What a Wonderful Surprise!

We came home from a busy morning of shooting at the Range and were we SURPRISED!!    Our friends Larry and Geri had completely detailed our Motorhome....now you can’t beat that!!  The Foretravel motorhome was looking SUPERB!  I mean it GLOWED!!  It was so shiny, we had to put on sunglasses to look at it. :-)  WOW, that pleased us to no end.
 
They tried to do the roof but it had started to oxidize and they wanted us to look at it and decide how to treat it.  One call to Mr. Ron Berquist of DWG, a pro with situations such as this, and we had the answer. Ron instructed us to take some of the DWG product called Oxygon, clean the roof with that, then put some of the Ultra Ion waterless product on after that. These products, by the way folks, are the best money can buy. We have tried dozens of other products and always return to DWG.  It's the BEST!! No, we don’t sell the stuff, but we do use it and always have a supply on hand. If we run out, we just call Ron and he ships us what we need.

So after we got the scoop on what to use, Larry and Geri came back to finish the job and finish the job they did!!  They were shocked at how well the Oxygon product worked, just as Ron said it would.  The picture above was just as they started applying it from the front to the rear.


Here they are as they work their way back...that’s a long 40’!!  First, they applied the Oxygon with terry cloth towels, then they buffed it off with microfibre cloths. It took the oxidation right off.  The terry cloth towels were just full of the chalky stuff that had started to build up on the roof.


A lot of hard scrubbing on their hands and knee’s but soon they were all the way to the back.  Then they had to go back up to the front and start all over again applying the UltraIon.   Oh My!!  My knees and back hurt just watching them.  

Our motorhome is now so beautiful.  Ms. Pat and I are so happy to have this done for us and can’t thank Larry and Geri enough. They have been here at North Ranch with us for about 2 months and believe me they have been a pleasure to have around. What an ambitious couple.  Larry is always asking me, "Can I help you with something?" He comes down and says “Don’t you have some work I can do”?  He helped me spray both of our lots for weeds, among many other things and they have done lots of work on our other lot where they are staying.  AND, on top of that.....last night they made a delicious pot of vegetable soup and brought it down for dinner.  We are so indebted to them.  I just hope they NEVER LEAVE. 

Friends are SPECIAL!!  This is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Speaking of "special friends", we would like to request your prayers for Mike and Janna, , their family,  their son Lonn and especially their daughter-in-law LoraLee, as she begins her courageous fight with cancer.  We will be praying a very special prayer because we've been there and know what they are going through. 

Thank you all for stopping by. I know a lot of you are traveling around the country, so please be safe and ENJOY!!

God Bless you all as we continue to count our BLESSING’S!


Mike


This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Yep, Spring has Sprung……Again !

Ha.....I love these 50 deg mornings with it getting up close to 80 during the daytime.

We really enjoy our front porch when the weather is nice. This is the morning sun just as it comes up. Many happy times are had on this porch.



On one of these beautiful afternoons, Larry and Geri took us out exploring some strange new territory on our 4-wheelers. We went way up West of Congress. We had never been out in this area before. The Desert BLM lands are so vast here that it's impossible to believe how much of open country there is around here.


It’s nice to see a new area that definitely has a new twist to it....lots of rock here and this is one BIG rock.  In fact, it's name is "Big Rock".


It looks like that big rock could roll right over on you….


Lots of evidence of Indians spending time in this area many, many years ago. A lot of Petroglyph's on this rock………very interesting.


I imagine the shade from the rock was an enjoyable place for grinding their grain into flour, as there are many of these on the shady side. It was probably the coolest place around on the hot summer days.


Larry and Geri had some friends from Iowa visiting them. Sharon and Gary are also enjoying the sights. Nothing quite like this back in Iowa!


I even managed to find a Windmill way out there. You all know how much I love Windmills...always have and always will. We live on Windmill Lane near Custer in the Black hills, where there's a BIG working windmill right across the street from us and I even had a small Windmill in my back yard in Florida.


This one just happens to be a Dempster.   Manufactured in Beatrice, Nebraska, my home state.  It's old but beautiful !!


All of this beautiful area is right out in back of the Bayfield Bunch's new Arizona home.  If I know Al and Kelly they will be spending a lot of time exploring out here.  Meanwhile, they are very busy remodeling their new "Digs" and making it their home….check them out.


Welcome to “Dayton C” for becoming our latest Follower. Nice to have you stop by and visit us.

