Rainy Day

There are some mornings that I feel I could just lay in bed all day because the sheets, pillow and covers feel soooooo good. But Hiker and I got up just before 8 am.

I awoke early in the morning to the sound of light rain but when we got up it had stopped raining. It started again around 8:30, it started raining again and the wind started kicking up as they had predicted it would.

By 12:45 my personal weather station was showing .80” of rain at my house. The wind was gusting up to 18 mph. This rain should help grow the grass seeds I planted last Wednesday.

Since it was raining, we staying inside all day. I did some laundry. Hiker slept.

Sleepy Saturday

Didn’t really do anything today. We got up around 8 am, had some breakfast, did a load of laundry. Started out as a “partly cloudy” day but by late afternoon, it was getting very cloudy. Supposedly there is a good sized storm coming in later tonight and tomorrow.

Watched a TV movie on The Hallmark Channel and then decided to watch a movie on Netflix. I picked one called “Cat. 8” which was a 2013 TV movie about a solar flare that was created by a government weapon and it hits the earth causing all kinds of problems. It also causes all of the satellites to lose power and start falling to earth and destroying everything.

Still no rain, but then they did say it would hit tonight sometime.

Short Hike Today

Went on a dog walk with Jean and her 3 dogs this morning. It was starting to feel pretty warm by the time we finished our walk.

Decided to give myself a haircut this morning. My hair was getting to a point where it was driving me crazy.

By 11:30 am it was already 80° and very breezy. Almost felt like a day in late spring. They are still telling us that we are going to get a pretty good rain storm this Sunday.

After lunch, Hiker and I drove up to Vasquez Rocks and hiked around a little. There was a sign at the entrance that a film crew was in the park, but I didn’t see any cameras or anything, so I don’t know where they were filming. They film a lot of movies, TV shows and commercials up there.

Was in the 70’s here again today with a mostly cloudy sky.

Got Out For A Short Afternoon Walk

Hiker and I got up early this morning because the Puronics Technician was coming between 9-10 am to service my whole-house water filter. He arrived right at 9 am. I love it when people arrive when they say they will. Very nice middle-aged gentleman named Gregg. He was finished flushing out the carbon and refilling the tank in about 45 minutes. He told me I’m ready for another 3 years, maybe more if I wanted to go longer, but they do recommend to have it done every 3 years.

Hiker did her job while he was here…barking and snarling at him through the patio slider. She was protecting me and her home from the “strange man”. He told me he was a dog lover and has 2 dogs of his own.

Was a beautiful day here in SoCal. Blue sky, bright sunshine and 80° at noon according to my personal weather station on my patio.

After lunch, Hiker and I drove over to Central Park in Saugus for a short walk. I told her that I was going to let her decide where our walk would go. I just followed along behind her, holding on to her leash. We walked almost a mile when she decided she wanted to head back to the car, so I just followed along. I figured she might be getting tired or maybe her hip was starting to bother her a little bit.

I’ve been having trouble sending photos to Facebook from my iPhone lately. I sent one from the park when we were walking and I noticed it hadn’t shown up on my FB page when I got home. I’ve had that happen before and I have to resend the photo. I might have to go back to using Instagram to send them to FB.

Here is the photo:

Yard Work Day

Got up early this morning because Jean wanted me to go over to her house as she had more questions about her new iPhone and her new laptop.

After we got finished, Hiker and I came home. I paid a couple of bills and ran weekly scans on my computers then settled down to have lunch and watch “The Young And The Restless”.

After lunch, I went outside and put the new grass seed on the bare spots in my yard and then covered them with fertilizer. Today was a “no watering” day, but I turned it on for just a few minutes to get the fertilizer wet so it would go down in to the seeds. I’ll have to make sure my lawn guys don’t run their mower and blowers over the newly seeded area on Saturday.

I was pooped after working in the yard.

It was overcast here all day but it got up to 81° here today.

Tomorrow morning, I have a technician coming to the house between 9 am and 10 am to service my whole-house water filter. I hope he arrives on time. I hate waiting for service people.

