Money Pants

Lest I incur the wrath of my child I will try to post something every day......

Life is less exciting this time of year, but one notable thing did happen to me recently. Twice, as a matter of fact!

I was dressing to go shopping with my friend. Since the weather has taken a turn and is considerably cooler I chose a pair of jeans I had not worn since early Spring. I pulled them on and was happy that they weren't tight. I was even happier when I stuck my hands in the pockets and found two nicely laundered ten dollar bills. Nothing like found money!

So, imagine my surprise, when the very next day (yesterday), I pulled a clean pair of pants out of the closet and slipped into them and......... found ten ones and a five in the pocket of those pants!

So far, so good. By all accounts I was thinking I should find the equivalent of ten dollars in my pants pocket today. But, the spell is broken. I am only $35 richer, but still happy about that.

Jill, Meet Claudia

I opened my e-mail a few minutes ago. First thing I did was eliminate all the spam. Then I looked to see if I had any reservations awaiting my attention. Then I saw that I had messages from two of my children, my sister and my best friend......

I went to the tea kettle and poured hot water over the herbal tea bag and dunked it up and down while enjoying the aroma of blueberry. A squirt of honey and I am ready to relish my time on the computer. I opened my friend's message first and replied, then I read my sisters three messages. I was saving the best for last.

I opened Jeff's e-mail next. There was a picture of my sweet granddaughter, Jada. I teared up a little at the sight of her sweet face. I miss all my grandchildren today. It is miserable and rainy and I just want this day to end......

Jill's message was from Facebook. Talk about brief and to the point! It said, "Blog? It's been forever!" So here I am with my brain as foggy as the weather and totally uninspired. I saved this for last, expecting some wonderful story of my grandchildren and instead I am being chastised for not blogging! I will go on Facebook after I post this and peruse all my kids and catch up on their lives.

Today is so dreary. I have spent the day cleaning out closets and tossing all those items I have kept, thinking I will find a purpose for them other than collecting dust.
In all this cleaning I did not damage any spider webs........


Meet Claudia. Isn't she lovely? She has woven an impressive web that spans from the ceiling of the porch overhang to the soda machine. It has to be at least four feet. She even has a strand of the web secured to the concrete sidewalk underneath for stability. Spiderwebs are amazing and I like to have a few spiders around to gobble up those pesky houseflies.

So....... this is for you, my sweet daughter. Best I can do today.

Here is another look at the garden my grandson, Gavin, helped me plant in June. I would have to say that it is thriving, wouldn't you?


This another shot from a different angle. I think of my little guy every time I look out and see this garden. I call it Gavin's garden. When my grandson Gage was about 4 he pulled a limb on the maple tree in my front yard and broke it off. He was just being a kid and I didn't want to make a big deal about it. I didn't want him to get in trouble. I took the broken limb and I stuck it in the ground and "planted" it. It grew! I always called it the Gage tree. I had to leave it behind when we moved, but I carry the memory with me.

This is a new garden, only a few weeks ago I asked that a mound of dirt be dumped here. It was unsightly and I pondered how to mold the lumpy hard clay into something resembling a "mound". It was raining and I took a trip to the grocery and found theses lovely mums at a wonderful price. Problem solved. I stuck them into every crevice and then climbed atop the pile and sort of stomped it into the shape you now see. Cover with mulch and... voila... a garden. Two of the children in the park came by on their bikes and wondered about the mulch. They told me it looked like chewing tobacco to them.

Frogs, I love frogs. this is my new welcome sign complete with a happy frog. He is perched among my strawberry plants.

I have been a little slow and lazy so far this week. I actually slept until 9:30 this morning! I could have slid under the covers and slept the whole day away, but got up.

Last night was simply horrible here. We have a leak on one our sites. This site has a frost free hydrant and the parts are easily available. Love of my life had already made three trips to "town" for various things and couldn't find what he needed. I suggest that he make a list of all the things he can anticipate before he leaves on the first excursion, but this is not the way he operates. You would think that after 35 years I would know this.

