I had to get up twice in the night, once for the call of nature and the other time because Mikey started fussing at the sliding glass doors. My first thought was that the deer had finally found the flowers and were going to town on them but when I looked out using my flashlight, nothing out of the ordinary was visible. 

I patted Mikey on the head for being such a good watchdog even though it was nothing I could see, and we went back to bed. Sandy is not interested in things that go bump in the night and had not left her spot. She gave us the equivalent of a dirty look for disturbing her. Incidentally, if Mikey can warn me when the deer finally arrive, then just maybe, we will save the flowers. 

With the interruptions, I did not wake up until almost 10:30 am and even then, was very reluctant to leave that warm spot. I finally forced myself to get out and after raising all the shades, put on my heavy jacket, harnessed up the dogs and opened the door. Incidentally, the heater was not working as it had run out of propane which was another reason we dallied so long in bed. It is funny but the propane always seems to run out at night. I wonder why that is? 

It was not raining but was very overcast and the wind was cold and uncomfortable. We dropped off the trash as we usually do every morning as the dumpsters are on our normal walking circuit. There was a lot of activity in the laundry room, which is normal for a weekend and the same group that had used the Meeting room yesterday, which is one large and extended family, travelling in five different RV’s, were back again this morning. 

We wandered around covering our usual half mile. I had forgotten my phones again for the second day in a row, but we have walked the park so many times that I can accurately guess the distance that we covered based on previous experience. 

While I was still dressed for the outdoors, I tied the dogs up so they could watch and then changed out the empty gas bottle. I usually have a spare already filled for just such an emergency although, I suppose that is not really the right word to use. This was NOT an emergency, just a routine switching out of propane bottles of which I have three. Two are hooked up but only one is turned on. The other full bottle is held in reserve and when one goes empty, it gets switched. I alternate the ones that are connected so that when one goes empty, it is replaced with the spare and the other existing bottle becomes the one getting used. It is a rotating system. 

The empty bottle is left visible for Daniel to swing by on his normal rounds to fill and return to stand ready for use, whenever that may be. That is another reason this park is so convenient with its own propane service. 

Back in the RV, we had breakfast and this time, it was cereal for me and there was nothing to share with the dogs and they had to resort to hard food which is better for them anyway. Because of my late start, half the day had already gone as I settled down to read world news and then write in the blog. 

By the time I finshed, it was already 2:30 pm. It does not matter as we have nothing planned. If I run out of things to do, I could always watch Solly play for Brighton which is on today. More than likely, I will save that for this evening. 
 
I sat here in front of the computer doing different things, one of which was to organize the poetry that I write all into one file instead of getting mixed in the day-to-day blogs where it is written and where it is currently resides. Maybe, I will collect all my poetry and put it in a book one day. Yeah right. It is just an outlet for my artistic side as I cannot paint, sing, or dance worth a damn. But I can write poetry. 

We went out for another stroll around the grounds this time walking the outside road all the way to Hwy 290. We got lucky, and the 4 donkeys followed us up the road after I made a fuss of them. One thought that I had treats for him and followed my hand with his teeth, but I managed to avoid getting bitten. We walked to the end until we hit Hwy 290 and the donkeys followed us all the way. 

I wondered where the lone Zebra was as he spends his time together with this bunch and suddenly, he appeared. He trotted over but would not come closer than about 20 or so feet. He quite obviously had been left behind in their wanderings as he was in a hurry to catch up. 

We wandered back towards the campground leaving this little group behind and made our way back to The Caboose. Tomorrow is a busy day as I need to move Quatro to one of the permanent sites albeit temporarily so that Delores can give it a thorough cleaning before putting it up for sale. She needs both water and an electrical hook up for this. I would rather pay someone than do this myself. 

We sat outside for a while drinking a small bottle of wine and watching the world go by. The Breakroom was doing good business with a party going on. Daniel waved as he passed by on his way home and we closed the outside proceedings before moving back inside The Caboose for the usual evenings’ repast. 

Incidentally, I found deer prints in the garden under the feeders, so they really had visited. They did not touch the flowers but worked on the bird feeders instead. They have learned to tilt them sideways so that the seed comes out and they eat it off the ground. I do not mind buying more seeds if they stay away from the flowers. 

Written 04/08/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com  

The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Sunday 04/09/2023

I awoke early after a good night’s sleep and lay there for a while not really wanting to leave the comfort of the nice warm bed. Eventually, I crawled out and got ready to face another day. We harnessed up and I took the dogs out for that most important, first walk of the day. We wandered around and noticed that the four RVs in the temporary slots that were together as a large family, were preparing to leave. 

When we got back, I worked on refilling the bird feeders as the deer had found them and emptied a couple of bird seeds. 

Back in The Caboose, I made that all important coffee and fixed breakfast shared mostly with Sandy. Mikey had one little piece that he did not eat but guarded against all newcomers wanting to steal it. When we were harnessing up again to walk down to The Caboose, he ate it which was all an hour later. At least, he kept it away from Sandy. 

I was working on the blog when there was a knock on the door. It was Delores wanting to look inside of Quatro to get an idea of what she was about to clean. We harnessed up again and took the walk down the hill and I opened the RV for her to look so she could see what she needed to do. On the way, we ran into Daniel who suggested we wait until tomorrow to move the RV because it was very muddy around it, and he did not want more mud on the blacktop than was necessary. 

That was fine by me, and we walked back to The Caboose to finish working on the blog. Incidentally, the person that I keep calling Jeff is really Gary. My apologies to him and thanks to Delores for spotting the error. 

I worked on about 20 pictures that I had taken as we walked around the park, mostly of the flowers growing here although there were several of the donkeys and the zebra. With the blog and pictures up to date, I looked around for other things to get up to. 

When we were out walking, I had purposely walked around Quatro to see the conditions of the field. It had dried out quite a bit and I judged that moving the RV would not cause any damage or spread mud everywhere. I called Daniel and told him that I was going to move the unit as the field was dry and agreed. 

I left the dogs inside and walked down the hill to Quatro and started it up. I carefully maneuvered out onto the road and then backed it up for about 50 yards so that I could drive into the temporary site, #40 for Delores to give it a good cleaning. I hooked up the power and the sewer hose and had to walk back to The Caboose for the spare water hose as I had “borrowed” the one out of Quatro to use on it. The “old” one has a small leak hence the need for the swap. It will be OK for temporary use as it only the occasional small drip. 

I finished hooking everything back up but did not test anything, figuring that Delores would quickly notify me if there was a problem. 

We went out walking again, running into a couple of other campers and their dogs. These were the friendly ones as we know which ones to stay away from. After a quick walk around the circuit which included a stop at Delores’s RV so that I could give her the keys to Quatro. I did not know how early she was going to start work and did not need any surprises. 

The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way. Oh yes, Malinda returned from taking care of her mother. 

Written 04/09/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com