Big Deal

The water has receded. All is well in the kampground. My floors needed a good rinse anyway. I am happy to report that I don't have carpet. The only rugs I have can be tossed in the washer. Our furniture sits up off the floor on legs we made out of 4X4's, us being old and stiff getting up and down.

It was inconvenient, but not devastating. One of my kampers was truly unhappy, having vomited on herself ........... These things happen. They always seem to happen on weekends, though. On the bright side, it was raining. I suppose you could manage to wash your face and hands in the rain.

Makes me realize how dependent we are on the things we simply take for granted. I usually keep a gallon of tap water in reserve, but I didn't refill my jug last time I used it. I have now. I really felt bad about the water and we did not get it restored until about 1:00 am.

We joined AAA. Big deal, I thought. But really, it is a big deal. Did you know that AAA offers a discount card on prescription drugs? I even offer a 10% discount here at the kampground. Not on drugs, but on your stay. I went out into the cruel world today with my unsightly wad of cash (ones) to procure a three month supply of the necessary drugs.

I stopped at the pharmacy window and presented the AAA card with the all the necessary info and ordered my refills. Two of the refills were the most expensive ones we get. I was prepared to hand over nearly $500. So, imagine my smile when I paid less than $200. Imagine the look I got when I started counting out those ones .......

They should be used to me and my ones by now. I saved over $300 with that AAA card today!

I Am Positive ........

I was having a lovely day. Slept until 10 this morning and woke to a breezy balmy day. Everything was going along just great. I sorted and processed tomatoes, then decided to make a grocery run as the sky was beginning to darken.


For every positive there is a negative? Rain was dropping as I loaded the groceries in the car and the drops increased as I drove home. It held off until I was able to unload and put them away. Nothing negative about that. We need the rain. The rest of the day moved right along with no hiccups. We actually ate dinner with no interruptions and then locked up for the night. I showered, then he showered and we were both settling down with our preferred lap mates about to watch a movie.

By now the rain has been falling steadily all evening with periodic stronger bursts. I hear what sounds like a backfire and think that it is thunder. Then I hear water pounding down. Wow, it must really be pouring! We look at each other and at the exact same moment it hits us ........

We jump up in unison and rush to the pump room in the back of our "house". The main pipe that carries the water from the well has burst. Water was rushing into the house until we flipped the electrical box supplying power to the pump off.

Saturday night. An hours drive either east or west to get all the necessary parts to fix it. The dogs and I are literally wading in here. Yes, we have a wet/dry vacuum ....... somewhere in the barn. You recall the barn, hang-out for he who never puts anything in the same place twice. I am not going out into the rain in the dark to hunt it down.

Mr. Martha has discovered the water and is taking much pleasure pouncing in it, then jumping to back of the sofa and onto my shoulders with his wet paws.

All the kampers are calling to tell me there is no water ..... What was that I was saying about positive and negative?

Are You Ready To Rumble?

I was watching my animal children playing. This is the stare down. Wall-E (white dog) is the ring leader here. That job used to belong to Oscar, but he is watching along with me, quite content to be held in my arms or to just lay around in the relative quiet while the younger animals play. It makes me a little sad to see him accept that he is old and simply succumb to his destiny. I plan to go out kicking and screaming ........ none of this dignity crap for me!

The stare down lasts until Wall-E makes a move and they all go flying around the yard until one of them is caught by another. Hmm, I think we called this "tag" when I was a mere pup. Wall-E likes to referee the game, unwilling to give up complete control and simply revel in the fun. Wall-E has issues. He is a bit of a control freak. He likes routines and becomes quite upset when we upset his time table. Issues.

Not to worry, Mr. Martha is laughing and screaming "It tickles, it tickles!" as Toni Louise nuzzles his belly under the strict supervision of Wall-E.

Mr. Martha is growing. Mr. Martha really likes to eat. He likes cat food, dog food and people food. He is not opposed to begging. A kamper asked me yesterday if I was absolutely certain of his gender, as he appeared to be looking pregnant. He is as much of a he as he can be, given the recent surgery that will prevent any little Marthas from popping up. He is just fat!

As much as Wall-E likes to control things, Martha loves to torment him. Wall-E is careful and will not allow himself to be placed in a situation that may endanger him, such as  wood pallet leaning on a pole falling over onto him. Mr. Martha, the fat cat is very much aware of Wall-E's quirks and will not hesitate to take advantage.

Toni Louise is healing nicely and able to run and play with her favorite buddy again. She still favors her injured leg, but is back to her old self. Full of mischief.

"We are just playing." She doesn't want to get into trouble for flipping Martha over. I am not worried. Martha gives as good as he gets. Look at those sweet faces. I think I am in love!

