Hot Days, Sleepless Nights

The promised heat and humidity of the day is already upon us. Making me restless and annoyed, knowing I will have to spend most of the day indoors.

Sleep, I wish I could sleep. When I finally fell asleep last night, Toni Louise started barking frantically. She was at the back door and sounded like she had cornered an intruder. I lay very still, hoping He Who should be the one to investigate would get up. But, no, Cujo and Wall-E joined her in a symphony called "Kill the Intruder". Even after I suggested that he should be the one to go out, he lay there, pretending not to hear me.

I shuffled to the back door to find that Toni Louise had "cornered" the work shirts of He Who tows. He hangs them on a hook by the back door until they go to the uniform company to be cleaned and returned. They have safety stripes that glow when hit by any light. The dusk to dawn light was hitting them just right through the window in the door. Toni Louise was just alerting her family about a strange glowing presence in the back of the house where her water dish and food bowl are located.

When jolted awake like this I find it hard to simply go back to sleep. I should really try to develop this talent ........

Just 24 more hours and the heat should break, so they say. Those people on TV who forecast weather. I have so very much to do outside. The billboard skin is here and waiting to cover the new board. Not that I will be helping. It involves either getting into a lift and being hoisted in the air ..... or ascending a ladder precariously balanced in the back of He Who's pick-up truck.

Then there is one of my newly painted signs that was mounted beneath a road sign that had been in place for years. On a post cemented into the ground with a huge boulder in front of it to protect it from those who do not know how to stay on the gravel road. The sign I posted was big, 4 feet by 4 feet. A gentle reminder to slow down and watch for children. Okay, maybe it was more "in your face" than gentle; but necessary. A camper plowed my sign down. How, you ask? Backing up, he said. Don't know why, since the site he was assigned was a pull-thru. Broke the post off at the ground and popped my sign in half. Lest you think we were reimbursed for the damages ...........

It seems to have taken the entire to write this. Phone reservations and a trip to refill prescriptions. Tough Mudder competition this weekend will be bringing lots of people into our small town. Tent campers galore will descend upon us, along with those in accommodations on wheels. So, I will take my aching joints and muscles to bed.

Tell Me a Story

Meet my great-granddaughter, Jailynn. This is the only smile shot I got. She was busy telling us story after story.

She let Granddaddy hold her sock monkey while she raided his cookie stash. My dad is looking pretty good here. When he stands, you can see how much weight he has lost, his pants all gathered under his belt and his shoulders all bony under his shirt. Jailynn cheered him up and tired him out. He went to bed before they left.

Jailynn continued to enchant us with her stories and her facial expressions "and I was like, are you serious?" thrown in frequently. Her baby fine hair is slow growing, like her daddy's was. I can still picture his solemn little face and bald head with those huge green eyes. The same eyes I see in her little face.

My grandson, all grown up, with a child of his own. Doesn't seem possible that he could shoulder that responsibility. If he falters, I am quite certain Jailynn will bring it to his attention. She possesses an uncanny likeness to my youngest daughter in her personality. Must be some gene drifting around .........

Such a sweet little face with those big green eyes.

My dad is back in the hospital. His heart was racing and his blood pressure dropping. They think the tumor is putting pressure on his heart. His surgery consult was postponed until next Friday. I am keeping my fingers crossed that a date will be set and that hateful tumor can come out.

In the meantime, I will continue picking apples and putting gardens to bed for the winter to come.

My Apologies To Sprint ......

So all weekend long I have been fighting with the Internet. Get on, get knocked off. So frustrating. Figured a camper might be streaming a movie or something. Campers leave as I am humming my own song, composed by me ..... "It's the most wonderful day of the week. All the campers are leaving and my heart is heaving a sigh of relief ...." I don't belt it out until the park is empty, then I go nuts.

I grab my laptop and get ready for some serious, uninterrupted Internet time and I can't get on. I reboot the modem and I shut my laptop down and do every trick I know before I call He Who should fix this for me. I impatiently answer all the "did you try this" questions and he goes about his task. All the while blaming the heat wave, Sprint, and Mother Nature, just to cover it all. He even calls Sprint and they show that we have a strong, yes, excellent signal. He gives up and I resign myself to no Internet.

He suddenly leaps from his chair and goes out to where the modem is located. He changes one tiny little wire connection and BOOM. I have Internet! What is the proper etiquette here? Should I apologize to Sprint? It really was an issue with the satellite atop the tower earlier this year. Naw, no apologies necessary.

