July 20th: Holiday weekend, more of the same, and Shingles Alert!

Encinitas YMCA pools

On a happy note, I've been swimming at the YMCA. most days. The swimming pools are spectacular. There is a second full Olympic size pool behind the first one in the picture. 

All of the facilities are excellent. I'm told this YMCA is the largest in the country. I believe it! The cost is only $45 per month for seniors. The YMCA was built with help from the community. In particular the Magdalena Ecke family was the major donor. That family raised the majority of poinsettias for the country right here in Encinitas for many years. Interesting history of Poinsettias and the Ecke family

Hot Tub

I've also just recently started playing pickleball, which has been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of enjoyable people and it's good exercise. Several times a week I play at the YMCA from 7:15 to 9:00 am and then swim.  The showers are very nice and there is a large hot tub that just recently reopened after COVID

Strength building room

Aerobic equipment room

There are four exercise rooms with state of the art strengthening equipment.

I'm still going to physical therapy twice a week for my left shoulder. It has improved dramatically and I asked Liz, my PT if maybe I could do it on my own now. She showed me some manipulations that were needed to loosen up some tight muscles and tendons. I can't do them by myself so I need to keep going. But she said I'm almost there!

Going to Rebecca's was again fun and not too physically demanding. We've completed, or started, a number of projects. The latest new item on the list was to put shelves in her closet. That was her highest priority. It required some planning and a trip to Home Depot for wood. 

Rebecca had an appointment before the trip to Home Depot so while she was gone I sanded the plaster in her ceiling where an air conditioning leak had left marks. I put the dry wall mud on it last trip but needed to let it get good and dry before sanding it. Not a big deal, but of course once again ladder work! The cleanup was the hardest part but I finished before Rebecca returned.

First shelf is in

The first shelf project task was measuring and cutting most of the boards. That took a while but I was able to get the first shelf up. I decided to finish the job the next day. 

That's when another new project was revealed. I told Rebecca I was stopping and she said, "Oh good, then we can stack the washer and dryer. I already have the stacking kit." I looked at the washer and dryer and thought they looked very large and heavy. When I tried to move the washer a little I found  I was correct. But Rebecca explained the steel drawers on the bottom of both were a lot of the weight. They would be removed. 

I was skeptical and said we could try it but they might be too heavy and I wouldn't push it. It took a while to get the steel drawers off but we succeeded. Turned out Rebecca was right. The washer was quite heavy but we didn't need to lift it. Fortunately, Rebecca is pretty strong so with some planning and the help of a stool, we were able to lift the dryer into position. It was a great plan. The laundry room looks much larger and has more usable space.

The drawers and the huge microwave will be removed.

Aroma's Huevos Rancherso

The next morning I suggested we return to Aroma where we had a great breakfast with Wendy and Matt. Rebecca was all for it. I ordered Huevos Rancheros. The breakfast was huge and delicious!

Rubber mallet helps!

Back to the closet shelves. It took two days to complete the project. I measured twice and cut once most of the time. Unfortunately, I mistakenly cut a piece out of the top shelf board thinking it was an unused piece. It was actually the top shelf! Another trip to Home Depot. Glad it is close by!

Getting things to fit was a challenge. As usual the closet was not perfectly square and some of the studs were not where I would have liked them. I got the second shelf in and then Rebecca and I constructed the small shelves on the side.

Of course there had to be an electrical outlet where the small shelves were going in. With the use of a cardboard template I was able to cut a hole in the correct place so Rebecca could get to the outlet.

Overall the project went well. I left the finish work, covering and painting the screw holes in the support boards, and repainting the grey walls, to Rebecca.

While I was working on the shelves, Rebecca was continuing to work on the laundry room with London's supervision. Seems like London always wants to know what's going on.

Rebecca did a super job. She replaced the huge microwave with a smaller one and installed a shelf for it. Fortunately we had shelving pieces left. She put together a temporary shelving unit and the room is well organized now. She also added a drying rack on the wall.

I started one last little project. The foster puppies decided to chew on the wooden sliding glass door. I put some wood filler on it but that's as far as I got. There are several curves and angles so it will take some tricky sanding. Next trip.

Work space cleaned up!

We were ready for our 4th of July Movie. I cleaned up our work area so we could eat outside. I made BBQ chicken and Jill joined us. It seemed only appropriate that we watch Independence Day on the big screen. It was a good choice. We hadn't seen it in a while and both agreed that even though it's a long movie it held our attention.

