Tuesday, January 13, 2014

• First the big news. Jim, Diane, & Candy, all won at Bingo last evening. While Dan & I stayed home, they won nearly $50. Pretty good for a nights fun time.
• Big weather change today. Rained overnight. Morning high clouds, moonlit, light breeze, temp: 45, high: 48 (down from yesterday's 68).
• Minnesota Breakfast this morning with all our friends from Minnesota at the nearby golf course (Tierra del Sol) club house. About 25 attended.
• Very cool morning. Only 48 at noon.
• After lunch, Candy & Dan took us to the Assisted Living facility, The Gardens At Brook Ridge, where Candy's Mom, Irene, is moving on February 1st. She live's in Texas year-round, so she'll have some neighbors whereas the park empties out before Summer.
• Then we drove up to Harbor Freight to get a power washer for Jim & Dan.
• This evening everyone went to play Bingo at our own Paradise Park.
• My picture tonight was taken in Minnesota last Sunday, January 11th after Sunday brunch. Thank you, Mike & Mary, for finding time to visit with our kids. Wish I could have been there. Anyway, have a safe trip home.
• Left to right are:
• My brother, Ed (Mike) & his wife, my sister-in-law, Mary, from Pleasanton, CA. They were in Minnesota to attend the memorial service of Mary's mother who passed recently.
• Dan, my son (Dan's wife, my daughter-in-law, Dawn, was the photographer. Thanks, Dawn, for a wonderful picture.)
• Kathy, my daughter.
• Connor, Kathy's son, my grandson.
• Cam, Kathy's husband, my son-in-law.

Monday, January 12, 2015

• Calm, cool, clear, moonlit morning, temp: 43, high: 63. Nice.
• Went to Coco's for breakfast with our Canadian friends.
• Beautiful day, clear, calm, but rain tomorrow.
• Had lunch on the veranda in the shade from the very warm sun.
• After lunch, with the temp at 66, a beautiful clear blue sky, a light breeze, & bright warm sun, I biked nearly 3 miles traversing every road in the park.
• Diane drove Jim up to McAllen for his PT appointment at 3:00 PM.
• After supper, J&D rode with D&C over to Paradise Park in McAllen to play Bingo. I stayed home to watch the Finals of the College football playoffs.
• Cooled off very quickly after supper. At 8 o'clock, the temp is already down to 55. Guess we're now due for several days of light rain & coolness.

The picture today is of the Sweet Adelines chorus that we saw in concert yesterday. We enjoyed their performance. The second picture is our clear blue sunrise today.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

• Warmer this morning, clear (there is a moon!), calm, temp: 41, high: 54.
• At lunchtime, we biked over to the Armando's Tacos Restaurant on the other side of Cage at Hall Acres.
• Mid afternoon, we attended a Sweet Adelines concert at the Hall.
• Weather this afternoon finally broke and became very nice. Clear, blue sky. No wind. Biked my 2 1/4 miles.
• Late afternoon, we went to an Ice Cream Social at the Hall.
• This evening at the Hall, we saw the movie Jersey Boys. It's a great movie even though I had seen it before.
• Today's pictures were taken last evening at Pharr South and are of the Bingo hall where we usually go for supper at 5 PM and Bingo at 7 PM. Their suppers are great and they have the best homemade ice cream bars served at Bingo break. I don't play Bingo, but read. And I don't miss the break.

Shows Bingo machine & caller. Jim, Diane, Candy are in center (Dan was ill)

Large hall. Perhaps 100 playng Bingo. Earlier in the week, it seated about 300 theater style at a Jam.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

• Real storm in the middle of the night, very high winds, hard rain. But this morning it's settled down to just rain. Temp: 36, high: 37.
• Pancake breakfast served biscuits & gravy. Very tasty.
• The Jim & I made a Lowe's run to pick up some light bulbs for the house.
• Started raining hard again just as we got home.
• No biking today. Suppose to rain all day.
• Diane & Candy went to a craft sale & didn't buy a thing. Way to go  ladies!
• On their way home, they came by the flea market. Said there was hardly any cars there. Must be the weather.
• Late morning, the rain stopped. Hope it lasts. It didn't.
• After lunch, Dee Miller ask for help on how to send a picture of her & her husband (57th anniversary) to her kids using her new iPad. We did it.
• Got a short phone call from Dan. Thanks, Dan.
• This evening we went up to Pharr South for taco dinner & Bingo.
• And again, when Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were also taken Christmas night.) Thanks Dan & Dawn for the great memories.

Friday, January 9, 2015

• Cool morning, high clouds, light breeze, temp:44, high: 48.
• Rode along with Diane & Jim for his 3rd PT session.
• After, Dan & Jim went over to a Polka jam at Enchanted Village while Diane went to H-E-B. I napped.
• The afternoon turned out to be not very nice outside. Temp is only 46, it's blustery & windy, and it raining quite hard. Yuk!
• This evening, with Dan & Candy home sick, Jim & Diane drove over to Paradise Park of McAllen to play Bingo. Good luck!
• When Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were also taken Christmas night.) Thanks Dan & Dawn for the great memories.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

• Windy, blustery, cloudy, very cool morning, current temp: 43, high: 44.
• At the regular Thursday men's breakfast, we had about 25 guys there, up considerably from Christmas time.
• My son, Dan to fill me in on Minnesota news. Said the Twin Cities had less then 6" of snow on the ground. Thanks for the call, Dan.
• And at noon, the temp is still only 41. Afternoon never got above 42. No swimming today.
• This afternoon, Jim, Dan, & I went over to Pharr South for their Jam. Jam lasted 3 hour (too long) and had about 300 attendees. Quality was about the same (some good, some bad) as our Jams.
• No biking today, temp never got to 50. Ugh!
• When Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were taken Christmas night.)

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

• Another pleasant morning, although we're in for a big change today - getting much cooler and rainy. Now warm, calm, high clouds, temp: 59, high: 61.
• Dan & Jim left right after breakfast for a Polka jam over at the Peppermint Palace park.
• With the warm temp in the morning, I went for my bike ride at 10 when temp was already 61. And on the ride I watched a crew take a 60' X 12' park model mobile home out of the park, a real undertaking. Big event. Lots of spectators. See pictures below.
• Diane went to a women's luncheon at Cheddar's. Said it was delicious.
• One of Jim's Blue Earth friends, Glen Kuchemeister, stopped by late morning for a visit. They're at a park about 5 miles East of here.
• Jim & I attended the 1st hour of the Jam. Doesn't seem to be much better that before Christmas, except that the crowd was bigger. Musta nearly filled the Hall.
• Diane drove Jim to PT for his 3 o'clock appointment.
• Dan & Candy joined us for supper at Taco Fiesta.
• This evening we begin the Wednesday night entertainer shows, this evening featuring Southern Anthem. A family of 4 performers put on a fine show.