Down Came The Rain

......and washed the campground away? Morning came with a nice warm, if a bit strong breeze. I did note that the weather forecast was saying a storm was headed my way, but I was motivated after mowing the side yard yesterday afternoon. Time to get some things done here. The ground was finally dry enough to finish getting all my flower beds cleaned out and ready to plant. So, I shove a baseball cap on, grab my handy dandy clippers along with my IKEA bag and head out. That IKEA bag was acquired on my last trip to Minnesota. It is way to big to load groceries in, but is fantastic as a weed bag. It holds a lot of weeds and has short and long handles. I love that bag..............

I am happily filling my bag with weeds, and raking and listening to sound of the mower as he who mows rode his favorite toy through the open fields giving the grounds a nicely manicured look. All is well in my world despite the dark clouds gathering in the horizon. We stopped for a quick lunch and when we go back out the temperature has dropped dramatically. The wind has picked up and I can smell rain in the air.


And did it ever rain! Rained so hard and fast that the gutters couldn't hold it.

Rained so much that the rain barrel couldn't hold it!

Rained so much that the parking area turned into a shallow lake!

And it just keeps coming!

Flooding the flower beds. The "white " spots are really big raindrops!

Fat toad seems quite content, a lot happier than me! I am sure that the pool is filling with water ..... again.

So Much To Do....... So Little Time

The weather has taken a wonderful turn and it is warm outside. Very windy, but warm. In the 70's warm. I want to mow, but the ground is still too boggy. I still feel crappy and itchy. I have pityriasis. I did a little research online and discovered that my rash is often accompanied by a general malaise and digestive distress. There is nothing to do other than what I am already doing. The article I read said that the symptoms could disappear in as little as a few days ....... or up to 8 weeks.


With all this in mind I decide to try to tackle one chore that I might be able to complete in a couple of days. Something that would give some instant gratification. Mowing is out and it is still too early to plant vegetables. There is still plenty to do inside, but I really want to be outside.

This is what the pool looks like. We have pumped the water out and this is the rain from last week. This will have to be pumped out again and all the dead leaves and other debris hauled out in a wheelbarrow. The real work will begin then with repairs and then paint.

I suppose I could start, but this won't be finished in one or even two days. Since I have already raked and cleaned the area around the fence and am planning to paint the fence this year........ and I find painting to be a somewhat soothing, if monotonous activity, I decide that I will tackle this project.

The fence is chain link and is probably as old as the pool. It is still a sturdy enclosure, though rusty in a lot of areas. I decide to paint it with Rustoleum. I tried spraying and not only will the wind whip most of my efforts away, my finger got tired. I know I can get a better trigger, but......

A friend told me that she painted a chain link fence and used a roller. She said the coverage was better with less waste. She went into great detail and demonstrated with motions. Made sense. So, out to the fence I go. Rollers and a pan, along with the THIRTY dollar gallon of paint. It is a long fence. I am looking to finish at least one side today. I open the paint and gently pour some into the pan. Gently, so as not to waste a drop. The wind kicks up a ferocious gust and literally blows the paint that is pouring out of the can away! This should have been my first omen.

Not to be easily discouraged, I proceed. Nothing can be done about the paint on the cement surround. If I try to clean it up, I will only make a bigger mess. In the back of my mind I am wondering if we can stain the cement and somehow make the black drops blend in. I carefully put some cardboard under the gate and get all ready to paint. I see some wire ties that had held a sign and carefully remove them as I imagine just how nice the fence will look when I am done. I load the roller and start rolling. Hmmmmm, not going on as easily as Sharon said it would. I am trying to remember and I am sure she said foam rollers. I am almost sure. I have paint on me, on the cardboard and even some on the fence, but really, the coverage isn't all that great.

This is what the roller looked like before I even "finished" the gate.

Perhaps I was wrong, maybe she didn't say sponge for the roller ............

As you can see, the gate don't look so great. The wind is crazy wild and I have paint in my mouth.

The roller left these little pieces on the painted surface. This is not the look I was going for. So, I give up and succumb to my general malaise. I think I will try to put some dry wall up in the kitchen now. If this doesn't turn out better, I think I will just go to bed.