With us shooting three mornings a week at the Range, we use up around 750 rounds of ammunition. So my spare time has become quite sparse lately.  I spend a lot of time pulling on the lever handle of my new Dillon Progressive Reloader. Then I get to clean our Glocks a lot.  I am the official reloader and gun cleaner around here, while Ms. Pat spends four days a week up at the Club House Line Dancing, where she is now one of the Instructors.   But then you know what they say....a busy mind is a happy one!! 

Right now I have to get ready for church!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

You have a good week and may God Bless you all…. Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Nope, Not Spring Yet!

I was ready for Spring, but Spring wasn’t ready for me….

I heard it raining in the middle of the night on Saturday and it was music to my ears.  It was DRY here! In fact, this was the first moisture we have received so far this year.  It was a nice rain and we got over an inch.  When we went to Church Sunday morning we saw SNOW on all the mountains around close to us.  It had snowed in Congress, just 5 miles from us but no snow at North Ranch.   The Bayfield Bunch had quite a bit on their new lawn.

Then, on Monday morning, it was still dreary when suddenly I looked out and there it was SNOW.  I grabbed the camera and if you look closely you can see the big, heavy snow flakes gently floating to the ground. It was a beautiful sight and only lasted a few minutes. None of it accumulated.  It melted as it hit the ground.  But there you have it, that’s our Snow Blizzard for the year.  Plenty enough for me.  

Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the big city for a Dr appointment.   It was cool (33 deg) when we got up.  We had the heater on in the pickup as we drove to Surprise, AZ but boy oh boy, did it ever warm up beautiful and we soon had the Air conditioner on.   Now maybe SPRING can come and stay.   It's supposed to back up in the 80's by the weekend.

We had a familiar visitor back again..

Although I have never seen this kitty in person, I’m seeing her a lot on my Wildlife Camera. She visits quite often. She is a pretty cat and I don’t know if she is a she or a he but I think of Her as a Her. :-)   Since she is a Bengal, I call her Bennie.  She sometimes seems as if she “poses” for my camera.



Bennie is Beautiful!  The camera fascinates her and she gets closer and closer.   I do not feed her...just a little water since it was so dry.  Ms Pat says, "NO WARM MILK".  :-)



Now look at this!!!  She has caught a field mouse and is so proud.  She just had to bring it by the Camera and show us!!!     Good Girl!!! Bless her heart!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thank you all for stopping by………..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

St. Patrick’s Day 2012

St. Patrick’s day is especially special for us. It was on that day back in 2010 that Rollie and Gina came to North Ranch to visit us. We had met them for only a short time down in South Texas. In fact we  celebrated Christmas 2009 together with them and all our other friends at Retama Village in Mission.  Little did we realize that meeting them was a gift from Heaven.

Shortly, thereafter, we left Retama and came on out here to North Ranch.  I knew from following Rolllie and Gina's Blog that they were traveling in California where their son Thomas was stationed in the Marine Corps.  I emailed them and asked them if they were coming back this way and if they were I would like them to pick up a couple cases of the famous “Two Buck Chuck” Wine.  Rollie said they would be glad to do that. They weren’t familiar with “Two Buck Chuck" Wine and had never heard of Trader Joe’s so they were in for a pleasant surprise.

They located a Trader Joe's and picked us up a couple cases of the famous Two Buck Chuck Wine.   If you haven’t heard of Two Buck Chuck and you like wine, you need to check it out. Actually, the real name is Charles Shaw, nicknamed Two Buck Chuck because in California it is only $1.99 a bottle.  Here in Arizona it is $2.99 a bottle...an unbelievable bargain and very popular here in the Southwest.   It’s a superb Wine and at a very good price and just happens to be one of our favorite wines.

A couple weeks later Rollie emailed me that they were going to be coming by and would drop off the 2 cases of Wine and spend a couple days with us.   Well that was on St. Patrick’s day in 2010.  Ms. Pat made them Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner.  That was a very special day for us and will always be remembered as such.  They planned on staying 2 days and ended up staying over 2 months and it was a glorious 2 months that we will never forget.

We took them 4 wheeling out in the desert many times. The special cook outs with their great southern Louisiana cooking and the Happy Hours were something out of this world..  It was right at that time we had purchased our new home here at North Ranch. Their help getting us moved in and the place modified to our specifications including purchasing and hauling furniture was truly a blessing. They made it just plain FUN and I don’t know how we could have done it without them. So many memorable times together on different projects. If you have read my Blog during those times you know where I’m coming from.  I enjoyed these two wonderful people so much that I just didn’t ever want it to end. 

