Reviews

Blogger has gone wacko on me. Half of my reading list is gone! No, not inactive ones, but the ones I read regularly. I do not like this!

As if that isn't enough to keep me in a constant state of irritation, I made the mistake of reading reviews on my campground. I should know better, it will usually annoy me, since I know the whole story.

The one today was a complaint specifically directed at me. Because I was hesitant about using a debit card for a $1 purchase. I make a real effort to keep my prices as low as possible in the camp store. When you are a small business the percentage for processing credit and debit cards is higher. I run tabs for weekenders and let them pay when they leave ....... if I know them and they are frequent campers.

The complaint left out the part about the man slamming the cooler door, much like a child would, when I told him I really didn't want to run his card for just a dollar. I was going to suggest a tab, but his reaction made me decide otherwise.

Maybe he didn't understand about the processing fees and I should have been more patient. I should try to use the criticism to make myself a better person. On that note ..... I wonder how my campers would react to being "reviewed".

"Your stay at my park was uneventful. I appreciate the way your cleaned the campsite before you left. Thank you for picking up your dog poop and your trash. However, your bathroom habits were poor. Since your were the only tenant here using the facilities, I can only assume that you were the one that failed to turn the light off or even flush the toilet. You also ignored the sign asking that you not smoke in the bathroom. Perhaps you will want to try to improve on this in the future."

Wow, I feel better!

Genetically Modified and Volunteer Seed

So, are you wondering who it was that I did not want to interact with yesterday? My lips are sealed!

The weather has been wonderful today. I mowed all morning and pulled weeds out of the damp ground. I filled my wagon several times before deciding to come inside. No swimmers so far today. Very quiet and I am content with that.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time in my vegetable garden. Weeding and pulling up spent bean bushes and such. Since the corn has already been harvested, I decided to pull the stalks. The rain had loosened the ground and they were coming out easily enough.

The crop was not good this year. I wondered about that as I went about the business of cleaning my garden beds. Could it be the seed or the soil? I have had good results in the past, but I added a lot of topsoil last season. Maybe it was lacking in some way. Maybe it was the seed. I ordered some seed last year. This year I bought it at a farm store. You know, in a clear bag with no instructions or anything on a label.

Maybe it was the seed!! Just look at what I found on one stalk.

Just look at those kernels. Gee, do you think that seed was genetically modified?

I confess that I did not give this a taste. I won't be buying any more seed at the farm store!

In other garden news ..... I have a rather majestic vine or two coming up and out of the compost bin. I have been patiently waiting to see what might be growing. I figured it had to be either a squash or something from the melon family. I discovered a lone pumpkin hanging from the vine on one side and a butternut squash on the other side of the bin. Volunteers, both. A watermelon vine flourishes right outside the front door of the store ..... another volunteer.

I Owe Him

Another year, another age. Yesterday was my 64th birthday. I had a pleasant day. I started the day with having my portrait taken at the DMV, then scurried back to my property to open the pool.

HeWho loves me and brought a breakfast to me, took over and allowed me to trim some trees and pull weeds to my heart's content. I will confess that I did not stay out long in the intense heat. I took a nap and then gave my kitchen a thorough cleaning. I piddled around and refolded all my shirts and reorganized my drawers. HeWHo cooked a nice steak dinner and I ventured back outside to frolic in my gardens.

I had minimal contact with customers and found my day to be quite relaxing. So much so that I wanted it to continue today. Lightning split the sky in the wee hours of the morning and rain fell. The air was fresh and clean this morning and the sky looked a little threatening. I finished pulling the overgrown grass and weeds from a garden and harvested some peas and tomatoes, even some potatoes.

Having high hopes for expanding my birthday into another 24 hours of peace, I showered and plopped my clean self into my recliner. Two doxies hopped up to enjoy my undivided attention. I saw a couple enter the store on the security monitor. I pretended not to notice and HeWho got up and took care of it. I owe him. I recognized the couple and there was no way I was going out there!

I sat here, watching on the 4 screen monitor, saying over and over to myself, " I am not going out there, you can't make me!"

Like I said, I owe him. Big time.

Weekends ......

Friday in a campground would equate to a Monday after a long holiday in the real world. Plan, though you might, you can be assured that something will go awry.

