I went to bed early last evening and had a good night’s sleep feeling refreshed and ready to face whatever this day would bring. We had nothing planned which is true of every day, pretty much. Besides, it is Sunday with not much happening.
We followed the usual procedure for the morning of bird feeders and walkies. On our stroll around the park, we ran into Greg and Olive, the little Bull Terrier who were also out walking. Olive is renowned for carrying tree branches around with her on her walks and today was no exception as she has a stick easily 4 feet long and 1.5 inches in diameter that she was dragging around,
On the way back to The Caboose, Daniel called from the Breakroom telling me to come over for breakfast. I put the dogs away feeding them first, so they had something to munch on and then headed over to the Breakroom. Daniel had breakfast going along with the coffee and we sat and enjoyed it plus a lot of funny and/or scintillating conversation. He has led a very interesting life.
Malinda was still out of town but due back in today. Following breakfast, I walked back to my RV and Daniel went back to his.
I had no major plans for the day. Not even a trip to the store and guessed it would probably be one of those quiet, peaceful days that we seem to get a lot of. Incidentally, it was much cooler with a strong wind.
I sat watching the two big bird feeders that hung just off the deck and just like before, a flock of sparrows descended on them. I looked on in amazement as they threw the seed everywhere in their urgency to find the one piece of seed that they wanted to eat. Even before my very eyes the seed level dropped rapidly in the feeders to decorate the paving below.
Apart from the Sparrows, the numbers of birds visiting the feeders has dropped considerably as many have moved on to warmer climes.
I wrote a poem and posted it. Something to do with Christmas cheer which I sincerely hope everyone finds and gets all the nice things they want. Me, I do not need or want anything for myself except maybe to not feel quite so sore every day. I am very lucky to have such nice friends and I honestly believe that I will never want for anything all the time I live in this park with all these wonderful people. Compared to yesterday when we spent a great deal of it over at the girls, or the day before over at Daniels, today was very quiet. Maybe just as well or I might turn into a lush with all of this alcohol floating around. Luckily, I am a loner and do not have to have someone else to keep me company. I am quite happy on my own although I really enjoy it when we get together or when the girls, BJ, Peggy and Delores wants my company.
It gets dark so early now that it is hard to keep track of time and is often much earlier than it seems. Tonight, I had no plans and am very happy and content to spend time with the dogs.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way with the evening meal while watching television.
I got up at a reasonable hour and went through the usual morning ablutions and almost feeling like a new man at the end of it. First thing was the bird feeders followed by the usual walk around the campground. We passed a couple of other dogs taking their hoomans out walking and made the usual acknowledgements of each other. Some people stop and chat, but most are more interested in keeping their dogs away from Mikey and Sandy and out of trouble.
We walked the park as we usually do, taking notes of the different RV’s that came in overnight or had left. Most of that happens in the lower section of the park. The upper section where I live is mostly permanent tenants although there are five pull through slots for travelers.
Back in The Caboose, I fixed breakfast all around and that all important coffee to start the day. I did the usual household chores, washing dishes, making the bed, cleaning the bathroom and stuff like that and looked around for other things to do. Not finding much, I sat and relaxed on the couch with a dog on either side and before long, dozed off. I didn’t really sleep, just lay there with my eyes closed very relaxed but even so it was nice.
I eventually made a move which brought the dogs to life giving me, “the look” which interpreted from Dog to English, means, “Take us out walking” which we did. We wandered around as we usually do and then I brought them both inside after receiving a call from the girls to come on over.
When I got to the girls RV, Daniel was already there. Malinda was away on business. We sat and listened to Daniels and the girls stories for the next couple of hours. I was very careful and managed to hold my beer consumption down to two bottles. The stories were flowing thick and fast and then I decided that I should go back and get the dogs so they could get some exercise.
I wandered back to The Caboose and harnessed up the dogs and we walked around for a bit. Then we headed back to the girls RV and sat around telling more stories and munching on the never ending supply of goodies that the girls provided. Eventually, I decided that enough was enough and headed back home at the same time that Daniel drove back to his RV.
Back in The Caboose, I fixed the dogs their food and found something for myself although, I was not that hungry. The small meal along with a glass of wine and I was all set for the evening.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX Saturday 12/09/2023
It was almost 10:15 am before I even awoke and realized with a start, that I had practically slept the morning away. I crawled out of bed and went through the usual morning preparation to wake up and get active. I could easily have rolled over and gone back to sleep with absolutely no trouble. Nor with a guilty conscience I might add.