High Voltage

Mild and sunny this morning when Hiker and I got out of bed. Had a little bit of breakfast and then I headed over to the Home Depot to pick up some steer manure and grass seed to repair the bare spots in my lawn. I looked at Lowes yesterday and they only had organic manure and the least expensive was $13 for a small bag. I got 3 large bags of regular old steer manure at Home Depot for less than $4. They were having their parking lot repaved so I had to maneuver all around the area to find a place close enough to park near the garden area so I could load my car.

Last night was warmer than it has been. Around 8 pm last night, Hiker wanted to go outside and lay on the patio. I had the slider open a little and I started to hear a strange sound. Hiker perked up and started looking around. I realized it was the sound of a frog or toad croaking. Never did see it, but it must be a big one from the sound of its croak.

I met with DeDee, Linda and Jane (three of my widowed friends) for lunch at Rattler’s BBQ today. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I noticed a helicopter flying over very low with a cable hanging down and then I noticed there was a man at the end of the cable. Seems they have been working on the high voltage towers all week and they put the workers on top of the towers by flying them there with the helicopter. Those guys must be really brave. First they are working with high voltage on a very high tower and they dangle from a cable from the helicopter going to and from the top of the tower. Amazing.

Was a very beautiful day here today. In the low 70’s with a very blue sky. We might get some rain on Sunday. 

Nice, Sunny Day

Took Hiker on a dog walk with Jean and her dogs this morning for the first time in over a week. She did very well. Didn’t seem to have any problems with her hip. We decided not to have a play date for the dogs because I still want Hiker to rest and she plays so rough with the other dogs that I worry that she will pull the muscle again.

I went out to run some errands this morning. Had to put gas in the car after our long drive out to the Indian Museum yesterday. I also had a $10 gift coupon from Kohl’s that they sent me for my birthday last week, but I didn’t see anything I really wanted. The coupon is good until January 31^st, but I’m not going to worry if I don’t use it because I’m not going to settle for something I don’t really want just to use it.

I also had plans to go to Lowes to pick up a small bag of grass seed and some fertilizer to fix the patches of lawn that died, but they didn’t have any inexpensive bags of fertilizer. All they had was organic stuff and it’s very expensive. So I’ll just head over to Home Depot later this week to pick some up. They usually have exactly what I want.

Was a beautiful day today. Thought About taking Hiker over to the park, but since I had her walking this morning, I didn’t want to over-do her exercise while she may still be healing from her muscle injury.

My brother Ron called me from northern California and said it was nice and sunny up there to also. They say we “may” have a chance of rain this weekend.

A Trip To The Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park

It was in the 30s here this morning, but I’m not complaining. I’d much rather be here in SoCal than back east in all of that snow, ice and flooding.

The big, black clouds that were in our sky late yesterday afternoon blew over quickly and by the time it was dark, the full moon was shining brightly.

My neighbor Jean and I headed up to the Antelope Valley around 10 am to visit the AV Indian Museum. I’ve been wanting to visit this place for quite a while. It is way out in the middle of nowhere. Seemed like we drove for miles after we got off the freeway. But it as well worth it. Very interesting place and great scenery for photos. I will be posting those as soon as I get them uploaded to my computer.

On the way home, we stopped in Agua Dulce to have lunch at the Sweet Water Café. I heard they changed owners and I found the food not as good and the service a lot slower than it used to be.

Hiker was glad to see me when I got home. After she greeted me, she went outside to lie in the sun.

Hiker Seems Better

Hiker is finally starting to act more like her old self. Last night she kept getting up on the sofa next to me while I was watching TV. She wanted to play and have me scratch her belly. She also came to bed with me right away instead of hanging out in the front bedroom by herself.

This morning we were in the bedroom when I was making the bed. She actually went to the steps and sniffed them, so I went over to them and “talked” to her about them. She actually tried to go up them to get onto the bed. She was a little nervous about it, but she made it. However, she didn’t want to come back down them. Instead, she jumped off the bed, which is what I really don’t want her to do. But I praised her and loved on her and told her how good she was and how brave she was to go up the stairs. Maybe eventually she’ll use them.

It was mostly cloudy here this morning when we got up. I made some eggs for breakfast then did some laundry.

We never did get the rain that the predicted. In fact, the sun was out most of the day and it was actually a nice day outside.

Hope the weather is nice tomorrow so my neighbor Jean and I can go to the Antelope Valley Indian Museum.

