The new dog park was christened this past holiday weekend. It has come to my attention that signage is needed. Rules, I will need rules. This is not a doggie day care where you simply drop off your dog, then leave to go about your business. Nor is it a doggie bathroom where they do their business and leave it for others to stumble upon.
There is one seating area for those inclined to use the park as intended. I have anther seating area in the making. Also found a fire hydrant to install for those dogs wishing for something to hike their leg on.
In the meantime, I will need to print out some rules. I don't mind picking up my dogs' poop. They are, after all, my dogs. I do mind scooping up the leavings of other dogs. I do it out of necessity. I admit resenting having to do so.
A nice gentleman came into the store yesterday and asked how my weekend was going. I thought for a second, then told him that people were here, so not so great. He agreed that a certain percent of the population made life difficult for the rest ...... I wondered why they all showed up here!
I watched, with relief, as my holiday weekend guests exited. I was looking forward to a decent meal to be eaten while sitting at a table, followed by some mind- numbing TV and a long peaceful sleep. I put a slab of marinated ribs in the oven, shucked the fresh corn and prepared the fresh strawberries from my garden. To my utmost delight, the sky grew dark and it started raining gently!
Thinking life could not get any better, I looked at the clock to calculate just how many more hours I would have to be on display behind the counter. I saw a taxi cab in front of my building. Being located in the middle of nowhere (the closest city has just a 4-way stop), a taxi is not a common site. A woman gets out and comes in looking for a tent site. She asks if I remember her, because she has been here one other time. I told her that I saw so many people, and was about to explain that I only remember the people who cause me angst.
She tells me that they came last year and left early because it rained. I look at her and say, " Are you sure you want a site ...... it is raining right now." All the while thinking to myself that she has now caught my attention and will be remembered. She then asks me if I think it will continue to rain. I say yes, I think so; having no idea if this is true. She decides to stay and I rent out the site. I am curious about the taxi and watch to see if the woman and her children are simply dropped off, but the taxi stays.
As the afternoon drags on, I decide to take a nap and leave He Who had a nice nap the day before in charge. I had a very relaxing nap. Over an hour. It was still raining when I took over the registration desk. I learned that the people in the taxi had decided to leave because it was still raining and when offered a refund, she said they would just come back another day for free ...... I would have insisted on the refund, who knows what rainy day will bring her back?
If this Memorial Day weekend is any indication, I will have lots to document in the months to come.
....... I put He Who is not at all good at manning the registration desk in charge at 6 last night and crawled away with my canine companions. Did not want to eat, did not want to face the mess in the kitchen. We went to bed. I turned on the TV and tried to convince the dogs that it was time to go night-night.
We are all creatures of habit and they did not buy it. Toni Louise kept looking out the window and growling at anything that moved. By 7:00, He Who is not an office person had discovered (invented) a reason to close early. I stayed in my bedroom and lolled in bed until I could no longer endure my wiggling canines. I wanted to go outside and troll through my gardens, but didn't dare, lest a child hungering for a snow cone should spot me.
He Who was hungry drove to the golden arches and obtained food. I had indigestion, in addition to coughing and wheezing. Smoke still lingers in the air from my pop-tart adventure.
So, here I sit in a semi dark store with 30 minutes before I have to open the door and sell last minute bags of ice and snow cones and candy. I will be watching the mass exodus from a long weekend of camping from the safety of my office lair. I slept, but am still tired. My throat is raw from the smoke and coughing and I have a slight headache.
The fire scene was still there when I awoke this fine morning. No little elves came in the night to make it all go away. I got most of the baking soda and chunks of burned up pop-tart into the garbage and strolled out to the dumpster. Six lids adorn the top of the giant receptacle. Yesterday I closed the two lids on the front and opened the two middle ones. There was plenty of room to put bags of garbage. But, someone decided to reopen the front lids and just keep piling trash until it overflowed onto the ground. I picked up all the overflow and did my thing with the lids again. I am always hopeful that they will see the front is full and use the open ones ........ In doing my due diligence to keep the garbage inside the receptacle I made an amazing discovery.