I left my camera in Georgia. It has dozens of pictures of Jailynn, my great-granddaughter on it. I am totally smitten with her. She is 4 and I had not seen her since she was a baby. Talk, that girl can talk. She reminds me of my youngest, telling all the family secrets. Her little face is so expressive as she tells story after story. I do not know where she got the gift of gab from ........

My dad is sending the camera to me. He goes to Atlanta Friday for another MRI and a consultation with the surgeons. We are all hoping for a surgery date. They will be removing the tumor and part of his esophagus and stomach. He has managed to get his weight and strength back up, thanks to two units of blood. When asked if he would be willing to have a transfusion, he told them he would take monkey blood if it would help.

I don't think it was monkey blood ....... Apples are falling and today will find me picking apples and cleaning up under the trees. The weather has calmed a bit and we are enjoying cool nights and milder days. The weekend forecast is for the 90's.
Harvesting is best done in mild weather!

Withdrawal .........

I have been missing the Internet. For nearly a week! I have all the symptoms of withdrawal. Tired, moody, agitated ........ full of words to share.

Here it is Labor Day weekend and the temperatures have soared to triple digits. No rain for awhile and the area is so dry we are under a campfire ban. Guess I won't have to worry about delivering firewood. I will miss the added revenue, though. I looked out to see all the heads bobbing in the pool. I wonder what the water feels like. Can't be cold,since it was still hot outside at 2:45 this morning.

I went south for a quick trip to see my Dad. I awoke bright and early (4:30 AM) on Tuesday morning and we drove to the airport for my early flight. I arrived in Atlanta before He Who drove me to the airport got back to the campground. There I had a 3 and 1/2 hour layover before the next leg of my journey.

I am not fond of the Atlanta airport and thought this to be somewhat of a good thing, since I may have to hoof it pretty far to find the concourse for my connecting flight. With all that time on my hands, wouldn't you know I would land almost right next to my departing gate. I read a book, walked around and even discovered that the airport had their very own version of the Dollar Tree! Sort of. Everything was $10. Found that the cheapest food was Chik-Fil-A and bought my lunch and put it in my carry on bag. Only 20 passengers on my flight and everyone had lots of room.

I got my rental car, a basic sedan, despite the efforts of the little girl behind the counter trying to upgrade me to a convertible or a Porsche. Considering the fact that I drove half the distance to my destination before I finally found the cruise control, I doubt a convertible would have been worth it.

My Dad has stomach cancer. The tumor is wrapped around his esophagus. He has completed his chemotherapy and radiation. Surgery to remove the tumor, along with part of his esophagus and stomach is next. He has been very optimistic until just recently. Daddy's glass has always been half full. He plods along determined to make the best of whatever life may throw at him.

He looked forward to losing his hair, saying that Mama could stop plucking his ears. A feeding tube was put in place and the nutritionist met with them both. Everything moved along until the feeding tube became infected in July. He was already in a weakened state from the chemo and his optimism was lagging. Daily calls and reports from Mama kept me informed, but ....... I still worried about him and was longing to see him with my own eyes. To make things doubly difficult, this is when my sweet mother-in-law passed away.

Both of us were torn. July is the absolute busiest month of camping season. The time when you collect the revenue that allows you to eat in the winter. Only one of us can leave. I was thankful that He Who mows had been able to make the trip to see his mom in the spring. We both felt it was more important for him to be with her while she was alive. I refused to let him make the trip alone when she died. That is something no one should have to do alone. Instead he mowed and mowed. Then he got out the weed whacker and groomed everything with the exception of my gardens ...... he knew better than that! I would have looked the other way, during this awful time, but I am glad he restrained himself.

Daddy left the hospital with his wound packed and a regimen of nurse visits. I could tell he was not feeling well, but that was to be expected. He was having trouble maintaining his weight and his appetite was gone. He was still pretty upbeat when I called, though.

He went back into the hospital a couple of weeks ago severely dehydrated and very weak. He has macular degeneration and his vision had become worse. When I talked to him he was so very depressed and sounded so feeble. Broke my heart. It seemed like this was just the last straw for him. He said to me, "I can't even read the newspaper." My dad loves to read. He reads everything. Cereal boxes, billboards, road sign ........ aloud.

Pretty annoying when you think about it. Riding along and having to listen to him read out each sign in a sing-song voice and add his own commentary. I now find myself doing it, too. Genes, you know. I called him as often as I could and he was still not himself when he went home with bags of nutritional supplements that were supposed to be administered through an IV while he slept. The whole set-up scared my poor Mama. She has worried herself into a frenzy. Afraid she might do something wrong and the pump would go nuts and kill Daddy.

