re St. Patrick's event on Monday March 11

The pictures are from Monday evening. I am behind in my posting so this is 2 days early, sorry. I have trouble getting pictures to post to the blog so when it works I need to publish. 

Sheila & I at St. Pats night

Sheila & I at St. Patrick's event

The salad, soda bread & eclairs in
the background

Day 54 March 8 Friday

A bit of sun peeking through clouds but mild so off to WVB, Sheila was still nursing her perm and fast asleep in bed.  I don’t know if the perm was an excuse to sleep in or not.  We still have enough people here to split into two pools with 12 in each pool but some of the people that come down in October or November are heading home, some to cold climates & snow.  A wind came up that was a bit gusty so I was glad Sheila was back at the RV in case the awning needed rolling up a bit.  If the wind gets too high, over 20-25 mph, it can flip your awning over the top of the RV which basically destroys the awning, an expensive fix. After the game & hot tub I came back to the RV & Sheila was up and making lunch, (I think it was breakfast for her). The sun came out in full and the wind dropped for a nice afternoon.  Tonight is Mocktails night so we are off to indulge in Taco chips with hot cheese, chili/beef sauce and any add-ins you can possibly think of, plus they have hot coffee & hot chocolate for me, Sheila has her Fireball whiskey.  They have the large heaters & fire stands & I had a large heater behind me so I could feel the heat on my head if I leaned back a little but there was a very slight breeze & I got freezing cold fingers after an hour of so.  I returned home & left Sheila to enjoy the music, it was really good, but my hands & fingers were really cold, the rest of me was OK, just fingers were freezing.  It was a clear night so the temp may have dipped quite low.  Sheila came back to the RV about an hour or so later.  She stopped to look up something in the clubhouse computers.  Back at the RV I found the special remote and finally figured out how to play a DVD on our TV so we watched a couple of episodes of “Barney Miller” as we had a DVD with the first season on it, (1974).  In talking with RV’ers that have been travelling around the south west this winter, all of southern CA as well Arizona, (Yuma), & south Nevada have been having colder weather than normal for this time of year.

Day 53 March 7 Thursday

Paul & Yvonne are pulling our about 10 this morning and Sheila went to see them off.  I am stuck at the RV waiting for the propane truck to arrive.  Sheila arrived back at the RV about 10:40 so I left her to deal with the propane truck & went up to WVB.  It was off    & on sunny but it was a fun game.  After Hot tub I came back for lunch. No propane truck yet and Sheila was going to the movie “The Favourite” with Judy Shaffer this afternoon for the 2:40 show. Larry wasn’t interested in going.  And as I didn’t want to see it anyway, plus I had to wait for the propane truck, that all worked out fine.  After some cloud this morning the sun came out about 11:30 and it is a nice warm day.  The propane truck arrived around 3 PM & I took 11.3 USG so that’s finished and I am just waiting for Sheila to return from the movie so all 4 of us can go out to supper.  Sheila was back about 4:20 and the four of us headed out to Lil’ Angies Restaurant, (just up the street on Florida) by 4:45 pm.  Even though it’s under new management, the menu, prices, 50’s décor and food seem to be the same as last year.  I had the ½ rack of pork ribs, $13.49, —yummy as usual, and Sheila tried the Chicken Pot Pie on the Senior’s menu, $9.49.  Everyone was envious of her because it looked so good, and it tasted as good as it looked, she said.  It wasn’t the usual round pie with regular pie pastry.  It was a huge, (plate-size), ‘boat’ of fluffy, croissant pastry filled with a rich, creamy sauce containing lots of chunks of chicken, peas & carrots, she had to bring some home.  After supper, we returned to Larry & Judy’s to play 3 rounds, (12 hands of Bridge), before returning to our RV for the usual hour of TV before bedtime.  Sheila stayed up even later; (2:30 am) tonight watching sit-com re-runs as she should not play WVB tomorrow in case she gets her hair wet and weakens her perm.  So, the morning will be a ‘sleep-in’ time for her.