The sky was already losing light as he left to go to a store about 50 miles away to get the part he needed. I thought I might be coming down with a cold and had been instructed to "take it easy". Other than the laundry and dishes and the occasional phone reservation I was doing that. But as soon as he left the floodgates opened and the phone rang non-stop and I had enough traffic to make it impossible to curl up on the couch with the dogs.

I was counting the minutes left to be open when the phone rang and a late comer asked me to wait for them. I did and the man was very nice and thanked me for waiting. I went through my usual speech and used a hi-liter to mark the route he should take. He left and I locked up. Love of my life was still absent. I got all settled in for another episode of House. I had been watching it all day and was beginning to think I may have something seriously wrong with me. I had my computer at the ready to look up my symptoms....when.... the phone rang.

It was the wife of the nice gentleman I had just registered. They were lost. Lost? I gave him a map. He was paying about as much attention as any other man does when being directed by a woman..... but ...... lost? She says that she thinks they took a wrong turn and they are on a deserted road with no sites and a big mound of dirt (not my new garden!). I step outside, phone in my hand, looking for the lights of their rig. The sites start on one side of the park and are sort of in a horse shoe shape. There is a turn you can take and it will lead you to a row of sites that are out of the tree line. I should be able to see them and I don't. I tell her that I will come and find them.

I am already braless at this point and I throw a sweatshirt on and shove my socked feet into my flip flops and grab the car keys........ and I get into the car that is so out of fuel that the light is on and it is making that stupid dinging noise. Now we all know that I don't put fuel in my car unless I absolutely have to ( like when I go to Minnesota to see my kids). I had alerted the one who is responsible for keeping his wife's tank full that I had already driven over 25 miles in the light-on, dinging state. It is dark and I don't relish the thought of running out of fuel and leaving my car to walk home...even in my own park.

I drive over to the unfinished area of the park and through the tree line there, thinking that they could be there, since I can't see their lights from my building. They are not there and I turn my little car around and head back to the main road. I see that my fence has been hit pretty hard... hard enough that the post is completely out of the hole, concrete and all. I finally spy their lights in the woods. I make my way cautiously to them and find that a couple of my campers (pipe liners, no less) are already helping the man back out. Tom and Hoss to the rescue!

Long story. We ate supper at 8:30. Tonight as I checked in my last camper, he was concerned that I wouldn't have change for a twenty. Welcome to my world.

Gourds Revisited

The weather is turning colder, especially during the night. The leaves are changing color and falling from the trees. My sunflowers are drying out and will become a mainstay for the squirrels and birds. My marigolds are still hanging in there, along with the mums I recently planted.

The gourds would appear to be a little confused. Some leaves are turning brown and falling........ while the vine is still green and strong and is still blooming.


Tiny little gourds, not much bigger than my thumb are hanging here. Only time will tell if they will grow fast enough to make a hard enough shell to survive the drying process. See the curly little vines? They grab onto whatever they find to lend support for the heavy fruit they bear.

These are the same three I have in previous posts. They have changed shapes a couple of times. They are still very heavy and not ready to cut away from the vine. I have to watch them closely now. I check the vine daily for any signs of stress or turning brown. I don't want them to hit the ground and burst while they are still green.

This one is about the size of a half gallon milk jug. I just noticed it about 2 weeks ago and it was only the size of a soup can then. They really grow fast, but this one may or may not ripen enough before it freezes.

I like the shape of this one. It is hanging from my clothesline. I see a snowman. What do you see?

This is another shot of the smaller odd shaped one. It isn't speaking to me yet.

Some of the leaves are turning brown, while there are still some blooms. I guess part of the vine knows it is Autumn, while some vines must be thinking it is Spring.

This one looks like a good candidate for a future birdhouse.

Sitting on the ground, I think this could house a lot of birds. I think I may try to carve this one with something Halloweenish (is that a word?).

Transitions all around my yard as I gather seed for next spring. I have 100 tulip bulbs to put in the ground. I will get 100 daffodil bulbs to pair with them. I can hardly wait until Spring to see all those happy little blooms bobbing in the wind.