There is an artificial Christmas tree in my dumpster. Really. 'Hey, long as we're goin' campin', let's clean out the garage and take the big stuff with us and use that big dumpster...... that way, we ain't gotta pay extra to get rid of this crap.' Also lots of big boxes that have not been broken down. Fan boxes, grill boxes, patio furniture boxes and even a memory foam mattress box. I was dis-inclined to fish them out and break them down after the ant incident.
No strange bathroom tales this weekend, but two up-chuck incidents near the pool. Both were taken care of by the doers or the parents of the doers. The chairs are a different story.
When we bought this place, I wondered why there was no pool furniture. Figured the previous owners had taken it. I immediately put my patio set on the pool surround and started looking into some loungers. Patrons of the pool were amazed at this, telling me you had to bring your own in the past.
After 10 years you would think I had learned the ways of the world. I had given up on finding chairs inexpensive enough to fill the surround. I did have two loungers out there at one time, but, people in these parts are strange. It seemed to be a challenge to see just how fast the lounger could be destroyed. A few years back, a friend insisted on gifting me 24 Adirondack chairs for the pool. The heavy duty plastic ones. Bright red, easy to spot if someone decided to take one home. They stack and are easy to store in the winter.
Out of the 24, 15 remain in service. One very large woman broke two. She took one chair into the pool and was sitting in the shallow end when He Who is mostly easy going discovered the broken chair on the pool surround. He asked the woman to please bring the chair out of the water. She was stuck in it and told him that one chair had already broken when she sat in it and that we needed to buy better chairs. Mostly easy going, He Who lacks diplomacy told the woman she was too damn fat for the chair and that she had now broken two. He suggested that she not try to squeeze her abundance into another chair. His words were, shall we say, not tactful. But, if you have to purchase two airline seats, perhaps you should bring your own pool chair. The woman was very large, swimming in shorts and a t-shirt. Very large shorts and shirt.
So, imagine my annoyance yesterday when one of my spies informed me that some young teen boys were putting my chairs on their bodies and jumping in the pool with them. About a half dozen of them were out there, lolling in the water, my chairs attached to their butts. I approached the fence and asked them just what made them think it would be okay to try to break my chairs. One of them was very big boy (reminded me of Fat Albert ..... hey, hey , hey). "We weren't trying to break them." Of course not. I told them all to get out of the pool and go ask their parents if they wanted to pay for the chairs.
Two of the youngsters came in and apologized. They told me the ring leader had told them that he worked here and it was okay to do this. No name for this supposed employee, only a description. Being the only one manning the counter, I was prevented from a full investigation into the matter. I have no employees. If I did have employees that age, I can assure you, they would not think it okay to defy me.
And now I must open the door and attend to my business .......
The weekend continues ..........
Sleep came as soon as I hit the pillow, but the jangling phone at 24 minutes after midnight roused me. I had a complaint of excessive noise from the night before and had encouraged a phone call should it happen again. I stumbled into the office in time to hear the message wondering if I had any sites available. I went back to bed. The dogs were still sleeping and I crawled back under the covers and went back to sleep.
It felt like I had just recovered my optimum slumber when I heard the phone again. It was 2:25. I was not at all happy. I trudged back out to the office with 3 dogs trailing behind me. I did not make it to the phone. I went back and retrieved the old dog, Oscar and took them all out. Since I had to wait, I called the number back. "This is Kan-Do Kampground returning your call." "Oh, we were wondering what it would cost to tent camp at your park."
So, you are sitting around at 2 in the morning thinking about camping? And you say to yourself, "Let's just call around."? Cause, after all, that will certainly endear you to the person stumbling out of blessed slumber ..... "Do you know what time it is?" I ask. "It is a holiday weekend and I am booked up." I would have slammed the phone down, but that is not a possibility these days. No matter how hard you press that button, it makes no satisfying noise!
Had a hard time reclaiming my sleep after that and overslept this morning. Had only 15 minutes to dress and wash my face and brush my teeth, then brew the coffee. I raced out to check my bathrooms, restocked paper product and noted that I needed to empty the trash. No more time. Line forming at the door. I sold lots of ice to tent campers, took orders for firewood and finally had a few minutes to indulge myself with coffee and gossip among friendly faces.
