04/4/2020

It was another warm, breezy day here in the Coachella Valley. No more earthquakes but the wind gusts were rocking the coach in the late evening as I sat, struggling to write this blog post. It wasn’t that we didn’t do anything, yep, we did more of the same from the last fifteen days. Honestly, I just can’t seem to find any good news that Mayes we think this is ending any time soon. As I sat, listening to music, toggling across multiple news channels looking for something that would lift my spirits this song by Train came on. The first verse was hauntingly poetic:

I need a sign to let me know you’re here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know that things are gonna look up
‘Cause I feel us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup
When there is no place safe
And no safe place to put my head
When you feel the world shake
From the words that are said

The second verse kinda just summed up exactly how I was feeling.

I need a sign to let me know you’re here
‘Cause my TV set just keeps it all from being clear
I want a reason for the way things have to be
I need a hand to help build up
Some kind of hope inside of me

And the chorus…well, I am up for the challenge if all of you are?

And I’m calling all angels
And I’m calling all you angels
I won’t give up if you don’t give up
I won’t give up if you don’t give up
I won’t give up if you don’t give up
I won’t give up if you don’t give up

The other thing shaking our valley was the latest health order from Riverside County. I just can’t understand with all the facts and data pouring in from all over the WORLD…why so many people aren’t taking this seriously.

“In response to the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases, Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser today ordered that no gatherings of any number of people may take place outside of family members residing in the same home.
Dr. Kaiser also ordered everyone to wear a face covering when leaving home, including essential workers.
“While more and more Riverside County residents are getting COVID-19, not everybody’s getting the message,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County public health officer. “It started with staying home, social distance and covering your face. But now we change from saying that you should to saying that you must.”

So here is how day sixteen of our sheltering in place went:

• Wally and I walked the resort and golf courses looking for Turtles. Yes…we have discovered there are turtles living in the pond on the back nine golf course. We have seen three total and actually were able to sneak up on two of them today and get pictures…not good pictures but evidence they exist and its not my red, allergy hazed eyes playing tricks on me. It’s hard sneaking up on turtles especially when they have two huge geese for body guards. They are actually big turtles so I have two think they have been living in that pond for quite awhile. They make me smile!!

• Made a big batch of chimmchurri with some of the parsley I have growing in my big herb pot on the patio. This simple condiment is an essential part of Argentinean cuisine where a bowl of chimichurri can be found on practically every dinner table. Super tasty, traditional and incredibly easy to make, chimmchurri features fresh parsley, garlic and tangy vinegar. It gets an extra kick from oregano and crushed red pepper. Chimichurri is typically served with steak but it’s also great on lamb, smoky grilled fish and chicken.  Part of this batch was going to marinate some lamb chops with the rest going into a salad dressing for later in the week.

• Wally went to Petsmart to pick up an online order that I had placed for cat litter. Since Sucia has given Arm an Hammer Cloud her four paw stamp of approval we decided to stock up. It was easy peasy, I placed the order online, Wally called Petsmart from the parking lot, gave them the order number, opened the back hatch of the car and someone brought out the bag of loot, put in in the trunk and off he went. No human contact – same thing repeated at Rubio’s where he picked up lunch. Sadly, this may be how things roll for a long time.

• People all over the world are getting creative with social media to stay connected. My friend Kristen was feeling blue because she wasn’t able to be with her mother on her birthday today. They have a long history of traveling together on her mothers birthday so today their trip was done with Kristen on a golf cart, her mother Marilyn riding along side her on FaceTime. As they toured around the resort, they stopped and met friends who sang happy birthday or chatted with the birthday girl. So Sweet…Happy Birthday Marilyn!!!

• Made that new drink, a Bourbon Smash for our outdoor cocktail date with friends. It was very tasty!!

• Fixed Chimmichuri marinated lamb chops and grilled asparagus for dinner.

• The fridge is full of possibilities but not sure what I am cooking tomorrow.

• Worked on this blog post wayyy to late …it was actually Sunday when I finished and went to bed.