I Was A "Techie" Today

Hiker was acting strange again last night. She didn’t come to bed until about 3 am. Ever since she did whatever she did when she jumped off my bed and started screaming last week, she has not acted like herself. She seems more skittish than before. I think she needs a “dog whisperer”.

We got out of bed around 6 am. Jean wanted me to come over and help her set up her new laptop and to set her up on iTunes and iCloud so she can save her photos from her new iPhone 6. We were over there for 4 hours. For some reason I was having all kinds of trouble getting things to work on her new computer. Never had these kinds of problems when I set up my iTunes and iClouds 5 years ago. I guess they could have changed things in the past 5 years and that could have been part of the problem.

I finally got her photos to show on her iCloud but there are still some other problems I need to work out on it.

It got up to 73° here today, but still felt chilly for some reason. It was mostly cloudy so that could have been the reason. They say we might get some rain tomorrow, but if we do, it won’t be much. Hoping Sunday is a nice day because Jean and I are planning on driving out the Antelope Valley Indian Museum that day.

Clean House Day

Had trouble dragging my lazy butt out of bed this morning. Finally got up around 8 am.

I needed to go get my lotto tickets. I had considered walking down to the store by myself because I still don’t want to take Hiker on any long walks until after this weekend. I noticed that she cried a little bit last night when she finally came in and jumped up on the bed. The pet steps I ordered for her arrived today, so I hope I can get her to learn how to use them. So far she wants nothing to do with them. She has actually jumped over them to get on or off the bed.

Anyway, as I said, I had thought about walking down to the store alone. It’s almost 2 miles down there and back. But then Hiker looked at me with those brown eyes and I know how much she loves to ride in the car, so I lifted her into the car and we drove down to the store to buy them.

When we got home, I lifted her out of the car and what does that little stinker do? She turned around and got right back into the car. I have taught her to jump up to the floor of the car first and then jump up into the seat and that was what she did. I guess she wanted to go for another ride since she’s been cooped up in the house for almost a week, except for going outside to go potty.

I finally got around to doing the housework I’ve been putting off all week. Mopped all of my hard floors and vacuumed the carpet.

Hiker kept wanting me to go out into the back yard with her, so we went out there for a little while. She kept wanting me to play ball with her, but I’m still nervous about her running too much. Although this morning, when I sprayed her with some flea killer/repellant, when I was done, she ran around the house like a crazy dog.

It Was A "Do Nothing" Day

Today was pretty much a “do nothing” day. We got up. We had breakfast.

I went over to Sam’s Club this morning for just a few things, but those few things cost me over $100.00 because a couple of them were a little more “high priced” items.

It was dark and cloudy when we got up and when I headed over to Sam’s, but later in the morning the sun came out and it was actually in the low 70s here.

I was somewhat surprised when we actually got some rain yesterday because they kept saying on the news that we would have clouds but probably no rain.

Hiker seems to be getting better each day. She doesn’t cry at all now when she jumps up on the sofa or bed. I ordered some pet steps for her on Amazon and I’m going to try to teach her how to use them to get on and off the bed. My bed is 25” high and when she jumps down from the bed, I’m always afraid she’s going to reinjure herself or break something. I just hope when she runs out of the anti-inflammatory pills that they pain won’t come right back.

Ever since the night she jumped off the bed and hurt herself, she seems a little afraid to go in and get up on the bed. She uses to always go to bed before I did. Now she is not coming to bed until after I’m asleep.

I think she’s getting cabin fever. I went out into the back yard with her and she started running around in circles along the perimeter of the yard like a turbo dog, so it seems her hip muscle is not hurting her much right now.

It's Raining!

Today was Tuesday, so that meant lunch with my widowed girlfriends. It was very cool and cloudy all morning. My brother Ron in northern California emailed that it was raining up there and I was hoping we’d get some down here.

Met the girls at Red Robin for lunch and when I left the restaurant, it was pouring down rain.

I’m trying to get my whole house water filter serviced. The company who manufactures it called me and left a voicemail yesterday wanting to make an appointment to service it this Friday, but I promised Jean I’d help Jean with her new laptop this Friday. I thought the price they quoted me was a little high so I called the company who serviced it 3 years ago. They told me that they no longer service the filter I have, but that since they did it 3 years ago, they would check with their technicians and see if any of them would be willing to come and do it. They are supposed to call me back today.

