We had a heavy thunderstorm and some rain in the night, but it did not last very long although it was very bright and very noisy. I dropped back off to sleep and awoke around the usual time crawling out of bed and dragging myself out for that first walk. We wandered around as we usually do saying “Good Morning” to whoever we ran into and making a fuss of their dogs.
Both Daniel and Malinda were working on their new Jeep installing canoe racks on the top so they could carry them ready to hit the water. I canoed a bit in my younger days but am not interested anymore. For some reason, even though I am a good swimmer, I have developed an inherent fear of water and prefer Terra Ferma.
I noticed a couple of large storage bins they had in front of their RV and enquired as to what they planned on doing with them. Daniels response was, “Make me an offer” which I did, and Malinda wheeled it over to my RV on her two-wheel dolly. She is one tough and energetic lady. I gave her a check and thanked her profusely.
As I was already out there, I loaded the bin with the outdoor things that I had sitting outside or under the RV to tidy the place up. Now, all I need is to get the deck built and we will have it made.
On my trip into town yesterday, I visited the Wild Bird Store in the hope of finding a replacement water holder, but they did not have anything like I needed. Guess I will just have to find one online. Incidentally, changing the Hummers feed to sugar and water and the location of the feeders into a shady area has really paid off. I was sitting outside and just watching and at one time, counted eight of the tiny birds all congregated around the feeders. They are constantly coming and going.
I hung the new set of wind chimes using some twine that Daniel had given me and now we can listen to the cheerful tinkling as they sway in the wind.
Back inside, I fixed breakfast and then settled down to read the world news and then work on the blog posting the last couple of days after playing catch up with the writing.
Daniel stopped by on his buggy and said he was going to work on his Jeep and could I come over to give him a hand. I was about to take the dogs out anyway and we headed in the direction of Daniel’s shop. I tied the dogs up and went to work, not that I did much except hold things and hand Daniel different tools as he asked for them. Some of what I had to do involved laying on the concrete to hold the part as Daniel bolted it back to the Jeep.
On one of these occasions as I was getting back up off the concrete floor, I felt the Glute muscles tear in my left leg and although keeping it to myself, I carried on as Daniels helper.
Malinda stopped by and showed her adaptability as she lay down on the concrete floor alongside Daniel wielding wrenches and such as she tightened up nuts and bolts on her side of the Jeep. She is one tough lady. All I did was hand them parts which was a good thing as I was almost incapacitated.
A couple of hours later, they had done as much as they could as the electrical part will be done by a shop that specializes in that sort of thing, tomorrow. We cleaned everything up and I was invited to join them at my neighbors, BJ and Peggy’s RV for beer.
I took the dogs out for a short walk and then prepared their food before wandering two RV’s away to the ladies RV. There were five of us, Peggy and BJ, Daniel and Malinda and me. We sat and talked and learned a bit of each other’s history as we sat and drank. I restricted myself to just a couple of cans of beer which was a good thing as I had not eaten since breakfast. Besides, I wanted to stay sober and in control of my conversation and actions. This coincided with some of the conversation which was of much drinking on different occassions and what happened because of it.
Luckily for me and a couple of the others, BJ and Peggy, whose RV we were sitting outside allowed me to use their restroom inside their RV otherwise, I would have left the party early. By then, my glute muscles had stiffened up and I was really sore and when I got up, gave the appearance of being drunk until I told them of the problem.
We chatted for a long time until someone asked what time it was. It was almost midnight and we sat and talked for almost 3 hours. At that point, the party broke up and both Daniel and Malinda walked with me back to The Caboose because I was limping so bad. Thanking them and then saying goodnight, I went inside realizing that I had fed the dogs but not myself. I put together a plate and then sat and watched a whole episode of Yellowstone, Season 5 before going to bed around 1:30 am.
I slept well waking to a wet and gloomy day. We really need the rain, but Nature’s timing is off. I harnessed up the dogs and this time, grabbed an umbrella which I keep close to the door. We went out and wandered around and I discovered the difficulties of carrying an umbrella while attached to two dogs and trying to bag their poop. Still, we carried out the task like the good little campers that we are, always obeying the rules of the park. Yeah, right…OK, most of the time.
Back in the RV, I fixed breakfast shared with Sandy, who promptly upchucked it all and went and sat in her basket and dropped off to sleep. Guess she has an upset tummy, something to keep an eye on.
I have absolutely no plans of my own for the day and will see how it develops. Hopefully, it will stop raining. I could look at the storage boxes under the bed and try to organize them a bit. Maybe, or not. Out of sight and all of that and there is always tomorrow and if it never comes, then we will not be worrying about anything at all, especially not packing boxes.
We sat around not doing much of anything for a while, which was nice and relaxing. Then came a knock on the door and it was Amazon delivering directly to my RV. I had ordered jacks to support the two slide outs as we are here permanently, and they need support. Incidentally, that is the first time that Amazon has delivered directly to my RV. Usually, the goods are left by the Office.
This got me wide awake now that I had a purpose, and I unpacked the boxes. There were four identical jacks, two for each slide and I carried them back to where they were going to be installed. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do the job, not being as flexible as I used to be. The jacks had to go under the two slide outs which meant somehow getting much closer to the ground than I normally am used to. I am definitely not very agile anymore and the chances that I will get down and not get back up are very real. I could not find my knee pads (of course) so that idea would not work. Eventually, I got over it by using a small footstool and sitting on it while I screwed the jacks in to where they had to go. There is always a way…
Now that I was upright from the sitting position on the stool, the dogs, who had been tied up outside, and I took the packing boxes over to the dumpsters where I broke them down before putting them in, and then walked around for a bit before returning to the RV. This time, I dug out the birdseed I has already bought and refilled all the feeders. I tried to repair the broken water feeder to no avail as it no longer holds water, so it too went into the dumpster.
We took another short walk and then sat outside watching the world go by, not that there was much activity, drinking a small bottle of wine and eating potato chips. Not good for the diet but still tasty. Got to splurge sometimes. As it is, Daniel is getting me into bad habits by encouraging me to drink beer with him. Not that I need too much encouragement.
Finally, we adjourned back inside where I worked on the blog for a bit before feeding the dogs and then myself and watching the usual evening television.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Wednesday 04/26/2023
It was overcast with a chance of rain when we went out walking around the park. I let Miss Sandy lead us whichever way she wanted to go and before long, we were on the outside road. She could not decide whether to head towards Hwy 290 or back down the hill and in the end, we did both. I finally convinced her that we should go back for breakfast, and we headed to the RV. For a short, fat little dog, she sure likes to walk a lot. It must be all those interesting smells that drive her on. Mikey and I were ready to call it quits after one lap around the park but not that little girl.
Back in the RV, I fixed my breakfast and coffee giving Sandy a piece that she ignored. Mikey ignored it too, so I guess my taste in food is different than theirs although, I thought dogs were supposed to eat almost anything. I had heated up a burrito which quite truthfully, was not that appetizing but quick and easy to prepare. Food just does not taste the same anymore as I age. Still, I can’t live without it…
With it being as cloudy and overcast as it was, it was a good day to be inside although it had warmed back up into the mid 70’s by 10:30 am. Sandy was giving me “the look” so we harnessed up to wander around the park.We stopped at Daniels RV as he was busy hooking up the sewer drain, and we had discussed yesterday how he was going to do that. I had suggested that he have a piece of flexible piping as the last link to the drain so that it would be easier to repark after any trips. He had done it differently and will now have to park “on a dime” so to speak to reconnect. Then again, what do I know…
I made the short drive into town to stop at HEB as I was out of laundry detergent and needed to wash clothes. I found a couple of other things, of course, and $150.00 later, headed back to the RV. I totally ignored Starbucks.
On my return, we went out walking and when we were finished, sat outside listening to an Audiobook drinking wine. I had my eyes closed as I listened to the story and heard a whistle. Daniel was sitting at the picnic table and even Mikey had not barked at him this time. I brought us out a couple of beers and we sat and shot the breeze for a while. He really is a funny guy.
Two beers later, he left, and we went out for the final walk of the day chatting to whoever wanted to talk with us before returning for the usual evening meal and television.
We had a very restful night’s sleep waking up around 8:00 am. I found all kinds of excuses not to get up and it was around 8:30 am before we crawled out. After a quick shower, it was out of the door and out wandering around the park wherever the whims of Miss Sandy took us.