It Is Here!

It is official ........ Spring is here. There are signs. Signs that cannot be ignored. No, it is not the warmer temperature or the signs of life in the budding trees or all the green shoots making their way to the surface.





The first sign of Spring in the air was that little wheeze at the end of each breath I take. The tickle in the back of my throat and the sneezing. I take my meds regularly............ but this season will not be ignored. I am keeping the "rescue inhaler" close at hand as I go about my day.





The confirmation of Spring is here in that ugly, itchy rash that covers the right side of my body. It starts out innocently enough. A little itch hither and dither. I don't even notice that I am scratching. This lasts only a day or two. Then I awake with the infamous whelps and the insane itching that makes me want to sandpaper my entire body. Happens every Spring and every Autumn. It usually follows by a day of cleaning and clipping the flower beds. Don't know which one I am allergic to, but I am.


I have slathered Benadryl cream all over the areas involved. Not to be too specific, let me just say that it begins on my right ear and into the ear canal, down my neck and everywhere in between to the back of my knee. Angry looking red whelps. Spring is here. I am nursing a hangover from the Benadryl pills I took last night, and I know that even though a chilly wind is blowing that Spring is here to stay!

Too Much Info ...... Way Too Much

My day was going along just fine. I was putting clean sheets on the bed and sorting laundry when a truck pulled up to the front of the building. I continued with my chore of the moment while listening for the bell that would announce someone entering the store. So much time passed that I went to look out the window twice. A man was talking on his cell phone and sipping coffee. The driver's door was open and he had one leg on the ground, so I kind of figured he would be coming in eventually.


He did come in and when asked if I could help him, he said he just wanted to know the rates. The rates; well, they depend on what your particular needs are. I hand him a brochure with the rates listed and ask what his electric needs are and how long he will need a site. Since he hasn't got an RV with him I am assuming he is looking for a long-term spot and I am right. He is a pipe-line worker, an inspector that will stay until the "clean-up" crew leaves. All the information I need. I give him the monthly rates and he keeps talking.


He is staying at a campground near the office that he reports to every day and says that he is just looking for a change, that his job will only last another 4 months or so. He goes on to tell me that he is looking at other campgrounds in the area and how awful one of my competitors' campground is and that it is way too expensive and that the park is really unkempt. I listen politely, longing to get started on my laundry so I can fish painting my kitchen cabinets. I nod and murmur appropriately and he keeps talking. Tells me he really likes the campground he is staying in. It is really nice and is so close to his work. I wonder (to myself) why he wants to move and continue listening.


I didn't ask, but he chose to confide that he needs to leave his current location because the campground owners wife is spending too much time at his site. She likes to talk to him and they sometimes talk until almost midnight. He tells me this is creating a "problem" with the woman's husband. Twice I say that I hope he considers my park when making his decision and to have a nice day. He keeps confiding his life story. I will summarize........... He is love with the woman and she loves him. Her husband abuses her and they have been married for 4 years. This is her second marriage. She is independently wealthy and holds a masters degree and wants to move to Montana with him and teach at a college. She won't leave her husband. He really loves her and doesn't know what she sees in him. This happens to him all the time, he doesn't know why, but women are just attracted to him. I am standing and listening and wishing he will leave, so I take this opportunity to inject a comment, "I don't want to burst your bubble, but I feel the need to tell you that I am not attracted to you in the least." He keeps talking, proclaiming his love for this woman and wondering what she sees in an old pipe-liner like him.



The birthday boy had gone to fill a prescription and run a couple of errands, so I was alone. Never felt uneasy; just a little annoyed and appalled. Thank the goodness the phone rang and I bid him a good day again. I talked to a recording and pretended to take a reservation so that he would leave!

Happy Birthday, Love of my Life!

I was going to include a picture of the extravagant cake that I was going to present to him. There won't be that cake today, though. After his trip to the dentist yesterday he might get jello and soft scrambled eggs.