In the meantime, I emailed the manufacturer and asked if they could come down any on their price as I’m a senior citizen and need a break. They lowered it another $25, but it’s still higher than I was hoping for. I’m waiting to hear from the company here in town that serviced it last time to see if they will do it. If not, I’ll have to contact the manufacturer to make an appointment with them.

Hiker still whimpers a little now and then, if she moves the “wrong” way. If she’s still doing that this weekend, I’ll probably take her back up to the vet to have them do x-rays. But Hiker is still jumping and running around, playing with her toys, trying to get me to play. She wants me to throw a toy for her so she can chase it, but I won’t do it because I’m afraid she’ll hurt herself more.

Cloudy, Gloomy, But No Rain

Hiker and I got out of bed at 6 am this morning. We had some breakfast and then we headed over to Jean’s house because Jean wanted me to teach her a few things on her new iPhone. She is not very tech savvy about some devices but I think she is starting to understand how it all works.

She wanted me to help her set up an iTunes account and an iCloud account, but her old laptop has Windows Vista so it would not let me download and install iTunes on it. You have to have Windows 7 or higher. So she decided to go online and buy a new laptop on Best Buy, which she is going to pick up at our local store when they have it ready for her and Friday I will once again go over to her house to help her again.

It was very cloudy all day today. Was hoping for some rain, but haven’t got any when I sent this. My brother Ron said it was raining a lot up in northern California.

I made Hiker stay in the house except when she had to go to the bathroom because I’m want her hip to heal.

I spent the day going through my 4 laptops, checking all of my email address books to make sure they all match and to delete people I no longer keep in touch with. After the nasty email I received from that b***h yesterday, I want to make sure that I don’t have anyone on my daily email blog list that told me to take them off.

My Birthday

Well Hiker is resting very quietly today. She is not crying, but I can tell she doesn’t feel well because she acts like she doesn’t know what she wants to do…go outside, stay in, sit near me, stay in the other room.

I didn’t sleep well last night worrying about her. She was in the front bedroom on the futon when I went to bed. She didn’t follow me into my bedroom as she usually does, but sometime during the night, she did come in and she did jump up onto the bed and sleep with me the rest of the night. I have no idea when she came in and I have no idea if she cried when she jumped onto the bed.

So today was my birthday, and I’d like to thank everyone who sent me a birthday email or sent me a birthday message on Facebook. I could not believe how many there were. I received a cute little birthday video in an email, but there was no name attached to it, so I had no idea who to thank for it. It said it was from “your friends”, so to whoever sent it to me…Thanks!

Got three birthday calls. My friend Marla Benedict called from Oklahoma, then my friend Karren Meggitt called from Idaho and my brother Ron called me from northern California.

I am so lucky to have my family and so many friends.

Had To Take Hiker To The Pet Hospital

We got up around 7 am this morning, had some breakfast, did some laundry and paid a bill.

I took Hiker to the new pet hospital this afternoon and we were there for about an hour and a half.

To explain why I took her, I need to tell you some history.

Three years ago, she had somehow injured herself and for a couple of days, she would cry every time she tried to jump up onto the sofa or bed. I would help her onto the bed at night and all night she would cry and moan every time she moved. I took her to a 24-hour pet hospital where they checked her out and took some x-rays and determined she had a pulled muscle in her right hip. They gave her an injection of muscle relaxant and gave me some anti-inflammatory meds to give to her. Within 2 days, she was better and didn’t have any problems.

There was one thing though, one of my friends noticed that Hiker had a little “skip” when she would be walking or hiking, but it didn’t seem to bother her. Then for a couple of years, I didn’t notice the “skip”. But then one day about 3 months ago, Jean and I had taken Hiker and Jean’s dogs over to the dog park and we noticed Hiker skipping again when she ran.

Well Hiker had seemed fine for all this time until last month. I noticed she was once again whimpering when she would jump up on the sofa or bed. I had an appointment at Tags Vet Clinic to have her teeth cleaned, so while there, I had their vet look at her. He thought she had “tweaked” her back and gave me some pain killer medication, and within 3 days, she was fine again.

Since then, I’ve taken her on several walks and a couple of hikes and she seemed to have no problems, but I again noticed she was having that little “skip” in her walk again.

