A Little Cooler Here Today

Had our dog walk with Jean and her dogs this morning. It was a lot cooler out this morning than it has been and there were a lot of people out walking, jogging and biking.

After breakfast, Hike and I went out to get my lottery tickets.

So I had received the renewal for Hiker’s dog license. I decided since I had to give them proof of her getting her rabies vaccination, I’d drive up to our local county shelter and renew it in person. I usually do it online. I took Hiker with me because we all know how much she loves to go on car rides and I figured because it was an animal shelter, they would allow her into the building.

Well we get there. It’s 90° outside. I put her leash on her and head for the main office and I see a sign on the door that says no dogs allowed inside. I couldn’t leave her in the car so I tied her up in the shade just outside of the office door.

I go inside and the guy says “did you just tie your dog up out there” and I said “yes. I didn’t know she was not allowed inside and I can’t leave her in the hot car”. So he told me to go outside and get her and bring her inside because they can’t take the risk that she might bite someone. So I leave my paperwork with him and I go out to get her, bring her inside and he’s already done recording everything and all he needs is my payment. I paid him and we were done.

I don’t know why he made a big deal about her being tied up by the door as no one else was around and it only took 5 minutes to do what had to be done. Also I cannot believe that an animal shelter does not allow animals into the building. Strange. He did thank me for not leaving her in the hot car.

Same Old Sunday

I was so tired and sleepy yesterday, but when last night got here, I was wide awake. Didn’t fall asleep until 2 am. So needless to say, after Hiker came back in from going potty at 6 am, we went back to bed until 8 am.

Had some French Toast for breakfast, put the sheets into the washing machine and then noticed my resident hummingbird hanging around out on the patio, so I got my camera and tripod out and started snapping photographs.

My brother Ron called me from Paradise, CA. He said he has not been feeling too good for the past few days. Said he feels tired, sleepy and achy. I worry about him. He will be 73 this coming Wednesday.

He told me that it was in the mid-70s there today. It was 96° here by noon.

Was a few degrees cooler today. Only got up to 100°. Supposed to keep getting cooler over the next week.

Sleepy Saturday

Didn’t get out of bed until 8:00 this morning. This damn hot weather makes me so sleepy and make me so lazy that I just do not want to do anything but sleep. It just takes all of the energy out of me. Some of my friends and neighbors have said it is doing the same thing to them.

Didn’t do anything today except sit on the sofa and watch TV. A couple of times I even dozed off while doing that.

I think it’s getting to Hiker also. She doesn’t even want to go outside unless absolutely necessary. When she does go outside to potty, she comes right back in instead of lying out in the yard like she does when it is cooler weather.

Was 106° here at 2:00 pm. Next week we are supposed to be back down into the 80s. I sure hope that is true.

Another Scorching Day

Up early for Friday dog walk. Was already starting to get warm and humid while we were out at 7 am. Jean had an extra dog with her today (Rev) whom she is taking care of for a few days. Hiker is a little intimidated by him so she won’t play with the dogs when he’s around.

It hit 104° already at noon so once again it was way too hot to get outside to do anything.

I decided to do some house work that needed to be done, so at least I got that out of the way.

It hit 111° at 2:45 this afternoon. Don’t know how much more of this I can take.

I HATE THE HEAT!

We were lazy this morning. I stayed in bed until 8 am. The bed just felt so good this morning and I just didn’t want to get up.

Hiker kept bothering me to get up, so I finally did.

Had some breakfast and then Hiker and I went to get my lottery tickets for Saturday. It was already in the high 80s by the time we got back home, so too hot for a morning walk.

I decided to do a little housework and the rest of the day Hiker and I just vegged out in front of the TV.

Was 108° at 2 pm. This heat just takes everything out of me.

Hiker Is So Smart

I need to remember to not tell Hiker something until just before I’m ready to do it.

I always talk to her just like she’s a person and I think she really does understand what I say to her. Last night I was talking to her and I told her that in the morning I would have to go do some shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, but that later on in the afternoon, I would take her for a ride in the car. She has not been on a car ride for 2 weeks due to all the work I was having done on the house and then I was busy with other things.

