After cold weather our first week here in Casa Grande, then we had rain – two full nights and days of constant rain. We were going a little stir-crazy in this small space. I heard a rumor this morning that we got one and a half inches. Today is partly cloudy, tomorrow predicted to be sunny again before more rainy days over the weekend.


Paddy got a tooth ache last week. Yesterday he saw a local dentist who said he needed a root canal. It is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Not sure what sort of pain relief they are planning, but he does not need a driver to bring him home. Maybe just Novocain, apparently no Versed.

Shaddy is not able to jump on the bed anymore. The bed in Uncle Joe is very high, so we have been using a “bounce” box for him to jump on, then jump from there up to the bed. He has missed the second jump a few times lately and seems to be convinced that he can’t make it anymore. We went to PetSmart the other day and bought him a little four-step system but he refused to use it. He would put his front paws on the second or third step but not put his back feet on the lower step; then he would squeak and cry for help. We tried several techniques to train him, but it seemed too intimidating for him and he refused to use the steps. In his defense, they were very tiny steps. Anyway, Paddy returned the steps today while I was at woodcarving.  We'll just have to pick him up and put him on the bed. 

Yes, I’ve been to the woodcarving group a couple of times now. The group is all men, and none of them are doing chip carving, but they are very nice and welcoming. My experience with woodcarvers in other parks is that quite a bit of the conversation is political in nature – conservative politics at that. These guys don’t talk about politics or religion. A good practice with such a diverse group.

I’ve only been to water aerobics one time so far. I’m planning to go again tomorrow. It was too cold the first week here (still in the 30s at 9:00 am). Then it was rainy, and they don’t have it when it rains because they use a CD to lead the class. Anyway, I’m clearly a fair-weather aerobicist.

Paddy is already deep into his lawn bowling, going almost every weekday; they don’t do it on weekends. The tradition in lawn bowling is to wear all white, but here they relax that rule except on Fridays, so Paddy wore white last Friday. He looked cute, even has a white hat and white shoes.  As he said he looked like the Michelin man. 

Next week daughter Elaine and her husband Jean-Marie will be coming for a visit.  They plan to drive straight through from Houston, about 1100 miles.  Yikes!  They're awfully energetic.  We're looking forward to seeing them; they will be here for about three days.  The weather forecast is for sun while they are here, so we should be able to show them around a bit.