About 2 or 3 nights ago, she was on the bed with me and I was rubbing her belly. She decided to get of the bed and she jumped off. When she hit the floor, she made that terrible yipping sound like a dog who had been hit by a car. She ran into the living room, yipping loudly all the way with me right behind her. She hid in the corner by the dining room table and did not want me to touch her. She growled and nipped at me when I tried to see if she was OK. I let her alone and around 1 am, she came back to bed and didn’t make any sound of pain when she jumped back up onto the bed. I checker her out and it didn’t appear that anything was broken. The next morning, she was back to normal…running around playing and having no pain but I kept an eye on her.

I took her on a short hike on Thursday and she didn’t seem to have any problem. In fact, she was pulling me up the hill on the trail. Friday morning, Jean and I took the dogs for a morning walk and she seemed fine then too. But when Jean was grooming her, she yipped a couple of times when Jean was trying to wash her backside.

All this time though, Hiker has been playing with me, running around, wrestling on the sofa, etc. She loves to roughhouse with me.

So we now come back to today. I was sitting on the sofa checking my email on my laptop. Hiker was on the other end of the sofa sleeping. She woke up and went to jump off of the sofa and the minute she hit the floor, she once again let out that terrible yipping. She got on her big pillow in front of the fireplace and continued to cry. I immediately went to her and once again, she didn’t want me to touch her. I finally got her to calm down and I immediately put her in the car and took her up to Little Paws Pet Hospital.

It's a fairly new vet hospital and several neighbors have tried it and said the vet was great and that they really liked the service. Little Paws takes “walk-ins” so I checked Hiker in and we sat for about an hour waiting for the doctor to see Hiker. The vet is a young woman and very nice. She asked me if Hiker was eating and going to the bathroom normally and I said she was. She tried to check Hiker out, but Hiker tried to bite her, so she had to put a muzzle on Hiker. While I held Hiker’s head, the doctor started checking out Hiker’s shoulders, back and hips. She noticed that Hiker’s right hip would not extend as far as the left hip did. I’m thinking that when she had the pulled hip muscle 3 years ago that it was the right side.

Well the doctor thinks the hip muscle is pulled again. She gave me some chewable anti-inflammatory meds to give to Hiker for a week and she told me to bring Hiker back in a week if she is not better so they can do x-rays.

I feel so bad when Hiker hurts. It makes me want to cry when she is in pain. It’s like when human babies hurt and cannot tell you what’s wrong.

Hiker is such an active dog. She loves to run and jump and like I said, she loves to roughhouse with me, so I can understand how she would have muscle injuries.

So that is how Hiker and I spent our day.

Helping My Neighbor Buy A New iPhone

Running late with my daily email today. We had a dog walk with Jean and her dogs this morning and then we went to Jean’s house so she could groom Hiker.

I had a $5 off coupon for lunch at Sizzler for my birthday, so we decided to go there for lunch and Jean wanted to go buy a new smart phone. She has never had one, so it was a big decision for her.

Me and the sales girls talked her into the iPhone 6 because we both felt it was the best and the easiest to use, plus if Jean has any questions, I can help her since I have an iPhone and no more about them.

We were gone all afternoon and didn’t get back home until around 3 pm and Jean wanted me to show her some basics on the phone so she could use it until we have time to actually sit down and run over all of the other bells and whistles.

I’m sure she’ll be calling me to ask a lot of questions.

Short Hike In Placerita Canyon

Only slept in for a short time this morning. I wanted to go over to Wal-Mart and I don’t like going later in the day because they get too crowded.

It was cold and cloudy when I went over there but when I got back home, the sun started to peek through the clouds a little.

Didn’t do much most of the day, but after lunch, I did take Hiker over to Placerita Canyon Nature Center and we hiked around a little just to get out of the house. I know Hiker gets “cabin fever” when we don’t get out a few times a week.

I noticed that the creek in the canyon was dry again. It was running for a little bit when we were having the rains, but it hasn’t rained in almost 2 weeks now.

Tomorrow we are doing a dog walk with Jean and her dogs in the morning. After the walk, Jean is going to groom Hiker and then Jean wants me to go with her to buy a new cell phone and we are going to Sizzler for lunch because I received an email from them for $5 of any lunch for my birthday (which is this Sunday).