Well this morning when I was getting ready to go do my shopping, she was following me all around the house, right on my heels, all happy because I think she thought that she was going for her car ride right away. When I told her she could not go with me right then, she looked so sad.

She’s the same way when I mention ice cream to her. She won’t leave me alone until I give her some.

So I need to learn to not tell her she gets to do something until right before we do it.

Also last night, she was so cute (as usual). We had just gone to bed and she was lying right next to me. I was starting to doze off when I felt her roll over. I didn’t realize that she had rolled onto her back and that she was expecting a belly rub. Suddenly I felt her kicking me with her back feet. When I looked at her to see what she was doing, I noticed the belly in the air, so I had to rub it for her.

Does she have me trained or what?

After lunch, I put Hiker in the car and took her for her ride. There was a specific business I needed to find. I knew its address, so went to see where its physical location was and that’s why Hiker got to go for a ride. She seemed really happy to go on the ride and kept kissing me.

Was already 100° by 10:45 am and got up to 103° by 2 pm. As I’ve said before…I can hardly wait until fall gets here.

Overcast Day

This morning Hiker and I were lying in bed and she suddenly got up and left the room. After about 20 minutes, I called her but Hiker is very independent and has a stubborn streak, so she does not do anything unless she wants to. (Kind of like her mom – LOL). Anyway, I called her 2 or 3 times and she didn’t come, so I called out the name of one of her favorite toys. Suddenly she come running into the room, jumped up onto the bed and started looking all over the bed to see if I had her toy. When she found out I didn’t have it, I told her she had to go find it. So she took off and came back with it in about 2 minutes. Such a smart girl.

It was cloudy and humid here this morning. We went out for a very short walk this morning, but the humidity was so bad, we turned around and came home after a mile.

Met my widowed friends for lunch today. Had not seen most of them for 3 weeks. Had a great time. Hiker didn’t want me to leave her at home. When I got ready to go, she tried to nip me and she growled. I verbally punished her. She acted “sheepish” when I got home, so I think she thought maybe I still mad at her.

Stayed overcast all day. We were supposed to get up to 98° today but it only got up to 89° and even had some tiny rain drops on my windshield coming home from lunch. I was glad it was much cooler.

Normal Monday

Up early for our dog walk. Not very many people out this morning. Was cool when we were out walking, but started getting warmer as the morning went on.

After breakfast, I headed out to run some errands. Went to get my lottery tickets, go by the bank to use the ATM and then stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things.

When I got home, I went online and noticed that the Internet was extremely slow. Went into my bank’s website to make sure my ATM activity had posted. Took forever to get into their site and when I finally did get it, it gave me my account balances but said that all activity was unavailable at this time. It finally hit me that it was probably because of the stock market crash this morning.

Didn’t do much for the rest of the day. Temperature got up to 106°. I will be so glad when summer is done.

Another Lazy Sunday

Today turned out to be a “lazy” day for me and Hiker. She did not wake me up around 6 am as she usually does. I woke up on my own and looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 6:30 and realized that I needed to let her outside to go potty.

She came back in and we got back into bed so I could watch “CBS Sunday Morning”. It was over at 8 am, so we got up, fed Hiker and had some breakfast.

Took the sheets off my bed and put them in the washing machine with my towels and the sat down to check my email. Hiker went outside to lay in the sun while I did that.

Around 10 am I thought we should go out for a walk. I went out back to get Hiker, but she didn’t want to come. She was enjoying lying on the grass in the shade of the fence. I convinced her to put on her harness, collar and leash and then I thought maybe I’d better check the pavement to see how hot it was. Well turns out, it was already too hot for her to walk on without burning her little feet, so needless to say, we did not go on that walk.

Took her harness, collar and leash off and told her that I’d better do my vacuuming, so she wanted to go outside again as she does not like the vacuum cleaner.

Finished that and then noticed the dryer was done, so pulled the sheets and towels out and took them into the bedroom. Folded the towels and proceeded to make my bed. I hate making the bed alone. It was so much easier when Ben was alive. He would always help me make the bed and we got to where we could do it in less than 5 minutes. Takes me about 15 minutes to do it by myself.

Had noticed earlier that I had a bunch of online survey emails so I sat down and did all of the ones that had not closed already. I don’t make very much money from those surveys, but now and then I get some free samples to try out.