Then tragedy struck.  It was in the wee hours one morning in May that we received word that we had lost Mikel, our oldest son. We are so thankful that Rollie and Gina were here to give us their moral support during that time.  They took us under their wing and made decisions we were not capable of.  They were the strength that got us through it as we were both a couple of zombies.  That reinforced my thinking that God has a plan for our lives and definitely knows what he is doing. 

After Mikel's funeral, they returned home to Louisiana.  They had a few things to take care of at home before coming up to our place in Custer, SD in the Black Hills. To say that we missed them is an understatement for sure but we knew they would be joining us soon. We counted the days until they arrived.  Then it was with their enthusiasm, ambition and hard work that our “Cabin” in Custer was changed from a dream to reality.

I have covered just a few of the things that have happened since we met Rollie and Gina.   I hope I have explained my thoughts and feelings of how God placed them in our lives and once again, God's timing was perfect.   Gina said one time, “We will just be your kids, if you'll let us”.  I told her that would be wonderful, as we would be proud to have them as “our kids”!!  You can never get too many kids! :-)

Another gift from Heaven…..  most of you have heard many times of how Ms. Megabyte2 came into our lives.   She is our precious little kitty from Heaven. Our friend Kathy once told me, "She is an “Angel Kitty”!  When she told me that, it opened my eyes and made me realize she truly was from Heaven.
 
Remember the kitty stroller that Ms. Pat found for her at the North Ranch garage sale? Well, I took her for a few short rides and she really enjoyed it. I folded down the front screen so she could see better and she just sits there taking everything in.


Ms. Pat snapped this picture of me as I started off down the street with her on our walk.   Now I realized as I pushed her around the blocks here at the Ranch, that it may appear a little strange to see a grown man pushing a little kitty in a baby carriage.  But I figured "What the heck...do I care what folks think?" I love this little kitty and I need the exercise and she enjoys it.  People laugh as I go buy and I just wave and smile.  Old people do funny stuff!!

This one tears me up!!! I walked out on the porch the other day and look what I saw…Ms. Megabyte2 was in her stroller just waiting.  Ha-ha. Now I don’t know about you but I can tell from the way she is looking  at me, that she is saying “Come on Pops, take me for a little ride, please”. She jumps up in it and just waits.   Cats are patient and I can't say no, so off we go.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and we hope you had a Happy St. Patrick's day with corned beef and cabbage.  We did!

God Bless you all..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Rollie and Gina Are Seeing the World!

Everyone is always asking, where are Rollie and Gina? This Blog is dedicated to them and to let everyone know that there are doing GREAT!

Several months ago Rollie was offered a job. Although he wasn’t looking for a job, it was an offer he just couldn’t refuse and was with a firm that he had previously done a lot of work for and knew very well. The job was in Houston and he could be home to Denham Springs in Lousiana every weekend.  He loves the work and felt it was an opportunity from Heaven and was too good to pass up.  To say that the job paid exceptionally well is a great understatement.

Recently his work has required that he do some work overseas in Europe. He was allowed to take Gina with him and they are having the time of their lives. They have sent many pictures of their trip and experiences in such places as London, Paris, Rome, Venice and lots more I can't remember.  They were planning on spending their 30TH Wedding Anniversary here in Arizona and have their Vows renewed at our local Church in Wickenburg by our Pastor “Dean” whom they fell in love with when they were here with is before.  However, this wonderful trip has understandingly taken precedence.   Renewing their vows here by Pastor Dean will be done in the future.



This is one of the first pictures they sent us.  They were taking the train to downtown Paris.   Although their Internet connections are not so good and it's impossible to use their cell phones, they have kept in constant contact with us.  I would like to share their latest email. It was sent on their 30TH Anniversary and gives you a feeling of the excitement they are experiencing.

Mom & Pops,
Thank you for the Happy Anniversary wishes. We had a wonderful day in Venice and took an hour long gondola ride. Truly a memory to last a lifetime. We are now in Rome and about to head out for some more sightseeing. Our hotel is right across the street from the coliseum. Our window is less than a hundred yards from it. The view is wonderful. We took a fast train from Florence to Rome yesterday at 160 mph. It's not the fastest but it was pretty fast. I know this is short but we need to get sightseeing. We love and miss y'all.
Love and Hugs,
Your kids

As most of you know, we have adopted these kids as our own and they have likewise adopted us.  We so much enjoy them both and will always thank our Heavenly Father for putting them in our life.  We truly love them as our own.  We, like you, miss them terribly and they are so busy they have suspended their Blog.  They have a new First granddaughter, Abigail, presented to them by their son Thomas and daughter-in-law Ashley and have just found out that their daughter Ashley (yes, that's right, there are two Ashleys in their family now) is going to soon present them with a granddaughter, Jolee Adair, in a few weeks.   Thomas is in the Marine Corps in California and Ashley is in New Jersey about to become a Doctor.    So yes, their lives are quite full at this time. However, the fact that they take the time to keep in contact with us means so much to us both and we are so happy for them.

