.

Getting closer to the back door of the main house–see the pipes we were having to avoid while walking between the two houses?  The electric panel is hanging on what was an outside wall of the main house–that panel will be hung on the outside of the new hallway.  The Cowboy is screwing down the floor plywood so he can easily remove it for doing the plumbing underneath the floor.

Turning the corner and looking into the main house–he took the outside door off the main house and installed it in this new addition/hallway. Clear as mud, right??

I continue to wage war with the tumbleweeds and even had some assistance from the Cowboy Sunday morning.  We attended church today and the after church Thanksgiving potluck–it was great to see everyone again.  We took it easy today and did very little–the Cowboy did get the CanAm ready–we are off on an ATV adventure tomorrow.

 

One of these days is it possible we might not haul as much stuff between Montana and Arizona?? Clothes and some food are necessary but the rest of it–I’m not sure!  I bring quilting projects, the Cowboy brings tools which aren’t duplicated, we brought furniture from Nat’s house, and the list goes on! Tuesday we both spent the day unpacking.  I did make a run to the Dollar Store and the Produce Wagon for routine supplies–it’s amazing how much can be purchased in this community.

Emmi and I have been taking our daily hikes

Wednesday the Cowboy tied into a project–the floor joists in the hall between the two houses.  These two dwellings were not connected when we purchased them even though the structures were only four feet apart.  When we installed the new roofs, we connected the two buildings.  This left a hallway from the backdoor of the guest house portion to the back door of the main house but no flooring–there was a large step at each end and we walked on gravel.  The new floor will make things much nicer and safer.

I spent Wednesday cleaning–lots of spider webs form when you are gone over the summer.  I also worked in the yard–the tumbleweeds are taking over after all the good rain we had during the summer monsoon season.  Tumbleweeds have millions of seeds on each plant so it’s no wonder the plants are flourishing!  This time of year a shovel is the method of choice unfortunately!

Today the Cowboy worked on the flooring once again and I waged war on more tumbleweeds.  I’m not sure I’m up to shoveling three acres of weeds!

Wednesday night’s sunset was gorgeous–the first photo is before the color really started showing.

This afternoon I hung some photos and my “Gobble, Gobble” quilt.  I can’t believe Thanksgiving is only a week away!

Many people I know have plantar fasciitis–my sister, my friends Jane and Bonnie.  Now I’m thinking I have it in my left heel–it hurts!  I’ve ordered some gel inserts which come with a money back guarantee and I’m looking for a therapeutic massage therapist.  A Montana friend told me our massage therapist had healed her plantar fasciitis–well, I’m a long way from Gayle but hopefully I can find someone in Arizona.  Several years ago I was having a terrible time with my right shoulder and was at the point where I was sure surgery was in my future.  Gayle, a fantastic massage therapist cured my shoulder pain and I have all my range of motion.

We had the most beautiful day today–sunny, low 60’s and no wind–perfect!