Following breakfast, I spent time straightening out the insurances on the Jeep, Quatro and now The Caboose. Quatro, of course, I will drop just as soon as Malinda tells me they have the unit covered leaving me with the Jeep and The Caboose the details for which, came back today. Got to have that insurance in case something big and bad happens. Feeling better that I had finally got it all straightened out, I turned my attention to the blog, catching up on yesterday and starting today.
I went outside and filled the bird feeders with seed as the birds have been doing a number on them. I also refilled the Hummingbird feeders and while rehanging one of them, it slipped through my fingers and broke. It was the one that the earlier camper had given me and actually was for drinking water and not sugar water. That is the second one that had done that, and I really need to be more careful…Either that or remember to dry my hands off before trying to rehang them as the sugar water is kind of slippery.
I messed around with it to see if I could repair it, but I think it cracked too badly to hold the water which is also pretty heavy stuff. I had to go into town for a grocery run and as The Home Depot is next door, decided to go in to see if they had a replacement water feeder but to no avail. While I was there, I checked on materials for the deck and made a few notes and took a few pictues of the available materials. A pretty plant somehow found its way into my shopping cart and with a couple of packets of batteries, was all that I had to check out. I got to stay away from those plants…What is the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and those plants are just that.
Next stop was HEB located next door and I did my usual shopping with very few changes from what I bought the last time. I added two cases of Malinda’s beer after calling her to see what it was, she liked. Of course, a few “extras” not on my list snuck into my cart somehow. I checked out and headed back home.
The thought crossed my mind very briefly that I should stop for a Latte, but I remembered that the last couple had not really “hit the spot” and drove straight back to Henly instead pleased at not giving in to that temptation.
On the drive back, I thought about the broken water feeder on the way home. After arriving back, we unloaded groceries and put them away and still disgusted at myself for being so clumsy, I looked around for something to take my frustrations out and my eyes fell upon the dogs. So, I harnessed them up and “made” them go out for another walk which of course delighted them to no end.
Malinda stopped by to conduct some business officially connecting me to a payment system whereby her bank pays my bank on a monthly basis for the sale of Quatro. Incidentally, a pump on one of the A/C units on Quatro went out and I paid the travelling repair man for it to be repaired.
She left and we went out for another walk, just wandering around as we usually do, and ran into Daniel who invited me over for a beer.
Never one to refuse the invitation to a free beer, I put the dogs back in the RV and then wandered over to Daniel’s place which is just across the street from me. He and Malinda were sitting outside and before long, we were joined by Peggy. We sat and drank and chatted and then B.J. joined us carrying bags of food.
At first, I tried to refuse the offer of a sandwich and fries, but they would not take no for an answer. In truth, I felt a bit embarrassed to be offered the food as I can never provide it back to them myself although I do try to make up for it by supplying the odd case of beer. They told me not to be silly and before long, I was eating a sandwich and fries. BTW, that was the best ham sandwich I have ever eaten it was so tasty.
We sat devouring the food and drinking beer and making lots of small talk and then Malinda was called away as another camper pulled into the park. Incidentally, both Peggy and B.J. are fun to be around. Glad to have them as friends. I eventually had to leave the party as I needed to take the dogs for one more walk. It was already getting dark, and the walk was a short one before returning to The Caboose for the usual evening entertainment, after feeding the dogs.
I sat here with nothing to do with an empty mind that had not a clue on which direction I should go and look busy even just for show I really had no pressing things that needed my time which has its own wings flying by at an incredible rate rushing towards an unknown fate of one thing I can be sure I am not yet at death’s door
I may be old and lived a few years through good times and bad and shed a few tears along the way as we go through life which also has had its share of strife as we live each day just as they come counting them off one by one looking to see what the next day will bring as we awake such a glorious thing.
I have also had my share of love with beautiful young women of whom I spoke about in loving terms until they no longer had the yearn for me as company for the rest of their days and we parted and went separate ways after three tries at the marriage thing I gave it up as just a bad fling
I am happy for those that can make it work as quite obviously I had a quirk that stopped me being the perfect man for them even though it was not the plan I wanted real bad to make it a go but every time I was not able to show just how much I really cared for them so we parted ways in the end
Today I live a bachelor life one of which has no strife living alone with my two little dogs choosing to do even though they are boss as everything revolves around their needs and they in turn try hard to please as we go out for walks around the park people stop to talk and sometimes they bark and in the end it is just we three living our life through eternity.
Up early for a change and we took that first walk of the day just wandering around and not in any hurry to go anywhere. Malinda was talking to Peggy as they stood by Quatro. I said good morning as we passed not stopping to join in any conversation uninvited and we continued around the park. We went out in the lane at the bottom of the park and then cut back through heading to The Caboose.
Back indoors, it was the usual coffee and breakfast and then checking emails and reading about the state of the world before turning my attention to the blog.
We found things to do of the housekeeping kind that I had been putting off for whatever reason and took care of them. After that, I sat indoors listening to an Audio book with both Mikey and Sandy sitting alongside me on the couch. It was very peaceful as well as a delightful story to keep me engaged. I did refrain from grabbing a bottle of wine deeming that 3:00 pm was a little too early to start drinking.
Both Daniel and Melinda stopped by, and we went over the paperwork to transfer the RV to them. I put my signature where she pointed out and the deal was done. I am no longer the owner of Quatro. Goodbye dear friend, I knew ye well.
I have no regrets as it was time for me to stop driving on the highways and a rig like that needs open roads and not be penned up in an RV Park. I know that both Daniel and Malinda will not be driving full-time but at least, a lot more than I would. My driving days of big rigs are over, and I will stick to my Jeep. Just one more step on the road of decline to who knows where!
I sat around indoors for a while with the dogs by my side just dozing off before Daniel stopped at my door again. I went out and then Malinda joined us. We sat there drinking a beer and then they had a call, and both took off telling me to head over to their “new” RV which after a little bit, I did with Mikey and Sandy in tow.
We sat around chatting with the occasional business interruption. A couple of other campers stopped by and joined in the conversation before moving on and then Daniel got called away on another bit of Park business.
I wandered back with the dogs in tow and tied them up outside while I refilled and rearranged the bird feeders more to accommodate the Hummers. Then we sat and admired our work for a while before going back inside. We caught up on the blog. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Friday 04/21/2023
We got up at a reasonable hour and out the door to walk the dogs. As usual, I forgot my phone and had to go back for it not that it matters unless something happens, and I might need help. I very rarely get any calls and if I do, it is usually a wrong number or someone trying to sell me something that I do not want. Same is true of emails as they too are mostly junk and unwanted. It seems that no matter how often I block them, they still show up over and over. It is as though the unsubscribe button is there for show or maybe by law as in many cases, it is ignored by the writers. Then again, I suppose that if you are a scammer, you have no ethics and besides, the law doesn’t mean anything to you…
We went out wandering around looking for signs of damage as we had a major thunderstorm last night and we even got rain although not as much as we needed. There were obvious signs that it had rained, wet roads and such, but no standing water anywhere. Still, we will take all that we can get. We hit the outside road and walked back through the park before returning to The Caboose for breakfast and coffee.
Today is another day where we have nothing planned. Sooner rather than later, I need to start work on re-organizing the totes. I was inspired by Malinda who went out and bought a dozen boxes to do just that with her move into Quatro but then again, she is an organized person, and I am a slob. I am always full of good intentions but after the first couple of boxes, everything goes haywire, and I lose interest. I have duplicates of duplicates because of my lack of organization. Where is my friend B.J. when I need her? She loves doing that sort of thing…
I sat and wrote while the dogs slept as though they had already had an exhausting day which they had not as we only walked about a half mile this morning. And they call it a “Dog’s Life.” Still, I should not complain as I have nothing pressing either and could take a nap IF I wanted. I have two unwritten rules. The first is no naps during the day unless I do not feel well. The other is never to pay attention to any rules I might foolishly make. The third is, who needs rules…
With the blog all caught up and everything posted, I looked around for other things to do without a great deal of luck. So, we harnessed up and went out walking instead. We wandered around for a bit before taking the outside road towards Hwy 290 which we walked to the end and then back to the campground. No exotics to look at.
I sat outside for a while and Daniel stopped by to chat about some problems with Quatro which needed to be resolved. Always something with an RV. After he left, I continued to sit outside listening to an Audiobook drinking small bottles of wine and feeling better with every sip. Then it was back indoors for the usual evening’s rituals of food and TV until it was time for bed.
It was a dull and overcast day with a light drizzle in the wind when we went out for that first walk. I made sure to wear my rain slicker just in case it came on much harder while we were out but as it happened, it stayed the fine drizzle. The park was quiet with very little activity so not much to see as we walked around.