The camper from the rest area was a no-show. No surprise there, since he didn't have a clue as to where he was. Well, he could have come after we closed for the evening and left really early and ripped us off ..... assuming he was in a rest area close by.

The heat is still intense. The forecast had indicated rain for Sunday, but that has now been pushed to Tuesday or Wednesday. My potted plants and hanging baskets need water twice a day to survive. I had been outside all morning and just finished cleaning the bathrooms. Unremarkable, which is strange, I usually have a bathroom tale or two. But, someone put GARBAGE in the trash can in the laundry room. I could smell it before I saw it and the trail of ants and the buzzing of flies alerted me. There are big covered garbage cans located throughout the park, not to mention, a huge dumpster on your way out.

For those of you who may not know, there is a difference between trash and garbage. Garbage consists of smelly things like food waste and trash is unsmelly things like paper.

But, I was all through with my chores and was about to start watering. HeWho knows nothing about gardens came along and told me I was too hot to stay outside. I told him I was just finishing up and needed to water my baskets. He informed me that the water would just evaporate. Suddenly he is Mr. Science. I agreed with him that the water did, indeed, evaporate and that is why it is important to water them, lest they die. He walked away muttering that the watering should be done in the evening.

Too bad my water pressure wasn't better. I have it split three ways on the hydrant I was using, so that while I watered my baskets, two sprinklers were in the vegetable garden. Had I had more pressure in that hose I would have turned it on "jet" and watered him! I water in the evening as well.

Not a good way to start the weekend, HeWho telling me what my body temperature is and giving me gardening advice!

Where Are You?

Chinese take out for dinner. My fortune? "A much needed vacation will allow you to unwind."

Much needed is right. Phone has been crazy all day long. "Do you have sites available?" I answer in the affirmative and then ask what kind of site he would require (tent, RV, full hook-up, 30 amp or 50 amp ....) "You know, just a site." I ask in more detail, hoping he might actually know. We finally settle on 30 amp, full hook-up.

"How long do you think it will take me to get to you, I am at the rest stop." Really. I ask if he knows which mile marker he saw before he turned in or maybe the name of a city or town he might have passed through ...... He had not a clue!

He might show up, or he might not. I am okay either way.

Come Play Frog Toss

Thanks to Kamper Terry for his construction skills, we now have a Frog Toss Game. I have heard this game called many names .....

Bean Bag Toss, Sack Toss and my least favorite Corn Hole. I am assuming the "bean bags" were filled with kernels of corn for that particular version.

My love of frogs led me to go with my own version. Initially I was going to make the frogs myself and fill them with rice or popcorn.

 

That was until I found these guys online! They are filled with sand and were pretty inexpensive and now I don't have to make them.

I mowed the blade off my mower. I did not know that was possible until I did it. So, both push mowers are waiting for new blades that are supposed to arrive tomorrow.

The Grasshopper mower, the subject of a recent post ....... went back to the dealer today. Of course, HeWho mows, tows and complains had to transport it. Unlike the promise made by the Grasshopper Guy. They did provide us with a loaner. As they should be doing anyway, since they have yet to repair the problem.

Almost time to close and I refuse to raise my blood pressure now. I attempted to make a fairy for my garden ...... no pictures, let's just say I was not successful.

Losing My Mind

He Who mows, tows and sometimes annoys me is a sniffer. He will not blow his nose, choosing, instead to sniff loudly. And, when I say loud, I am not joking. Every morning he sniffs deeply upon awakening and continues to sniff until finally leaving the house.

It makes my head hurt to think about how deeply he pulls the air around him into his sinuses. The dust and pollen, not to mention the dog and cat hair floating in the air. When he went in for his last check-up, the nurse practitioner prescribed Flonase.

Being the savvy, money saving shopper that I am, I knew that a generic was available and that Sam's Club would have the cheapest price if we bought in volume. When HeWho made his next visit to Sam's, I added it to the list I so thoughtfully provide him with. He purchased a 6 bottle package and I carefully cut into the hard plastic and pulled all 6 bottles out. I put one next to his bedside, along with his bedtime pills and I put the other 5 away.

I have an entire shelf in the kitchen devoted to our medications, I even keep the canine and feline meds in that location. When the first month came to an end and his Flonase was empty, he asked where the rest of the bottles were. I had heard him bumbling around in the bathroom looking, but I do not keep medications there, it is too humid. I looked up and pointed to the kitchen where all the pill bottles are located in a big white plastic bin.