Day sixteen was another day of extreme roller coaster emotions. We saw the Riverside County Health Order after our cocktail date. The more I researched and read, the more depressed I felt. The statistical model below is scary and geez…I hope they are wrong …I was hoping we would see this thing fizzle out in early May…but numbers usually don’t lie and humans are by nature non-complaint. I don’t know about you …but I am stayin home!

I won’t give up if you don’t give up
I won’t give up if you don’t give up
I won’t give up if you don’t give up

04/3/2020

It was another warm, breezy day here in the Coachella Valley. Usually in early April our community would be starting to wind down, the winter season coming to an end, folks would be thinking about going home but it would still be teeming with activity. These days it is eerily quiet, only about a quarter of the 1,213 lots are occupied. Most morning we see walkers or people bicycling but after that its a ghost town.

So here is how day fifteen of our sheltering in place went:

• Kristen and I walked the resort and golf courses looking for our duckling family. Turns out we now have three mallard families, with 8, 9 or 10 ducklings in each group. That explains why we though one was missing then miraculously reappeared. We found one family napping and grazing on the edge of the pond on the back nine golf course. One family was busy cruising on another pond, mother trying to keep all the little stinkers under control. They are all so adorable…

• Successfully got my mothers prescription sent to a local CVS pharmacy near her apartment community. With the groovy CVS app I was able to set up an account for her which alerted me when the meds were ready for pick up. I was then able to pay for for it online through the app so the Support Services Manager from her community could go pick it up.

• Wally actually left the resort today. Our good friends, John and Kristen who we are essentially sheltering in place with have a small plane, whose name is Valentina. John recently signed up with Angel Flight which is an nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization that arranges free, non-emergency air travel for children and adults with serious medical conditions and other compelling needs. Their network of 1,400+ pilots throughout the 13 western states donate their aircraft, piloting skills, and all flying costs to help families in need and they also fly missions that transport critical medical supplies, blood, plasma or donated organs to local hospitals. John needed help doing some maintenance work on plane wheels and landing gear, which is a project Wally was seriously up for! Wally has some flying experience and is excited to fly missions with John as needed. So cool!!! They took the plane up after completing the work and Wally got a few great pictures of nearby Painted Canyon which is an area we have been wanting to hike.

• Checked in on my friend Pluto. She had some great advice for all they four-leggeds today. Loved the part about not worrying about the button pants!

• I puttered around outside…it was really breezy again today and my allergies are STILL off the charts despite the daily allergy pills, nasal allergy spray and the allergy eye drops. Not sure why it is so bad this year but the wind is certainly not helping.

• Got the juicer out and went to town! Put two quarts of clementine, orange and tangelo juice in the fridge as well as a quart of pink grapefruit juice.

• Made a delicious bourbon drink with some of that fresh OJ and tangerine seltzer water. I want to try a Bourbon Smash tomorrow since I have a beautiful pot of basil growing on the patio.

• Saw the third mallard family napping near the pond on the green behind our lot while we were enjoying our cocktails on the patio. Wally got a few photos of them after their swim, marching their eight kids all home for bed! I love the shadows he captured in the photo. In the fourth photo, there is an uncle duck helping get the kids home safely. It takes a village!!!

• Did loads of laundry…boring compared to flying.

• There were a series of small earthquakes in California tonight … a 4.9 shook the coach pretty good. A friend in Palm Springs texted us and said it sounded like a freight train in their house. Being elevated on big, rubber wheels we didn’t hear anything but having lived in SoCal in the early 90’s we are no strangers to these shakers. That red splotch on the earthquake map is about where we are…eek!

• Fixed Pork Carnitas Tacos with Hatch Green Chile Black Beans for dinner. Great way to use up the pork tenderloins we grilled the other night.

• The fridge is full but not sure what I am cooking tomorrow. Maybe lamb chops…???

• Worked on this blog post while some aftershock quakes rumbled.

Day fifteen was the most eventful day so far especially all the shake, rattle and rolling later in the evening. I think Mother Nature is extra cranky with all of us disrespectful humans messing up her planet or maybe she is reminding us to just stay the hell at home. Hoping she gives Florida and Louisiana a big shake too!