Back in the RV following the usual breakfast, the dogs both zonked off under the table as I worked on first reading the news and then writing in the blog. I have no plans for today and will just see what happens.
We did get permission to build the deck although it will be much smaller than I really want. Still, I can make it work by changing a couple of things, like extending it in the opposite direction to what I had originally planned.
I spent time posting pictures and bringing the blog up to date although, currently, I am posted several days out. It was time to do a load of laundry and I gathered everything up to do just that. I really like having my own washing machine and it was a worthwhile investment.
With nothing much else to do and knowing the laundry would take a couple of hours, I sat and listened to an Audiobook for a while simply happy to do nothing for a bit. Not that I have anything really pressing and the only routine thing in my day apart from food, is taking the dogs out walking. Everything else is flexible.
I listened for a couple of hours to the Audiobook, getting up to attend to the laundry as required. Finally, the machine stopped, and I folded the clothes and put them away in their respective drawers.
I went back to the Audiobook as it was right in the middle of an exciting part, and I just had to see how it was going to end. Sandy was giving me “the look” and even Mikey was dancing around so I knew they were trying to tell me something in their doggy language. We harnessed up and then walked around the park before hitting the road leading to Hwy 290. There were no exotics to be seen anywhere.
Back in the RV we sat outside for a while with a small bottle ofwine and continued to listen to the Audiobook before heading inside for the usual evening’s repast.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Wednesday 04/19/2023
I awoke early to a strong sewer smell and lay there wondering what the problem might be. Then I remembered that I had done a load of laundry yesterday and had forgotten to shut the valve on the gray tank leaving a direct line between the sewer and the RV. I open this valve when we do laundry so that the washing machine water can flow out. I have no idea how much water is used by the machine but certainly do not want it to back up, hence the open valve.
Because I was already up attending to this minor problem, I decided to stay up and have an early morning for a change. It was cloudy outside but not raining yet as we wandered around. Miss Sandy had one of her “walk all over the park” moods as she went here, there, and everywhere with me and Mikey following along like the well-trained individuals that we are. Still, it did not matter as we were not in any hurry to get anywhere. We stopped and talked to a couple of people that we met along the way who were out for their exercise. All the long-term tenants are older people like me, so we all have something in common if nothing more than to discuss the latest aches, pains and weather.
Following the usual breakfast, I sat and read the world news just so I could stay caught up with current events. I should not have bothered as it was no different than yesterday or the day before that. It was a very cloudy and grey day with a chance of rain, and we had nothing planned so it does not matter even if it rains. We could use the wet stuff.
I sat and wrote, bringing the blog up to date and wondered what I could get up to for the rest of the day. I do have all these storage boxes that the contents need sorting and re-arranging that eventually, I need to get to. Maybe Tomorrow…
It occurred to me that I did not have insurance on The Caboose and set about correcting that. My other insurances are with Good Sam. I made contact and was put through to a nice salesperson who very patiently worked with me to get the unit insured for a year. Feeling a lot better about it, I hung up and then looked for other things to do.
I noticed both Daniel and Malinda had returned after being away all day. Daniel stopped by and pointed out the new jeep sitting in his driveway. He had traded in his truck for this new vehicle so he could tow it behind The Caboose. Incidentally, as I no longer own The Caboose and have no idea what Daniel will call it, I should probably refer to it as the RV which was sitting forlornly in one of the parking places, just crying out for some attention…
We went for the final walk of the day just wandering around and walking the road that leads to Hwy 290 before returning to sit outside for a bit. A couple of other campers stopped by and chatted before moving on. We listened to an Audio book for a while before heading back indoors where I caught up on the blog.
Finally, we ate dinner and watched TV until going to bed.
This is such a magnificent tree, I just had to post it again. I wonder just how old it is.
I am having difficulty in both going to sleep and staying asleep as I kept waking up for whatever reason. That is if you do not count the normal call of Nature as a reason. I managed to lay there until 7:45 am and then crawled out to face the day, ready or not, mostly not…
There was a light drizzle requiring a jacket when we went out for that first walk. We wandered around saying hello to several other campers, some walking their own dogs, before returning for the usual breakfast and coffee. We have no plans for today and will just see what happens.
Following breakfast which I shared with the dogs, I sat and drank coffee for that kickstart to the day before settling down in front of the computer. As usual, world news was depressing and what I read about the US was not much different from the day before or even the day before that. The question is, was it always like this or is it that we know so much more about things because of the Internet? Like I said before, depressing.
I sat and wrote for a while and watched the world go by in my truly little part of the universe and wondered what I should do for the rest of today. One thing for sure, I am not going near Quatro ever again. The sooner Daniel and Malinda take possession, the better, although, the RV will always be in my sight as they plan on living in it and selling their current 5th wheel.
I turned my attention to the blog and caught up with the posting. Need to make sure that I do not miss posting again not that anyone notices. I had taken several pictures and I worked on them for a while in Photoshop before transferring them to my photo collection for later use.
I looked around for other things to get up to. I had purchased a new and unbelievably cheap soundbar for the TV as I could not get the other one to work and played around with it for a while. I cannot get this one to work either. Oh well!
Giving up on the soundbar, I went outside and did some work on the bird feeders. I removed the additional threaded rod that I had attached to one of the poles that I use to hang the Hummer feeders and then re-attached it to the other pole so that I could move it to a shadier area. Someone had suggested to me that I do this as apparently, the Hummers do not like a warm drink which of course warms up in the direct sun. This is Texas after all, and it gets bloody hot in the summer even in the shade…
A young couple stopped by to admire the garden and then as they talked to each other, they kept looking at me as I was sitting outside at the time. The gentleman introduced himself as did his wife and then enquired if I was the famous blogger. I was momentarily taken aback, and we started chatting. They explained they are here to visit a relative who is staying here at the park and had been following my blog for some time. I took them the inside of The Caboose and as many people do, they made all the appropriate responses as I showed them around. Made my day that someone thought I was famous.
I went for another walk with the dogs and we just wandered around stopping to talk to anyone who wanted to chat with me, especially if they had dogs of their own. Dogs are a wonderful way to meet people if the dogs get along. One long term couple have a young puppy that is of the large dog variety and has not yet learned to stop jumping. Consequently, I got a bit too close as I was making a fuss of him, and he accidentally jumped and scratched my leg as I turned to leave. We kept walking and I do not think the two owners, who had introduced themselves as Sharon and Larry, did not even notice he had done it and I did not tell them. No big deal. The dog does need some non-jumping training though. Next time, I will make sure to be at the end of his leash extension so he cannot reach me!
We finished the walk and sat outside for a while drinking a beer and just watched the world go by. Being situated across from the Laundry Room, I get to see a lot of foot traffic and the occasional car as people stop to use the facilities.
We sat for a while until it was almost dark listening to an Audiobook before adjourning back inside for the usual evening repast. I got to watch my Great, Great Grandson, Solly March play another game for his club, Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Sunday 04/16/2023
In front of one of the RV’s.
I awoke late after a decent night’s sleep and pulled up the blinds to let in the new day. The park was already busy with people using the laundry room or out walking their dogs. The occasional car would go by with the occupants driving into town. Sometimes, people would go by that were out for the exercise. You could always tell them as they walked fast and with intent, not like the rest of us whose intent was decided by our dogs. There is no such thing as a straight line when you are dog walking or, come to that, not much speed either.
Back in The Caboose, we had breakfast and then I settled down to both read the daily news and then work on the blog. I had to think long and hard to recall yesterday’s events which is why I try to stay caught up.
I had received an email from one of our mutual friends who mentioned that he had visited my old drinking buddy and special mate, George, who is now in an old folk’s home back in England. George did make the grade as a professional soccer (football) player back in the day and came over here from England to play in the North American Soccer League when it first started up. According to my friend Nick, George has Alzheimer’s. Such a shame as he was a really funny guy and could spin wonderful tales. He could also drink a lot of beer…
Today is another day that we have nothing planned. Except for watering the plants, I have nothing to do outside. I have plans to build a deck but am waiting for permission from the park owners. I will know later today when Malinda and Daniel return from their trip as to how big I can make it.
Daniel stopped by and we started chatting about Quatro. He asked that we go down as he had some questions and wanted me to show him what does what as far as driving the rig and setting it up. I gladly harnessed up the dogs so they at least can get some exercise out of it, and we walked down the hill to where the RV is parked.