"You will have to be more specific." he says. So, I lowered my weary legs in my recliner and pushed various animals to the floor. I went into the kitchen and looked myself. For some reason I thought the bottles were in boxes and that is what I looked for. I pulled my step ladder out and searched that cabinet thoroughly. Couldn't find them. I checked the bathroom, although I knew they would not be there. I checked the linen closet.

For the next week I hunted periodically for Flonase. I sent him to pick up a single bottle in town, thinking I would happen upon them as soon as he bought it. He paid $15 for a one month supply of the generic brand in town and $30 for a 6 month supply at Sam's. I was really annoyed with myself that I could not find those bottles. I even looked in the spare bedroom and my closet.

So, when I made the next list for Sam's, I added Flonase along with all the ice cream and candy for the store. I put this package on his bedside table where we both could look upon it every night. I even searched again when I realized the bottles were not contained with-in individual boxes.

This morning, HeWho no longer annoys me by sniffing, thanks to the Flonase, told me his pill boxes were empty. I downed my coffee and went to the kitchen to fill pills. I got down all the big bottles of supplements and grabbed the white plastic bin of prescription meds ...........

There they were, 5 bottles sitting neatly in the plastic bin, right where I had put them over a month ago. Now, there are 11 bottles. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Inspiration

Yesterday, I did the unimaginable!! I closed early and got in the pool!! We cooked burgers and I invited all the campers I encountered to come and help us eat them.

I put a sign on the door that said I was outside working ...... yeah, I lied about the working part. This was a rare occasion, for both HeWho would have been mowing and I, who should have been mowing to simply relax with our friends.

In the 13 years that we have been here, this has only happened ...... maybe 4 times. Then, to top it all off, I slept until 9:30 this morning. The sleep was great, but it left me without my outside morning time. I had to throw on some clothes to check in an early arrival while my hair stood on end. Left me with only 15 minutes to shower and get ready for the day.

The heat wave continues.  Spent my day moving sprinklers, trying to keep my garden alive. Flowers, as well as vegetables. I picked a handful of weeds on every excursion. If only the vegetables would grow as fast as the weeds do. My tomatoes are finally getting ripe, along with the cucumbers and peppers. The yellow squash fizzled and died, as well as the zucchini.

I have turned my attention to my Gnome Garden.

My little Gnome village is coming along. I ordered some gnomes on-line, but they were teeny tiny and not at all the size scale I needed.

I got some little Disney figures from Dollar General. These are actually dwarves, but a better size.

I used a coffee can and some of my dumpster diving slats from lattice to create the well. Complete with a bucket to pull the water up.

The slightly off-kilter "house" is actually a big bottle that once held weed killer. I employed my tiger lily stalks again and a scrap of tine for a roof. Popsicle sticks and tongue depressors created the door and window.

And you will recall the original gnome house created with stones and glue on a big plastic jug.

I have another abode in the making, but I am out of raw materials. A trip to the Dollar Tree will remedy that. Tomorrow will be my escape day, as prescriptions are waiting at WalMart.

Who knows, something in WalMart might be an inspiration!

Assume .... Makes An A$$ of U and Me

Standing in front of me, a folder of papers in her hand, the woman tells me she is doing research .....

The papers are my entire website in print. She is thumbing through the papers and begins asking questions. Seems she is "researching" tent sites. For a weekend in September. The map has a legend and the legend will identify the site type. I am itching to point this out to her. I mean, she went to all the trouble of printing all this information out and I feel like I should enlighten her, so that she will know how to use it.

I point out the tent area and then show her where the bath houses are located (all marked on the map she has) Then comes the cost. My pricing is on the map, along with the number of campers covered with said price. Extras are $3 per person per night.

BUT, it does not say PER NIGHT. Since the base price is per night, one would assume that the extra person price would also be per night, right? Well you know what they say about assuming. I will get right on that and have that marked, to avoid confusion in the future!! 

Too Early!

This day started early. The canines have been sleeping later and we didn't make the first bathroom break until 6:30. I decided that I needed to stay up. The hot humid weather had finally broken overnight and I showered and went outside to enjoy the cool air. I finished restocking the bathrooms and was intent on looking at my garden, but stopped to chat with some campers.