04/2/2020

The warm days are bringing Painted Lady Butterfly’s by the droves. Last winter we had a lot of rain, a super bloom of flowers and Painted Ladies by the millions. Not exaggerating, millions…they floated, swooped and swished past our coach for days on end in March. This year we have had some rain, some flowers and now some Painted Ladies. They are late this year, here it is April and we are finally seeing them float through, coasting on the winds and headed for who knows where they finally land in their migration. While we were doing our resort walk today we passed by a lantana bush that was attracting dozens of these beauties. They were taking a break on the flowers, enjoying the nectar then moving on. Like they were visiting a coffee bar… I can kinda remember what that is like.

So here is how day fourteen of our sheltering in place went:

• Wally and I walked the resort looking for notable fruit producing trees. We took a spin through the orchard and came home with our pockets filled with Mexican limes. These tangy little numbers are growing in the middle of our orchard, surrounded by grapefruit, lemon and orange trees. We discovered them last week when we walked through but this week the ground was littered with them. So excited… I just used the last of my limes so these are a welcome addition to the kitchen. They start off green and are actually supposed to be yellow when they are ripe.

• Spent an enormous amount of time online looking at my mothers lab results, texting with my nurse friend Jane in Portland and trying to figure out how to get her prescription delivered.

• Sucia got a mani – pedi today. Sorry no pictures of that …its kinda hard to photograph this kitty spa treatment. She required two human attendants. I administer the spa treatment while Wally stuffs Temptation Treats in her mouth. The treats keep me from being handed my ass on a platter.

• Not doing much cooking today with my diced finger…Wally made eggs and toast for breakfast and then smoothies for lunch.

• Puttered around outside…it was really breezy today and my allergies are off the chart. Extra allergy meds, nasal allergy spray and hopefully some allergy eye drops that are in the Ralphs grocery delivery will do the trick.

• Met friends for golf cart cocktails in one of our big grassy common areas. We all parked 6-10 feet part, chatted, sipped beverages and played trivia.

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• Wally make Cubano Sandwiches with the left over pork tenderloin from last night. We had some coleslaw on the side so it was a tasty, simple dinner.

• We sat outside after dinner and Bentley entertained us with his new zesting skills. You have seen him in action with lemons but tonight he really put a hurting on a pink grapefruit and a small orange. He had us giggling with his “fruit” face but what was really impressive was his lovely citrus breath!

• The fridge is fat and happy …Alexis, our Instacart shopper came mid-afternoon with a order from Ralph’s Grocery store which is in the Kroger family of stores and is very similar to a Fred Meyer. I love this service and may honestly never shop again!!! We did give her a very nice cash tip in addition to the pre-assigned tip on the Instacart app.

• Worked on this blog post and thankfully I didn’t need my thumb to type.

Day fourteen. – WHAT – was fairly uneventful. I am really missing our hikes and day trips around the valley but am satisfied to stay home if it helps keep our little valley healthy. Wondering what all ya’ll are doing to stay healthy and sane? PS.. please tell me you are staying home too???

04/1/2020

We have a string of warm days ahead…it reached 88 degrees here today. The mornings are still cool but by 11:00 am today it was 81 degrees so we fired up the AC in the late afternoon. Once the sun went down we opened the coach back up and switched from AC to fans only which kept a nice cool air flow moving through the coach. Since we have a new coach this year there is a bit of a learning curve with how to keep us and the four-legged’s comfortable when the outdoor temperature’s go up.

There are always pros and cons with every coach and we definitely have things we really like about the new Entegra coach and things we really liked more about the Monaco coach. The windows open differently on the Entegra. Newer, high end coaches have frameless windows which aesthetically, look very nice. But, they open different, let in less air so we find it gets warmer faster in the new coach. Honestly, our older Monaco had better air circulation overall and more windows but with the upgraded living space the Entegra it is well worth the trade offs.

So here is how day thirteen of our sheltering in place went:

• Walked the resort with my SIP pal Kristen… 2.5 miles. We decided to mix it up and dusted off our bikes and rode around the resort for about thirty minutes to get the equivalent walking miles in.

• Made a curried chicken salad chicken for lunch which we enjoyed alfresco. 