The phone rings and I look at the number displayed on caller id ...... looks familiar. It is my middle of the night would be tent camper. For real! She asks about availability and I have some folks leaving and have sites available. She tells she will be here shortly. One of my seasonals was about to make his exit, but upon learning the identity of the caller decides to stay and "watch".
I know he is longing to see a full blown cat fight. The woman comes in and as she is filling out the registration I ask if she is the one who awakened me in the wee hours of the morning. She acts surprised and says, "Oh, I woke you just now?" I tell her, no, that she woke me at 2:30. "That wasn't me, I called you just now, only one time."
"That's funny, because it was the same phone number that showed up on caller id and I recognize your voice." She keeps her gaze down and we finish the transaction. Nothing like a little public humiliation for breakfast.
Still longing for some quality consecutive hours of sleep, I take advantage of the mid morning lull and swallow my pills, toss a pop-tart in the toaster and head out with trash can liners in my pocket to empty the bathroom cans. As I am heading back in, I get a request to re-boot the modem on the Wi-Fi and am intent on that as I open the door to the store.
I smell a burned pop-tart and think how great the day is going to be with this start. Annoyed that I will have to either toss my pop-tart and eat something else (they are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals!!), I head into my domicile to take care of the Wi-Fi problem. The pop-tart is beyond saving, it is on fire, along with the toaster and a cabinet!
I grabbed the baking soda and doused the flames, took the phone out of my bra and called He Who rescues damsels in distress. I yelled "Kitchen on fire!" and tossed the phone on the counter and grabbed the toaster as the flames were reappearing and tossed it out the back door. My hero enters and starts fanning at the dense smoke and grabs a fan to try to pull the smoke out of the house. I was busy trying to cough out all the smoke I inhaled and make sure the bottom of the cabinet was completely out.
A memorable Memorial Day weekend. Four more hours to go here. My hands are stained with snow cone syrup and my throat is burning. My back itches .....
My back itches because, in my mad rush to get all the trash in the dumpster before the Friday pick-up, I grabbed a bucket of debris and heaved it up to tip it into the dumpster, unaware of the millions of ants on the bottom of the bucket. The ants were running down my neck and into my sports bra. He Who mows found me indecent beside said dumpster as I beat them off the front side of me. The back is now covered in ant bites.
To be continued .........
Here I sit, sleep deprived, with only 20 minutes left until I can lock up for the night ......
I am not pleasant when I am this tired, but I need to wait for one last rig to pull in. It has been a trying day here at the kampground. Oscar, the old dachshund is barking incessantly, impatient for bedtime. Snowcone syrup cover my left hand and arm. Cotton candy, the blue dye is soaking into my skin, like an absurd tattoo. Children assault me with the same questions they asked last year on this same holiday. "What time does the pool close?" Dark. "When is dark?" Dark is when the sun no longer lightens the sky and you need artificial lights to see.
Every season I strive to be more organized, more steam-lined with check-ins. I carefully gather information when reservation are made in order to place every camper in the site most ideal to suit their needs. I ask all the pertinent questions, answer all the inane questions and am always full of hope when the day arrives, that this year all will run smoothly.
And every year I am disappointed. People come for a few seasons and then move on for whatever reasons. They like to try new places, go on longer trips, or just become disinterested in camping as the children grow and develop more activities. My seasonals are steadfast and I always look forward to seeing them. I also have groups and families that come every year on holidays. I have watched babies turn into toddlers and school-agers go off to college. It is almost like an extended family. I look forward to them, also.
But, like with everything in life, you have to take the good with the bad. It is only Saturday and I still have a long day and a half to go before I start to see the caravan of campers exiting the park.
It all began Friday, only yesterday, but it seems like so long ago. Check-in is "any time after noon". A litany I repeat with every reservation I take. They started to arrive at 9:00. No matter, I took it in stride. Kept me running back and forth as I finished my morning chores. By noon I am stuck in the store, with no view of the sites. They stream in and I carefully assign sites, confident that everyone is following my instructions. I have two large groups. One group comes every year. No deposit is required and they always fill the sites in order, so that if one of their group is a no-show, I can easily rent the left-over sites to over-nighters. Their kids are respectful and I am free to call them down should they misbehave. Love these people.