Caught up with “Zoo” on the On Demand Channel. I never see it the night it is on because I watch “Rizzoli & Isles” that night.

Decided to give myself a haircut. Trimmed my hair a couple of weeks ago, but it grows so fast.

Was back up 100° today.

Happy Saturday

Thought I’d sleep in this morning, but only stayed in bed until 7 am. Hiker and I got up and went for a morning walk. Felt a little like a fall morning at first, but then it started getting warm.

Came home and made some poached eggs for me and Hiker then I put some laundry into the machine. Did some stuff around the house then went outside to put my ornamental flag and American flag back up by the porch where the workers had taken them down so they would not damage them. Put my wind chimes back up on the porch then filled my hummer feeders.

While filling the feeders, I noticed a Praying Mantis on one of my feeders. I took some pictures of him and a short video. They can be very aggressive. When I was filming him, he kept flinging his legs and me and then he jumped onto my camera lens which scared the heck out of me. Somehow he ended up on my shoulder which really freaked me out, so I knocked him onto the ground. Hiker immediately went after it, but I stopped her and the Mantis slowly crawled across the patio and disappeared.

Mid-90s today.

Gimme a kiss!

Finally Back To Normal

Finally got back to a little normality today.

We got up just before 6 am and went for our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. We let the dogs play in my yard a little. Hiker was happy to see her buddies and for the fact that she got to go outside and play.

After breakfast, I headed up to Stater Brothers and did my grocery shopping that I’d been putting off for 2 weeks. Every time I go buy groceries, I keep paying more and more. I used to get in and out for between $60-$75 each trip. Now it’s $80-$100 each trip.

Met my friend Robyn at noon for lunch at Backwoods Inn. I’ve only known Robyn for about 3 or 4 months, but I feel like I’ve known her forever. We have so much in common. I was so hungry that I pigged out. Had prime rib, double-baked potato and a dinner salad, but I’m not planning on eating any dinner tonight.

When I got home, Hiker was waiting for me at the door. She has not done that in a long time. Usually she just stays wherever she is until I get in the house, then she comes to me.

I’ve been enjoying our cooler weather. We’ve been having some marine layer each morning and that helps keep it cool, plus we’ve been having some nice cool breezes. They are saying though that we are going to get close to 100° again next week. I will be so glad when fall gets here.

Plan on having a normal weekend…doing laundry and maybe a little housework. Hopefully it will stay cool so I can take Hiker out for walks.

Comparison of how the covered porch changed the look of my home. Top photo is from 10 years ago…bottom photo is from today.

ALL DONE!

We got up at 6 am this morning and the roofer arrived around 7 am and went to work right away.

Around 9:15 am, the roofer left for about 20 to 30 minutes. I think he may have gone over to the community office to use the restroom or maybe he went to get some water. Hiker and I went outside and walked around a little and I noticed how nice and cool it was and wished that we could have gone for a nice morning walk.

So the roofer finished around 2 pm and it took him about an hour to clean up the yard. I think he did a good job. Looks really nice and I love the covered porch that Javier’s guys did for me. It’s actually making the front of the house much cooler. Kind of like when Ben and I first had the patio covered. I could not believe how much cooler the living room was.

There is one board they put up along the edge of roof that Javier is going to have someone come and paint tomorrow, but that won’t take long.

So now Hiker will be able to get back out into the yard by herself and tomorrow we can do our morning walk with Jean.

I’ll have to go do my grocery shopping tomorrow and then I’m going to meet my friend Robyn at Backwoods Inn for a nice lunch.