Big mistake. This made me visible to any and all. Before I could excuse myself and go about my garden visit, I spied a couple pushing an umbrella stroller who spied me. I wear regular clothes, nothing to indicate that I am a slave to this park, but I must look like I work here.

I had a call late in the evening inquiring about a site suitable for a pop-up camper. The caller said they would arrive close to midnight and wanted to know if I would be here to check them in ..... I explained that there was a night registration on the front of the building along with instructions. I told her to choose a site in the 60's. The sites are all numbered and I even told her which side of the park they would be located in ...... pool side.

I always check my phone upon arising to see if I have missed a call. I had missed 2. Both were from the same number and occurred at 11:45 and 11:47 pm. I have long since stopped jumping from my bed to answer middle of the night calls. If anything serious was taking place, all of the full time campers have the cell number of HeWho is the fixer of all things electric or plumbing related. His phone is right next to him.

The couple with the toddler in tow were coming up to pay for a weekend of camping. The call the night before was from them and they were at a state park that was full and had found my park through my website. The answer to every basic question you could ask can be found right there on the website. This tends to make me assume that my pricing offers no surprises and the map has a legend telling you what can be found on each site.

When I asked which site they had parked in, they had no clue and pointed vaguely in the direction of the full hook-up sites. When I produced a map, she named 3 occupied sites before finally settling on the one they had taken. I asked if she might be the person I had spoken to late yesterday evening. She told me it was her daughter. I explained that I had told her daughter to park in one of the unoccupied sites in the area next to the pool. "Yeah, we tried that, but we had trouble finding one, so we pulled the map up on our phone and that's how we found the site we are on." "We saw all the color codes and it looked like this was a good site."

They parked on a 50 amp full hook-up site, instead of one of the sites with a regular 110 outlet, which is what they needed. The pop-up was quite old and had no air conditioner. She said they noticed the outlet was wrong, so they ran an extension cord to a "right kind". I asked if they would mind moving to the other side of the park and they agreed to do so.

The plot thickens ...... after she had painstakingly provided the necessary information on the registration and got to the area requesting your license plate number, she seemed to be baffled, so I told her to just leave it blank. I asked how many people there were in her party. This is a question I ask frequently and it is clearly stated in all my literature that my prices cover 2 adults and 2 children. After that it is $3 per person per night extra. They had 7 adults and 7 children in their party. This number was accomplished after much counting by names on fingers.

That is 10 extra people. This equates to $30 a night in addition to the base price of $26 ...... or $8 per person for a two night stay. I always say the amount out loud before I input it into the machine that takes credit/debit cards. I want to  make sure you are aware of the amount coming out of your account. I could tell she was not happy that she was paying for her extra guests, but the transaction went through and she agreed to move to the other side of the park.

This all happened before the office was open for the day. I realized my garden visit was not happening and I was busying myself with the making of my bed and general tidying up when they returned and asked for a refund. All of this and I was not even open for the day. I tried to void the last transaction, but because it was a debit transaction, I had to refund it. When I tried, the machine deemed it an unauthorized transaction.

Right at that moment, HeWho digs holes in the road happened into the office and I turned it over to him in order to let the dogs in and use the bathroom unhindered one more time before opening. I skipped my bathroom break. It occurred to me that they would just take the refund and not pay for the night already spent here and HeWho would be none the wiser because I had not specifically told him that.

My assumption was correct and I caught them just in time. Despite the very short stay, I took note of the huge amount of trash put in the dumpster on the way out. Confirmed my suspicion that people coming to camp brought all their household garbage along with them! It was just too early to start the day!

Grasshopper Mowers

I think the heat is getting to me. I tried to mow this morning. It was hot, but there was a breeze that made it bearable. I was annoyed, though. The mower needs a new blade. It wasn't even chopping the heads of clover off. I found myself going over the same spot without results, so I quit.


I realize I blog about mowing ..... a lot. Is it sad that this is a big part of my life? That I spend more time with the mower than I do with my husband? Doesn't matter that he is usually mowing at the same time that I am.

When we first bought this new and exiting endeavor, we had no idea how much of our time would be spent mowing. There was a tractor that was part of the existing equipment that was used to mow. The smaller areas had to be mowed with a push mower. I didn't mind doing my part. It was just a very small area between the parking lot and the building, and the fenced in back yard.