Jack Frost Lurking

Storms hung out all day, then the sun finally broke through as it was setting. I stood looking out my back door to the east as the sun was lighting the trees.

The forecast was for frost. So I went out in the cold wind and gathered my tomatoes. This is not all of them. As they ripen I am making sauce and freezing batches for winter soups and stews. The frost did not make it and the tomatoes continue to grow on the bushes. Everyday I gather more. Most of them are cherry tomatoes and I am forcing cupfuls on total strangers.

The skeleton bride is filling in for me at the book table while I process tomatoes and wait for Jack Frost.

Death Of A Scarecrow

Do you love my mums? This is 6 scraggly little plants I rescued from WalMart last year. I tenderly nestled them into some Miracle Grow potting soil and whispered words of encouragement to grow and make lovely blooms. I got this mound of yellow happiness! My scarecrow is even happy!

Little scarecrows are hanging out around the kampground, too. We have an abundance of crows this year. They have pestered me regularly by feasting on my peaches and apples. I do admit that I like to hear them cawing to each other.

It does make me wonder if those crows killed this scarecrow. So sad. I thought about reconstructing him, but I kind of like the macabre feeling of having a scarecrow corpse in the garden.

Decapitated dead scarecrow. To add insult to injury, his nose is missing.

Spiders, Snakes and Fred Sanford

I had pictures. Blogger won't post them. I am annoyed. I had such clever titles in mind. It wouldn't be the same without the pictures. I am really annoyed.

The fall colors are gorgeous an I spent the entire day outside yesterday. I stacked firewood. I rolled stumps and stacked and mowed and then I was hit with an attack of OCD and restacked the lumber pile. I carefully seperated the 2X4's from the other odd pieces of lumber and then began stacking according to length, until I realized that there were only one or two that matched. I did manage to make a much more compact stack and all the ends were even before I folded the tarp in half and secured it over my neat stack.

He who splits wood was not nearly as impressed as I thought he should be. I worked up quite a sweat restacking those boards, some of them were 16 feet long. You may be wondering why we have a stack of lumber, covered by a tarp. It was left over from some structure put together by one of the companies involved with the laying of the pipeline. I am married to Fred Sanford, that's why.

I was very agreeable to having the lumber, thinking that it could be used to construct something. I have built many a structure in my head, but, there it sits under the tarp. Not all of it. Pieces have been used for various projects. This involved grabbing a piece and shaking the pieces on top off the wanted piece, thus making the stack scattered in disarray under a giant tarp. The wood is stacked atop gravel, but weeds have popped up along the sides.

Now, we all know that I am not opposed to the pulling of weeds. This is my preferred method of eliminating the weeds. The weed eater just encourages growth by cutting it off at ground level. And that brings me to the term "weed eater". Why would you call it that? It does not consume the weeds, it simply cuts them off at ground level and encourages new growth. When weeding, you sometimes have to get a good grip on the base of the weed before pulling if you want the root to come away with the weed and eliminate more growth.

Some of these offending weeds had their origin under the tarp and I do not stick my hands under dark damp places ........ I don't like spiders and snakes (and that ain't what it takes to love me ......). Remember that song? The mind wanders. But, back to the wood pile. There is now a smaller, neater stack under half the tarp and no weeds curving from beneath. So, you can see how I would think that I deserve more praise than, "Looks good." My Fred Sanford is a man of few words.

Just Wondering

The full moon of the past weekend kept me from sleeping through the night. I have a blackout shade on the window, but I KNOW it is out there and wake from a dream filled, fitful sleep only to peek behind the shade to see the giant orb mocking me. Even through a foggy haze, the man in the moon is watching.

Besides sleep interruptions, the full moon phase seems to bring out incidents that would leave you wondering how some people make it through life.

Sitting there at my desk, wishing the day away. A man knocks at the door. I call out that we are open, but have to actually get up and open the door for him. He stands right inside the door, poised for easy escape as I ask if I can help him, all the while doubting that I can.

"I wanted to see what this place is all about ....... the sign says you have a store." I tell him that he is in the store. He swivels his head from side to side from his stance there at the door and says, "Oh." 
I ask if there is anything in particular that I might be able to help him find and he answers in the negative. "Do you rent out spaces?" he asks. "Well, yes, this is a campground." I reply, all the while thinking that he read the sign at the entrance to the park and picked up on the "store", so he must have seen the campground part. It was in bigger print, after all.

"Oh, well, I am from Illinois, I didn't know." I am temporarily dumbstruck and just sort of stare at him as he turns and exits the store. Does "campground" mean something different in Illinois? Am I wrong in assuming that the state of Illinois speaks English, just like all the other states in the union? Just wondering.