I explained everything I knew about the rig and then Daniel hopped into the driver’s seat, and we went through what it took to start and what buttons operated the automatic leveler’s and so on. I handed over the last set of keys that I had, and the rig is officially theirs. We still must draw up an agreement, but I do not foresee any problems there.
Later, we sat around at Daniel’s RV with Malinda and drank a couple of beers just chattering and visiting until it was time to head back to my RV for the usual evening meal and glass of wine. Not that I really needed the wine as I had already drunk a couple of beers, but old habits die hard…
I was raised in England, where it is wet days on end and better yet and when the sun does finally shine the people smile and think it’s divine Look, the sun, you hear them say maybe this time it will stay around for just a little while just to make our lives worthwhile.
When my mother offered me the chance to come to America following her dance I was torn if we should go I loved the English country so but the end the choice was made after three weeks of rain, I was dismayed she wrote and said it was 8:00 am and was going to be sunny again with a temperature forecast of eighty five making her glad to be alive
I talked it over with my wife she too was fed up with rainy life and though reluctant she agreed and to America we did leave coming over on a big ship with all of our things on the trip from Southampton on the English side arriving in New York to reside
When we arrived in the United States to drive to Fort Plain the journey to take to a little place just a dot on the map in the Mohawk Valley and hard to track wondering what the future would hold and how had we managed to be so bold as to sell our home and everything we had leaving our country which made us sad.
That first night as we slept in a farmhouse that my mother kept it snowed thirteen inches of the stuff the most I had seen and much more than enough and we wondered why we had complained coming here to get away from the rain only to find that it was worse in a different part of the Universe.
We got used to the weather and the sun did shine more than it rained and most of the time and now in Texas we look for the rain to keep things green for them not to change as not too many miles away there is a desert and no rain which to play but for now, we will take what we get As Mother Nature the weather does set.
The cat on the leash. It does NOT walk to heel like a dog. There is no training a cat…
After our usual and uneventful walk about, we returned to the RV for breakfast and coffee. I was expecting a call from the Insurance Adjuster who confirmed he was on his way and would be there shortly. The next call I got was from Malinda to say that the Adjuster was here and” Would I please join them.”
I wandered down and watched as the Adjuster went about his business taking a lot of pictures and giving us various explanations. He gave us extremely helpful advice on how to deal with the other RV Owner who was not present at this meeting. He went on his way saying I would hear from him and the company, shortly.
With that, Malinda and Daniel jumped in their truck and took off for the weekend driving down to the coast to visit friends and I walked back to The Caboose to get out of the cold and damp weather. Delores is looking after Remington, the dog.
I turned my attention to the blog and discovered, much to my dismay, that I had missed not only posting but writing the blog entirely for yesterday and so far, had nothing for today. I immediately turned to this and spent the next couple of hours playing catch up. Obviously, I can do nothing about the missing day and today would be late but at least I was able to bring us back in line.
It was a bit of a shock when I realized my error as I am consistent in posting especially when my friend BJ complained because I was posted out a couple of weeks ahead. Somehow, I was not paying attention and with the excitement of the past few days, blogging was the furthermost thing in my mind. Now, we are caught up again. My guess is that the very few readers that I have will not even notice that there is a day missing.
I spent the next hour or so working on the blog getting it up to date and then posting and adding pictures as I caught up. I turned my attention to the myriad of pictures that I had recently taken and spent time in Photoshop working on them. It takes at least two pictures for each blog and three if I double up on the blog posting. Really good pictures are sometimes used more than once. I try to associate the picture with the story of the day, but it does not always happen.
Today’s picture is of a cat that the owners have trained to walk on a leash just like a dog except a dog is interested in scents and smells and the cat disdains such action and will not lower his dignity to that degree. It does not walk in a very straight line either. Still, fun to watch.
I received the estimate back to repair the unit which is not as bad as I thought it might be. Now it is up to Daniel to decide how he wants to continue from this point on as technically, he is the new owner.
We sat outside for a while just watching the world go by. I forgot to mention that one of my next-door neighbors, Peggy, had a bad night and they had to call the ambulance which took her to the Emergency Room. As I had headed into town on a grocery run, I purchased a 4-pack of wine and added a small yellow cactus to it to cheer her up. When I got back, I stopped by to give it to her and incidentally, not stopping for the drink they offered me, I did not want to catch whatever she may have contracted.
And so, the day ended in the usual fashion. I sat outside for a while, long enough to consume two small bottles of red wine before heading back in for the usual evening’s repast, food, more wine, and the inevitable television.
The first walk of the day around the park and in the outside lane was uneventful as they usually are. We met a couple of other dogs walking their owners on the way but luckily, everything was restricted to a few barks which was quickly overcome when the other dog owner made a fuss of my dogs. Funny what a bit of attention will do. I, of course, was doing the same thing to the other person’s dog.
There is nothing better for clearing the brain of unwanted thoughts than to go outside and work in the yard. I do not have a big “Yard” except for the area that had been previously planted by Daniel and Malinda when they were at this site. I have planted a whole bunch of flowers and shrubs and the important thing is hoping that the deer stay away from them. Good luck with that as they have already been working on one of the plants.
Daniel suggested buying some mouse traps and placing them throughout the garden obviously not to catch the deer but to frighten them when they snap as they go off.
I drove into town to The Home Depot and found what I wanted along with a curved section of the metal edging I was planning to install. I already had the rest of the edging but was just missing the 90-degree part. These parts happened to be in the gardening section, and I spotted another plant that I just had to have. Luckily, I did restrict myself to just one plant.
Back in the RV, we went to work or rather I worked, and the dogs watched as I connected the parts together and then dug them into the ground to the elevation I wanted. I edged the entire one side with its bends and curves.
When we came to the last piece, it required cutting and I did not have the necessary tools for this and with the dogs, I wandered around to find Daniel who I knew would have just what was required. Both Malinda and Daniel came over for him to pick up the leveling blocks and other similar things that I will no longer need and am happy to pass along. This included the new tow bars of which I have no further use. Daniel cut the edging to the required size and as I watched, Malinda installed it. Apart from being extremely helpful, I think she just wanted to be a part of what was originally her garden.
Between them, after cutting the piece of edging to the required length and helping to hammer in the stakes and they went on their way. I went to work with my shovel and dug enough dirt to set the edging at the proper height, completed the installation and cleaned up the surplus dirt and the job was done.
We were sitting outside after yet another short walk, drinking a beer and listening to an Audiobook and Daniel invited me over to his place. I put the dogs inside and wandered over and between us and then Keri, when she arrived, went about solving the world’s problems. The ladies left and after finishing the beer I had, I too went back to The Caboose to spend the evening in the usual fashion. Incidentally, I think I drank one too many beers as I was quite lightheaded as I staggered back to my RV.
I got up early after another restless night, mostly worrying about the collision with both RV’s and the consequences of doing so. It was not until the early hours of the morning that I managed to drop off to sleep and even then, awoke early, for me. It was still dark out and I rolled over just lying there and thinking about stuff. The body might have been relaxed but the mind was far from it.
I must have dropped off because the next thing, it was 7:30 am which is early, but I got up anyway. We harnessed up and wandered around and ran into Daniel who mentioned he had things to talk about and, “Meet you at your RV in ten.” He arrived and we sat outside and discussed the RV sale for a bit which will be going ahead as soon as we get the damage sorted out. He and Malinda are really excited about buying it. They plan to sell their rig and have talked to me about their deck which is metal and collapsible.
I was back inside of The Caboose working on contacting the insurance company regarding the damage to the RV’s and had just finished when Malinda, knocked on the door to discuss just that subject. I was able to give her the information that I had enough to get started.
With Daniels deck offer in mind, I did some research on it and then ran into a problem. His unit is meant to be collapsible and has additional cross ties to help make it operate which effectively stops me from storing anything underneath of it as I plan to do. So, it is back to the original plan of the deck, and everything hinges around the owner’s giving permission and approval for the go ahead. We will know on Monday when they return from their trip.
I had no idea where the day went as the next thing, when I looked at the clock, it read 4:00 pm and I took some time to catch up with the blog. Then we went out for a walk just wandering enjoying the sunshine for me and the smells for the dogs and tried to put the RV thoughts out of my mind. Hard to do when the rig is in the lower end of the park and in full view and we are walking right past it.