Bloggers and Large Type

So far I have had the honor of meeting two fellow bloggers. One found me quite by accident and realized that she was a mere 13 miles east of me. She sought me out and I am happy that she did. It is so nice to meet people in the flesh that you enjoy reading. Hi to Joy and Phil at Backroad Chronicles.

Just yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting another fellow blogger. We almost missed this opportunity because she did not realize she was going to be in the same area my park is in! Just so you all know...... KAN-DO KAMPGROUND is located in Montgomery City, Missouri. We are conveniently located at exit 170 on Interstate 70. Phone # is 573-564-7993. Oh, and I give a blogger discount. If you head my way stop by....there may or may not be cake involved.... but you will get to see me!



I love my new friends! Pat ( A View From The Edge) and I talked for hours last night! When I got back to my house love of my life was asleep and the dogs were all awaiting me (yeah, he forgot to take them out). I feel like we have known each other forever. Her hubby is a great guy, too. I am just sad they couldn't stay longer, but I can't compete with hot-air balloons!

In case you may be wondering why I changed to such a large type, I hope I have convinced my dad to get a computer to communicate with me since he refuses to get a hearing aid. He was having trouble reading my posts while he was here, so, this is for you, Daddy!

Families......

I was going to post about something totally different...... meeting a fellow blogger. But my mind is taking me in a different direction.

I have been noticing for the past few weeks that love of my life is not his usual chipper self. At first I thought he was just tired, like we always are towards the end of the season. He has been sleeping quite a bit though and is still not himself, so I was wondering if he might be sick. But he isn't. I think he is a little depressed. He will rise to the occasion when we have company, but he just isn't himself.

I have been pondering what may be the cause (other than our current economic situation) and I think I have the answer. He might disagree with me until he really thinks about it. We have been here for five years. Every year my Dad makes the pilgrimage to see us. Our children do the same and we make a trip in the winter to visit them and our grandchildren.

Not once since we have been living here in Missouri has his family paid us a visit. His mother flew here the first year and was here for Thanksgiving. The only time we have seen her since is when we have traveled to Georgia. Traveling is not easy for us. We are open year round and when we go to Minnesota to see our grandchildren we don't usually go together. Someone has to be here. My family seems to understand this and visits us.

My husband has only one sister and she called him several years ago and said that she wanted to be closer and stay in contact more. This was actually about ten years ago. Since that conversation she has made little effort to see her brother. I know traveling is an inconvenience........ I know this because we are always the ones to travel to see her. I would call her and tell her how I feel, but we don't have that kind of relationship. I have extended an open invitation to my in-law family and beyond that I don't know what to do. It is not that they don't travel. They go places all the time and it is mentioned on her face book page. I just saw that they just returned from a trip to the beach and mentioned it to my sweet husband this morning. I think his feelings were hurt and he has been gloomy all day. He would no doubt deny this if I said anything... being a guy and all.

Just had to lend voice to my feelings. My own sister has never been here either, but we do keep in touch. She has a situation that prevents her from visiting me. My step-sister has been here three times to see me and like I said before, Mama and Daddy come every year. All the regulars here at the campground have met my family and will ask if Drew has any family since they have never seen any visit us. Makes me sad and a little angry at the same time. Don't mess with the love of my life!

Rainy, Cold and Dreary....and a Surprise

I awoke this morning to dull light and the sound of rain falling. This would explain why my joints were hurting all day yesterday. I was sitting here catching up on blogs I read, sipping coffee and wondering what I will do today.

The phone rang and I knew before I answered that it would be Pat (A View From The Edge). I read her post about heading west yesterday and she had included my little city in her itinerary. I left a comment (or two) about wondering if she would be gracing me with her presence. She will be here this afternoon!! I am excited to meet her. I feel like I should roll out the red carpet...... but I don't have one and it would get wet! Maybe I will go mop the store and spiff it up. I suddenly have new energy.

The good thing about rain is that it slows down the work on the pipe line and my tenants will be here longer. I am trying to look on the bright side. I planted some shrubbery yesterday and the slow steady rain will help establish those roots. The rain is good for my gardens........ who am I kidding, I just want to crawl back in the bed!

I am off to take advantage of the momentum that Pat provided with her call. Mop bucket.... here I come!