04/26/2022
Yesterday’s storms had blown away and we awoke to another clear and sunny sky. I crawled out after sleeping well although I think I may have been dreaming in my usual agitated way kicking off demons and such and at the same time wrecking the bed covers and scaring the dogs. They immediately jump on the floor and wait until I settle back into a more peaceful sleep before venturing back onto the bed and cuddling up to make sure I am OK.
We took the usual walk around the park before returning for breakfast. At the same time, I cooked up more lamb chops that I had bought yesterday. I say “cooked” but all I did was place them onto the indoor grill and let them do their thing for twenty minutes or so. I had used it yesterday evening to cook up the first batch and I did not want to clean the grill twice hence this morning’s second attempt. I can eat them cold or if I want to warm them, throw them in the microwave. Ahh, the miracles of modern technology. They are always accompanied by at least one and sometimes two vegetables. Eating healthy and all that.
I wrote for a bit putting off the fact that I needed to pay some attention to the black water system which I have been treating for the past several days. The first test will be to see if it drains when I open the valve. The second test is how quickly and is the tank fully drained? The more I thought about, I decided that just thinking was not going to solve the problem, so I put on my outdoor shoes and telling the dogs to be good, went outside to drain the tanks. They did drain albeit slowly so there is still a problem inside them somewhere. A blockage of some sort that is not completely stopping the flow but is slowing it down. The question is what to do about it. I closed all the valves and resolved to do nothing, at least for now as the drains still work and are not completely blocked. I will continue the chemical treatment and see if that eventually does the trick.
While I was outside, I noticed that the latest storm had brought down the last of the cattails which prompted me to get out my Ryobi battery operated blower and get to work. First thing I discovered was the rain had compacted the cattails and the blower was struggling to release them. I got over this by raking the piles until they were loose and then used the blower to very good effect. I blew out my neighbor’s section that was on my side but as they were home, did not get into their front yard. I ended by stacking my power cable and water hose in neat coils on the gravel just as the memo we received this morning had requested that we do. This was so Daniel, the Park Super, can get at the grass with the mower without worrying about cables and hoses in his way, a perfectly reasonable request.
Because of the problem that I had yesterday in getting one of the storage compartments locks to work, I had purchased the graphite mentioned in the previous blog and spent time spraying all the compartment locks to make sure they all worked smoothly. With a last look around, I disappeared back inside of Mr. George to pick back up where I left off with the writing as by now, the weather had warmed up considerably and besides, there was nothing outside left for me to do, at least, this time.
I wrote for a while before harnessing up the dogs for the final walk of the day. We wandered around before returning to Mr. George. Then disaster struck in the form of the door lock not working and we could not get back inside. I tried everything but to no avail. It had jammed somewhere, and we were locked out. I thought about and remembered that Daniel also had an electronic lock on his RV, so we wandered around and found him visiting one of his friends. I explained the situation and he very kindly came over to look. None of his keys fit and, in the end, we had to resort to the good old-fashioned screwdriver wedged in the door to pry it open. He fiddled around with it and decided that the bolt was not working properly and that I needed to take it off and re-install it which I will do tomorrow. I thanked him profusely for helping me out…again but he just blew it off as something he does all the time and for everybody which is probably very true.
We sat outside for a while enjoying the quiet before heading back inside for the evening meal and the usual evening’s entertainment.
Written 04/26/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 27 Wednesday
04/27/2022
We awoke to yet another day, thank goodness considering the alternatives of not waking. It was cloudy and grey but not raining and with intermittent sunshine. As usual, we went out for our morning walk around the park before returning for breakfast and coffee. We changed directions several times so as not to get into it with other dogs who were taking their masters or mistresses out walking. It can be embarrassing when Sandy starts screaming. Not barking but literally screaming at the top of her lungs. After yesterday’s episode with the nonfunctional lock, I did not lock the door this time when we walked figuring that my neighbors are not the ones likely to want to break in.
I settled down in front of the computer and read emails with the usual outcome and then I sat and wrote for a while and posted a few pictures. We are extended out a month and I have started to post two-days’ worth at a time to catch up a little, before deciding that I really should go into town to pick up the mail. I jumped in the car but before that, played around with the door lock on the RV to make sure it would work, and we would not go through yesterday’s performance. It seemed to be OK, so I jumped in the car and made the drive to Far West Blvd and PostNet. They recognize me now and had already gone to collect the mail when I walked in the door. There was one letter from the Internal Revenue, the reason for the trip in the first place which turned out to be an explanation for the $108.00 check adjustment I had received last week. With no other business in Austin, I drove back to Dripping Springs stopping at my old house on the way to drop off a letter addressed to the new owner but to my current mailbox address.
I barely recognized the place. From what I could see over the fence, it looks like the ponds have been filled in. The saddest thing was that the basic yellow with brown trim that I had painted the house to make it bright and cheerful has been replaced with black. Yes, black garage door and black siding and trim. I do not think I have ever seen a black house before, ever and to me, it looks terrible. So darn depressing. Glad I won’t see it again for a long time, if ever, as I will mail any future mail, I might get for them.
I thought about it on the drive back to Henly and kept shaking my head, Black??? On the way back, I stopped at the Home Depot and purchased the shortest drain snake that they had before heading on just in case I will need it for the black tank. I arrived back at Mr. George and took the dogs out for a walk as I did not have any groceries to unload. We wandered around the park before coming back to sit outside for a while. Funnily enough, it was the dogs that wanted to come back inside which I obliged before sitting down to finish the blog for the day. While I was sitting inside, a huge gust of wind sent the cooler flying from the top of the outside table. That was the only strong gust as the rest of the evening was just a normal breezy one. Who can explain Nature? We went out for a third walk much to the dog’s delight and managed to cover almost 2 miles for the day. We again sat outside enjoying the pleasant weather before retiring back inside for the evening. spent in the usual way with food and television.
Written 04/27/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com