85 Degrees

My new laptop is on the Fed-Ex truck!! It will be here soon. And wouldn't you know it ..... the old laptop is behaving. Too late!

Yesterday was a lost day. I sat like a giant slug in front of the TV. I was cozy all day with dog warmth. Always Cujo, lots of Eddie and Wall-E and at one point all four were in my lap. Eddie is jealous of the laptop. He will lay his sweet little head on my hand and prevent me from using it.

I know I could push him away. I tried that and he looked up at me with such a hurt expression. Besides, old laptop was misbehaving. So, Eddie had his way.

Misbehave, behave .... those words always make me think of my Adrienne. She used to say. "But, Mommy, I was being have (long "a"). She had her own vocabulary and in an odd sort of way, it made perfect sense.

But, all this has nothing to do with the title. I usually write, then give the post a title. I changed it up today. There is a chill in the air. I pulled all my plants inside and closed the storm windows. I was quite content with the air temperature. I put a pair of socks on my toes and slipped my feet into my favorite Dawgs. Long pants and a long sleeved shirt. I was comfortable, HeWho was not.

We have the same argument every year. I see absolutely no need to turn the heater on. I think 66 is fine. If you are cold, grab a lap blanket and a dog. If you are up and moving around, you won't be cold. He will happily turn the air conditioner down to 66. This makes my toes cold, but he insists that it is too hot.

So, yesterday, while I sat covered in hot dogs (pun intended), he built a fire in the wood stove. I was hoping he would just build a small fire, then let it simmer. You, just to take the chill out of the room. I should know better. We were watching Judge Judy and then I was asleep dogs tucked in around me and my recliner reclined to the fullest extent.

The phone rang and I woke with a start. I was sweating. The dogs were sweaty. HeWho builds fires was at it again. I complained, the dogs complained. I took care of the phone call and bumbled around the kitchen with thoughts of dinner. HeWho went out to fill some LP tanks for customers and the temperature slowly became bearable again.

As the night wore on, HeWho loves a fire could not seem to stop shoving logs in wood stove. I had stripped down to my underwear and finally announced that I was going to bed. I let the dogs out and discreetly checked the thermostat to find that the temperature was 85 degrees. I went outside to gather Eddie and friends, good excuse to cool off before I could secretly open the bedroom window. 85 degrees. If it was summer and the temperature was 85, HeWho would have the air on.

Please Don't Leave Me

I may or may not have mentioned, in posts past, that HeWho loves to run errands. He will volunteer to go get anything I might fleetingly think about. I will prevent this unnecessary trip, which leaves him to invent his own errands.

Today is Friday. Friday in a campground. The busiest day of my week. I am booked solid, despite some cancellations. People are always surprised when the weather turns cold. It happens every year, usually about this time; and yet there are those who are caught completely off guard. Some of my cancellations will provide me with a reason, some don't. Matters not at all to me, since I don't charge a cancellation fee. But that would be an entire post .... reasons for cancelling.

No, my rant today is about Errand Boy and his need to leave the property. This morning I mentioned to him that today was Friday and we were going to be quite busy and to PLEASE not leave me. I can handle a lot, but I cannot be two places at once. Since I am stuck in the office all day, I decide to begin the process of bring in all my hanging plants to over-winter them. This will keep me right here close enough to stop and check in campers and still be productive.

Another kamper/friend will also be bringing up her outdoor plants, so I have to do some rearranging to accommodate all of our combined plants. HeWho has already made two trips to run errands and is planted in front of the TV watching National Geographic and eating peanut butter sandwiches. I asked to go help the camper on 18 locate the sewer and had also asked him to have another camper move their vehicle because it is blocking a site.

Andrea and I are in the thick of plant hanging and relocating when he says he is going to town to get an elbow. Andrea reminded him that he already had two and I was laughing at them, totally forgetting that it is nearing 4:00 .... on a Friday in the campground. Prime check-in and problem time.

So, while I am dealing with winter weather and digging up my banana trees and checking in campers, I get a call. The car blocking the site did not move and the camper assigned to that site cannot back in and does not seem to understand exactly where the site I am moving them to is located. The right/left thing again and me trying to use site numbers to direct her. Totally forgetting that HeWho needs to keep the road hot under his wheels is not here, I text him to go show the camper what I have not been able to convey with mere words.

Andrea drove me there and I solved the problem while HeWho promised not to leave me here was shopping for boots. I am not cooking tonight, no I am not!