My son arranged and paid for my air transportation to see my dad and I finally arrived Tuesday around 4:30, 12 hours after I left home. I was going to surprise him, but told him I was coming. He had 2 units of blood a few days before and was like a new man. Still tiring easily, but so much better. I took him a tablet so that he can read books with a font size to suit him. He has fought having a computer long enough!

His appetite is better and he has gained some weight. My Mama is a force feeder! She likes to fill the table with food and expects those around that table to make it disappear. I spent the whole day with him on Wednesday, complete with a nap! I went with him to the retina specialist Thursday morning. Nothing can be done for his condition. He has one cataract that needs to be removed and that will help, but his vision will continue to deteriorate slowly. Audio books won't be a good option, because even with his hearing aid he tends to miss a bit of the conversation.

But he was singing his silly songs and it no longer annoyed me. Mama said it was music to her ears. She is actually my step-mom, but treats me like her own. She makes my dad happy and that makes me happy!

It was still hard to say good-bye on Thursday. I hugged his bony shoulders and grinned as I waved to them, then cried as I merged onto the interstate. I was thankful for the solitude of the rental car. I arrived at the airport on time and sat waiting to board a full flight. Cheek to cheek we were. The flight took off late and we landed a little late .......


No problem, I thought, as I had landed near my boarding gate on the flight down. No such luck this time. I was muttering to myself as I dragged my carry-ons behind me and marched onward for what seemed like a mile to a train that whisked me to my location, where I had to walk another good piece before I found my gate. Another full flight and I had the middle seat on both flights. Flying is such an intimate experience.

I arrived home around 1:00 AM. I am still tired, but so thankful that I got to see my Daddy!

Fences and Signs

Gossip over the fence. Yes, I know the fence needs paint, but it is on the inside of my yard. I am the only one seeing it!

I suppose you could say I have been straddling the fence about the paint job. Mr. Martha loves to sit on a fence post and swish his tail at the dogs to make them bark. That annoys me and then the dogs get in trouble.

A bit of trivia has been stuck in my mind since He Who listens to talk radio shared it with me. To know the number of silks on an ear of corn, you need only count the kernels. That is not exactly what he said, this is the condensed version.

Every time I handle corn, whether it is in preparation or when I am about to eat it, I have to stop myself from counting the kernels. Why would I need to know the number of corn silks adorning that ear of corn? More to the point, I would have to count both the kernels and the silks to prove the adage to be right. And ....... even more to the point, why does this bother me?

It was brought to my attention (by a valued camper, whose opinion matters) that all of my signage throughout the park has negative connotations. "Do Not Enter", "Slow Down, Speed Limit 10 MPH". Now I am looking at all my signs and seeing only negative. He suggested a sign that thanks the customer as he leaves. I like to paint. I like to make signs, too. But, how shall I phrase this thank you?

It has to include a frog, for sure. Should it be short and sweet ....... THANKS, COME AGAIN? or maybe more down home ........ Y'ALL COME BACK.  HURRY BACK ....... I WANT YOUR MONEY. Maybe not. VISIT MORE OFTEN?

I do have a sign on the front porch that says, "Hippity hop, non-stop, down to Kan-Do" Camper Patrick penned that one. I ran out of room for the rest of it ..... "where we have a pad for you". As in lily pad, with the ever present frog included. So, there, DJ, that one is not negative!

Camper Marshell suggests a sign touting all the amenities that the state park lacks. I am on the same road, only a mile away. But you pass me to get there. They are not set up for big rigs, no pull thrus and no full hook-ups. The sites are short and tight. If you are traveling through and want a one-night stop, it isn't very convenient. If you are towing a vehicle, you have to unhook it. They don't have a pool, a camp store, a laundry room. They send me lots of business for ice and firewood.

Problem is, when you make a reservation at a state park, there is no refund. No matter what. It costs more to stay there when you pay the reservation fee than staying here cost. Camper Debbie wanted a sign the campers from the state park could read as they left. "DON"T YOU WISH YOU HAD STAYED HERE?" I vetoed that one. I could only imagine some camper staying here and then finding fault with everything and asking me why I had a sign up that indicated this park was so much better .......

Signs, signs and more signs.

Proud Of My Pot .....