Incidentally, Malinda and Daniel still want Quatro even with the new scratches which will be covered by the insurance.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Thursday 04/13/2023
The first walk of the day around the park and in the outside lane was uneventful as they usually are. We met a couple of other dogs walking their owners on the way but luckily, everything was restricted to a few barks which was quickly overcome when the other dog owner made a fuss of my dogs. Funny what a bit of attention will do. I, of course, was doing the same thing to the other person’s dog.
There is nothing better for clearing the brain of unwanted thoughts than to go outside and work in the yard. I do not have a big “Yard” except for the area that had been previously planted by Daniel and Malinda when they were at this site. I have planted a whole bunch of flowers and shrubs and the important thing is hoping that the deer stay away from them. Good luck with that as they have already been working on one of the plants.
Daniel suggested buying some mouse traps and placing them throughout the garden obviously not to catch the deer but to frighten them when they snap as they go off.
I drove into town to The Home Depot and found what I wanted along with a curved section of the metal edging I was planning to install. I already had the rest of the edging but was just missing the 90-degree part. These parts happened to be in the gardening section, and I spotted another plant that I just had to have. Luckily, I did restrict myself to just one plant.
Back in the RV, we went to work or rather I worked, and the dogs watched as I connected the parts together and then dug them into the ground to the elevation I wanted. I edged the entire one side with its bends and curves.
When we came to the last piece, it required cutting and I did not have the necessary tools for this and with the dogs, I wandered around to find Daniel who I knew would have just what was required. Both Malinda and Daniel came over for him to pick up the leveling blocks and other similar things that I will no longer need and am happy to pass along. This included the new tow bars of which I have no further use. Daniel cut the edging to the required size and as I watched, Malinda installed it. Apart from being extremely helpful, I think she just wanted to be a part of what was originally her garden.
Between them, they cut the piece of edging to the required length and helped to hammer in the stakes and then went on their way. I went to work with my shovel and dug enough dirt to set the edging at the proper height, completed the installation and cleaned up the surplus dirt and the job was done.
We were sitting outside after yet another short walk, drinking a beer and listening to an Audiobook and Daniel invited me over to his place. I put the dogs inside and wandered over and between us and then Keri, when she arrived, went about solving the world’s problems. The ladies left and after finishing the beer I had, I too went back to The Caboose to spend the evening in the usual fashion. Incidentally, I think I drank one too many beers as I was quite lightheaded as I staggered back to my RV.
I awoke after a terrible night of not sleeping. I was too worried about the deal we had struck last evening and could not get it out of my mind. I tossed and turned and every time I looked at the clock, another hour had passed, and I still had not fallen asleep. I guess I did eventually as I awoke this morning at 7:30 am with my mind still full of thoughts.
I was still so worried that I got up even though it was early and harnessed up the dogs for that first walk of the day. We wandered aimlessly around the park before returning for breakfast as I tried to clear my head
I did some work on the blog and then read the daily news before deciding that I should move Quatro back to his site. That was my first mistake. I walked back down the hill and started Quatro and drove it back to the spot it resides in while parked. Or at least, that was the plan but somehow, I messed up and managed to back into the RV that was parked next door causing superficial damage to both mine and the other rig Nothing was major but both rigs will need repair and of course, as it was my fault will come either from my insurance or from my pocket, probably both. Another reason that I have decided to sell the thing as quite obviously, I am not capable of driving it safely.
I should have waited for Daniel to back me in but thought I could do it on my own. Stupid of me… I could say that I will know better next time but, there is not going to be a next time as my rig driving days are over.
Malinda and Daniel showed up and after surveying the damage, Malinda made arrangements for one of the local body shops to come out on Friday to assess the damage. Not a good day at all.
I decided to go into Austin as I had arranged to pick up my mail which requires that I call ahead and made the long drive to Far West Blvd. From there, I headed home stopping at the Walmart’s on the way to do some grocery shopping and to pick up a couple of other things I thought I needed. I found most of what I wanted, including another bird feeder and a new blanket for my bed, and managed to spend over $300.00. Oh well, it is only money…
The drive home was uneventful, and I did stop and buy a cold latte to drink, from Starbucks.
Back in the RV, I unloaded everything along with my two little helpers who really enjoyed the fresh smells and then we went out for one more walkabout around the park. When we got back, we sat outside for a while drinking a small bottle of wine before it cooled off enough that we went back indoors. Malinda stopped by to enquire about whether I had contacted the insurance company, which I had not and will do tomorrow.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion, food, wine, and TV.
I got up and had just taken a shower when there was a knock on the door. Looking out, I could see it was Delores and that she was carrying a couple of things I recognized. I hastily pulled on a pair of shorts figuring that I did not want to shock her by appearing in my birthday suit and let her in. We chatted for a bit, and she mentioned that there was no water in the RV, her reason for stopping by. Telling her to give me a minute to get some clothes on, I harnessed up the dogs and followed her down the hill.
Sure enough, there was water leaking everywhere as the unit that holds the filter was not properly secured. Neither was it set on the proper settings which I quickly took care of, after tightening up the connections. We chatted a bit more and then I left her to do the cleaning work. Glad it is her and not me as I would rather pay someone than do that sort of cleaning. I can do the day-to-day stuff but thorough deep cleaning, I leave it to the professionals.
We walked back up the hill and I made breakfast and coffee for me. Sandy helped me eat my Burrito but Mikey, as usual, just guarded the piece that he got. From where I sit and write, I can see Quatro parked in his temporary spot. The funny thing is, I have no regrets about the decision to sell him as the travelling part of my life is over as we move into the next stage. Besides, The Caboose has much more room in it for everyday living.
I have been working on the plans to build a permanent deck to The Caboose. Currently, both doors have 4 steps to get in and the door handle on both is just out of reach from the ground. I must scramble to reach them to get in.
What I have been working on in several different variations is to have a 10 ft deck with steps on both ends to make an easy entrance when I either arrive by Jeep one way or am out walking and come in using the existing steps, the ones that we built the handrails to. I have not made up my mind whether to enclose the entire thing with doors on the front for more storage or to leave it open and buy a couple of premade storage units to put under it. I hate to waste space as storage is a premium in an RV.
I do plan to enclose the entire top deck with a gate at both ends so that the dogs can run free in that outside area.
I need to do more research on the stand-alone units to see if they will work. They will certainly make the building easier and less of it as the alternative is to enclose the entire unit and install shelves and doors on the front beside making the deck waterproof, which is much more work. The cost would be about the same, one for materials and the other for prebought storage units.
I got a call from Delores asking me to come and check on the valves to release the water from the tanks. We harnessed up and walked down the hill to Quatro. She was nearly finished with the work and the RV was already looking exceptionally clean and sparkling. I pulled a couple of handles and the valves opened and released the contents into the sewer standpipe. She handed me some clothes she had found, and we walked back up the hill.
I made a couple more trips back to Quatro as Dolores was doing her cleaning job and, in the end, she called me to come down for the final inspection. I harnessed up the dogs and we walked back down the hill, and I walked around with her. She had found a few things but unfortunately, the glasses were not among them. We settled our account, and I went about the business of unhooking the sewer, water, and electric lines.
Prior to completing this job, Daniel and Malinda stopped by to admire Dolores’ handiwork and took a good look at the unit themselves. I walked the dogs back to the RV and was going to park the RV back in its spot when Daniel suggested leaving it there overnight. He also invited me over for a beer. I put the dogs back in The Caboose and walked back to Daniel’s RV where Dolores and later, jack showed up. We sat talking about the world and the conversation switched to how hard Dolores had worked and how nice the RV looked to Daniel making me an offer for the unit, much to my surprise.
We chatted about it for a bit and in the end, I agreed to sell it to him. We talked about it a bit more and then both Dolores and I left to go to our respective RV’s.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion with food all around, a glass of wine and watching another Premier League Football match.
Its raining in my backyard-Hooray (Photo credit: aussiegall)
I could not believe my ears, is that rain I hear beating down I look out the window and yes I can see that raining it is upon the ground.
I walk outside just to make sure as Nature has fooled us before but this time with good intent, the heavens opened and the rain came out as Nature spread it all around.
It came down so fast upon the ground which could not absorb it all quickly it began to run in torrents to the lower spots and filling those continued on as fast as it could travel down the hill.
I walked to the garden’s end to seek the part aptly named Murmuring Creek and watched as what was lawn and green is now a raging torrent of rushing water as it flows on by.
Through my yard and to the next and on through the neighborhood the water flows as water should when it rains so goldarned good.
Down hills and gullies and gaining speed carrying with it anything that it collects along the way and dumping it to some place new so that others may see the high water mark left by the debris.