My World

This is the snout that greets my eyes every morning when they flutter open. Toni Louise is a sweet girl, if a little clingy. The eyeball sniffer. She is the dominant one of my little pack. Do not try to monopolize the affections of her master! She will get vicious! She belongs to HeWho rescued her from the pound. She loves him above all others. That does not mean she doesn't appreciate my affections, too.

Of course, Eddie is the baby and takes full advantage of that status. He is happy all the time, enjoying the affections of everyone. At the end of the day, though, he always finds me and snuggles close. Who could not love that face?

These guys are the background. They wait patiently for attention. Cujo is secure in the knowledge that I am his person, his only person. I pray that this dog does not out-live me. He is so very needy. So damaged by life before he became my little guy. He is only content when I am holding him. I hold him a lot.

Wall-E, the curiously homely dog, is the martyr among the pack. He always wants everything to be okay. He loves routine. You could set your clock by this one. He is a patient one, this Wall-E. He waits patiently for me to wake, never nudging or whining. Toni Louise will bark at me! He waits until last to go out and it stresses him when all four dogs don't come in together. He will stand at the back door to remind me that I have forgotten one or two of his fellow canines. He waits until all the others have eaten before he approaches the dish. We have one communal dish for them and they all eat the same food. If a fight breaks out for whatever reason he will bark incessantly until the world is right again. Wall-E is the peace maker.

This is the world I live in. Wouldn't trade it for anything!

Crop Circles

As I was mowing today I remembered that I had crafted a clever post not so long ago that was eaten by the devil computer that will soon be replaced.

It had rained all week and was finally dry enough to mow, much like today and as I was mowing the side yard near the pool and the playground I noticed what looked like rocks in a large circle. I walked over to see  and to pick them up before HeWho mows over things could damage his blade. Remember, I do all the prep work involve in mowing. He will either mow around obstacles, such as picnic tables or move them WITH the mower. Then wonder why the frames of the tables are bent ...... but I digress.

I thought that perhaps a child or two may have placed the rocks on the ground for whatever reason. You can't really tell from the picture, but this was a very large circle. I even grabbed a bucket to put them in.

Not rocks! These are mushrooms! In a circle! On my property! Creepy!!

These are close-ups of the mushrooms and I never thought I would say this, but I wish we had a drone for a bird's eye view! I tried to get a picture of the entire circle, but I had to get too far away. It was big enough to park a few cars in and have room left over. Mushrooms. In a circle. Wonder what that means? I am happy there was no bull's eye in the center!

Today Is Special

Today is a very special day. Today is Layla's 17th birthday. I have no recent pictures to post. It has been a year since I have seen my girl. I am busy researching locations to park our RV so we can head north soon. Most RV parks that far north close for the winter. I wonder how many days we could dry dock in a Walmart parking lot? We could move from Walmart to Walmart. That would be interesting.

I am missing my kids and my grands today. Wish I could just hop in my car and zip over to see them. But wishing won't make it so.

On a lighter note .... today is also Charming Eddie's birthday. He is one. He celebrated with a nice bone to chew on and is currently napping in my lap. He doesn't know it yet, but he will be having a bath tonight. If all the dried mud on his fur is any indication, I think he may have dug another hole in the back yard while celebrating.

I knew Eddie was special when I discovered that he was born on Layla's birthday!

Drip, Drip, Drip

My laptop is behaving well this morning. Perhaps it knows that I am ready to give my affections to a newer model. At any rate, I will take advantage of it. I am enjoying a quiet morning, sipping coffee, the TV a mere murmur in the background, and two long dogs lounging in my lap.

Cujo is considerate. He tucks in next to me on my left side. Eddie is a sprawler. He likes to command as much space as possible. He is between my legs, with his sweet little head on my thigh. He is restless when he naps. He stretches and pushes my legs to odd angles, as I bend my knee to accommodate my little guy.

Makes it hard to balance the laptop, but the sweet warmth is worth it. Makes the dripping faucet in the background less annoying. I woke this morning and went in the kitchen to hit the magic button that started the process of making my morning jolt of caffeine, I noted that the faucet was dripping. Reminded me that we are due to submit a sample to the DNR, as we do every month.

I filled out the necessary paper work, while HeWho plumbs collected the sample. The faucet is no longer simply dripping, it is a steady stream. You would think he would have noticed. I could hear it as I boxed up the sample for him to take. I even pointed it out to him. "I guess I didn't turn it all the way off," he says as he tries to tighten the faucet.