I took this picture after the broken boards were removed. This is a sharp curve in the road beside the culvert that takes the pond overflow into a drainage ditch. We put the fence there to draw attention to the steep drop, in hopes that drivers won't take that curve too sharp and end up in the ditch. Try though I might, I have yet to find something that will grow there and help with the erosion. My latest experiment is mint. Mint is very invasive and I have put several huge clumps there. Maybe next year it will get a good root system and cover that area.

Back to the broken boards. Just 2X4's. No, they did not rot over time and now have to be replaced. They were broken in two, all splintered when we discovered them. A camper had come into the office the evening before I saw them. "I just wanted you to know that I was taking a walk and I leaned on your fence and it suddenly broke. That's all I did. I just leaned on it while I was looking to see what was in the ditch. I did not hit it with my truck or anything. Really, I just leaned on it." Really. She must have a bionic arm and not be aware of her strength! Or, she could be telling the truth. Maybe someone hit it, got out and pulled the boards together so that they looked okay from a distance and she happened to be the one to knock the facade down.

Whatever, I still have to fix it. What I am truly wondering about is why anyone would want to look into a ditch?

I have had this old plastic pot for years. I leave it out in the weather and a few years ago part of the rim broke off. The plastic was pretty brittle, but I kept thinking I would find a way to fix it. I have tried lots of things. It fits nicely at the entrance to the building and I wanted to use it. Once I had the brilliant ( or so I thought at the time) idea of filling it with a few rocks and wadded newspaper, then fill the top with smaller individual pots of annuals, the mulch it. The broken area is about 5 inches deep, so that the mulch kept coming out of the pot every time I watered it. I tried duct tape, but the water and sun weakened it and it only lasted about a week. I tried One of those mesh bags that onions come in. I pulled the mulch out and carefully place the bag against the hole, and replaced the mulch. Next watering made the bag become dislodged ....

It was a vicious cycle. Cardboard was a temporary solution until we had a big rain. I spent so much effort on the hole in the pot, that I neglected the plants in the tiny pots and they withered and died. They were doomed in those tiny pots anyway. The broken pot was banished to back of my veggie garden, where all manner of broken tools reside.

The pot stayed there for a couple of years. It would get moved every time I had a huge fit of cleaning that area. It would land in the wheelbarrow destined for the dumpster and I would rescue it again and again. Never knowing why. Until this year. Garden hoses tend to take a beating here at the kampground. If I fail to move my irrigation set up when He Who mows is intent upon getting the lawn cut, he will either mow the hose into pieces, or go around it.

Like broken pots, pieces of hose end up with my other garden trinkets. Just in case. One never knows when inspiration will strike. Or when I will be stalking the ideas of others on Pinterest.

I grabbed the caulking gun, a tube of liquid nails and the hose and broken pot. The first attempt failed. Do not fill your pot with dirt and plants, then try to glue the hose to the pot. Gravity will rear it's ugly head and even gorilla glue will not save you.

The pot should be empty and upside down, making gravity your friend. If you wait over night and find that your hose still wants to slide down the pot ........... grab your drill and some screws. I screwed one layer of hose the the layer above, since the liquid nails had done a good job on the very first row. The hose fit snugly into the lip of the pot and the glue held it there. The bottom row was tricky and in frustration I pushed the screw right into the pot. I had hesitated to do this, fearing the brittle pot would form a crack and fall in half. It worked, though. I painted the whole thing green. Because the hose was already green and I am thrifty.

There Is Hope For Wi-Fi

I am still having Internet issues. I can get on, but just as easily get knocked off. Early in the morning is the easiest time to get on ........ and also the best time to get my garden chores done. I am sort of stuck inside through the middle of the afternoon. And that is when I think one of my tenants, who swears she cannot get on-line is streaming movies. She tells me she has never been on-line here, then on another occasion mentions how much she likes my web page ......

So, I am here, at my computer, instead of mowing.
I am still convinced that the wind from the tornado has something to do with this issue. The satellite tower is very close by. Ironically, I registered two men this past Sunday. They will be here for up to 6 months, working in the area. So, like the gynecologist who likes to chat while he works, I asked where they would be working while they filled out the registration. They work for a tower cell company! And, yes, they will be working on my tower and they do work for Sprint (my provider)!!! I am so happy! Some one actually heard me!

As I was answering questions about the amenities of the park, one asked about wi-fi. I told him it would be fantastic as soon as he fixed it! I have high hopes.

This is why I haven't been commenting. I will compose an award winning comment and then it will suddenly disappear as I am knocked off-line. Very frustrating.