The tractor mowing was okay, just didn't look well groomed. Then there was all this wide open space. Not many trees at all. A couple of maples, 3 apple trees and three cherry trees. The cherry trees have since died, but I have replaced them with other trees. I added peach trees and flowering pear trees purchased on clearance. The skimpy patches of grass between the building and parking lot has been replaced with daylilies and ground cover, along with clematis and whatever I decide to add in annually. The wide open spaces are now defined with trees and bushes and perennial plants. Lots of tiger lilies and iris and black-eyed suzies. All this planting came with a price for me. Not $$. But I planted my trees to create a sun screen and a wind break for the main building. That meant a tractor would not be able to navigate between my trees.

This was a lesson learned when the very first tree I planted here, a black walnut, met with disaster and was mowed down. HeWho I am quite sure murdered my little tree tried to blame it on the nice man who was helping with that chore. I am well versed in the ways of HeWho mows. It was about this time that HeWho purchased his first zero-turn at the co-op in town. He paid a lot of money for this mower that was previously owned and was always breaking down. He also purchased an off brand tractor that never worked right, but that is another day's tale .... not to mention the dump truck with no brakes.

After a couple of seasons of an unreliable mower, I convinced him that we needed something that was known to be reliable. I was appalled to learn how much he spent on his new Grasshopper. He spent more on that than he did on the car I drive!
He did his research and spoke to the salesman at length about the work load this mower would have to endure.

Lately, the mower is in the shop more than it is mowing here. They keep fixing not fixing the same problem over and over again. Every time it breaks down, HeWho sometimes tows has to borrow the big truck and haul it in and then borrow a mower. We cannot be without a mower!

Even though I am very adept at pushing one, I just can't do nearly 14 acres! I mow around my gardens and my trees .... a very wide swath, so that cut grass is not slung into my beds. I mow the dips a valleys that a wide blade will not groom well. I mow around the pool and anywhere the big mower cannot easily access. Another kamper helps out by mowing sites. 

So, when the Grasshopper representative, aka Grasshopper Guy decided to drop by today, I was not in the best frame of mind, being still hot from mowing. I was in a sharing mood and I shared quite a few of my thoughts about what customer service means. I am not shy, as you might have already guessed.

Rumor has it that a loaner mower will be in my future and will be delivered when ours is picked up.

Wasp Hives

We have a tenant here in our midst who has managed to enchant me. If you are here for any amount of time you will, no doubt, meet him.

He knows the goings on of the park and can tell me who is breaking my rules. All of 5 years old, he has become the heart beat of the park. I recognize the same spirit of independence in him that still lives in my youngest child. I try not to put names in here. Well, except for my own family, but if you have ever been here ...... you know his name!

Yesterday he gave me the details and locations of the wasp "hives" on the pavilion. His mother and I looked at him and said "hives?"  He just shrugged and said "like bee hives". Not long ago he informed his dad that I had witnessed him running my stop sign and told him he was going to get them kicked out!

Gotta love that kid! He knows it, too. He came in the store yesterday, face bright red from the heat and told me that he had been "all over the park" and that it was hot out there. Then he wondered if I could give him a Dr. Pepper. Of course I did, he thanked and went on his way.

HeWho battles winged intruders took care of those "hives" last night.

Gnome-like Creatures and Dwellings

I set about making a Gnome house for my garden of odd creatures. I was searching for a roof .....
Even I have to admit that the red painted bundt pan was a poor choice.

The house is a big plastic container that previously held pretzels. This was from one of those marathon cookie making adventures of Christmases past. I purchased $2 worth of rocks at the Dollar Tree and used a product similar to Liquid Nails to attach them. This resulted in a very heavy object that even our gusts of winds won't be able to blow away.

The door is lattice salvaged from the dumpster. I happened to see someone tossing it and grabbed it. This was a while back, but I knew it would come in handy at some point. I used a bottle of furniture scratch repair to "stain" it and found an old drawer knob among my carefully guarded junk.

But the roof had me at a loss. I looked at some craft stores on-line and decided that a thatch roof would look good. I even considered cutting the bristles off a straw broom ....... until I saw how much they cost! All of the brooms I currently use are nylon bristles, so sacrificing one of them was not an option. I decided to sleep on it while the adhesive dried over night.