That was a couple of hours ago. He decided to take a cab call while he was out. Guess he forgot he needs to fix this faucet. I think I will go outside and do anything other than listen to this steady stream of water hit the bottom of the sink!

Are You Listening?

"What do you want for dinner?" asks HeWho loves to run errands. I guess the absence of any food preparation in the kitchen was a good clue about what I had in mind. "I don't know, what do you want?" is my standard answer.

Obviously, it will be some sort of take-out, since we can't very well leave on a Saturday night. I would love to tell you that limitless possibilities awaited my perusal in the way of take-out menus. I would be lying. Let's see, we have Chinese, Mexican, a diner, Subway, or McDonald's. Almost forgot, deli fried chicken from a gas station, or the grocery. The fried chicken tends to be greasy and the sides of potato logs unappealing to me. My stomach rebels at the thought of spicy Mexican and I don't want a sandwich or a burger. Chinese, I guess.

Chinese it is. I opt for the roast pork and vegetables and HeWho always orders the same thing, does just that. General Tso and his chicken. He speaks into his phone to automatically dial up the  House of China. He really loves the General and his chicken. While the phone is ringing, he looks at me and says "beef or chicken?". And he wonders why I say he never listens to what I say.

Full Service, Please!

Okay, I was able to post!! This exciting, I keep wait

That is as far as I got yesterday before my words would no longer appear, shortly after that the entire thing froze up and I couldn't even read other blogs.

I shut it down and said some words and sent a message to my son.

It is working today, so far. A storm is brewing. We are supposed to have a rain storm with hail and high winds. That will pretty much wipe out the movie tonight. Even if we were under the pavilion, the wind would have us all soaked. I am tired and not all that disappointed.

Last week with a couple of little old ladies tent camping has left me  ...... annoyed? Disillusioned? The lady making the reservation was with my church group on Labor Day weekend. I give them a really good discount. They are a large group and have always been respectful of my property and my profit margin. They are mainly tent campers and they squish those tents together and leave me as many open spots as possible for me to rent. They never complain and the guy who organizes the event handles everything for me. He counts the heads and gathers the money, making it one of my easiest holiday weekends.

So, this sweet little old lady cornered me before she left after the holiday weekend. She told me she didn't have much money and wanted to bring her friend/relative on a camping trip. I made the reservation and gave her a very nice discount. It is my prerogative to extend such discounts as I see fit. I have been known to let some stay free and even feed them. I am quite sure I have been taken advantage of before and no doubt, will be again.

The ladies arrived and set up camp and then started to shadow me for entertainment. I was elated to lock up after the first day. I treasure my alone time. I enjoy being on my own as I go about my daily chores. The next day proved to be as trying as the first day. I hated to go outside, lest I find myself in the position of entertaining. I was trying to get the sign painting done and ready for hanging and really wanted to be done with it, so I could move on to another project.

They were here for three days and the last day was much like the first two. The church lady came in and plopped down in the chair. She announced that her tire "was low" and wanted to know if I could "blow it up". Really, me. As most all my friends know, I do not even fuel up my car. I am a kept woman as far as my driving needs go. I told her that my husband was out by the barn (aka Fred Sanford's Emporium) and that he did have a compressor. She said she didn't want to bother him, as he was busy. I will pause here, as you imagine those words playing in my head.

She wanted me to bother him to fix her tire, but before any more was said, Martha, the boy cat, sauntered into the store. She jumped from the chair and ran out the door exclaiming that she was allergic to cats. If only Martha had made himself available earlier! I did give him an extra treat and simply forgot about the "low tire".

Next morning, as we were starting the day, Church Lady (having erased the sight of Martha from her mind) arrived in the store to chew out HeWho owns a compressor for not attending to her tire the night before. I heard the exchange from the kitchen, but did not appear to back up HeWho. He took the assault and apologized to her and told her she should have brought her car to the barn and he would have been more that happy to help her. That silver tongued devil is a sucker for little old ladies.

The tire was sitting on the rim and something tells me she is quite familiar with "low tires". Nothing was stopping her from traveling the mile to the nearest gas station to take care of the problem. I was still feeling kindly towards her, though ..... until I went out to clean and stock the bathrooms.

They apparently kept all their trash and garbage at their campsite until they were ready to leave. When exiting the campground, one must go right by the dumpster. Most campers bring the trash with them and toss it on their way out. Instead, they took the top off the would be rain barrel that was full of water, underneath the gutter at the end of the building where the bathrooms are and SHOVED THEIR GARBAGE DOWN INTO THE WATER.