People are standing with arms outstretched as though to give thanks for what they see and feel as they stand out in the rain getting soaked but caring not as the rain falls on them and then upon the ground.
It’s not hard to see what rain can mean to so many who have been without for quite a while as it causes them to smile as the rain keeps on coming down.
Who ever would have given it a thought that in my long past history the country I left all of those years ago mainly because it did always rain and sunshine was a welcome sight.
Now in Texas I do live and sunshine is the normal thing so when it rains we all rejoice and cheerfully accept the fact that once in a while through the year it will rain and we’ll be back to mowing grass and weeding too as the rain will make things grow and seem like everything is new.
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.
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.
It was almost 10:00 am before I even woke up and that was to the sound of heavy rain on the RV’s roof. I rolled out of bed and after looking out at it absolutely pouring down, decided to hold off on the morning walk. The dogs did not appear to be in any real emergency, so I took a chance on them being able to “hold it.”
I noticed that the big bird feeder I had installed yesterday, a gift from one of my fellow campers, was laying on the ground. Further inspection showed that the pole had blown over due to the amount of rain softening up the dirt. I had not been able to drive it very far when I first put it up.
It was raining so hard that I told myself, “To heck with it” and went back to what I was doing figuring it would keep until there was a lull in the weather. I could almost see the dog’s crossing their legs as they tried to “hold it.”
We got that lull albeit, only a brief one but enough for a quick once around the washroom circuit much to the dog’s disgust. I tied them up outside so they could watch, and they both snuck under the RV out of the weather while I worked on straightening up the bird feeders.
Daniel stopped by and his immediate question was, “Are you nuts”? I told him why I was out straightening things up. Incidentally, the same gentleman who had given me the bird equipment also gave me a genuinely nice folding chair, much better than the one I have albeit with an A&M logo. I can ignore that as the chair is for free. I worked at the University of Texas for 22 years and Texas A&M were our most bitter rivals even though they were a part of the same school system.
As it was now raining hard again and I had finished hammering the feeder stand back in the ground and re-arranging the feeders, we all went back inside the RV where it was comfortably warm, and I sat and wrote and worked on a few pictures. I got to see one of the Zebras yesterday, the one that does not have a mate. He was on his own, which was strange as he usually spends time together with either the donkeys or a herd of deer. Maybe, it is the rutting season, and he is an unwelcome stranger being of a different breed.
When I was at Daniels last evening, his Hummingbird feeder was doing a roaring business with several Hummers at a time visiting. We discussed the feed he uses, and it turns out to be nothing more than sugar and water, in a 4-1 ratio. I will try that next time except I need to buy some sugar as it is not on my usual shopping list. When I was reinstalling the feeder poles, I noticed that one of the Hummingbird feeders had fallen and broke which leaves us at just one of them. So, now I need a new feeder to go along with the sugar unless I can repair the old one.
The rest of the day was spent indoors as it was too miserable to be outside more than for the necessities. I took a couple of hours designing a deck and stairs for The Caboose and working out a lumber and hardware list, something that I really need. I will build it myself giving me a chance to resurect my old carpentry skills.
We went out for one more walk and then settled down for the evening meal and more English Premier League Football.
I awoke at 10:00 am having slept very well and we went out for that first walk of the day. I deliberately took the route that led past past Delores’s RV and as it happened, she was outside. I apologized if I had offended her in any way last evening and she just shrugged it off laughingly and said she was not upset, and everyone is entitled to their views.
Glad that I had cleared the air of any perceived ill feeling, we chatted for a while and then we went on our way. We wandered around the park and then hit the outside lane walking down the hill and coming back in the park through the bottom entrance. We only saw one other dog and it’s Hooman and they were going in the opposite direction. But it was late in the morning and a workday to boot.
When we got back, I attached the new hose nozzle and watered the plants. It saves wasting water as I move from one plant to the next as I can turn it on and off as needed. This time, when I turned it off at the standpipe, I made sure to not touch the main shut off valve as apparently, I had done yesterday. I also planted the two new plants that I had bought to add to the display as they are already in full bloom.
This was followed by the usual breakfast and coffee, reading the news, and then working on the blog. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out an easier way to transfer the pictures from the Galaxy to the iPhone. That is not really true as what I wanted to do was transfer the pictures onto the laptop.
I can accomplish this task very simply with the iPhone but that same process does not work on the Galaxy. I played around and found a way and while transferring pictures, ended up sending some of them several times and had duplicates of duplicates. Oh well, more is better than less…
We went out for another walkabout, much to the dog’s delight just wandering around with no particular direction in mind until we hit the road and ended up walking all the way to Hwy 290. There were no exotics on view today but there was activity in the farm across the road. They had all the cattle rounded and penned up and had a trailer with them. Looks like they are on their way to that big farm in the sky…Maybe that is why I am not much of a meat lover as they were living, breathing animals at one time.
Back at the RV, we sat outside listening to an Audiobook and Jeff joined us and we sat chatting away. A little later, Chris stopped by and the three of us sat and talked about a whole bunch of different things. It is interesting listening to some of the stories and actions that other people have done.
Eventually, they both left, and the dogs and I sat there a while longer before heading back inside for the usual evening’s repast. Incidentally, it was almost 8:30 pm when I went back in.
I got to watch Brighton and Solly play as they beat Bournemouth, which is the closest thing to a local derby that both teams get. They are both located on the South Coast and only 96 miles apart. The teams in London are a bit closer but because of their location, they are not considered a “local derby.” Incidentally, they are also at opposite ends of the table as Brighton look for a place in Europe and Bournemouth struggle against relegation to the lower division.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Wednesday 04/05/2023
After a night of strange dreams, I eventually awoke around 9:30 am and rolled out of bed. The dogs were still sleeping at the top of the bed with me so I must not have been too violent. As we usually do, we went out walking in the park and on the outside road. I tend to let Sandy lead the way and Mikey and I sort of follow along behind. My job is to keep her from getting us into trouble and Mikey’s job is to pee on Sandy’s pee to remove her “mark.” I think they view it as a competition albeit unknowingly.
We wandered around as we usually do but the park was quiet. When we walked out onto the outside road, I saw that there were only two of the heifers left across the road as far as I could see.
We sat and ate breakfast and I worked on a few pictures that I had taken and had figured out how to get from the Galaxy into the computer. Then I turned my attention to the blog and caught up with both yesterday’s and today’s events.
I decided to go into town to The Home Depot as I needed a couple of things. Telling the dogs, goodbye, I hopped into the Jeep. As I was leaving, I passed Daniel on his mower and stopped to chat for a bit.
Before going to the Home Depot, I stopped with the additional information my tax preparer had asked for and she invited me to sit with her while she finished them up. I thanked her and paid my bill, which incidentally was a very small credit to me, and I did not owe anything, which is a change from the last couple of years.
As I was in the vicinity of Great Clips, the hairdressers, I stopped on the off chance they could fit me in as usually, you have to call ahead and get put on a list. This time I was in luck and sat down in the chair straight away. With that sort of luck, I should have bought a lottery ticket as it might have paid off too. This time, I had a gentleman hairdresser, and he did an excellent job for which I suitably rewarded him.
I finally ended up in The Home Depot, the reason for the trip in the first place and as usual, parked at the wrong end of the store. Realizing my mistake after asking an employee where the parts were that I needed, I drove the car back to the Nursery and Garden end.
Following some more directions, I found the section that had the metal garden edging and loaded 4 pieces into my cart. I had to ask for more directions to where the bird seed is located, luckily just a few feet away, and picked out what I needed. I managed to spend $60.00 on these few items but what the heck…I did not buy any plants this trip. I thought about stopping at Starbuck’s and for the first time in history, decided against it. How about that!
When I arrived back at the RV, the first thing was to go walking, of course and then I unloaded the Jeep of the few things I had bought. I will install the metal edging another day, maybe tomorrow? I noticed that someone had left me a couple of bird feeders and while I was looking at them, one of my neighbors stopped by and said he hoped it was OK to leave them as they had no more use for them. I thanked him profusely for his generosity. Before the evening was out, I had accumulated a couple additional feeders plus a hanging pole as he cleaned out his RV. I guess they will be pulling out tomorrow.
The thing with an RV, even one of the big 5th wheels such as he had, space it limited as is the weight one can carry and there is really not much room for anything except the essentials. Extras are a luxury and must be chosen carefully.