The very next morning, as I was picking around in one of my many flower beds I came upon the solution! There it was, right in front of me. The tiger lilies had bloomed and gone, leaving the reedy stem. If you pull them just right, they will let go and you will have a nice long reed to work with.

Since the opening to the container was round, I had a round roof in my head. I even demonstrated one to HeWho was about to leave on a mission for electrical and plumbing stuff. Paper would not work, though, has to be able to withstand weather. I had a epiphany! A funnel.

It worked. So, what do you think? Would you live in my tiny house?

No hinges on the door, though. Not very practical unless you are a Gnome .....

A Good Dose Of Public Humiliation

With a short week, the weekend seemed to appear suddenly. The weather is hot and sultry, making mowing a miserable task. That being said, sitting here all day is boring. I think I might have dozed off for a full 10 minutes when the door flew open and the gentleman I had checked in earlier came in to enlighten me about wireless internet ......

Really, I don't care how it works, just that it works. He started to leave twice, opened the door, then came back to give me more advice. I have no idea what he said, I wasn't listening. My eyes were tracking the fly he let in. This new fly joined the old fly to annoy me and I was itching for him to go and leave me on a fly killing adventure.

The day had just begun when I noted that some children were on the porch. I had unlocked the door, but still had a few minutes before I was supposed to be open. A man came up to join the children and entered the store. He said he wanted to rent a tent site, so I grabbed a registration and laid it on the counter. This is when he told me they had already set up the tent. Taking this opportunity to educate the public at large, I informed him that check-in is not until AFTER NOON, since check-out is noon.

He said they could take down the tent and come back later. I asked how long he had been on the camp site and he told me they came in a 6:30 am. I had to bite my tongue before saying, "And here you are, already drinking." He reeked of alcohol and body odor. He told me it was him, his wife and two children, although I am pretty sure I saw three little heads. He handed me $22 and I gave him a receipt and he went on to embellish his tale of trying to give the children a nice camping adventure, even though he had "hurt his back" and was feeling bad. Maybe the alcohol was for medicinal purposes?

I lit a candle after he left to refresh the air. HeWho sometimes works here was out on a mission to procure a drill bit to drill out the lock on one of the coin-op washers. He had already replaced the lockset once, but lost the key. Now the box is too full of coins to operate properly. I don't think he has drilled it open yet and it is nearly 4:00. I can't say that he even purchased the drill bit, although he did stop at the bakery and get some fresh glazed donuts for his wife.

The donuts are long gone and I have just thought of the full coin box again. I did remember to ask if he had checked the drop box for after hour check-ins. This is when he told me that one of our campers who happened to be up late took note of a family setting up a tent. My ears perked up. No other tenters here except my early alcohol drinker and HE LIED TO ME!

The tent family was absent from the site when HeWho was dispatched to collect more money from the drinking dad who lies. I was biding my time watching to see when they would return. In the meantime, the phone rang at regular intervals. One call was from a man looking to tent camp next to his ex-wife and her family. I asked for a name, but already knew who he was referring to ..... since I had only one tent in the park. I am pretty smart like that.

This man, when asked how many people would be in his reservation, took the time to tell me the ages of all his children, ending with a 4 week old baby and asking if he had to pay for the baby as well. I was not in a happy frame of mind, having been lied to earlier by his ex-wife's husband, so I said yes.

I doubt they will be showing up. When the dad who drinks  and lies was confronted, he chose to break camp and leave, rather than pay for another night. He informed HeWho confronted him that he was "just trying to let my kids have a good time", that he is from Georgia and the game wardens don't act like this. Game warden? Are you hunting?

So, looks like drinking, lying dad makes a habit of over stepping boundaries, as far as truth is concerned.

Since my chair nap was interrupted, I meandered out to the pool to see that my posted rules are being blatantly disobeyed. Why is it that everyone thinks they are exceptions? Not only do I have the rules POSTED on a 4' X 8' sign, I tell people checking in what my expectations are. I do not slur my words and I do not need amplification to be heard. I speak slowly enough to be understood and I enunciate well. I even look you in the eye and ask you if you understand what I am saying.

So, don't act surprised when I catch you red-handed and publicly humiliate you!

Fireworks

Thanks to a kamper, I can see the fireworks I missed while dealing with issues. What a great shot!