I decided instead to crawl out of bed and headed for the bathroom and the cold water on my face and eventually awoke, sort of. The first thing was to bring out the feeders and I had to refill the two big ones by the deck as they were both empty again. They only last two days before they need refilling which makes me wonder if something else is emptying them at night, maybe a coon or something. Currently, the way it works is that half the seed is eaten, and the other half is tossed onto the ground with the hope that the ground feeding birds will clear it up. That is just plain hoping as they don’t.
I took the dogs out walking and stopped at the girls RV as they were both outside to say, “Good Morning” and grab a cup of coffee from them. I sat there and chatted for a while and then we continued with our walk. We actually did not go very far as my body felt very sore. Both of my knees were hurting as was the hip muscle and I felt a real mess. Consequently, we only covered 6/10 of mile.
Back in the RV, I fixed breakfast for us all, but the dogs just turned their noses up at the offering, so they are either not hungry or sick. Actually, I think it was because the meat roll, I offered them was really cold, way too cold to eat straight from the fridge.
Then I turned my attention to the blog trying hard to remember what exciting things happened yesterday before starting today. I glanced at the clock and was very surprised to notice it was already 3:30 pm. I had no idea where the time had gone although the late start had a lot to do with it.
I caught up as far as I could on the blog and decided that it was time for dog walks to get all of us some exercise. We harnessed up and walked the park for a bit. Back at the RV, I fixed us all some food and we settled down for the usual evening’s entertainment, English Premier League soccer.
I awoke at a reasonable hour mainly because both my legs were hurting. The left one that I recently skinned behind the knee and the right one that nowadays is generally sore. That is the one missing Cartlidge on the right side from all those years of playing soccer and the only cure for it is a knee replacement. I have already had the left knee replaced and am not sure that I want to go through that again unless I really have to.
While I was in the bathroom, I treated the skinned leg with anti-bacterial cream but apart from rubbing pain reliever cream on the other knee, there is not much I can do for it. The thing is just worn out.
We harnessed up to go walking but before we did, we brought out the bird feeders as we usually do. The left one off the top deck was emptier than the other one just about 5 feet away. I have no idea why the birds favor that one more. I know that the top deck is covered in seed as it is under the feeders. Wonder why the birds do not go down on the deck to eat that stuff?
The walk was uneventful, and we only went a half mile as I hurt too bad. We returned to the RV where I fed the dogs and then myself. I really am at a loss trying to find something that I find appetizing but so far with not much luck.
I was feeling tired and sat on the couch with a dog on either side of me. Before I knew it, I was dozing off and slept for a couple of hours. I awoke with a start and figured out what had just happened, and we went out for the final walk of the day to wake up.
We wandered around the park as we usually do and then returned to The Caboose for the evening meal followed by watching the English Premier League and then a movie before heading off to bed.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX Thursday 12/07/2023
I slept very well despite having taken a nap in the middle of the day yesterday, and seriously thought about getting up. Then it hit me that it was only 7:00 am and what the hell do I need to get up early for and rolled over and went back to sleep. But I did get up around 8:15 am or so which is also early for me.
When I awoke the second time, Sandy was dancing around all over the place, and it was obvious that she had to “go” in the worst possible way. I put on my tracksuit and hustled them out the door and we had hardly hit the grass and she let it rip. Poor little girl. She knew she was discouraged from going in the house and did her very best to hold it. We wandered around for a bit and soon, Mikey had followed suit. Maybe something I fed them last night.
We went out walking around the park and when we got back, I worked on the bird feeders as they all needed refilling, and I took the time to do just that. At least, I do not have to worry about the Hummingbirds as they are not around. BTW, if I refill all the feeders at one time, it takes almost a whole 20lb bag of seed to do this.
Back in the RV, I fed the dogs, and Sandy was a good girl and ate her food including her medication. Mikey, well Mikey just as he usually does, ignored his food until he was ready to eat which may well be this afternoon or even this evening which is OK as he is not on any medication.
I put in a load of laundry and then went outside to open the drain hoses otherwise the waste tanks would overflow inside the house. The full load on a wash/dry cycle takes about 4.5 hours. Luckily, everything is fully automated and after the initial burst of energy to load out the machine, I can forget about it until it is done. That was a good investment on my part.
I continued writing and caught us up to date and then decided to go into the HEB in town. I needed groceries and as my little portable speaker no longer works, a replacement one for it.