Daniel had invited Jeff and me over for dinner at his RV, which I accepted very gratefully. Not so much for the food, although it is always welcome, but more so for adult company. The dogs are great, but it is hard to hold a conversation with them and I feel like I am talking to myself most of the time as I not only ask the question but also provide the answer.
Daniel had cooked up steaks and mine was delicious, along with the fixin’s which Jeff had supplied. I can certainly understand why there are so many overweight campers if they eat like that all the time. Something, I am just not used to. We sat and talked after the food until Jeff stated he was getting cold as was I and we both left. Incidentally, Daniels first words when I arrived were,”No talk about religion” to which I agreed.
I took the dogs out for one more walk and while they were outside, gave them each a steak bone. Sandy immediately went to work and was in 7th heaven. Mikey ignored his and I put it in the fridge for a later day. When she had finished, we went back inside for the usual evening’s entertainment.
April 1st, April Fool’s Day both in England and here.
I could not sleep and got up early, at least for us, and we went out for the first walk of the day. We wandered around and met a couple of others out with their dogs, stopping to chat with them as the dogs made friends…or not. One lady told me that they are pulling out on Monday and driving nonstop to Minnesota. Wow, that is a long drive in one day and they will both be driving separate vehicles. To me, there is no longer any pleasure in that which is another reason I am selling Quatro.
I was out watering the plants and Daniel stopped by and offered me coffee. I put the dogs inside and then walked over to the breakroom where he was sitting outside with two coffees in hand. We sat and chatted for a while and then an RV pulled in and off he went. I walked back to The Caboose to finish mine and at the same time, made a bacon sandwich for breakfast.
I had a scare when the water stopped running and called Daniel over. Turns out, I had inadvertently shut off the water after I had finished watering the plants and when I turned off the hose, I shut off both handles instead of just the hose connection. The thing is, I cannot remember doing that or why I did it. If Daniel had not been available at the time, I would have retraced my steps and figured it out. Stupid of me…
I finished breakfast and sat drinking coffee while working on the blog at the same time. RVs were pulling in all around me, and it was a busy day in that respect as the park filled up again. Still some open spots though. I even have new next-door neighbors that I have yet to meet.
Looking around the RV, all I could see was the stuff that I had moved up from Quatro, yesterday. It was everywhere and without further ado, I worked on straightening out the mess and finding places to store the stuff. I have an exceptionally large closet in the bedroom and one side is full of the few clothes that I still have. The other side is used for storage and that is where the remaining boxes ended up except for a couple that went into the outside storage. Incidentally, a lot of the stuff I have moved is probably junk or at least, not really needed/wanted and one of these days, in the unforeseeable future, I might get around to sorting it all out. Yeah, right…
With everything put away and the RV looking clean and respectable again, I sat for a while on the couch with a dog on either side both snoozing their fool heads off in a very contented way. I was very contented too and we sat there for a while doing nothing. Then I had to get up for something and it broke the spell.
It had clouded over and cooled down a bit to 79 degrees and I decided to take a chance and finish cleaning out the other RV. Harnessing the dogs, we jumped into the jeep and made the short trip down the hill to Quatro where I loaded out the remaining couple of boxes. As far as I can tell, I have everything out of there unless something slipped into some hidden space. I will contract with Delores to give it a good cleaning.
Back in the RV, just as I was getting ready to put things back into The Caboose, Jeff stopped by, grabbed the boxes, and put them inside of the RV for which I was incredibly grateful. I will find a home for the contents tomorrow.
We went out for another walk just around the park as Sandy was doing her usual bug thing. On the way, we ran into Daniel who stopped and invited me to a rib special tomorrow in the Clubhouse with just a select few people. I thanked him and told him I would be there.
He went on his way, and I sat outside drinking a small bottle of wine and eating potato chips and then Peggy, my new next-door neighbor stopped by and invited me to the same party for tomorrow. I thanked her and she said to bring what I wanted to drink if it was different than beer and went back to her RV. Peggy is a new friend that Mikey needs to get used to as he went barking nuts when she walked up. Just give him time.
I sat for a while listening to a new Audiobook until it began to chill off and then we went back inside where it was warmer, for the evening meal.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Sunday 04/02/2023
The kitchen area inside The Caboose
Another day, another dollar as the saying goes except in our case insert, another day of life. I awoke in the middle of the night on the chilly side. I quickly found the blanket held in reserve on the other side of the bed for just such occasions and pulled it over me. Neither dog likes to be under the covers, and they quickly scooted out of the way. As soon as it was in place, they returned to their accustomed spots but this time, on top of the blanket.
I got up early for us not because we had anything planned as we do not. I do need to make a trip to HEB but even that will keep until tomorrow. We went out walking covering our usual half mile and met a couple of dogs and their Hooman’s along the way. The park is thinning out as the weekenders go home and the travelers move on. It is a bit like a revolving door which is good for the park…
Following the walk, I tidied up a bit and then settled down to the usual morning routine of breakfast, coffee and then emails and finally, the blog. The latter was quickly accomplished as nothing of importance worth writing about had occurred, yet.
I fiddled with different things and sort of kept busy for a while as I had been invited to a late lunch over at the Breakroom by my friendly lady neighbors. I took the dogs out for a short walk and Daniel stuck his head out of the door and hollered at me. I hollered back that I would be right over after putting the dogs away, which I did.
There were seven of us gathered there and they had been waiting on me before starting. There was my next-door neighbors BJ and Peggy, who were hosting the lunch, Jeff, Kerry, and her husband and of course, Daniel. The ladies had cooked up pork ribs and they were cooked so well; they almost fell off the bone. I found them delicious but could only eat two along with all the fixing’s and followed by peach cobbler.
I was not used to eating so much food at one time let alone in the midafternoon, but I managed to finish off my plate. I declined a second helping but did take a helping of the peach cobbler. I also declined the ice cream on the top as well not because I did not like ice cream but because I was already stuffed.
It was a great meal but way too much food for me as I am just not used to eating something that heavy, especially at 3:30pm in the afternoon. We sat around and chatted about all kinds of things and the ladies asked about my great grandson, Solly March, and the conversation turned to Football played with a round ball. It was nice to talk about him to others and made me feel really proud. Like I told them, I am living my dream through him.
We finally broke up and I made my way back to the RV and took the dogs out for another walk just around the park. There was not much activity going on and we managed to get in our quota for the day. I had a few things to do back at The Caboose like watering the plants and trying to find a certain part that I needed but of course, to no avail. Guess I need to buy another part and then it will turn up.
I may have all my possessions here in The Caboose, but they are not organized and trying to find anything is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Incidentally, Quatro is completely empty, finally…I did find a couple of things I had been looking for in Quatro, so all was not lost.
Back in the RV, I wrote for a bit while thoughts were still fresh in my mind before preparing for the evening. At least, I will not have to feed myself for at least a month, I would guess, I ate so much.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way.
We woke up late after an uneventful night’s sleep, and it was almost 10:00 am before I rolled out of bed. After the usual morning’s ablutions, I harnessed up the dogs and we went out for that all important first walk. It was raining that fine misty stuff that still got you wet so we did not stay out longer than we had to, but even then, we covered a little over a half mile.
I dried them both off and kept an eye on Sandy as she likes to go to bed in the big bed after she gets wet. This time though, she climbed into one of the doggy beds and went to sleep.
I remembered that the heat was not coming on and figured that it was a propane bottle problem. As I was still dressed for the outside, I went out and changed out one of the gas bottles and added in the spare one and we were back in business. This time, I took Daniels advice and barely cracked the valve to conserve on propane. Apparently, opening the valve all of the way uses more of the stuff.
With that chore taken care of, it was back indoors out of the rain and adjusting the heat to warm the place back up before the usual breakfast and coffee. I read world news and emails and satisfied that the end of the world was no closer than it was yesterday, I turned my attention to blog writing for a while and at the same time, worked on a few pictures and posting yesterday’s blog.
I looked at the boxes that we had brought up from Quatro and figured that they would not unload themselves and set to work storing items away in various places. This was followed by washing several of the pots and pans that I had brought up and then put them away in their new home along with several other items. I had started a load of laundry and was waiting for it to be completed. Satisfied that we had done as much as we could do, we went out for that final walk of the day. This time, we headed up the road towards Hwy 290. We did not see any exotics on this trip.
Back at the RV, we sat outside eating potato chips and drinking a small bottle of wine and listened to the audio book that had been ongoing for a week or more although, we are almost at the end. Then I went inside and folded the laundry and made the bed with clean sheets helped by Mikey who of course, just got in the way but who thought he was doing a good job…Sandy just watched staying well out of the way.