You can see that the surrounding area where HeWho likes to light up the sky with kamper Terry in the danger zone. The rest of the kampers were in the safe zone, with the pond in between.

I heard about a fire at the end ...... I didn't worry much, as there was no report of screams of pain. They had water close by, after all.

Open To Suggestions

I am open to suggestion .......

How to make people pick up after their animals? Today is mowing day. The dog park gets mowed on Mondays and Thursdays. Who does this task? Why, me, of course. I am usually not so incensed on Thursdays. Mondays, however, are awful. It is hot, the sun baking down as I police the park for poop and scoop up not one, not two, but six very substantial droppings. Had to have been big dogs, making me think back to all the dogs I saw this weekend.

The tenter that comes to mind is the woman who took two big dogs into the ladies room with her. I know this, because I was cleaning and restocking when she stood waiting at the door. Why, I wondered did she need to take the dogs into the restroom? I admit that I checked after she exited to see if the dogs had relieved them selves. They didn't and might be wonderful, obedient dogs for all I know.

I thought of her because she was the reason for most of my misery on Saturday. During the parade, as we were dropping dogs and dragging them she called me three times about a tent site. Every question she asked could have been answered on the website she told me she was looking at while she talked to me. To say that I was extremely busy Saturday would be an understatement. She came into the office and began with questioning me about tent sites. She then told me that her daughter was "having a fit" on 58 because she saw that big RV's were parked on the sites around her.

First of all, it is customary to check-in and be assigned a site before you begin setting up. Though I voiced this, it seemed to not matter to her. Thinking she was on site 58 I marked that spot as taken and moved on with my day. Thanks to many helping hands I was able to get the picnic area set up and ready while DJ, Best Kamper Ever!, cooked all those burgers I had hand made. HeWho was running about taking care of fire wood deliveries and interacting with all of our guests. A big rig arrived and needed a substantial spot to fit in. Since we had just hooked up sewer and had rock delivered to the newly leveled site, I drew the route on my map to site 52 and sent the people to the site. I no sooner went back outside to finish setting up tables and getting the area ready to receive covered dishes than my phone went off.

HeWho usually texts me was calling "Why did you put a tent on 52?" I responded that I did not put a tent on 52 and went on to ask him if he thought I had lost my mind and why would I use one of my few 50 amp sites left for a tent. I must have been on speaker, or maybe I was talking loud, because I heard the woman say I had assigned the site to her!

This is when it all fell apart. That rig went to a spot already reserved for a rig that had called to come in a day early. As luck would have it, another huge rig pulled in without reservations and I insisted that HeWho is non-confrontational go make the tent woman mover her vehicles, because, although I was told there were only three people and one of them a child; they had three tents and three vehicles.

Now I was left to find a space for the day early arrivals. I put them in a water and electric site and compensated them with a $12 discount. The man said that he was okay with that and he was the only person I dealt with during their stay. As I always do, I invited them to join us at the pavilion for food and entertainment and later fireworks. I have no idea if they came over to participate.

I got a call Sunday morning from a very irate woman with a litany of complaints. She began with her reserved site being given away. I apologized and told her I thought I had compensated them. I could barely get a word in. She then told me they had no water on their site. I remembered then that DJ had told me that the man had approached him and he had taken care of it by adding a "Y" to another hydrant that was working. I told her that and she told me that she was not notified that the problem had been resolved.

Her next complaint was that the ladies' room shower had no cold water. I apologized again and told her there were two other showers in the park. Once again, nobody "told her". I always go over the map and tell people where all the amenities are located. Most people do not pay attention to what I say (proof would be the dog poop, because I always point out the dog park and tell them they are welcome to use it, as long as they clean up after their dogs). Not only that, if you are not present when I say these things ...... should I be required to follow you to your site and prepare a speech for all present in the camper?

The woman was so intent on complaining that I could barely get a word in ...... and let me assure you, that does not happen often! She wanted a refund for the $26 I charged them. It was on a charge card and I guess she thought that I could access that information. You do realize that once the transaction has occurred, that information is no longer accessible to the merchant. If I have taken your information on the phone, the very first thing I do after you set off to your site is destroy that information with a black marker. I had to get somewhat rude to make her hear me and give me the credit card information again. I did refund her, although I didn't think I should have. I realize she will no doubt give me a bad review and never ever stay here again.