3 Kumquats, (spoon 
for size perspective)

Wendy has a kumquat tree in her back yard. It had literally hundreds of kumquats. Some people, such as Wendy, will just eat one whole, but I find them too sour. I thought, "There must be something to do with these." Checked Google and found a kumquat muffin recipe. Sounded interesting. Kumquats, dried cherries, pecans, brown sugar....what's not to like. I was going to Rebecca's and she likes to experiment with baking. So I had brought the ingredients with me. It seemed like there was never a good time to make them until the last night. Rebecca said, "Make them now before the movie." So I did.  They tasted great even though they were a little misshapen.

Gluten free kumquat muffins

When I returned to Encinitas I shared a couple with Scott and Mara my landlords and they liked them so well I gave them a couple more. The rest I left with Wendy. 

Whole Wheat muffins

I still had many kumquats and they won't be back again until next year, so I decided to do a batch with whole wheat flour as the recipe called for. They also turned out great with a traditional muffin shape. They tasted almost the same as the gluten free. They are sitting in the freezer waiting to be eaten at a later date. 

A few days after I returned from Rebecca's, the toes on my left foot started itching one evening. I thought maybe athlete's foot? I sprayed it with Tinactin. The next day it was more red so I tried Neopsporin, thinking maybe an infection. The next morning there was a slight red rash and a small bump that was quite sensitive/painful to touch. Decided it was time to go to Scripp's Express walk-in clinic. The nurse practitioner asked left foot only? I said yes. She said, "That convinces me, it's shingles. Shingles typically surfaces on one side of the body." I thought that was weird but said I'd had the double shot shingles vaccination. She said, "It's a good thing you did, or you would have a much worse case. Also it's a good thing you came in when you did because we have an anti-viral drug that is effective if administered within 72 hours of the onset. With the help of the anti-viral drug, it should not spread anywhere else and will be a mild case."

I shared this information because I had no idea I could still get shingles. That little bump ended up being painful down into the bone! Fortunately there was only one small blister. I shudder to think what a full blown case would be like. If you experience any symptoms like this, (could be anywhere on your body and usually just one side) get to a clinic ASAP. I'm certainly glad I did. The anti-viral seemed to really start working the third day. Still, it took 10 days before it was pretty well gone.

Del Mar Beach

Fortunately, although I needed to stay out of the water and skip pickleball because my toe hurt, I could ride my bike without a problem. I rode to Del Mar Beach.

 Del Mar is an expensive sea side area with a beautiful beach and trails. Fortunately California has long standing laws that prohibit anyone from owning the beaches along the ocean. Whenever an area was developed, local access to the beach was required. The Community Center/Rest rooms are very nice! It's a nice bike ride because a lot of it is along the ocean.

Del Mar Community Center

Craig & Karen on the
San Clemente Beach trail

I've also continued hiking with Craig. Craig and I met at San Clemente, which is about half way between us. It was supposed to be a hot sunny day so we wanted to take advantage of the ocean breezes. As it turned out the ocean fog kept the sun from baking us and it was quite pleasant. We hiked along the ocean to a pier where there is a nice restaurant. Karen met us for a very nice lunch. The restaurant is right on the pier so a very nice atmosphere and the food was good. Karen joined us for the hike back to our cars.

Long Pier in the background

If you are watching the Tokyo Olympics keep an eye out for our Encinitas skate board participant! As the article indicates, her name is Bryce Wettstein and she is 17 years old.

I am slowly continuing sketching. As Karen told me, the most useful tool is the eraser. She is correct! The next subject in my sketching book was a penguin. I like penguins, (Who doesn't?) After several attempts I decided it was time to move on! This sketching is pretty tricky.

I learned that Canada was going to open the border August 9th. Craig and I were planning to spend time on Guppy if the border opened by August 2nd. It takes time effort and money to uncover the boat, clean it up, get it ready and then put it away again. We thought about going up August 10th but after thinking about it, there just wasn't enough time to make it worthwhile. So we are planning a trip next June. I will stay for the summer and Craig would stay 7 -10 days. Perhaps Karen will join us also.

It actually works out okay because now I'll go back to Ohio to see friends and family and attend my twin brother Andy's 50th wedding anniversary in Dayton. Hopefully a lot of the Franko family will attend so we can finally get together in person.