We also have a couple of other kids who are celebrating Anniversaries.  Happy 30TH Anniversary to daughter Lisa and son-in-law Randy in Florida and Happy 27TH to son Pat and daughter-in-law Michelle in Lake Havasu just down the road.  Lisa and Randy are planning a trip to Hawaii later this year to celebrate their anniversary and hopefully they'll send us lots of pictures while they're there to share with you.  We don't know what Pat and Michelle have planned since they have twin granddaughters on the way pretty soon. I bet they will be Huggin Granddaughters by then, as their Anniversary isn't until August. The Twins (whom they won't tell us the names of yet...:-) will be a couple months old by then....  But, anyway, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY kids and we love you all very much.
 
It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by…….

Mike  (aka Pops)

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Garage Sale Saturday

Now I know Spring is about to SPRING!!!

It’s GARAGE SALE Saturday at North Ranch…………that’s a sure sign of SPRING! I was up and at ‘em bright and early and at 8:00 am had all my “stuff” set out. Oh Boy!! It was a grand day and the weather was perfect. 


Just look at all that traffic..........garage sales all over the place.  We were busy, busy!!!


Oh and here is the BAYFIELD BUNCH……………but wait.....what the heck?  No Al.... Ha Ha.
 I don’t blame you Al…….I would have stayed home too!


Uh Oh!  Look what we have here.  Ms. Pat has been looking for a Pet Stroller for you know who?   Geri called and told her that she better get over and look at the one that was for sale up by their place. So she took off and this is what she came back with…  Oh my!  Will Ms. Megabyte2 like this? Hmmm.  Maybe...maybe not??


Ms. Pat cleaned it up a bit, then put her in for a little ride.  You can just barely see her peaking out.  She took a nice long ride and she was fascinated by everything that moved…………:-)


Soon she told me “MEOW”!!   I’m sure that translated into “I’m ready to get out now”! We will start out giving her short rides now and then and maybe she will get used to it and want to go more. Ms. Pat tells me I can now push Mega2 since I have been slack on my morning walks.  I knew there was a method in her madness!!

The Garage Sale went great and I sold a big 3/4”drive socket set and a very good Catalytic Heater. Two big items that I don’t need any more.  The crowd was all gone and we were closed up by noon.  I even got a couple extra “bucks” in my pocket now!  Of course, I had to deduct some for the stroller but I’m happy!! 


We asked Kelly and Al of the Bayfield Bunch over for a Buffalo Burger the other night.  I knew Al was a “Burger Guy”,  so I wanted to expose him to a Buffalo Burger....the greatest "burger meat" in the world....IMHO!    Ms. Pat also fixed some of her “special” mashed potatoes for them and Kelly brought some delicious baked beans. Al cleaned his plate right up and Ms. Pat asked if he wanted some more Cauliflower.  “Cauliflower?", he said, “Mike told me that was Mashed Potatoes.”!!  Ms. Pat told him, "Well you can’t believe everything Mike says. That was Cauliflower!"  :-)  Al said, “Well, I still liked it anyhow because I like Cauliflower!


Ms. Megabyte2 took a likin' to Al.  She goes to him whenever he stops by.  I can tell Al has a way with animals.  He loves them and they know it.  She also has this trick she plays on me all the time. Whenever I get up out of a chair, she immediately jumps in it.  Then she looks at me as if, "This is MY CHAIR!!"

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We want to make special mention of some new Followers that have recently joined our fine group bringing the total count up to an astonishing 227. WOW!

The Odd Essay
Patricia C. O’Neill
Jerry and Deb
Maxed
Jan Goldfield
Kelly
(don't forget, if you click on their picture it will take you to their blog. If they have one)
Thank you all so much for stopping by! We hope you all come back often!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Our Granddaughter Shala, Grandson-in-law Ryan and Pat and Michelle

As I mentioned in last Sundays Blog, we were headed over to Lake Havasu City, AZ. to visit son Patrick, DIL Michelle and the Grandkids who were visiting from Lincoln, Nebraska. We departed North Ranch shortly after 7am and had an enjoyable trip over to Hope, Bouse, Parker and on into Lake Havasu where we pulled up to Patrick and Michelle’s house at 09:45.