He spent the day in a haze of pain killers yesterday. He doesn't remember much about it. He took the tranquilizer before leaving yesterday morning and then was treated to nitrous sedation during the procedure. He was one goofy fellow when I put him in the car and brought him home. Two teeth had to be removed and there were stitches involved. The stitches come out next week. Due to previous dealings with the manager of his work, I detoured by there on the way home, so that she could see for herself that he was indeed incapable of working a shift. He looked pretty pathetic and with my help went in (he has no recollection of this). She took one look at him and said that he should have made arrangements to have the shift covered. He honestly thought that he would be able to work. The tooth that had previously had the root canal and other work had to be cut out and the effects of the sedation, combined with the pain kept him in bed until this morning. The real irony here is that due to an accident the station had no power and wasn't even open! They had a full staff there, though. The transformer and the line from it has to be replaced and I would be surprised if they even had it up and running last night. If she just wanted warm bodies, I suppose they could have set a cot up some where and let him drool and snore there..........



But today, the birthday boy is pretty chipper. He is allowed his beloved diet coke today and is driving through the park as I write. I already gave him his present awhile back. I got him a chain saw sharpener! He loves it. He loves it so much that he has already sharpened one of the blades to death. It has since been replaced and is ready to saw all the logs he hauled in last week. I don't know that is is up to that today and if he decides to try ........ he will be stopped.


I am off now to get the jello going and maybe a little one layer chocolate cake........ no bacon with those eggs. Soon as he can chew I will make that cake and post the picture. He reads this, so I won't ruin his surprise, but the cake will be a combination of his favorites. A concoction that only someone who loves him could create!!

The Sun Does Shine!

I woke early and saw the light peeking through the curtains. What is this light my eyes behold? The sun!! The song lyrics 'it's a beautiful morning, I think I'll go outside for awhile ........ and just smile' are running through my mind as I sip my scalding hot coffee.


It will have to wait until I get back from the dentist. Not me this time. Love of my life has to have two teeth extracted. We both made the mistake of seeking dental care locally when we first got dental insurance. We both had root canals and crowns at the hands of the local dentist. After a whole 10 months of pain I finally had to have the tooth removed. It was a traumatic event for me with only Novocaine to numb my jaw. He yanked and pulled and twisted and finally broke the crown off, then had trouble getting a good grip on the remaining tooth. I was gripping the chair with every fiber of my being and the next day even my butt muscles hurt. Not to mention the gaping hole in my mouth.


Today I will drive my mildly sedated husband to our new dentist to have the broken tooth and the tooth crowned by local dentist extracted. This is the same man that had his wisdom teeth extracted with nothing more than Novocaine. Afterwards he went back to work. But today he will go in a fine drug induced haze and be escorted by me. Did I tell you I love my new dentist?


I am off now to act as chauffeur. Not before I watched the footage of the car trapped in the bumper of the semi on the Today show. Great ......... I am getting on the interstate now. The one with all the heavy truck traffic ..........

Say It Ain't So!!!!!!

I was outside all afternoon. It was glorious. Look at the buds on my maple tree. The sky was so blue and a gentle wind was blowing......... pollen up my nose. But I didn't care. Really. I was so happy to be outside.

Did I get too close? Blurry, I know. But the daylillies are pushing up to the surface.

My two lips are smiling over the tulip bulbs that are coming up.

The sedum is happy that the sun is shining down and it is over 60 degrees. This sedum is known locally as "live forever". It is true. I haven't managed to kill it.

The strawberry plants are thriving and I should have a good crop this year.


This is what the roads look like. This is one that is relatively good shape. Wet. Everything is still wet. When I walk across the grass it makes sucking noises and water seeps up around my shoes.


Here comes my man on his tractor to begin his adventure in filling potholes.

So we spend the day happily repairing all that winter has done. I got most of the area around the pool weeded and cleaned up. Some of my gardens are looking a little sad, the ground is too wet and I have found some bulbs and plants dead and rotting. I have sneezed enough for one day and come in to get our supper on the stove. Turn on the news to hear the weather ...............

The forecast is for SNOW tomorrow. Snow, in fact any precipitation is exactly what we do not need! Nothing can be done about it, I suppose I should just go back out and enjoy the sun until it is gone.