Yep. Darla and Daniel are in Tijuana living in tents and using a bathroom that is no more than a trough in the ground. They are with Daniel's High School group from church building huts for the homeless of Mexico. The houses are about 400 square feet and two rooms with no electricity or plumbing, but a door and a window. I think Dad and I built the same thing in my backyard a few years ago, but I call it a shed. Actually, I built it with electricity for lights inside and on the outside, so I guess it's a condominium in Tijuana. I joke, but I'm proud of them for going and serving the needy in Mexico. I'm just glad I didn't have to go.
I will miss Darla greatly, but will take advantage of being on my own with 6 days of golf in the 8 days ahead. I will play Mather GC tomorrow, The Ridge in Auburn on Thursday for their $50 golf and Prime Rib special, Timber Creek in Roseville Friday (We get off a half day for Good Friday), Diamond Oaks on Saturday and Pebble Beach Monday and Spanish Bay on Tuesday. Whew! If my back holds up I'll be in Golf Mecca. I played golf on Saturday morning at Woodcreek with 38+42=80 against Bob Pando's 78 and Boyd's 70 (look at the company that I'm keeping). Woodcreek is exponentially tougher than Diamond Oaks, so it was nice to score on a tougher track with Pebble looming in a week.
The one problem that I'm having with Darla being gone is remembering to eat. I think I have alot of Dad in me as he was the same way after Mom passed away. Saturday I played golf in the morning and was up too late to eat breakfast. After golf, I rushed home to work on the backyard. Jennifer and John came by and I checked out her new car (NICE!), and then worked on staining the stamped concrete patio. I got a Desert Sand stain that mixes with four parts "distilled" water and is applied with a pump sprayer. When I finished with that I barely had time to shower and it was 6:30 with a Texas Hold'em poker game that one of my RGC buddies was holding at 7:00 PM. I called ahead and told him I'd be a few minutes late because I had to eat something. I finally sat down at 6:55 PM for my first meal of the day.
The poker tournament was a bit of a letdown as I was the second player out after going all in with an Ace high straight and losing to a well hidden Full House of queens over tens. The winner had pocket queens and I played three hours and never saw a pair in my hand. Oh well, that's cards.
Sunday I missed church as it was Baptism Sunday with baby blessing and kids in attendance in the church. I like family time, but not other people's families. I had to mow the lawn and then put a high gloss sealant on the deck and the flagstone around the pool. The sealant was not cheap..the stain was $180 for three quarts and the sealant was $215 for a five gallon drum. I'm thrilled with the look and it really brings out the reds and golds in the flagstone. It is a 'wet' look and the pictures above are with the deck and pool dry. I like how the flagstone looked and the deck right after I sprayed it down and now it looks like that all the time. The only problem I had is that the sealant, which is a red label product, tended to pull the dirt up and out of the stamped deck. I power washed the deck to clean it and open the pores of the cement (their words, not mine), but the sealant as it dried pulled the old dirt up and out of the deck and settled it over the stain that was put on. If the sealant had dried with the look of the stained concrete I would have been much happier. the new concrete didn't have fifteen years of built up dirt in it and looks great. The older portion of the deck looks fine, but does have a film of dirt that is now sealed onto the top of the deck. In fact, the sealant was so strong that the first pump sprayer blew out at the plastic hose when it was sitting under pressure. I used a cheap sprayer as I knew it would be eaten up by the sealant, but I was still shocked.
I still plan to buy a fabric gazebo to go over the patio table and give us a place to get out of the sun. I'm happy with the plantings and the landscaping in the backyard and I'm overall thrilled to be ready for the summer. I have one more dump run to make and then I'll have room for the jet ski on the driveway behind the shed and we'll be ready for Summer. I bought two lavender plants and some more ground cover, some dwarf Lily of the Nile and several other small tropical plants and believe it or not, I'm done with the back yard.
Jennifer's new car is really nice. It's a beautiful black pearl metallic ( I don't even know if that's a color, but it describes it perfectly). The car has a dual sunroof, with one for the front seat and a smaller one (that doesn't open) for the back. You can't really see it in the pictures because she is hiding it, but she has a walking shoe for her post surgery foot. I'm concerned that she is up and about too soon, but her foot is healing great and she is going today to have the stitches removed. She is off her crutches and still keeps her foot raised when she is relaxing. She is driving as her car is an automatic, so she doesn't have to use her left foot. When she has the same surgery on her right foot, she'll have a longer recovery and won't be able to drive. She looks great and is in good spirits.
Well, folks, my next update will be late as I'll be in PEBBLE BEACH next Monday and Tuesday. I'll let you know how that goes in my next epistle. Take care and give Glory to the Risen Lord!! Happy Easter.
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