Grocery Shopping Day

It was cold this morning, so Hiker and I stayed under the covers until a little after 7 am. Had a poached egg sandwich for breakfast and then I headed out to grocery store to do my grocery shopping.

Was cloudy this morning and my brother Ron said he was getting a little rain in northern California but we are not getting any here and they keep saying they don’t see any here for quite a while. There are storms on the ocean headed this way, but we have a high pressure system over us and it is making the storms go north and away from us. I hope our “El Nino” is not over. We still need a lot more rain.

With the new “adult coloring book craze”, I decided to buy some coloring pencils and a sharpener, but instead of getting a coloring book, I decided to go online and look for free downloadable coloring pages. The books seem to contain mostly geometric things to color and I prefer nature or landscapes to color. You’d be surprised how many free downloadable pages there are.

The sun came out in the afternoon, but there were still a few clouds in the sky.

Had Lunch With My Best Friends Today

Today I had lunch with my widowed girlfriends. It was the first time we’d been together in a month because of the holidays, illnesses and other commitments.

It was so good to see all of them again. I really missed them.

We went to the Olive Garden. My friend DeDee bought my lunch due to the fact that my birthday is this weekend. Thanks again DeDee!

Heard on the news today that there are many storms building up out on the Pacific Ocean, but they think that they will fizzle out before the reach California. I hope those rains we had a couple of weeks ago is not all of the El Nino we are going to get.

It was sunny and clear here all day. In the mid 60’s and a bit breezy.

Just Another Monday

Up early for a walk with Jean and her dogs.

Had some breakfast after the walk and then Hiker and I went out to run some errands. I had to buy my lottery tickets. Got the one ticket for Powerball that I share with my friend Ed. Ed was Ben’s best buddy for many years. Ben and Ed used to share lottery tickets and after Ben died, Ed told me he’s like to continue sharing the ticket with me in honor of Ben, so we’ve been doing that.

Had to fill the car with gas and then Hiker and I headed up to Pet Smart. I had a $3 coupon, so I bought Hiker a chub of refrigerated Freshpet food and also bought her a bag of some treats that she likes. While there, she got 3 cookies from the person at the register and she had 3 people ask if they could pet her.

Was partly cloudy all day and in the 60’s.

Cloudy Sunday

Hiker woke me up around 6 am so she could go outside to potty. It was drizzly and foggy. When she came back in, we got back into bed and I turned on the TV to watch “CBS Sunday Morning”. Got up around 7 am and made some waffles.

They say we “might” get some rain on Wednesday, but that’s the only day so far. My week won’t be too busy. Planning on meeting my widowed friends for lunch on Tuesday and Jean is going to groom Hiker on Friday. Other than that, probably won’t leave the house much. I will probably take Hiker up to Pet Smart on Monday because I have a $3 of coupon the expires on Tuesday. I’ll use it to buy her some doggy treats.

Around 10:30 I took Hiker for a 2 miles walk down along the riverbed. It’s all dry again, but I’ll bet it was flowing really good when we were having all of that rain last week.

Really got some exercise today…first the walk and then in the afternoon I vacuumed. Hiker “hid” in the back yard on the patio until I was done. I cannot believe how much dirt and dog hair my Shark vacuum pulls up out of the carpet. A lot more than my old Dyson ever did.

The sun peeked out a few times but stayed pretty much cloudy most of the day.

Dark And Gloomy All Day

We slept in a little this morning. Was cloudy and cold when we did get out of bed. I made us some poached eggs and then put my laundry into the washer.

The mowers came and today they put some chemical food on my lawn. Wish they had done that last week before the rain, but then, as hard as it rained, it may have washed it all away. We have a 20% chance for rain today, but don’t know if we’ll get it.

Around 12:15 I got a call from Kaiser’s optical department here in Santa Clarita telling me that my eyeglasses had arrived from Panorama City and that I could pick them up at any time, so I jumped in the car and headed over there. While there, I mentioned that I was also waiting for my contact lenses to be delivered from Panorama City and they told me that they had also arrived this morning, so that worked out really well for me.

It stayed cloudy all day and only got up to around 58°. As of right now, we have not gotten any rain today. Started to drizzle at 4 pm.