• Chatted with a girlfriend in Portland, compared kitty poop stories and caught up on everything we have been doing to keep ourselves entertained while under siege.

• Had drinkies on the patio with fellow SIP friends while sitting 6 feet apart.

• Had the annual letting of blood in the kitchen while prepping dinner. Our razor sharp Santoku chef knife finally took a whack out of my left thumb. Admittedly, it was after happy hour but honestly I was a bit distracted after getting a worrisome text from one of my mothers caregivers. I managed to get the bleeding stopped while Wally drove to Rite-Aid for “WoundSeal”.

This isn’t the first time I have written about this fabulous product and I always keep this in our first aid kit. Well, except the first aid kit on the boat is apparently where I am keeping it these days. Anyhow, we had a bit of a late dinner, the first aid kit on the Roadhouse is now restocked with Wound Seal and my thumb is sporting a “Steri Strip. Boy do I have some stories about steri strips!!!

• The fridge has some room in it and we are expecting a delivery from Ralph’s tomorrow. Dinner tonight was Rice Noodles with Seared Pork, Carrots and Herbs.

• Worked on this blog post and thankfully I didn’t need my thumb to type.

Day thirteen had some unexpected excitement but alls well that ends well. Hope you enjoyed all of my first aid tips and really hope you are all healthy, sane and staying home!!!

03/31/2020

It was warm, muggy and overcast today but this made for a beautiful sunset.

So here is how day twelve of our sheltering in place went:

• Walked the resort and golf courses with my SIP pal Kristen…another 5 miles. We checked in on the 8th hole Mallard Duck family and I am sad to report we only counted nine ducklings today. Waahhhh…What was really cute and lifted my sad animal lovin heart was that mallard family had extra help protecting the ducklings from a group widgens. I almost didn’t post the picture below because its…well..so BAD. I asked Wally if he was sure that was the photo he took tonite and he said yes..so I tried to crop it and make it better, asked him again if he was sure that was tonite’s photo as upon closer inspection I counted TEN ducklings in the photos. It is still a crummy photo but Woohoo…hoping this is not a wine induced mirage.

• Wally took Bentley to the desert for their dude walk. No snakes thankfully and the old crow took a pass over but didn’t land today. Notice Bentley is sporting a new pair of bright red “running shoes” in the photo below. The desert isn’t easy on his feet and the thorns are really painful so he happily wears his booties. He had two years mileage on the first pair. All the running and skidding all over the desert finally wore out the heavy neoprene soles so he just got these bright red numbers. SASSY!!!

• Made a chopped salad with rotisserie chicken from Costco and all the newly acquired salad fixings in the fridge. 

• I vacuumed till I sweated today…good-bye cat and dog hair. It was warm enough today that I actually turned on the AC while I kicked ass on the pet filth. 

• Supported our favorite local sushi restaurant tonight by ordering take out….again.

• Fridge is plump but not full…I really had no excuse not to cook dinner tonite except pure laziness and there is a pork tenderloin on the menu tomorrow.

• Worked in this blog post, accidentally updated an old post with the new post and luckily used the revisions tab to undo my mistake. I knew better than to hit update instead of save…GRRRR. Its the wine…thats my story and I am sticking to it!!!

Day twelve just sped by. Hope all of you are healthy, sane and staying home!!!

PS… I am happy to report that Sucia pooped INSIDE the litter box yesterday. I know, not all of you may share in my over the top excitement but all you cat lovers will definitely be giving me a virtual high five. Fingers crossed the new litter and clean box will solve the mystery.

03/30/2020

Today was a much warmer here in the Coachella Valley and there is a long term forecast of mid-eighties for the next week. YAY!!! I spent part of the morning on the phone with my Mom trying to convince her it was 8:30 am not pm and cajoling here into getting ready to go to the doctor. Three frustrating calls later and with the help at staff at her community We got her to the doctor. More phone calls to her physician, who is wonderful and is facilitating getting a neurology appoint to try and understand the dementia issues.

