Three weeks in May, May 3 - 23, 2021

It has been a busy month but one that has also been quiet.  Busy with finishing up my four classes that I taught at NVU and VTC, but still quiet with only starting to go out to do things.  

Ben and Martha bought us a digital photo frame and sometimes we see photos about which we have questions.  So we take a photo of the photo and email them to ask about it.

For the past year, I have been the host and emcee for our weekly Tuesday Docent zoom sessions.  As a thank you, one of the docents did this water color drawing of me.

Another docent does pottery and made this for me.

The docents also made a donation in my honor to Habitat for Humanity.

Patty and I built a small raised garden bed in the back yard.  To keep it from moving, I had to anchor it to the beams below it (the beams below are partially buried and are from the prior owner).  So I had to get lag bolts and washers.

 

 

Patty likes making and l like eating gnocchi.  So we buy a couple of different brands depending on what the local store has in stock.

This is Patty's favorite lotion - the local store is out, so it has to be ordered from the farm that produces it.

One of the key fobs for the car needed new batteries.

Wicked winds on the 21st, enough to uproot a 20 foot tall aspen tree in the HOA next to ours.

Now that we have been vaccinated as have many of our friends and family, we are getting out some.  We have gone to Phoenix a couple of times, for projects (ceiling fan and electrical outlet on the patio, hot water circulating pump and new spigot), for dentist appointments and to visit Megan and family friends.  We even went to a restaurant yesterday for lunch - Moscato's Italian Restaurant in Camp Verde is half way between Prescott and Flagstaff, so Anne and Shawn drove from Prescott to meet us there.  It seems as if things are slowing getting back to some semblance of the old normal.

 

The End of April and start of May, April 8 to May 2, 2021

After those new/redone posts from 2011, it is back to the present of 2021.  After getting the second dose of the Covid vaccine, Patty found a cute tee shirt - I GOT MY FAUCI OUCHIE!! 

She got a surprise belated birthday gift of some cute socks - TOO SEXY TO BE 70!!

On the 17th, we bought some plants at Warners Nursery - these are inside plants using the grow light I got Patty for her birthday.  We saw this cute sign while we were there.

When we got home, Patty found this picture of bacon flowers!

 

On the 18th, we hiked through Buffalo Park and out on the Arizona Trail.  We had done this hike a couple of times before, but on the return route we saw lots of trees that were blown down in the recent windstorm.

We had warm sunny weather, including having drinks with neighbors out in the sun while sitting in our driveway on Friday the 16th - temps in the 60s and bright sunshine.  But then we had nights with below freezing temps, requiring us to bring plants inside over night.  And twice we had snow, including on Tuesday the 27th.  This was at 8:00 a.m. in the back yard.

And this was at 10:00 a.m. looking out the front window.

On Saturday May 1, we went half way up Mount Humphries to hike.  My elevation app showed us at a bit above 8,500 feet elevation.  While there was snow further up the mountain at the Snowbowl Ski resort, there was no snow and no water on our hike - it is very, very dry here this spring.  We were in the Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area on what an online guide referred to as the Veit Springs trail.  It goes out about a half mile, then goes around a mile long loop before returning over the initial half mile.  Out on the loop, there is a short 1/4 mile out and back trail.

This map shows the route we took.

One of the first things Patty found was part of a deer's leg.

We saw some huge snags.

While the trail had some ups and downs, it was used as an access road by the forest service for the small flood control dam and the power lines that run through this part of the national forest.  It was very easy to hike.

At the start of the side trail, there is a memorial marker.

 

 

About 50 yards beyond the memorial was this sign.  We walked the quarter mile to where this side trail ended at a cliff which had a small cave - we did not see anything that resembled a cabin, or pictographs or any of the springs or ponds listed on the map at the start of the trail.

We came across some odd shaped trees and gnarly branches - it is amazing how plants can adapt.

 

 

On Sunday afternoon, after doing some yard work, Patty worked outside on her needlepoint project and Paulie rested next to her.

And now we head into summer - we wonder what this year will bring us as we start to venture out more now that we have been vaccinated.

Part V, Poland with Habitat for Humanity, July 4 - 7, 2011

For some unknown reason that I do not remember now, I had no photos from Monday, July 4.  I think it may be because we had the day off (Independence Day in America?) and just did not do anything special.

During a break on Tuesday, I walked around the campus of buildings here. In addition to the building we are renovating and the extended care facility for the elderly (the white building on the left in the photo), when you enter the campus you encounter this building.

Here is another view of the extended care facility from the front gate.

 The first building as you come in the gate was built in 1890.

I don't know what this building is, but it is the second one as you come on campus heading for the building we are working on.

This is the third building.

This inscription was on our building and is dated October 5, 1905 and appears to be from 1 Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5: You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

This is one of two cemeteries on the campus, behind the Lutheran Chapel.

This building is behind the cemetery that is behind the Lutheran Chapel.

It was built in 1894.

This addition to the building where we are working is slated for demolition (everything to the right of the green). However, because of Polish safety regulations, we could not work on the demolition.

We have made much progress in the basement. Here, the tile floor was jack-hammered out, a new drain pipe was added for a new sink and concrete was put in over the pipe.

This shower drain was dug out about 18 inches below the concrete, new large pipes were installed and today the new concrete was put in. You may remember an earlier photo of me sitting here digging out the old pipe.

This shower drain was also dug out, new drain pipes installed and today, new concrete was installed.

And the last hole was filled in over the new pipes and several of the young members of our team were allowed to leave their marks in the concrete.

We also had to take out several sections of non-load bearing walls and we saved the bricks, removed the mortar and now the bricks are ready for use in the next round of construction.

Here's Kyle plastering over cracks and holes in the wall in the entrance hall.

Today, again due to rainy weather, had lunch inside again. It has rained most everyday we have been here, we only had lunch outside twice.

 

 

Tuesday night we had a free night - I chose to stay at the hotel, read more of "Clarence Darrow, Attorney for the Damned" (the chapter on the Scopes "Monkey" trial), and had beer and pizza. Wednesday was the last work day before we headed back to Krakow on Thursday.

 

Wednesday it was mostly time to clean up our worksite.   I remembered to take a photo of our favorite grocery store, Lidl. They were a five minute walk from our building site. If you zoom in on the billboard below the Lidl sign, you will see an ad for a new condo development on the other side of the store.

 

 

Here are some of the rooms that we finished.

 

And Wednesday evening, we had our last team dinner.
 

Latte at the local bakery at 6:15 Thursday morning, our last day in Gliwice. And yes, I did finish the book (Clarence Darrow, Attorney for the Damned).

 

Here we are leaving our hotel, Dom Goscinny Sezam, and saying goodbye to Adam, the HFH Gliwice Director.

Today, we were told we were going to the mountains that border the Czech Republic and then on to Krakow. We thought that meant a scenic ride, getting out at vistas for 10 - 15 minutes, and then onward to the next scenic vista.

Instead they brought us to this resort that is a ski area in the winter and park in the summer.

Some of us chose to ride the ski lift up the mountain and some chose to walk.

Beautiful views from the top of the ski runs, and we had lunch at one of the cafes there.

From there is about a 20 minute walk to the border.

Left foot in the Czech Republic and right foot in Poland.

And then it was back in the bus for the ride to Krakow, where some people were leaving that evening, some staying for several days, and some like me, just staying that night and then catching an early morning flight Friday.  For me, it was the typical Friday travel, about 24 hours door to door.  And so another Habitat adventure has come to an end.