Beautiful Day and Good Lunch With Friends

Hiker and I got up early this morning to do a dog walk with my neighbor Jean and her dogs. It was cold out this morning because the sky was crystal clear. We didn’t let the dogs play in my yard because it was way too muddy.

Later in the day, Jean and I drove up to Agua Dulce to meet up with my good friend Judy to have lunch at a little Mexican Restaurant called Maria Bonita. I had also invited my friend Robyn, but she is still getting over a bad cold and decided to stay home. The food was very good.

After lunch, we drove across the street and looked around in an antique store that is there. It is called Bullwinkle’s.

It was a beautiful day. Saw some snow on the tops of the mountains to the northeast of Santa Clarita.

Typical Thursday

Slept in this morning. It rained all night but was not raining when we got up this morning and did not rain all day.

Had some breakfast and then remembered that I need to go get my lottery tickets for Saturday. I put Hiker in the car and headed for the liquor store to get the tickets. Noticed when there that the payout for this Saturday on the Powerball is $700 million.

On the way back home, we stopped at Discovery Park. I had my camera with me and wanted to take some photos of the beautiful sky this morning.

Stayed home the rest of the day.

Got a call from Kaiser telling me that my eyeglasses were ready for pickup in Panorama City. I told them they had assured me they would have them delivered to the Santa Clarita office, so they said they would have someone drive them up here tomorrow or Saturday and that the Santa Clarita office would call me to come pick them up there. I was surprised the eyeglasses were ready since they supposedly had not ordered them until Tuesday when I was there. The contacts have not been delivered yet, but they too are supposed to be delivered to the Santa Clarita office, so I hope they get that right.

My friend Jean and I are supposed to drive up to Agua Dulce tomorrow to meet my friend Judy for lunch. I also invited my friend Robyn, but she said she has a sore throat, but that if she feels better, she might meet us. Sounds like she has the same yuck that I had before Christmas.

And The Rain Continues

Didn’t sleep very well last night. I guess I was so stressed driving in that rain storm yesterday that I had a “death grip” on the steering wheel because my neck and shoulders were killing me. I tossed and turned all night.

It was not raining when Hiker went outside at 6 am and the sun actually peeked out for a second when I was out back around 7:30 am picking up her poop in the yard. The local news said the storm today would not come in until around 11 am, however, it actually started to drizzle around 8:30 am.

Since I didn’t really feel that well, and because of the storm coming, I had not planned on leaving home for any reason. But then I noticed I was getting very low on toilet paper and toilet paper is a very important thing to have, so I drove over to Sam’s Club to buy some and while there, I picked up other things I needed. While there, I felt like I was walking around in a dream because for some reason, my head felt like it was full of mush. Could be from lack of sleep last night.

I didn’t even put my contact lens on this morning. But then, I really don’t need to wear it all the time as I do have my eyeglasses too.

Just before lunch time we were under a flash flood/severe thunder storm warning. It was really coming down hard and the wind was blowing like crazy. It lasted about 20 minutes. Hiker and I stayed inside the warm house with a fire in the fireplace staying warm and dry.

Another cloud burst came through around 1:30 pm. We had a total of 1.03” of rain by 3 pm.

It Never Rains In California

Had my follow-up appointment at Kaiser with the Optometrist this morning. It was pouring down rain when I left home. I don’t like driving some freeways, so I always take the surface streets down to Panorama City. Just as I was going into the Newhall Pass at the corner of Sierra Highway and Newhall Ranch Road, I was stopped at the traffic light. The wind was blowing really hard and it was pouring. It was like a small tornado was going through. The car was shaking and there were leaves and papers blowing around in a circle.

When I got into the pass, the clouds were on the ground, so along with the rain and the fog, it was very difficult to see and there were deep puddles along the side of the roads.

My appointment was at 10:25 and I got there just before 10:00. The doctor rechecked my vision with the contact lens and he checked the fit of the lens one more time and then said I was good to go. The contact lens technician ordered a one-year supply of the “Daily” contact lenses and the eyeglasses technician ordered my eyeglasses. They both told me that they would have them shipped up to the Kaiser Center here in Santa Clarita so I won’t have to drive down to Panorama City to pick them up.

Last week, they only gave me a one week supply of contact lenses, so I asked for more to wear until my boxes of lenses arrive. They only had 2 packs of my prescription, but the optometrist said they could give me 5 packs of lenses that are just a little less prescription so that I could have a full one-week supply.