So here is how day eleven of our sheltering in place went:

• Walked the resort with my SIP pal Kristen…we walked until our feet cried for a cold soak which was about 5 miles. The gorgeous golden torch cactus flowers I have been admiring are on their last days. But I found this little beauty on a prickly pear cactus so it is now on my watch list.

• Did some online ordering of groceries and tried in vain to find TP for my Mom who is now out. So utterly ridiculous … thankfully other residents in her community had donated some that was available to those who can’t get out and shop. The instant cart shopper who I was texting with offered to go to his house and get a few rolls to get her by. Oh for the kindness of strangers…

• Watched an interesting video which was shared by a physician in Anacortes Washington where we spend part of the year. Here is her comments “Hi everyone. I’m a surgeon and I live in Anacortes. I would love it if you all would watch this video. It is very empowering during this viral crisis. It was made by a colleague of mine who is an ICU doctor at the center of the outbreak in NYC. If we could get this video out to everyone in the community we might be able to avoid becoming a tiny NYC”. It is a long but very interesting video but hey what else do you have to do?? The Doc in the video looks so exhausted.

• Going to support a local restaurant tonight by ordering take out.

• Fridge is fuller today thanks to a delivery from Costco. SO gratefully to the Instacart shoppers, expressed our gratitude with a large cash tip and some vinyl disposable gloves.

Honestly, parts of day eleven were a bit frustrating and boring but I need to stop being a whiny twit (thanks Karen) and instead be grateful for all the good things in my life. Hope all of you are healthy, sane and staying home!!!

03/29/2020

Today was a breezy, warm, sunny day in the desert so I decided to take the day off. No in-depth report today, instead, I am sharing a few of my favorite singer-songwriter artist who are posting daily on FB. So fun to see these talented people performing acoustical music from their own home

So here is how day ten of our sheltering in place went:

• Keb Mo: I love this guy..have seen him any chance I get. What a story teller.

• Mary Chaplin Carpenter: Another talented singer-song writer storyteller who I got to see recently in Escondido California.

• Shawn Colvin: What I love about some of these current “at home” videos is how you get to see the person, raw, upfront and honest…like they are sitting in your living room, chatting with you like you are BFF’s. Shawn’s music is shaped by her life long struggle with depression…its real, so real. I hope she truly understands the gift her voice and music is to people like me across the world.

• Fridge (thanks Bill) is getting very empty. Fingers crossed on the Instacart deliveries XXXXX.

Well, so far so good…day ten was very relaxed. Hope all of you are healthy, sane and staying home!!!

03/28/2020

I slept much better last night knowing the gal who’s been checking on my Mom in the late afternoons actually cajoled my mom into letting her do a few things…like make her bed. Hoping its a break through…

Wally is our short order cook- aka “breakfast guy”. It is usually his job to fix coffee and breakfast. It can be a simple smoothie or a more elaborate frittata or omelet. Today it was a vegetable frittata with manchago cheese and toast with blueberry jam – SCORE!!!

So here is how day nine of our sheltering in place went…

• On our walk around the resort today, I made it a bit of a scavenger hunt. Not just looking at pretty pretty flora and fauna, instead looking specifically for fauna but not living fauna. Let’s just say there is plenty of non-live fauna around here, some are cute, some are pretty, some a bit assy. So, I’d love to hear your vote!!!

• Had our usual lunch salad on the patio.

• All of our sports amenities have at the resort been closed but our GM deemed it acceptable to walk on our golf courses for exercise. No golfing …just walking. Being that most of my golf balls seem to hit expense cars or in this case expensive coaches, I have decided golfing just isn’t my forte. But I love walking in golf courses, so hell yes, I was out there after lunch with my gal pal Kristen. We walked the 18 and 9 hole courses. Total mileage today – 4.8 miles!!!

• Spent part of the afternoon prepping dinner. It is a new recipe that I have been wanting to try – Grilled Cilantro Chicken with Pickled Tomato and Avocado Salsa. Also, made a layered black bean dip for an outing on Sunday.

• Chatted with friends who were preparing for a sheltering in place date. How cute its that…they were dressing up for dinner, having a cocktail on their patio and sharing a meal that they were both fixing together. Geez, I felt shamed, we were still in our grubby exercise clothes but we enjoyed our cocktail on the patio sans dress up! Guess that means I have to shower later – Thanks Mike!!!