This is Granddaughter Shala and her husband Ryan, who have both recently graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Then, just a few weeks ago, Shala announced to us that she was going to have TWINS……  Can you tell its Twins?



Aww, Yep, it's twins!!  She says "Definitely!!!,  It's TWINS!!!"  She still has about 3 months to go…..


It wasn’t long until we all retired to the back yard by the pool. This is the view from Pat and Michelle’s patio/pool area. It's neat they have this undeveloped area owned by the city and designed as a buffer where it is assured no houses will ever be built. It slopes down right into the LAKE, which you can easily see.


In the morning it was still a little cool so everyone wanted to soak up the warm sunshine..


It didn’t take the sun long and about noon the thermometer slid right on by 80*!!


My son Pat and I had some enjoyable “laid back” time together…..


Shala and her Mom enjoy the sun and some quality mother, daughter time together..



Ms. Pat was the first to enjoy the water and get her feet wet.  The water was cool, so that’s as far as he got…..

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing all the kids so very much. But as always, the time flew by and way too soon it was time to head on back to the “RANCH”.

The next morning we had to be in Phoenix at 8:30 am for a Doctor appointment.  We made it and fortunately we didn’t do any shopping and were back home by early afternoon. Neither of us travel and “run around” like we used to and we were “worn out”!

Tuesday was a “SHOOT” day so we spent the afternoon at the Shooting Range. It was warm but windy and that took its toll on us. We were glad to get home from that. Now Ms. Pat is heading for Line Dancing and I’m getting ready to do some reloading!!

Tonight we'll enjoy some buffalo burgers and a few other treats with the "Bayfield Bunch".   We're looking forward to spending some quality time with Al and Kelly before they "up and disappear".

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

No matter how busy we are, we must take the time to Thank our Father in Heaven for all His many blessings that make this wonderful life so great. Praise the Lord!!

Thanks for taking time from your busy day to stop by and visit. Hope you stop by again soon!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

La Fiesta Celebration at North Ranch. March 2012

Yesterday was the Big Annual La Fiesta Celebration here at North Ranch in Arizona.


We had a big Parade with Fire Engines and everything.  It started at 9:30 am and the weather turned out beautiful. The local North Ranch Amateur Radio Club, of which I am a member, asked me if I would set up my Golf Cart with a Ham Radio and control traffic at one of the intersections. I was happy to oblige. Been a long time since I had gotten involved with any Ham Radio activities and it felt kinda good.  Anyhow, I kept everything at my intersection under control and had a good view of the Parade!

Here is my Golf Cart all equipped with my call plates and 2 meter radio. I enjoy hooking up these portable mobile radios for traffic control. It worked great.

"I love old Pickup trucks.....little baby ducks.....and Country Grass!" :-)

The Grand Marshalls..............

The Red Hat Queen…                                 

Aw, now here come the Line Dancers………..that’s what I was looking for.



Yeah.....that’s what I was waiting for!  Look.....guess who that is waving the South Dakota flag to me.



It was a gala affair and here is Edie with her beautiful “talking” Parrot……she does talk too!!


The theme of the event this year was “See the USA the North Ranch Way”! There were Arts and Crafts all around the Activities Center, along with games and snack vendors. There was lots of good FOOD!! The “Pulled Pork” was delicious!


Plus, I met the Mad Hatter Lady that sells pins to benefit the La Fiesta celebration. I proudly bought a pin from this great saleslady!!

But best of all I traded hats with her…. made a pretty good trade, don’t you think?  Thanks for letting me pose in your hat Bev......I love it!


There were lots of beautifully decorated floats in the parade but I thought this wagon full of “Hot Air” said it all….


One of the main highlights of our day was meeting Yvonne.  Yvonne is the widow of a gentleman that left a very impressive shadow throughout this area. Many of you have written and mentioned to me how much you enjoyed Gerry Cavanaugh and the part he played in your life.  One of the Shooting Bays out at the Shooting Range has a big sign that is dedicated to him. In fact, you saw it in one of my pictures a few Blogs back.  

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!     But WAIT......it's not over yet!  We are so excited as I hurriedly write this Blog so we can leave here about 7:00 am this morning to go over to Lake Havasu City, about 150 miles from here, to son Patrick's place where he has special visitors visiting him. Remember a while back when I told you about our Granddaughter Shala having twins?  Shala and her husband Ryan live in Lincoln, Nebraska and are spending a few days in Arizona. We are so anxious to see them. As I understand it, the babies are due in June.....that's not long.....it'll be here before you know it.

We’re outta here..... tell ya'll about it next time………

Thank you for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..