No longer feeling charitable, I used considerable force to tip the barrel over in order to get the now soggy contents out. My hands were encased in gloves as I picked up the remains of their dinners and tons of wet paper towels. The cold water faucet in the ladies shower was broken and evidence of their daily hygiene was on display. No good deed goes unpunished.

To sum it all up, the phone call of the week: "So, tell me, what kind of activities do you have planned for the kids?"  So many answers to that question bounced around in my mind, but I just replied that we didn't have any planned activities for kids and went on to extoll the amenities of the park, the playground and the pond for fishing.
"No planned activities for the children while my husband and I go to Oktoberfest?"

I suppose I could do that, but it would cost the parents SO MUCH!!

Snakes Alive!

Unwelcome guests will sometimes appear to scare and annoy me. Like the one pictured. Not all of them slither on the ground, though. They cannot be dispatched easily with a shovel to the head ....

My computer seems to be in it's death throes and I will have to acclimate myself to a brand new one soon enough. Being old, I don't like lots of changes in routine happenings. I do not really type. It is a sort of three finger ballet I prefer and I can apparently do so with much haste. Because the computer cannot keep up with me. I find myself editing every other word for dropped letters.

I only have one window open while I am "typing", but it still happens. That is annoying, but it has started turning off and on with no warning. The keypad has a sticky "c" and the internal mouse died long ago. Once again I will impose upon my son to find what I want and get it so he can set it all up for me. I have a very good son. I don't mind paying for it, it is the set up part that I hate and he knows how to get his mom a good deal.

This is usually my favorite time of year. The week days are slow and easy and I can get a lot done .... well, they used to be, at any rate. We are still super busy with lots of travelers and winery goers. I had two older ladies here for three days in a tent. The weather has been perfect for that sort of camping. Warm days and cool nights.

Just because we are still busy in the office doesn't mean there are not a lot of pre-winter chores to be done. I still have quite a bit of fence to paint and the big sign in the front is about to collapse. I suppose it should be in a great state of rot, since it is almost 50 years old. Not that we have been standing by waiting for it to collapse. I have painted it several times and it has been reinforced throughout the years, but the time has come to just put up a new sign.

The old sign is made of 2X6's, cedar, of coarse and the letters were routed out, making it easier to paint, but still not great. Someone gave us a stack of 4' 2X4's and HeWho knows things said they would work great. He went on to tell me how he was going to route out some 4X4"s to frame the sign. The only thing he wanted me to do was to outline the letters on the 2X4's ...... so he could route them out "otherwise, it won't look right".

Being a dutiful wife I went out to the barn where he had this all set up on a picnic table (after he pondered what he would put it on for me to work on. He was going to purchase a piece of plywood to put on sawhorses .......). Anyhoo, his wife suggested the picnic table, what with it being the same size as the sign. I battled the wind and did my part.

A few days passed. A couple of times, I even heard the router. But, he made very little progress. I even suggested using some different materials. I asked if, perhaps wooden letters might be an alternative to paint or routing the letters. I researched and neither one of us liked the price of the letters. HeWho seemed to balk at the shipping time, like we had not already wasted a couple of weeks.

Next thing I know, he is dragging in a piece of plywood for me to letter and then he cut the letters out with the jigsaw. Just $24 and we have all the letters we need and extra material. Everybody knows how much I love a bargain. I don't think he was too happy with me when he started to cut out the letters .... I laid them out very carefully to use as little material as possible.

My part is done , all the painting of the letters and the big part of the sign, just needs to be erected and then touched up.
 


At the end of the day, though, I have the sweetest little guy waiting for me to cuddle with!

Monkey Business

It has been really quiet here for the past week since my little buddy, Parker, moved away. Not too far, but still, it is not the same.

I seem to have rediscovered my sewing room. I sold out of sock monkeys and had some of the campers ask if I planned to make more. I dug out my secret stash of hoarded socks and got busy. This one is made from infant socks and is my current favorite.

Seems I had quite the stash of socks and nowhere to display them. So I went to the ceiling for room and let them hang from a tree limb.

Not all of them are hanging by the tail.

This one looks like he might be stealing some ketchup!

This one has freaky long legs.

Tied in knots over chocolate.

Once I started, I couldn't stop. I made 21 last week and sold one over the weekend. I still have a big stack of socks, I might as well keep going while the rain is falling.