Roof Getting Closer To Being Finished

Hiker and I got up at 6 am again this morning because I knew that the roofer would be here early, but didn’t think he’d be here as early as he was. I got dressed and then went outside to pick up Hiker’s “deposits” in the back yard. When I came back inside, I looked out my front window and saw the roofer’s truck parked in front of my house and he was asleep in the front seat. It was about 6:30 at that time. I opened the front door and the garage door so he’d know that I was awake. He started work right away, which I hope my neighbors won’t complain about. Maybe his hammering doesn’t sound as loud out there as it does from within the house.
Hiker doesn’t understand why she cannot go outside and hang out in the yard like she normally does in the morning. Usually after we have breakfast, she goes out there for a couple of hours and sniffs around, chases flies and birds, and just checks everything out. She’ll lay in the sun for a while, then she will lay in the shade for a while, then back to the sun. I can’t let her out because I have to have the big garage door and the back door to the garage open so the roofer can get through into the back yard and she would go right through the garage from the back yard into the front yard if I let her out alone.
It was such a nice morning that I decided to take Hiker out into the back yard and I sat on the patio while she did her “investigating” of everything in the yard. However, every time the roofer’s compressor kicked on, it scared the heck out of both of us. We sat out there for about 30 minutes.
The roofer took off around 11 am, I’m assuming to go to lunch. He had gotten quite a bit done before he left. He was back just before noon.
Hiker and I were both suffering from cabin fever this afternoon…Hiker because she could not go out into the yard by herself and me because I could not take her for a walk or go to the grocery store to do my shopping.
I looks to me that the roofer is making a lot of progress today and I’m hoping we will only have to go through the staying home and the hammering for just one more day. Will just have to wait and see.

New Roof Going Up

Hiker and I got up at 6 am because I had no idea what time the roofer might (or might not) get here. He arrived around 7:15 am.
The roofer works by himself and is not very friendly. All of the other guys who have been here working have been nice, but this guy is kind of a jerk. He needed to plug his compressor into an electrical outlet. I told him he’d have to use one in the garage and he kept telling me he’d use the one on the patio. Well I don’t have one on the patio. We used to years ago, but it kept shorting out, so Ben had one of the workers here disconnect it because he was afraid it might start a fire. The roofer kept looking around and I kept telling him there was no outlet on the patio, so I guess he believed finally me. He acted like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I don’t like men who act like they think women are stupid.
I now understand why it takes him so long to finish a roof, because he works all by himself. Maybe he just doesn’t get along with other people. Also Jean called me and said she had been working out in her backyard this morning and she saw him just sitting on the roof for 45 minutes talking on his cell phone. He took an hour and a half for lunch. I know when Javier told me it would take at least a week to do the roof, I was surprised because I’ve seen crews of 3 to 4 guys doing roofs outside of our community and they complete them in 2 days. But Javier must trust him and feel he does a good job because he uses him all of the time here in the community.
Didn’t get to meet the group girls for lunch today and I was really looking forward to doing that. The reason I could not go was because the roofer needed the garage open so he could get to that electrical outlet. I was not about to leave my garage wide open to someone I don’t know without me being here. Plus the noise he made on the roof was upsetting Hiker, so it was best that I stay home with her.
I did get my guest bathroom cleaned this morning.
Was about 10 to 15 degrees cooler here today. Only in the mid-90s, but that’s still hot.

Where Are The Roofers?

Got up early this morning. Wanted to get our dog walk with Jean in before the roofers got here.
First thing I did was move my car out of my garage and into the street so I could do my errands later. I wasn’t sure if they would be blocking my driveway or not.
We got back from our walk just before 8 am and the big truck with the roofing materials got here right around 8 am. They put tape up around my front porch and garage while they were sending the materials up onto the roof on their power conveyor belt. They don’t want anyone to get hurt in case something falls off the belt. But that was no problem because I found out my bank did not open until 10 am. Whatever happened to “banker’s hours” being 9 to 5?
The truck left around 8:45 am. I had been told that the roofing crew would be here early Monday morning, so I was surprised when no one was here. Maybe my contractor meant that the truck with the shingles would be here early Monday morning. Now I’m thinking that the work crew won’t be here until later this afternoon. If the roofer is using the community work crew, they get off of their regular job around 3:30 pm.
So I went at 10 am and did my errands and when I came home, I put my car back into the garage. I don’t like leaving my car outside anymore. When Ben was alive, we had a pool table in the garage so both of our cars used to be out in the driveway all of the time in the heat, rain, cold, whatever. Now I like to keep my car inside the garage as much as possible.
Around 11:45 the roofer showed up and went up on the roof. He was up there for about 30 minutes then he knocked on my door and told me that he had to go somewhere for a while and asked if he could leave his compressor on my porch while he was gone. He came back around 12:15.
He left again at 1 pm and this time he took his ladder and compressor with him so no idea if he plans to come back today or not. I went up to the mailbox and I noticed that he had put all of the vents back into their places on the roof and that he had painted all of the metal on them with black paint.
I’m hoping that I will be able to meet up with my girlfriends for lunch tomorrow, but since the roofers have not done any work today, I might not be able to. The workers have to be able to get into my garage to use the electric plug and since I don’t really know these guys, I don’t want to leave my garage wide open to them when I’m not home. Will just have to wait and see.
So far it has only gotten up to 100° today. That’s cooler than it has been, but still very hot.