The other group is a new group. They came early in the spring and took 7 sites. Liked it and decided to come back for the Memorial Day weekend. One among them just wanted to put up a tent on one of the sites they were on. Unlike other campgrounds, I allow this and only charge the extra $2 per person per night that I would charge extra people in the camper. I am nice like that. For now. I am re-thinking this as I write this.
The first time they came the park was not reserved to capacity. When they made the reservations for this weekend, I made it clear that we would be full. They wanted 10 sites, 8 for sure, maybe 10. Not hearing from them last week, I could only assume they needed only 8, so I booked the remaining 2 sites. Glad I did, since only 5 showed up. The tenter came along again and the same understanding as before and paid accordingly. The woman told me how great it was that I would allow this. I basked in her approval for only a short time.
I assigned them their sites as they arrived, only to discover they had spread out, even putting the extra tent on a full hook-up site that was assigned to someone else. When that camper arrived and tried to pull into their site, they called and I relocated them rather than take the time to make the tenters move. I had some travelers come in off the road and as I tried to put them in the unused sites from that group I realized that no-one had pulled into their assigned sites, but had just taken ones they wanted, thinking to use the entire area.
I was annoyed when I went to bed. This morning I sent He Who was not allowed to abandon me to tow out to eyeball all the sites and tell me what I had open. I knew I would have some last minute campers calling, hoping to find an opening.
I did get several calls and campers started to arrive. I began filling the empty sites according to the size and electrical needs of the campers. Had a big rig coming that would need 50 amp service and a long site, so I once again call upon He Who un-clogs shower drains to actually go and look to make sure the site I have in mind is still open.
Good thing I did. The tenters who had occupied a full hook up site the night before, preventing me from incurring revenue had taken it upon them selves to move. Yes, they moved to the site I now needed to put this traveler on. Keep in mind, that I had decided to just let them be and work around them, avoiding a confrontation. He Who is normally quite easy going was having none of that. He requested they move. The same woman who had extolled my virtues upon arrival became incensed and told him she was not moving again, that she had moved twice already because "you put people in the sites next to us". They decided to leave and came to the office to get a refund. No, I am not kidding. She told me they had "had to move twice already", giving me the impression that one of us (not me) had requested the move. I gave her a refund and explained to her that when she was here before that she had not occupied a site and that the revenue from sites is how a campground survives. I was nice. The store was full of people and she ended up looking like an ass.
It has been a long day, surely Even Steven and Murphy's Law owes me a better tomorrow and a good night's sleep ..........
I have wanted to expand this garden in my side yard for some time. The curve I had created a few years ago is not easy to mow, so I decided to make a friendlier curve and set bricks in the ground so that I can put two wheels of the mower on the brick and eliminate the need to weed eat. Seemed simple enough. The ground was wet and easy to dig. I used the sod I dug up in other locations in the park. I never, ever waste.
I got a little carried away and kept going with the brick ...... Since I have no shortage of free mulch, I put down a very heavy layer. 125 five gallon buckets to be exact. The bucket load equates to a bag at the garden center. I hauled 6 buckets at a time. I just scored another bucket and can haul 7 now. This is cedar and when the breeze wafts into my bedroom at night it smells wonderful. Actually, it smells a lot like Christmas!
Turned out better than I had envisioned. I am still hauling mulch to various gardens in the park with my 7 buckets and the golf cart. My limbs are aching and I have quite the tan.
The week before a holiday weekend is always filled with last minute projects ..... and reservations. Just took a call from a woman requesting an electric tent site. Oh, and make it a secluded one ........ Secluded? On a holiday weekend, she will be lucky to find a spot at all. She was a little miffed when I tried to explain that I was pretty much booked solid and the only tent sites left would definitely not be secluded. She says she will call back after she talks to "her man". Really, she said "her man".
Next call was a woman requesting a tent site pool side. When I explained that all those were reserved she said, "Well, just put us on the beach then." Beach? I don't have a beach. "You know, the beach by the lake." Um, I don't have a lake. I have a pool and a pond. No lake. " Isn't this Cuivre River State Park?"