Finally, it was time to play catch up with the blog before feeding the three of us. Sandy wolfed hers down and Mikey guarded his for later consumption. Then, after feeding myself, I watched TV and then went to bed.
I awoke to the sound of the wind as it howled around the RV. It really was making an awful racket but when I looked out of the window, it did not appear to be that strong. Must be the direction it is blowing that is making so much noise against the RV and as it whistled through the trees.
We went out for that first walk of the day just wandering around both inside the park and out on the road. On our way back, we ran into both Daniel and Jeff who had just finished helping a camper move to a different site. Daniel gave me a hard time saying I was late in helping them and I told him that he had forgotten to tell me about it. All in good fun, of course.
I went back to the RV and fixed us all breakfast and settled down in front of the computer and Daniel appeared with his weed eater cutting the grass. I went out and showed him the finished storage area. He was suitably impressed, and we discussed hooking the RV up permanently to the sewer with plastic pipe, something else to add to my list of jobs.
I unloaded the car and temporarily put everything inside the RV making it a bit crowded with the added stuff. I will straighten it out later. It took a while and I was thinking about that final load from Quatro, which does not have to happen today. The couple that will rent it for a month will not need it until April, sometime. Wait, April is only a couple of days away.
After that, I will get Dolores to give it a good cleaning before putting it on the market.
I dug holes for the 5 plants I had bought a couple days ago and then watered everything. I also did some repair work on the bird feeders as somehow, the wind had caused one of the nuts that held a part of it in place, to come unscrewed. Not only that, but it must also have blown the nut away in the wind as I could not find it anywhere. Daniel happened to stop by at that moment, and I asked him if he had one and jumping in the four-wheeler, we headed for the shop where he keeps his supplies, and quickly found what I needed.
Thanking him, I headed back to the RV and worked on the bird feeder some more and replaced the missing part taking the opportunity to fill the feeders while I was at it.
I received a text from Impact RV Repair to say that he would be here in less than 30 minutes to work on the RV. I already had the dogs harnessed as they had been tied up outside as I worked on unloading the Jeep, so we went out for a quick walk. The mechanic arrived just as we returned and made friends with Mikey. Sandy has already included him as one of her friends.
I dropped what I was doing so that I was available to help or answer questions and such as needed but spent most of my time watching the RV mechanic work. First, He changed out the toilet for the model that I wanted and had ordered through him. It was a straightforward job and he had it completed in no time at all.
Then, he turned his attention to changing out the motor to the bedroom slide that was a part of the original deal and did not cost me anything. It was not an easy job as he was lying on his back under the RV. Luckily, the motor was only a small one and not that heavy. Good job as I am not sure if I could have helped him lying in an upside down position. Nowadays, I have enough trouble when I am upright and even getting horizontal, except to go to bed, would be a challenge and getting back up, an even bigger one.
I still had one more thing I needed him to do in The Caboose and that was to replace the broken handle to the black tank which we had discussed. He had brought one with him and went ahead to remove the old one and screw on the new one. He suggested that I use Dove dishwashing liquid or something similar and add it to the black tank which in turn helps to lubricate the slides to the valves, the part that was binding. Something, I can easily do.
Finally, we went down to Quatro so he could look at the broken handle on one of the reclining chairs. He managed to get a picture of it and will see if he can find one to fit. I paid him my share of the afternoons work and thanked him for his time, and he went on his way. I continued walking the dogs for a bit as I had taken the opportunity of going from one RV to the other with them in tow. That is probably not quite true as most of the time, I am the one being towed as Sandy gallops along.
We walked back to The Caboose and making sure that everything was put away and went inside for the evening which, incidentally, turned wet as it came on to rain.
The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Wednesday 03/29/2023
I slept very soundly even with a couple of calls of Nature mixed in there and it was 9:00 am when I awoke. I contemplated going back to sleep, but common sense prevailed, and I crawled out. Not that we have anything special planned except for the final load (hopefully) from Quatro and it does not have to happen today. Putting it off does not make much sense though. Incidentally, the new toilet is working just fine and the pointed front to it is just made for the male anatomy.
We went out walking as we normally do and just wandered around. Usually, that first walk has no purpose other than for the dogs to relieve their bodily functions after a long night although, we try to get in a half mile if possible. That part is for me to wake up and get my body working.
Back in The Caboose, I fixed breakfast and coffee and settled down to read the world news and then emails, which as usual, were mostly all junked. If it wasn’t for a couple of close friends and the odd email from my son’s in England, I could almost do without having an email account. Nearly all I get is rubbish or advertising and even though I try to control them, there are always new ones sneaking in to take the place of the ones I have removed as junk.
Life was much simpler just 35 years ago when computers, phones and emails were unheard of…
When I was a kid growing up in England 80 or so years ago, having a telephone was a luxury afforded only to the odd few here and there who thought they needed one. Neighbors knew who had one nearby and would “borrow” their phones in case of an Emergency. Even the bright red callboxes found around the countryside, were a mystery to us kids and were treated like a death ray or something similar. Of course, as we grew older, the mystery was gone but even then, for the most part, not many households had a phone nor really had a use for one.
It was just not considered a necessity as it is today. Life sure is different when even small kids have their own cell phones that they carry around and have their noses glued to 24 hours a day. Why bother to learn when the answers to most questions are on your phone? I wonder if anyone holds a conversation face to face anymore? One thing is certain, general knowledge of everyday things is not something the younger generation is familiar with without their phones.
As I sit here and watch the bird feeder, the one that was repaired yesterday, it is doing a rip-roaring trade in seed eating birds of all makes, models and sizes as they chase each other around. The Hummingbird feeders are getting their share of hungry Hummers who are so adept at hovering and drinking at the same time as very rarely do they settle to drink. I wonder how many beats a second their wings are going. Absolutely amazing to watch.
I even discovered the local squirrel sitting on the feeders yesterday and he was quickly shooed away and informed that he was not a welcome guest and to go find some nuts to chew on.
I finally decided that I had delayed as long as I could and stopped writing and closed the computer to concentrate on other things, foremost of which was to straighten out the cupboards and closets of the stuff that had been hastily jammed in there over the past couple of weeks as we moved it out of Quatro.
I worked on this for a bit and found a home for the new arrivals in the boxes I loaded out yesterday from the other RV. While I was at it, I straightened out the storage cabinets. My friend BJ would be proud as I organized the cans of sardines which was not hard as there were only 3 of them. She thinks I have a sardine fetish which is not true as I cannot remember the last time, I ate a can of them. Maybe tomorrow for breakfast on toast now that she has reminded me…
With the inside of The Caboose re-organized at least for now, I looked around for other things to do. After the excursions into Quatro a couple of days ago in the late afternoon, I think I will wait until tomorrow morning to empty the last of the stuff out of there as the sweat poured off me with no A/C running nor the power to use it. I did have the RV’s motor running while we were working but that was to keep it lubricated and charge the batteries and it did not supply enough A/C to matter.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea to go and do some of the work. The very least I could do was finish emptying the outside compartments, so I harnessed up the dogs and I had them jump into the Jeep for the short trip down the hill. Once there, I hooked them up to the carryall so they could watch both me and whatever else was going on around them while I went around the outside of Quatro checking ALL of the compartments and emptying those that still had stuff in.
I had previously opened Quatro’s door to let in the breeze and when I went inside, it was reasonably cool, enough that I could do some work. I went ahead and loaded out some of the remaining stuff which left just a small amount to do another day.
I drove us back to The Caboose and on the way, thought I had lost something off the carrier so when we reached The Caboose, I took the dogs and walked the way I had driven. Turns out that apparently, I had not but they needed the exercise. Me, I was hurting as my hip was giving me problems for whatever reason.
I finished putting things away either in the new storage unit or in the RV for later distribution to various places and then, grabbing a small bottle of wine, sat outside the RV for a bit listening to an Audiobook. With that one finished, I went inside and put on my jacket as it had cooled off, grabbed another wine and went back outside to sit a bit longer.
When eventually, I had drunk that second bottle and because it had cooled off, we went back inside for the usual evenings repast. Then, a couple of hours later, Sandy started being a bug and even though I made a fuss of her, that was not the problem. She had to “go” and being a bug was her way of telling me. So, once more, it was on with the harness and out of the door. This time we barely made it to the grass before she did her business. I patted her on the head and told her that she was “Such a good girl” for letting me know. Mikey, being Mikey, just sort of followed along as did I.