I'm Tired!

Up around 7 am, pancakes for breakfast, put bed sheets into washing machine, finish shampooing carpet by doing living room area, collapse on sofa.
Work crew showed up around 8 am to paint the porch. They also replaced the 3 planks of plywood where they removed them from my roof on Friday. Guess they were starting to rot some.
Was already 93° by 10 am, and 102° by 11 am.
So far our temperature today has peaked at 111°
Have to get up early tomorrow for our dog walk with Jean plus the roofers are coming first thing in the morning, so I need to get my car out of the garage and park it on the street because I have some errands to run and I don’t know if they will have my driveway blocked with their vehicles or whatever.

Hottest Day Yet

Let Hiker to potty at 6 am and thought about going back to bed and staying there until around 8 am. Got back into bed and turned on the morning news and remembered that I needed to do some more carpet shampooing, so we got up at 7 am.
I had one of those Jimmy Dean’s Breakfast Bowls for lunch. They were on sale the last time I went shopping so I bought 4 of them. They are “OK” but they sure don’t look like they do on the TV commercial for them.
Put a load of laundry into the washing machine and then started to work on the area I wanted to shampoo. Decided to do the smaller bedroom and dining area today. So I started moving stuff out of the way and then started to vacuum.
Hiker was out in the backyard and I heard her barking like she was mad so I looked out and there was a guy on my roof. I was not expecting anyone today as I was told the roofers would be here Monday. Anyway, he told me he was there to make sure everything was clean and ready for Monday and he had another guy with him who was picking some of the mess up out of the yard. Anyway, they left after about an hour.
I finished the carpet shampooing I wanted to do today, did a few other things that needed to be done then sat down to let the carpet dry so I could vacuum the area.
Javier, my contractor for the roof, came by with a forklift full of shingles and tar paper. He put it all up on the roof for Monday morning when the roofing guys will arrive. He told me that he’s hoping to get one of his guys over here tomorrow to pain the new boards on my porch.
It was 113° again at 3 pm.

Porch cover ready for roofing

All Kinds Of Noise On The Roof

Today was our dog walk Friday, so we were up at 5:45 am. Met with Jean at 7 am and did a little over a mile and a half walk.
When we got back to my house, there was a work truck in my drive way and 4 workmen on my roof stripping off the old shingles. I didn’t expect them to be here that early, so I was surprised. The only think I could figure was that they didn’t have much work in the community today, so they came early. I was told that the roofer would not be here until Monday. Maybe he got down with his last job earlier than expected.
Yesterday when they were here, the noise they were making on the front porch was scaring Hiker a little, especially when they got to hammering to hard that a framed picture and a wall clock fell of the wall in my front bedroom/office. Scared me too (LOL).
This morning, Hiker was out on the patio watching them up on the roof. She was barking at first until I convinced here it was OK that they were up there. Then she settled down and stayed by the patio door like she was between them and me so she could protect me.
They guys took off for about an hour to have their lunch. I feel bad for them as it was 105°+ while they were up there.
Hiker has been a nervous wreck all day because of all of the noise up on the roof.

H-O-T!