• Chatted with another good friend who is a nurse. She reinforced to me how bad this damn virus is and how unprepared most hospitals are for a pandemic. Luckily, she is no longer an ER trauma nurse or she would be right on the front lines. For her that would be dangerous as she has compromised lung health and asthma. Instead, her pediatric speciality hospital cancelled all of their elective cases so her next 15 days will be spent sheltering in place at home with no plans to leave the house. Yep, wish everyone was taking this monster virus so seriously.

• Fixed dinner… the new recipe was a keeper. Such great flavors but actually a very simple meal. We enjoyed the grilled cilantro chicken with pickled tomato and avocado salsa along aside a crunchy slaw with a creamy avocado dressing.

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• Wrote this blog post and edited pictures. Used the slideshow feature for the fauna pictures, so let me know how you like that.

• Fridge is getting very empty. We have a Costco Instacart delivery set up for Monday and a Ralphs order set up on Thursday but the Instacart drivers are threatening to strike on Monday. After reading the attached article I can‘t say as I blame them. I have really appreciated the service those folks are providing and always tip well, even more now that COVID has changed the fabric of our world. Will see what happens but I may have to venture out next week and forage on my own.

Well, so far so good…day nine was busy in a very relaxed way. Hope all of you are healthy, sane and staying home!!!

03/27/2020

It took me a while to get going this morning. I spent the wee hours, tossing and turning. My aging mother who has mobility and health issues plus onset dementia has been weighting heavily on me lately. She lives in an independent senior community that offers loads of supportive services …if one choose to use them. She doesn’t or honestly can’t now and is very close to needing to move to the next level of care. I have had to cajole, sneak or fib my way into getting her set up with additional help.

Okay, then I read way too much corona virus news but got a sanity check when I popped on FB to see what my pal Pluto had to say today. Seems he was exhausted too and was a dog of little words today… boyO can that little dude snore! Checked in with singer songwriter Sheryl Crow again and a few other cool music video’s.

So here is how day eight of our sheltering in place went…

• Spent most of the morning/afternoon online moving my mothers accounts, setting up online payments, changing addresses and checking balances. Luckily, my mom set up her finances, will, POA and advance health directives quite some time ago. She was adamant that she wanted me as POA and for everything to be very clear legally. We have gotten to the point that I have to make some changes to protect her from herself…SIGH…

• Did chores around the coach.

• Our cat Sucia, whom I normally adore, thoughtfully pooped on the floor by my side of the bed AGAIN. As luck would have it I caught her in the act in broad daylight and didn’t step in it in the dark like the other night. Yep, I was barefoot! Adorable factor zero right now.

• Wally and I walked the resort in search of pretty flora and fauna. I spotted the first ducklings of the season…So excited “OH NO…babies…baby duckies…they are SO adorable…SO cute…Babies, TEN babies”. I can’t resist anything that is small and furry but don’t have a maternal bone in my body. Go figure! We also found another spectacular Golden Torch cactus in full bloom.

• Mixed up a couple of our specialty GT&G‘S and enjoyed them on the patio as the sun was setting. For those bartenders out there our GT&G consists of fresh grapefruit juice, fresh tangerine juice and a generous pour of gin, topped with a slash of tangerine sparkling water.

• Have been starting to crave the water and a boat fix but who knows when we will be able to head north so I pulled a package of our fresh, right from the the water dungeness crab out of the freezer. Fixed crab cakes with a garlic aioli , roasted asparagus and caesar salad for dinner. It paired nicely with the Coopers Creek Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand that was delivered just days ago.

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• Started writing this blog post, auto saved failed so I had to start all over again…GRRRR…Wrote this blog post again and edited pictures.

• Frig is getting kinda empty. Have a Costco instacart delivery set up for Monday and have been trying to get a Ralphs order set up but the delivery times keep disappearing. Trying very hard not to go into a grocery store, stay home, stay healthy and flatten the damn curve. Day eight, very uneventful. Hope all of you are healthy, sane and for crying out loud staying home!!!