Super Bowl Day

61 degrees here near Harlingen, Texas at 8:40 pm.  Super Bowl on TV - been working the laptop and reading book as I watch it.

Phyllis' cousin Jan Guthrie Frye and her husband Lynn came to Kenwood RV Park this morning to attend church with us and then we went out to eat at the brand new Golden Corral in Harlingen.

They live and farm just south of Lincoln, NE and are taking a month winter vacation with their 5th-wheel and spending a week or so of that here in the Rio Grande Valley.

We have been in the 40's most mornings with humidity usually in the 80's, but warming up nicely by afternoons.   This shows humidity of 16% and temp of 72 degrees about 4 pm yesterday (Saturday)

At last Thursday's Meet and Greet, the ladies who work on quilts (for Care & Share) left their various tables set up and Phyllis explained the various "stations" as they progress through cutting blocks, laying them out for queen size quilts, sewing them together, adding batting and backing, and tying them together before hemming the edges of the quilts.

Phyllis checking on the computer early in the morning.

Got all the netting on the

tomato cage; put the door

on and attached latch this

afternoon.  Let the

tomatoes grow!!

Phyllis found the sun to be delightful
late this afternoon.

Sometimes it takes more
than one position to
get comfortable while
snoozing in the sun.






More later, Lynn

Another "cool" spell

La Feria, Texas  (I read a lot of blogs, mostly RV people, who seldom put where they are.  Would be helpful if they did - as many are on the move)  55 degrees as I write this at 9:00 am on Thursday.  Was 43 degrees earlier.  That may not sound cool to many of you in the north, but for wearing short pants, and being outside much of the day it is a little cool, especially since we almost always have wind blowing here in the valley.

Went to exercises this morning and then I came back to the house and got the pickup to move the sewing material from the storage shed over to the rec hall where Phyllis and the gals will work on quilts until 3 pm.

Yesterday we skipped exercise and went directly to laboratory in Harlingen for my A1Ca Blood draw then drove back to Las Vegas Restaurant for a delightful breakfast before doing an hour or so shopping at Walmart -- both for our stuff and for the kitchen at the Rec Hall. 

I worked most of the day putting

netting on some frames (that

can be taken down and stored

inside when we leave in March)

for the tomato plants.

By late in the afternoon I had both

ends and the top on, and moved

the potted tomato plants

in it and staked them more

permanently than the small

sticks I had in the pots.

Will work on making

a front that is easily accessible

to water and later pick tomatoes.

There are quite a few blooms 

and several really small tomatoes

on some plants now.

Went to Pot Luck supper at 5 pm yesterday at the Rec Hall.  Lots of Pasta dishes - one long, narrow noodley thing with spinach and small shrimp and a tomato base.  All really good and, of course, overate.  At 6:30 pm we had Neher's and Raab's over to our place for Pegs & Jokers.

Unloading groceries

after getting back from the

Walmart store about

8 miles from us in Harlingen.

Photos of Tuesday's Craft Sale in our park.

At noon a lunch was sold.

Had choice of Jumbo Hot Dog, 

hamburger, Charo beans, and

seems like something else.

Phyllis visiting with Denny Armet.

He is from Marshalltown, Iowa

and used to live near us in

our park.  He moved over 

to a park a few miles east

of us when he bought

a park model a couple years

ago.  Good to see him.  He gets

around fairly often; after loosing his

wife, Pam, several years ago.

Reading the obituaries from KMA Radio website each day, seeing more and more friends - or at least acquaintances - passing on.  Ages are mostly older than ours, but more and more in our age bracket and younger.  Never know how much time.  

With that in mind, we are trying to cram all we can into what we time we have. 

We have lined up a trip into Mexico Click HERE for website leaving March 4tth for one week.  We will be flying from Reynosa, in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico (just across the border south of McAllen, TX) in to Mexico City. Our dear friend Patty Steckelberg, from Shenandoah, IA, will be traveling with us.  We will tour in and around Mexico City for most of three days before going west to

Zitácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.  After spending the night there we will go northwest to Ocampo, Guanajuato

Mexico near where we will see the Monarch butterfly in their winter habitat. Along with other local sites we will then go to San Miguel de Allende back towards Mexico City.  On our last day we fly from Mexico City back to Reynosa and then cross the border the the Rio Grande Valley.  Have been getting Passport info to the tour guide who will be on our plain/bus and trying to determine clothes (told most of the nights will be cool) and things to take with us.  The guide, who we talked with here at Kenwood, was born in Mexico, has family there and though he lives in the Valley now, still goes back and forth.  He felt the flying into Mexico City and back was the only way to go now insofar as safety from some of the drug cartel problems.