Woke up around 4 am but went back to sleep within a few minutes. Stayed in bed until around 7 am.
Had some breakfast and then Hiker and I drove over to the liquor store to buy my lottery tickets for Saturday. Waited for a while to go over there because school started today and I didn’t want to get stuck in the traffic at the junior high on the way.
When we got back home, I decided to start shampooing my carpet. I try to do it twice a year and it’s time again. Only did my bedroom and the master bathroom. I used to do the entire house in one day, but I’m too old for that now, so I break it down in about 3 or 4 days. Had it professionally cleaned once last year, but it cost $300. I decided to maybe have the pros do it every 3 or 4 years so it gets a deep down cleaning once in a while.
Took me about an hour to vacuum and then shampoo. Let it dry all day and then vacuumed it again.
The 2 man work crew is supposed to come by again after they get off work from their regular job. Yesterday they were here for about 2 ½ hours. They replaced the big support beam that was rotting on my front porch and they removed the shingles from the part of the roof that is over my front porch. It was 108° while they were out there working.
By 1 pm it was 106° on my personal weather station out on the patio. Hiker wanted to go out and lay in the sun. I only let her stay out there for about 10 minutes before I made her come back into the house. Don’t know why she wants to lay in the sun this time of year.
Nice and cool in the house but stifling outside.
Here is what my roof looks like after the work they did yesterday. They were here 2 ½ hours. Took them over an hour to replace the big beam in the front of the porch. The old one was rotting.

They Are Going To Start On My Roof Today

Got up at 6 am this morning because I wanted to get over to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club early before it got too hot.
Had some breakfast and then headed out. Filled the car with gas then went to Wal-Mart and spent well over $100 on stuff I probably don’t need (LOL). Then I headed over to Sam’s Club and bought things I did need.
When I got home, I found Javier, the foreman of the community work crew standing on my front porch. He was here to tell me that some of his crew would be here later this afternoon (when they get off work from their regular job here at the community) and that they would start stripping the old shingles off of my roof. And naturally, he needed some “up front” money, so I had to transfer some funds.
Had thought about taking Hiker out for a walk after he left but it started getting hot early. By noon it was well over 90° outside. Since we weren’t going to walk, I ran some scans on my laptops and then watched TV.

A Day At The Fair

Got up around 6 am this morning. Jean and I were leaving for the Ventura County Fair at 8:30 am. They opened today at 10 am instead of the normal time of 11 am. We were glad we got there just before they opened. By the time we left (around noon) to go over to the Ventura Harbor to have lunch at Adria’s Fish Market, the parking lot was totally full and they were not letting anyone else in to park. We headed for the harbor and noticed that all of the roads near the fairgrounds were closed also due to the fact that they had nowhere for people to park.
After we had lunch at Andria’s, we decided to walk around the Harbor Village. Ran into my friends Sandi and Jim Owens. They had planned to go to the fair to see Neil Sedaka this afternoon, but they could not even get near the fairgrounds due to the parking lot and road closures, so they just turned around and went back to the harbor. When they first saw me that said “so you didn’t get into the fairgrounds either?” but told them that we had gotten there very early and had already been.
We headed back home around 1:30 and were home just after 2:30. Hiker was happy to see me.
She was so funny last night. I was gathering up the toys she had all over the living room. I could not find her Bullwinkle Moose. She was in the front bedroom and I said “Hiker, where is Bullwinkle?” She started searching the house, looking in all of the places where she knows she leaves her toys. She would find another toy and check it out but knew that it was not Bullwinkle, so she kept looking. She looked in every room, under the bed, in the bathrooms, etc. Could not find it, but she kept running around looking. Finally I checked the cushions on the sofa and there he was underneath a pillow. I handed him to Hiker and she got up on the sofa with him and cuddled. She knows the names of every toy she has and remember all of them.
So tomorrow, it’s supposed to start getting hotter again. Was in the high 80s today. If I’m not too tired from today, I’ll need to go to Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart tomorrow.

Alaskan Cod & Chips at Andria's

Crazy Day

Crazy morning here in Santa Clarita this morning. Hiker and I got up at 5:45 to get ready for our dog walk with Jean. A little after 6:00 I heard a helicopter overhead. Had the blinds open on the patio door, so Hiker suddenly saw the helicopter and started barking at it. I looked out back and saw that it was very low and flying up and down our dry riverbed. It kept hovering and flying around. When Jean came with her dogs, we headed out for our walk which goes right along the riverbed. We saw 2 TV news helicopters overhead and then we saw the big Sheriff’s copter taking off from the other side of the Soledad Canyon Road Bridge throwing dust everywhere.
Found out that a homeless woman who had been living in one of the transient camps near the bridge was giving birth in the wash. After the baby came, she got up and walked away, so one of the other transients got hold of the Sheriff’s station. So they got the baby and took it to the hospital and they were flying up and down the riverbed looking for the woman. They found her hiding in a tree. They took her to the hospital to have her checked out and then they arrested her for child abandonment.
A couple of hours later there was a high-speed chase over on I5 which ended up farther down the freeway where the stolen box truck stopped on an off-ramp and the driver got out and ran. Last I heard, they caught him.
And we didn’t even have a full moon last night!
After lunch, Hiker and I went up to Canyon Country Park and did a short 1 mile walk. That walk makes you climb because it goes up the hill to the other part of the park.
When we got back home, I noticed that Hiker had amputated the leg on her Charlie Brown toy, so I had to sew it back on. Silly dog.
Going to the Ventura County Fair with my neighbor Jean tomorrow.