Day 52 March 6 Wednesday

Yup, we got rain, it started at night & kept going all night steadily, and off & on through the morning into the afternoon.  Sheila went out for a hair perm appointment at 11:30 AM so isn’t expected back for least 3 hours or so, I am back at the RV puttering around etc. and planning supper.  Tonight we have the concert at GVP “Tribute to Classic Soul & Motown”. Our seats were front row center and I loved it.  The group, “Stone Soul” were 8 men, 3 on brass, (2 sax & one trumpet), one bass guitar, one treble guitar, a double keyboard player, a drummer, & a singer.  They played solidly from 7 to almost 9 and I don’t know how the singer survived, he was movin & groovin all the time and singing very enthusiastically. It was loud up front & I could feel the music, I was in heaven, Sheila wasn’t too thrilled with the volume.  Sheila has decided that, in future, even though she really likes the music that the tribute groups GVP brings in to play, she won’t pay $40 US to have her ears assaulted even when she’s wearing sponge &/or Kleenex ear plugs!   Almost 100 % of the songs I knew and really liked, best concert I have been to in a long time, I hope they have them back next year!  Paul & Yvonne went to a movie “The Favourite” which got the Oscar for best female actress. It ran later than the concert so we didn’t see them that night to see what they thought of the movie.  I had read the synopsis of it and I didn’t think I would like it.  Sheila still wants to go. 

Day 51 March 5 Tuesday

A nice day dawned for a change, sunny & warm—i.e. high 60’s.  So we are off to the pool for a nice game of WVB.  Sheila only played a half hour in the morning, but she played again in the afternoon while she waited for our two loads of wash to dry.  There were only 4 and 5 a side, but she said it was one of the “funnest” games she’s played so far because the other players were all very good—there were lots of good rallies and she got she got to “play the ball” a lot, plus there was the usual joking and teasing amongst the players who know each other very well.  Paul & Yvonne are leaving on Thursday, (day after tomorrow). They wanted to have a nice goodbye event but with the iffy weather we have been having down here an outdoor happy hour/meal at their trailer seemed chancy.  Then Larry & Judy offered their Park Model home as an alternative so Paul planned a nice supper event and did all the cooking and prep.  We had a very nice meal together.   After supper Larry & Judy taught us the game of “Fast Track” which everyone enjoyed.  It’s a bit like “Jokers and Pegs,” but easier.  It was a fun evening of eating, playing & talking together.  It did actually sprinkle a bit in the evening so outside would not have been a good option. With the cooler weather we are using our propane heater a lot and burning through our propane supply.  We seem to go through a tank in about 3 weeks more of less, fill ups have been 10.5 to 11 USG.  The tank, bone dry, will take over 14 USG, (with the safety valve system they have on tanks now you can’t fill them to capacity which on our tank is 16 USG), but we don’t want to run out even though we have alternatives for heat, cooking etc. It is also hard to tell how much is actually left in the tank, both our fill ups have been when the gauge needle is showing on empty.  It’s not a big nuisance to fill as the truck comes to us & they just run a hose to the tank.   It only takes about 5 minutes, but I have to wait at the RV for them to come whenever they get to you, so far it has been in the mid to late morning.  Back at the RV, we watched the 11 PM news.   A major rain & lightning storm is hitting LA and should pass a bit north of us but we may get some rain from it.  The weather here is such that it is a major news item & often the lead item on the 11 PM news hour

Day 50 March 4 Monday

It was 52 F at 9:00 AM, we went up for WVB. We planned to see the movie “Green Book” and the only time that worked was the 7:45 show. After supper in the RV we picked up Paul & Yvonne & went out to the theatre.  The movie was about 2 real people & at the end they did a bit about their lives after the events of the movie.  I like that when there are real people involved, they show what happens to them after the movie events and they often have photos of the real people.  We all enjoyed the movie.  Afterwards, we all came back to our RV for dessert.  (At Sheila’s request, I had made up a fruit salad before going out to the movie.)  Other than the lousy weather we are having, it’s loads of fun down here.