Chain Reactions

Last week, during my self-imposed break from the internet, I managed to accomplish quite a bit. During breaks in the rain storms, I pulled up all the cow pea plants and harvested what was left on the vines. Turned out to be 3 quarts for the freezer.

The heat from the boiling water used to blanch the peas and the smell of the peas hitting that water took me back in time. I remember many mornings spent shelling peas on my grandmother's carport. Everybody's fingers were put to use until all the peas were shelled out along with butterbeans. I hated shelling butterbeans, my thumbs would be sore for days.

After all the shelling was complete, the women folk would start the kettle to boiling. Then while the water took it's own sweet time, many arguments over whether to add salt to the boiling water would ensue. No air conditioning to keep things cool. Just an old oscillating fan on the floor. When the boiling of the salted water commenced (salt always won, after arguing over just how much salt), all the ice trays in the freezer would be released into the biggest bowl in the house. The ice trays were then refilled in hopes of freezing before the evening meal. I still wonder why they did not empty those trays in the morning and store the ice in the freezer ... or even invest in more ice trays.

The heat in the kitchen would be near to unbearable by this time and tempers were short. The blanching would be over and the peas plunged into the icy water, then the bagging began. A day long event that would yield dozens of pint freezer bags of peas and butterbeans. Always more than ever got eaten in the winter months.

Anyhoo, where was I before I wandered off down memory lane? Oh, yes, my kitchen was also hot and I would have opened the back door to take advantage of the nice breeze if my screen door functioned properly. The damp weather had the flies flocking to any opening available. Just letting the dogs in and out had created a bit of  problem.

I was swatting flies non-stop, so I hung some of that nasty fly tape. Struck by inspiration, I hung some of the fly tape outside, thinking to capture the flies looking to come inside. It was actually working, too. This fly tape is really sticky and comes with a thumbtack on the end you pull out. I used it inside to stick the tape in the door way. I knew It would not stay stuck outside. We have lots of wind here. So I looped the tape around a metal flower pot holder and stuck it to itself.

How it came loose is a mystery. I was unaware that it had until my Charming Eddie came inside with it stuck to his tail. Poor little Eddie always manages to find things he shouldn't. We ended up cutting it out of his fur. He was a little indignant about the whole thing. I was quick to remind him that he started it all when he decided to rip the screen out of the door. 

But, really, I blamed HeWho did not rehang the door properly .......

Proper Training

It rained and rained all week long, it rained. The temperature was quite nice. When the rain was not falling, cool breezes made one want to throw open the windows. And doors. Where screen doors would/should be in place to prevent insects from entering one's humble abode.

The screen door is back up. With a sizable gap at the top and it doesn't close. The wire mesh used over the screen to prevent one young dog from chewing his way out was applied to the entire door. Preventing the closing of the door. Oh, he trimmed some away after I lodged a complaint. Now, it still does not close all the way and the raw edges of the mesh tends to grab at my clothes and scrape my hands.

I will continue to encourage him to take it back down and trim away all the excess mesh and tack some sort of trim to cover the raw edges. HeWho says it is the fault of the door jamb needing repairs. I will also encourage him to repair that while he has the door down.

After almost 43 years, I realize that he is still not properly trained.

Dinner And A Movie

I finally have a minute to myself! Only a quick minute. The park is nearly full with Otoberfest enthusiasts and it is Saturday ....... time for Saturday Night at the Movies. With a twist this week ...... dinner and a movie!

 This, from last week, getting it all set up.

HeWho gets to play with electronic stuff.

I made popcorn ........ three flavors!

Guess which chair is mine?

I am ready for tonight. Sloppey Joes simmer in the crock pot. All the sound equipment is loaded onto the cart and ready to roll. Thanks to me. HeWho was making 3 trips on the golf cart to get it all out to the pavilion. I unearthed this old metal cart that I bought at a yard sale many, many years ago. This cart is the best $12 I ever spent.

Not big, but big enough, it is the same size as those three shelf kitchen carts from the 80's. This one has only two shelves, but it is sturdier, with bigger wheels. The top shelf had that old boomerang formica, while the bottom shelf and all the rest of the cart is chrome. Was. It was all rusty and ugly. Nothing a piece of sand paper and a can of paint couldn't fix. I love this old cart and it will be with us when we live on wheels ...... it folds flat!!

Time to go out and see how wet the chairs are. It rained this morning, has rained all week, but the sun is shining now and clear skies are supposed to reign over the land.