Sunny, Breezy, Sunday

Stayed in bed a little longer today, but didn’t get any extra sleep.

When Hiker and I got up and I got dressed, she and I headed out for a morning walk down through Discovery Park and along the dry river bed. Another nice, cool morning here. We’ve been having a light marine layer every morning, so that has been cooling it down some. But they say by the middle of the coming week, we might be back up into the triple digits again.

This coming week won’t be as busy for me as last week was, although my neighbor Jean and I are going up to the Ventura County Fair on Tuesday. Tuesday is Senior’s Day, so we get in free.

Other than the morning walk and me washing my sheets, Hiker and I were pretty laid back and lazy today.

Stay On The Sofa Saturday

It was overcast here this morning due to a marine layer, so it was nice and cool. Didn’t do a morning walk as I wanted to get the laundry going.
After lunch, it was still only in the mid 80’s so I thought I’d take Hiker out for a short walk. We started off down the street and I thought maybe I’d better feel the concrete to see how hot it was and realized it was too hot for Hiker’s like paws, so we turned around and went right back home.
Decided to vacuum the house to get myself a little exercise since we weren’t going to be able to do the walk today. We will try tomorrow morning before it gets hot outside.

Mostly Rested Today

We got up early this morning for our Friday morning dog walk. It was cool outside due to a slight marine layer here this morning and it felt wonderful. Let the dogs play after the walk and then Hiker and I had some breakfast.
I was still pretty pooped from the visit at the Huntington Library yesterday, so we didn’t do much all day.
We did go over to Central Park after lunch and walk around some. The temperature was in the 80’s so it wasn’t as hot has it has been.

Great Day Out With A Good Friend

My friend Robyn came by this morning at 9:30 am. This was the first time Robyn and Hiker met and Hiker really seemed to like her. Around 9:45 we headed over to San Marino to the Huntington Library. Robyn is a member. I had never been there.
The place is huge and there were a lot of people there. First we went and checked out all of the gardens. They have desert gardens, Japanese gardens, jungle gardens, rose gardens, Chinese gardens, etc. So many interesting plants and beautiful flowers.
We went inside the Huntington mansion to see some of the art and the architect of the home.
We must have walked 3 to 4 miles around the grounds. The sun was out when we first got there, but then the clouds came over and it was nice because it made it cooler. We had a few big rain drops fall on us, but that didn’t last long.
I was so tired of walking and standing. We finally went to the new café they just built for lunch. It felt good to sit down and rest. After lunch we wandered through the gift shop and then we headed home.
We were gone about 6 hours. Hiker was so happy when we walked in the door. Robyn played with Hiker for a little while and then she headed home to Agua Dulce.
Good day.

Lunch With The Lockheed Girls

Up at 7 am and out for our morning walk around 7:15. Nice cool morning and a beautiful sky while we were out walking.
Around 10 am, Javier (the foreman for the community work crew) came by to go up on my roof and see what needed to be replaced. He said my patio roof does not have to be replaced as it is only about 6 or 7 years old and looks fine. He gave me a firm price of $8,000.00. That includes replacing the rotting trellises that cover my front porch and completing covering the porch with roofing. He said they will be able to start work on it either next week or the week after.
Today I had lunch at Round Table Pizza with my retired Lockheed girlfriends. Is always so nice to get together with them. We all worked together for so many years. We saw each other get married. Some had babies, some lost spouses. We are like family. My friend Judy always brings me a new toy to give to Hiker. When I take the toy home to Hiker, she immediately starts playing with it and she will then continue to play with it for weeks. It becomes her new favorite.
Usually I eat more pizza than I did today. For some reason, my stomach has been bothering me since yesterday. Don’t know if it was something I ate at Rattler’s or what. I think it was bothering me a little before I went to Rattler’s for lunch.
101° so far here today.