The doctor and I were talking about the rain and the fact that I had to drive down in it from Santa Clarita. He told me that there is talk of Kaiser building a hospital in the Santa Clarita Valley in the next few years. I doubt I’ll be around whenever they decide to do that and have one built and complete. They are opening up another medical building in 2017 that will offer us more kinds of services here. That will be nice.

As of 2:30 pm, we have had 2.24” of rain here according to my personal weather station.

At least most people were driving like “normal human beings” today instead of like a bunch of crazy people. I guess since we have not had rain like this in several years that people were a little nervous about driving in it.

Where Is The Rain?

Monday is usually a “dog walk with Jean and her dogs” day, but this morning at 6 am, it was extremely cloudy outside and when I turned on the local morning news, they said it was raining over in the San Fernando Valley and that the rain was headed this way. I called Jean and said we’d better not walk the dogs because we might get caught in a downpour.

Hiker and I got back into bed and I was watching the rest of the morning news when Jean called me and said it was starting to sprinkle. Hiker and I stayed in bed until 7:30 am, got up, had some breakfast, and then headed to the liquor store to get my lottery tickets.

When we got back home, I decided to clean both of my bathrooms. December was so busy and I also had that cold, so I didn’t get anything cleaned then. When I got done cleaning, I looked outside and the sun was shining brightly. Where did the rain go?

So they keep saying that tomorrow we are going to get a really BIG storm. They are saying 2” to 4”. I have to drive down to the San Fernando Valley tomorrow, so I’m hoping the rain doesn’t come until I get back home.

It did start getting cloudy again in the afternoon, so maybe they are right about a storm coming in tomorrow. I sure hope it waits until I get home.

Slow Down Sunday

Stayed in bed this morning until around 7:45 am watching “CBS Sunday Morning”. Got up and had some waffles for breakfast, put some laundry into the washing machine and then paid some bills online.

It was in the mid-30’s here this morning. It was partly cloudy but the sun was shining. They say we are going to have rain every day this coming week starting later tonight. I guess there are 3 storms coming in off of the Pacific Ocean. I want the rain because we need it, but I hate that I’ll have to drive in the rain to go down to Panorama City on Tuesday morning for my follow-up appointment with the optometrist.

I watched a few movies on the Encore Channel on TV, one being “Fried Green Tomatoes”, which has always been one of my very favorite movies. Does anyone besides me think that Jessica Tandy’s character was actually Idgie?

Did a little housework in the afternoon and now I’m pooped.

Just Me And Hiker Again

We slept in some today. We had run around so much for the past 4 days that we were all pooped. I got up just before 8 am and Hiker woke Keith up a little after 8 am. I made us some breakfast and then we just hung out at the house for a while. I had to wait for the mowers to come so I could pay them.

Since we were not able to eat at Stonefire Grill yesterday, we decided to go over there today for lunch. Sorry we did. They must have changed owners or cooks or something. The food was not as good as it used to be.

We came back home because Keith wanted to get ready to head for home. It was so beautiful outside that we went out and sat on my patio for a while and also played ball with Hiker some.

Keith left to head home just after 1 pm. It usually takes him about an hour and a half to two hours to get home. After having him here for almost 5 days, the house seems lonely now.

New Year's Day

Hiker and I got up at 7 am because we were doing a dog walk with Jean and her dogs at 8:30 am. Keith stayed in bed a little bit longer, but he was up by the time we left for the walk.

It was very cold when we were out walking. It wasn’t so much the temperature, but the wind was blowing and the wind was like ice. After the walk, we let the dogs play in my back yard for a little while.

After Jean went home, Keith, Hiker and I hung out at home for a little while and then Keith and I headed out for lunch. We had planned to go to the Stone Fire Grill but when we got there they had not opened yet. We were there just before 11:30 am, but because it was New Year’s Day, they were not opening until noon. I guess they figured people stayed up late last night so they’d open later today.

Since we had not had any breakfast, we were hungry, so instead of waiting, we drove over to Johnny Rockets and had lunch there instead. I love 1950’s retro diners and they always play good music.

We had thought about taking Hiker on a hike today, but the wind was just way too cold. So Keith and I decided to stay inside and watch “Interstellar” on Amazon Prime.