And that is how the day was going. Between fielding calls and running buckets of mulch to the dog park I was keeping an eye on the office. Saw a Missouri Propane Commission vehicle drive up. I went up to see what the man needed. He was still sitting in the government vehicle, windows up, engine running and air on. He finally looked up and exited the vehicle. Just a safety inspection. Didn't need me. I went back to my task and set two stepping stones, covered the ground, and laid my load of mulch. He was still there, at the dispense station doing his inspection. Why am I noting this? Because, the vehicle was running the entire time. Waste. My tax dollars at work!!
Site #14. Rich and Jackie. They do a nice job, always neat and clean. But, Jackie has a self proclaimed brown thumb. It is true. I have seen the results. She planted some hostas last year. They have peeked up through the ground, but look sad and little. She swears a camper must have urinated on them one weekend while she was gone. I don't know about that, but I do know you have to water them occasionally.
I took pity on her and built a garden. I gave He Who mans all matter of digging equipment instructions to dump a load of dirt in this area amidst the trees. He proclaimed this load of dirt to be "good dirt". I am not sure what he considers to be good dirt, but, it took some doing to remove the limbs and big roots and such. The mound you see was not smooth and rounded.
I fought with this "good dirt" and finally had an approximate shape I could work with. I dug up some of my perennials that were due for a good thinning and got to work. Cone flowers will be the anchor in the middle of the mound and day lilies will grace the edge on the yard side, while big tiger lilies will be on the road side. I worked as long as I could. It was still cold in the evenings. I was only half way there and had a plan in my head when I stupidly mentioned to He Who knows good dirt when he sees it that another bucket of dirt would have been better, but that I could make do with what I had.
I know better, really I do. When next I set out to complete Jackie's garden, I encountered a mountain of dirt he had decided to dump there. No, he did not hit the part I had already planted (lucky for him), but the mound was now lopsided. I literally had to climb to the top and start digging it down to make a reasonable looking shape. Not perfect, mulch will hide a multitude of sins. More lilies, cone flowers and hosta went into the garden. It is really coming to life now and looking nice.
There are ballots available in the office for voting for the site you think looks nicest. Nobody ever votes anymore. So, I decided to honor my hard work. I am, after all, the one who counts the votes.
Is this just the cutest puppy ever? Wears his heart on his little hind end. Love this!
But the next one is the dog for me! Just imagine having this little sweetheart. Walking him (could be a girl, I don't know for sure) down the street. One would never lack for a conversation starter!
Just think of all the attention you would get with this one at the end of the leash!
I would definitely buy this dog! How much is that doggie in the window ...... the one with the ... um, markings on his tail. I do hope this doggie's for sale.
My baby's getting married!! Aren't they a cute couple? I have been blessed with the best in-law children ever and Chad is no exception.
Can't wait to see them.
Early blooming iris just waiting to pop.
And here it is. Just in time for the tulips to start to fade away.
My gardens make me happy. This is day three of cloudy, gray days. I long to see the sun shine through. This weather seems to bring out the strange folk.
Phone rings, "Do you have any sites available?" Depends on the date you might be referring to. "For when?" I ask. The man says tonight in a tone that indicates I should have known that. His next question is about my location. I repeat my well rehearsed answer and then ask where he is, so that I can direct him to my park. He is already on the outer road leading him to my location, having followed the signs on the road. So, why did he ask, I wonder?
Within minutes I see him at my drive. It is an older motor home. I watch as he exits and starts toward the office. Attired in gray sweats, I note that the front of his pants are wet ....... as if he may have peed himself while driving. But, no, he wouldn't just walk into the office soaked in urine. Surely he must have spilled a beverage .........
It was most definitely urine I smelled as he approached the desk. "Do you have a laundry room? I am going to need one." says the man who wet himself. No argument from me. Soon as he parked he started washing clothes. Guess he was out of dry clothes.
I have been absent for a bit. Blogger has refused to let me play! I could read, but not comment or post.
I have been busy in my gardens. Every other year the local electric company contracts to have the limbs trimmed near the lines. I very graciously let the trucks dumb the chipped wood here. Free mulch for me. Not as fine a mulch as I might like, but free. The last truck was cedar and it smells amazing. I hauled 55 five gallon buckets up to my side yard and mulched non-stop for 2 days. I need about 30 more buckets to finish my project, but the rain is keeping me in today.