Nice Lunch With Group Girls

Up around 7 am. Had breakfast and then I headed over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. Seems like every time I go now I spend a little more each time.
Started getting warm quick today. Was already 92° at 11 am.
Went over to Rattler’s BBQ at noon to meet up with the girls from the grief group. The restaurant is always crowded. There were 6 of us today. Had fun as usual.
When we came out of the restaurant, it felt very hot. Checked my weather station when I got home and it was 101° at 2 pm. I’ve heard that the hottest day this week will be Thursday. Figures. That’s the day my friend Robyn is taking me to the Huntington Library.
It was too hot for Hiker to walk up to the mailbox with me, so I made her stay in the house. Would not want to burn her little paw pads

Maybe A New Roof?

Up early for our dog walk. Had some breakfast when we got home and then went to buy my lottery tickets.
When we got home, I went outside and trimmed some bushes back before it got too hot outside.
Hiker and I were pretty lazy today. We did do the dog walk this morning but for the rest of the day, we just sat on the sofa.
I decided to call the foreman of the work crew here at our community. They keep saying that it is looking like we are going to have a big El Nino this fall and winter, and my roof is over 20 years old. I’m sure that there are some soft spots up there and I really should have the entire roof replaced. He told me that he is going to check out some prices for the materials and get back to me. He said it takes about a week for them to replace a roof. So I may be getting a new roof soon.

Just Another Sunday

We got up at 7 am this morning and immediately headed out for a 2 mile morning walk. It was nice a cool while we were out. Several people were out walking dogs, biking and jogging.
Had some breakfast when we got home then I did some things around the house. Changed the sheets on my bed and I keep some of Hiker’s kibble in a small tube in my laundry room, so I filled that up. I’ll have to vacuum later.
I noticed that since I installed Windows 10 on my 3 laptops that I had to rejoin my home group on all of them so that I can share photos and files between all 3 of them. So I did that.
Thought I was going to have a problem with the toilet in my master bathroom this morning. I flushed it and it started to back up. I immediately shut the water valve off and grabbed the plunger and used it and it seems to have taken care of the problem. Hope it was just some stuck toilet paper and that it’s made its way through the pipes.
Looking forward to a busy week coming up. Monday and Friday are pretty normal, just my dog walk with Jean. Tuesday I’ll do my grocery shopping before I meet the group girls at Rattler’s BBQ for lunch.
Wednesday I’m meeting a few of my retired Lockheed girlfriends at Round Table Pizza for lunch. These are the girls that I’ve known for 40 years. We worked together and are like family.
Thursday, my friend Robyn is taking me to the Huntington Library as her guest. I’ve never been there so this will be a treat. She told me I thought I’d enjoy it because they have beautiful gardens that I can photograph, so be prepared to see some pictures later in the week. If you’d like info on the Huntington, you can find it at

The Huntington Library

I watched “Wild” on Time Warner On Demand this afternoon. Good movie. Reese Witherspoon looked like a little girl in this movie.

Just Another Lazy Saturday

Happy August 1st.
Hiker and I slept in today. Figured since I’ve been getting up not later than 7 am all week that I needed some extra sleep. Hiker didn’t want to stay in bed. She kept licking me and pawing at me.
When we did get up, I made some pancakes and then put the laundry into the machine.
Checked my email, turned on the TV and that’s where I stayed for most of the day.
After lunch, I walked up to my mailbox. It’s was hot outside, but a little dryer heat than we’ve been having. The humidity has gone down some and they say we should have some “normal” summer days for awhile, which means dry heat, not muggy heat.
I caught up on the 2 episodes of “Zoo” that I had missed by watching them On Demand.
Found out that we can download the Windows 10 upgrade to a USB Drive or a DVD so that we can add it to other computers or to have a copy in case or system crashes and we lose it. So I downloaded it to a USB Drive.
All in all, it was just another “lazy” Saturday.