So, must quit this computer work and get back to making a front, with door, for the tomato cage.

Later, Lynn

Have updated photos so far in February for you to look at, if you're interested CLICK HERE 

And, my January 2016 photos are HERE

End of January 2016

Was 88 degrees mid-day today (Sunday January 31st)  Almost hot--for January.
Been a busy time.  Will post pictures of some
of the activity.

As I write now is Monday afternoon.

Photos are of us eating at Stefano's Pizza

and Pasta Restaurant on west side

of Harlingen.  Was

made up of about 15

people who had attended

church at the Rec Hall

here in Kenwood RV Park.

Orville Crane

and Butch Geisking

sort of set off by

themselves..........

Theresa played the organ

and Lavin played the piano

at church service -

Rev. Baker gave the sermon.

 While we were

out Saturday we went 

through the car wash.

Here is what it was

like (about half the

pictures I took while

we went through)

Spent time Saturday at

the Mexican Flea Market

in Alamo.  Prices of 

haircuts on a barbershop

within the flee market.

Playing Pegs & Jokers

at the Raabs.  In this photo 

Betty Salzwedel, Bob Raab, Bobi Raab.

In this photo Larold Neher,

Phyllis Miles, and Doug Salzwedel

Bobi served a 

terrific desert cake.

Last week, on Thursday, we rode

with Dave & Jan Engle and Jerry and 

Lillian Witt to The Texas Gold

Shrimp along the Brownsville

gulf.  Watched an interesting video

on how the shrimp is sorted and packed

at nearby Port Isabel, Texas

This and following photos

are of a video of the process

of sorting and packing the shrimp

after they are 

People from Kenwood watching demonstration of devaining the shrimp  Seen are Phyllis, Shorty Ramsbacker, Jan Engle,  Jerry Witt, Dave Engle, and Lillian Witt.

 This is a
smaller "sampler" net that is
put down first for about 30 minutes
of running to see if there is enough
shrimp in the area to lower the
huge nets to shrimp.

Our crowd watching

and listening to Leonard (below)

as he tells how the boats go out with 3 to 6 people (depending on the run of shrimp, usually from 1 to 5 weeks at a time.  Captain lines up his own crew and the captain gets a percentage of the sale of shrimp and pays a percentage of diesel burned by the boat.  The captain hires his own crew and pays them out of his percentage of shrimp sale.

Showing the very long "feelers" that the shrimp have.  They stay under the sand and feel out if the krill is going by which they suck in and eat.  They also eat any other shrimp they bump into.

This guy is squeezing off

the heads of the shrimp(s).  They must do this to all that come out of a net before the next net comes in, sometimes within 30 minutes when on really good ground and sometimes every hour.  They go from him to the bucket directly to mesh container I somehow did not get a photo of.

 These 4 bags and pail contain items mixed with water and put in the white box below them.  They get the temperature down to 23 degrees below zero and the shrimp are quick frozen in this in plastic mesh containers, then taken out after 20 minutes and placed in the large refrigerated hold below deck which is around 12 degrees, I think.

In Kitchen/eating area of boat.

Kitchen area

Eating area.

The "head"

Wheel house

Well, as usual, I have done this in several sittings.  It is now 12:15 pm on Tuesday - and 72 degrees, partly cloudy and 17-20 mph winds straight out of the north (they just switched to the north).  This "Cool" front is to have us in the 60 to 70 degree range instead of the upper 80's we have had last couple days.

Didn't have exercises this morning as the hall was set up for Craft Carnival.  Looked like a fairly good turnout.  After going down to Walgreen's (This is Senior Citizen 20% discount day - first Tuesday of each month) we came back and ate lunch at the hall.  The Crafters must start packing up at 12 noon so the Blue Grass jam can set up and start performing at 1:30 pm.

Will fill in some more sometime.  --- anybody got comments?  It is supposed to be easier to make them now.

Later, Lynn