So what interesting events have been going on here? Repeat business .... or so he said. I didn't remember him, but I will now. The man came in and said he needed a spot to park his fifth wheel. Okay. I wait to see if he is going to elaborate ..... does he want to dry store it, is he traveling and needs a site for one night ........ He just stands looking at me and then says, "It happened again. I just threw my stuff in the truck and left. I haven't had a shower in two days." I try to keep my expression neutral and it must have worked, because he then said, "It's me. I was here a few years ago when me and my old lady had a fight. She is back at it again, so I guess I'll just stay here and try to find work."
This is way more information than I need to hear, but I have concluded that he is looking for a spot to rent on a monthly basis. So, I ask, "How long do you think you will be needing a site?" I thought it was a reasonable question. He says, "I don't know. Who knows what she is going to do next?" Not me, that is certain. I explain to him that I am booked solid for Memorial Day weekend and do not have a long term site available. This seems to confuse him and I have to explain two more times.
"Well, can I stay until then, maybe about a month?" I grab a calendar (big, wall size), as I think I will need a visual aid for this next explanation. He finally gets it and asks me again if I remember him from his last fight with the "old lady". I don't. Since he made the comment about "finding work", I am a little anxious about how he plans to pay for a week and the merchandise piling on the counter. I am relieved to see he has cash, as I am still sitting on a bad $425 check from the last victim of "old lady" abuse.
He pays and goes to park and I head back outside to my buckets and mulch. Ten minutes later he is back. "Water? There ain't no water." says the victim of spousal abuse. I tell him I will have the maintenance man (aka He Who Plumbs) come help him. He Who Plumbs was being He Who Tows (him being a man of many titles), so I texted him with the problem and he gave me an ETA.
I gathered my buckets and rode back to my mountain of mulch, filled them and headed back when the phone rang. It was my new tenant. The water was coming through our hydrant just fine, the problem was his plumbing. Just hang onto this little nugget of info, it will appear later in the story.
The rest of that afternoon and night was uneventful and I went about my business the next day with my mulching and digging weeds. I am always happy when I have my hands in dirt. Unless I am sewing, then my hands are clean. And that is exactly what I was doing when the phone rang. " Is this Kan-Do Kampground?" asks the woman. I answer in the affirmative and she introduces herself as the wife (old lady) of my newest tenant. She wants me to go rouse him and tell him to call home. It is very important she tells me that he call her. She goes on to tell me that she has heard a lot about my park and I murmur appropriate thanks and end the call.
I had no intention of going to the site and waking this man. I planned to have He Who Mows and Tows do this. I put it on the list of non-emergency chores and keep sewing. A couple of hours later, who should appear, but the now awake tenant. I suppose he was going to ease into this "looking for work" thing. He told me he had been asleep all day and he purchased three cans of Coke to help himself wake up. I informed him about his need to call home .........
"Why didn't she just call me on my cell?" he asks. I am beginning to feel that I should add an additional charge, since he seems to view me as his counselor. He gets his cell out of his pocket and curses. "She had my phone shut down! Now how am I supposed to call her?"
I hand him my handset from my land-line. I am behind the desk and the store is not huge by any means, but I fully expect him to retreat to a corner for privacy. But, he stands there looking at me as he calls her. I don't want to be a part of this conversation, but he doesn't move. I pick up my little Cujo and start talking to him and move to the door to give the man some privacy. But, it is , after all, my store and my cash register right there!
I can't help but be privy to this tearful reunion of a man and his old lady. Yes, he was blubbering about being sorry and how much he loved her and how did she think he felt being here all alone with nothing to do but sleep? The "I miss you" and "I love you" continued, until finally he returned my phone and grinned at me. "It worked! I am pulling out and going home."
It was only 10 minutes until closing time and he says he will be up after he gets all set to go for his refund. I stop him and tell him we can take care of it right then. Now, my receipt clearly states "no refunds", but I don't enforce it unless I have good reason. I adjust his charges to daily, instead of weekly and return his portion and lock up.