But, it is tent lady with the two big dogs and numerous vehicles, who, apparently cannot read numbers that remains a thorn in my side. She is the one who set the chain of events in motion and the dog poop was just the right size for her dogs!!

The Mouse In The House

In the midst of the festivities going on all around me, I made a mad dash into my domicile to check on the animals and get a bathroom break for myself.

Being the selfless one that I am, I tended to my pets first. As I was opening the back door, I noticed that Eddie was intent on playing with the many toys he had gathered at the door. He always has a menagerie of toys at the door, sometimes he will choose one to take outside with him. I was in a bit of a hurry and almost missed the fact that the "toy" Eddie was playing with was alive.

The mouse seemed to be happy to play with Eddie. He would pick him up and them put him down in order to chase the rodent. I demanded that Eddie "get the mouse". Eddie looked up at me and the mouse scurried under the cabinet. I was not upset with Eddie, he is just a baby. I was, however, annoyed with Martha, the boy cat, Martha was right there in the midst of the action, He was watching and made no move to retrieve the mouse. He just stared at the tiny rodent, as if deeming it to be too small to interest him. Martha being a big game hunter of rabbits and squirrel and once a crow.

How did the mouse get into the house? Not sure. HeWho fixes things could be to blame. He recently replace the door knob on the back door. The old one was locking upon closing and required a screw driver to open it. HeWho procrastinates bought the new door knob immediately, but chose to "fix" the situation with some strips of electrical tape. Didn't really work and made the lady of the house complain. When he finally installed the new knob, it would not close properly. I woke one morning to find the door open. I wonder why a mouse would want to take refuge in a house full of animals, but, I am not a mouse and apparently Eddie befriends all the creatures he meets.

It is just as likely that Martha, the boy cat, brought the mouse to his favorite canine. While Toni Louise, the only female in the pack, lacks any maternal instincts whatsoever, Martha seems to think that Eddie is his baby. Martha grooms Eddie and Eddie can bite Martha and jump on him ..... things the other dogs would not dare to try.

Doesn't matter how the mouse got in the house. The mouse must go. Traps have been set.

  

 

Eddie and Cujo .... waiting for their cat.

Pets on Parade!

Where to begin? The fireworks were fantastic ..... I was told. I did have a chair to seat myself in, just never sat down. Maybe the middle when I ran in for a quick bathroom break and decided to let the dogs out, only to discover a mouse in Eddie's custody?

In an effort to get the information out to all the campers and avoid lots of questions, I put a sign on the door. Bright green, to catch your eye. I did see some people actually reading it, but soon felt like I might have wasted my time and energy ......

I was ready at 11 AM, really I was, but just at that time people began coming in for purchases and campers started to arrive. Really hard to judge when a camper will appear, but CHECK-IN is anytime AFTER noon and one would have thought that the sign on the door would suffice as an explanation that the store would be temporarily closed during this time. One would be wrong.

Wall-E ditched his hat first. He was having none of my patriotic mumbo jumbo. I even tried to apply duct tape to his head ..... It was a job just to keep his harness on. He jumped from the cart at one point and was being dragged along like Aunt Edna's dog in Vacation.

Since we were leading, the shouts from those behind us alerted us to his predicament. He was unscathed, golf carts don't go that fast. I jumped off to rescue my most senior dog and HeWho was driving then drug me along with only half of myself on board. I am still unsure if this was intentional or not. Toni Louise must have thought this was a bizarre game and she was next to jump.

This is Roxie ..... She won the prize for the most patriotic dog. I hope I spelled her name right! I think the award should go to her people, Terry and Sharon for being able to make her keep that costume on!!

The golf carts were dressed for the big affair.

Bikes were not to be out done!!

 

 

 

 Dixie and Trixie seemed as happy as my dogs!

 

Miss Kitty has captured my mood! Miss Kitty is somewhat dainty compared to Martha, the boy cat. Martha hunts all night and was not available for costuming and parades ...... he was sleeping on my pillow.

Miss Kitty is a hunter of different sorts. She likes to roam around and check out décor. If you leave your door open, she will go right in. She won't stay long, just wants to look around. I think she has a secret language and tells her people, DJ and Andrea what other people have done to their campers.

So, are you wondering about the mouse in Eddie's possession? Tomorrow .......

Eddie and Cujo stayed on the cart for the duration.