Fast forward to today. I have totally put this incident out of my mind. I run my errands and come home. While unloading my car, the phone rings .......... guess who. He wants to tell me that my hydrant is not working. He says he checked it before he left and it was the problem, not his plumbing. Then he wanted to chat about his reunion with the "old lady". I cut him off, telling him I had another call ....... all the while wondering what he did to my hydrant.
Can't seem to download pictures today, else you would be enchanted with my lilies .......
Nothing bothers me too much and I sit here sipping my V-8, in a Vicodin haze. I must say this the best V-8 I have ever had! Could the Vicodin have enhanced the flavor?
In addition to the pain from the void where my wisdom tooth once resided, I seem to have a foot malady as well. I have no idea what may have bitten my heel, maybe a spider. I tend to my gardens in my beloved flip-flops, so all of foot is bare as I am kneeling and digging. I didn't really notice anything other than an itch until Wall-E, the wonder dog was following me too closely and stepped on the back of my shoe. One of his wickedly long toenails grazed my heel and a pain shot all the way to my leg pit ( as explained by a young Adrienne ....... this is where your legs meet at the top). I stopped my voyage and took a peek at the heel, thinking it might need stitches. But, the skin wasn't even broken, just red and swollen.
My daily routine now includes soaking the heel in Epsom salts twice daily. It seems to be improving and the really good news is that my potted plants are loving the foot soak water! You didn't really think I would waste it by simply pouring it down the drain, did you?
In spite of my foot-ache I still managed to mow my back yard yesterday. The dandelion stems are taller than Cujo and he must feel like he is in the jungle as he goes about his daily business. Since I always remove any toys and other obstacles out of the way, I allowed the dogs to stay in the back yard with me while I mowed.
Cujo has gotten used to seeing the noise machine making row after row of nicely shaved grass and he likes to watch, from a distance. Wall-E and Toni Louise like to bark at the mower as I go along. I think they have a contest to see who will bark the loudest. Old Oscar sits on the stoop and watches, impatiently waiting to go inside, thinking than any entrance to the indoors is reason for a treat.
As I was finishing, Toni Louise was totally engrossed in what I thought was a stick or a toy that she had found. She was right in my path and refused to move. No amount of verbal persuasion seemed to work. She kept her head low to the ground and would look up at me when I called her name, but she did not move. I had to stop the mower and as I approached she stood up with her prize in her mouth. A dead mouse covered in dog saliva! Looked like a fairly fresh kill, although I am no expert and did not intend to check for body warmth or stiffness.
I wish Martha, the boy cat, would stop bringing gifts to his canine friends. All I can think about is Toni Louise licking my chin that morning!
It has been hot here at the campground. Seems like it was freezing one minute and suddenly it is in the 80's. A million things to do and the dandelions just keep popping up and standing at attention.
Time is a precious commodity here. There is wood to be split and stacked, grass to be mowed, fences to fix, tables to paint and bathrooms to clean. I try to do nothing through the middle of the night except sleep. I have had a toothache for awhile now. Tried to ignore it, I really don't have time for such things, but today I succumbed. I had an 8:00 am appointment.
I was not looking forward to sitting a spell in the dental chair, having a good healthy fear of dentists. I was the first patient of the day and arrived with minutes to spare. By 8:40, my wisdom tooth was gone and I was walking to my car with a bottle of pain pills.
Not one to waste a trip to town, I had carefully listed all the supplies I needed to pick up the night before. The pool is filling and will soon be full of swimmers. Those swimmers will be wanting rafts and balls and swim rings. They will hungry and thirsty and I aim to please. Still numb with Novocaine I made my first stop, only to realize the store was not yet open.
I am thrifty and not willing to waste even a drop of fuel (it makes me cringe to watch He Who Mows put gas in the mowers .... it always overflows). I meandered to another store next door and found tomato plants. Four for a dollar! Made me so happy. After stocking up on the pool supplies, I ended up at WalMart. Still feeling no pain, I took my time strolling the garden area. Nothing called out to me and I headed to the clearance plants .... or what I call the rescue center. I did rescue some petunias and some pansies, though I would have preferred perennials.
I gathered all the necessities and headed to the check out. I could feel the Novocaine leaving my face and lips. I carefully separated the tax free items from my personal purchases and was starting feel some pain.
I was throbbing when I started out to my car. I always park on the same aisle and use the same entrance when I go to WalMart. Always. But, for whatever reason, I decided to park at the secondary entrance. I even told myself as I walked into the store, to remember which door I came in.
Now, minus that tooth of wisdom, I went out the door I normally use before I remembered my whim. I had made it to the check-out with just one shopping cart, but the clerk had decided I needed two. I was in pain and did not object. The dentist had said it would be best not to do a lot of bending and lifting for a few days.
So, there I was, pushing one cart and pulling the other, looking for my vehicle. The cart I was pushing seemed to defy me as I tried to maneuver the parking lot. I tired to reverse the order of the carts and the second one had a wacky wheel. I can only imagine how entertaining it must have been to watch me hunt down my car while fighting with those carts.
Did I mention that the parking lot slopes down towards the store, so it was an up-hill climb. Finally finding my car, I starting loading. As I was heaving the giant bag of dog food into my car, the second cart got away from me and I was forced to chase it. Go ahead, laugh. I am quite sure it was amusing to watch.
As I loaded the last of it, I felt a little "pop" in my jaw as I bent to remove the bag of flea/tick killer from the shelf under the cart. Yes, it was the clot in the hole left by the wise old tooth. Brought tears to my eyes. I seriously considered popping a vicodin right then and there, but decided against it. The 23 miles of interstate awaiting me needed my full attention.
I am now home, fully under the influence of my vicodin. The refrigerated items has been safely stowed away and I am sitting here happily rifting in my drug induced state. I hope I don't run out before I heal.
April is finally over, it is official! The rains have let up for an absolutely gorgeous weekend.
As I have alluded to in previous posts, Murphy's law of misfortune has plagued the kampground of late. The "new" fridge is still not fixed, waiting on a part, the Pepsi machine lolls with cans of tepid sodas waiting to be cooled. Another part ordered.
The April showers and the chilly weather has kept me out of my gardens ........ Yesterday the grounds were finally dry enough to get the mowers out and I mowed and mowed with my trusty push mower, while He Who Mows was whipping through the larger areas on his big mower. We did not finish. I left the dog park til this morning, knowing it was far enough away from the kampers to not disturb anyone at 7 AM.
I noted a truck with a travel trailer that I did not recognize in a site I had not assigned. I pointed this out to He Who was about the business of finding fuel for my mower. I hinted that perhaps he should go and have a little chat with the occupant and maybe get payment. "It is early, just watch it." says He Who is loading gas cans into his vehicle.
I finished my dog park and went in for a cup of coffee. I took my coffee out to play in some mulch and enjoy my gardens. My favorite coffee drinkers came up for our Saturday morning session that I look forward to all week. We lingered outside, enjoying the gardens and I see the truck with non-paying tenant coming round the curve to leave. I start walking towards him and wave my hand for him to stop and he blows right by me. I yell, "HEY" and he keeps going. He Who Mows at 12 mph (clearly violating my speed limit) happens to look up at just the right time and gives chase to the man in the truck pulling the trailer that neglected to pay.
The truck ignores both of us and keeps going. This happens more often than I care to think about, though, not so blatantly. He Who Mows came flying up to me and told me to watch the truck to see which way he was going on the interstate and the next thing I saw was the little VW burning rubber, heading for the exit.
My buddies and I went on in and had our coffee, all the while wondering about the situation. It was appalling to think that someone would steal so blatantly. It is only $25, but it does add up. Clearly, law enforcement is not going to give chase to something considered trivial to them. It was brought to my attention that perhaps He Who was speeding might end up with a ticket to pay for his efforts. That would surely have been the icing on Murphy's cake.
But ........ I got a text from He Who fancies himself to be Andy Taylor (not Barney). He caught the perpetrator and retrieved payment!!!!!! No speeding tickets involved! Has Steven Murphy left the premises? This is a good sign. I think he should have doubled the price for all the effort it took to collect, but he only got the $25. I am happy with that.
Perhaps Steven Murphy hitched a ride .......... he was headed west .........