First, I went to the ATT building to see if they had a speaker but could not find one and then included that on my list items for HEB. As I wandered up and down the aisles with my shopping cart getting more and more full up, I managed to find a speaker and it ended up in the cart along with the groceries and beer.
I was checkout and received a phone call from Daniel telling me to buy a couple of steaks for us to eat later that evening. I finished checking out and took my groceries to put them in the car and then made a quick about turn to go back to the meat counter where I found us a couple of steaks as Daniel had suggested,
I checked out again and drove back to Henly where I got the usual help from the dogs. They inspected every bag before giving their signing off of approval.
With the groceries put away and the beer out in the driveway so Daniel could pick it up, I took the dogs out for their final walk of the day. We wandered around the park and managed to cover 2.2 miles.
Around 5:30, I wandered over to Daniels RV and we sat chatting and drinking a beer intermixed with him checking on the food as he was cooking steaks for us. There were just the two of us and I restricted my beer drinking to just two bottles. The meal was absolutely delicious. We sat around and chatted for a bit longer and then I said my farewells to both Daniel and Remington. I had not brought my dogs over with me this time.
Before I left to go to Daniels RV, I had enough sense to turn on the outside lights to The Caboose so walking back home was easy. I brought in all of the feeders and then adjourned inside to watch the usual Premier League game.
I awoke early and got up this time, taking the usual shower and changing clothes. The first thing was the bird feeders. Last evening, I tried as an experiment to find out if a Racoon is eating the two large hanging feeders off the deck during the night by bringing just one of them in and leaving the other in place. Well, this morning, the hanging one was still full up as was the one I left standing on the deck. So, it must be the Sparrows that are doing the eating. Incidentally, they flick food all over the place as they look for whatever is the flavor of the month, wasting much more than they eat.
With the feeders out for another day, we went out walking around the grounds for about three quarters of a mile before heading back in for the usual breakfast which neither dog wanted to eat. I did not have the same as them but my own was not very appetizing either. Me and food don’t get along much anymore. Incidentally, I must have done more damage than I first thought when I fell as my right knee is very, very sore and painful. I keep trying different things, but none are working so I guess I will just have to wait it out. BJ stopped at my RV yesterday and got out of her car to give me a large size bottle of Antiseptic so that I could treat the lacerations on my left knee, which was extremely nice of her.
Then it was time to start writing in the blog and as I was a couple of days behind, I sat wracking my brain as to what had happened over those days. I know the only person that knows the truth is me, but I want to be as correct as possible. I managed to get the earlier blogs written and in order which caught me up hoping to have remembered at least the important stuff.
I kept plugging away and finally had the blog written and posted up to date. Part of the problem is that most days, very little changes in my life. Occasionally something is different but not very often and now, things are even more repetitious than before except when I start drinking with Delores. Or with the girls and Daniel and Malinda That changes everything, usually ending with me getting helped back to my RV. At least, it has not yet reached the stage of getting put to bed…. yet.
I was talking to Delores about it today and mentioned that I only had 3 maybe 4 beers and then she reminded me that between us, we had both drunk a large bottle of wine apiece. I forgot about that. Oh well, it was fun even if my leg does hurt a little.
I sat there looking out of the sliding glass doors as the light slowly started to fade and another day continued to come to a close. I kept reminding myself that I had to bring in the bird feeders but as the birds were still visiting, it was a little too early.
I decided to sit outside as it was not too cold out there and watched the deepening shadows as the sun slipped below the horizon. That was my cue to bring in all the feeders and put them in the big storage box that I have, I left the two off the deck as it seems that it is only birds eating that seed.
With the outside buttoned up for the evening, we went indoors for the evening meal and then watched Brighton lose their Premier League game.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX Tuesday 12/05/2023
The choir singing…
For some reason, the heat was off although I was switched to electric, and I got up to change it to Propane and discovered that the tank was empty. I had the usual spare one and quickly switched tanks and went back inside. I still do not know why the electric side was not working as that does not use propane.
I went in the bathroom as the house warmed up and finished shaving which I had purposely put off while messing with the house heaters. Feeling like a new man, we went out walking around the park avoiding the couple of dogs that we ran into. Both my left hip, my right knee and the most recent scrape behind my left knee were all hurting as I limped around the park and in the end with apologies to the dogs, we came back to The Caboose. Damn, I hate growing old.
Back in the RV, I fixed us all breakfast with me having a bowl of oatmeal for a change. I managed to get the heat too high and spilt half of it in the microwave giving me an extra clean up job. It tasted OK and filled a tiny spot in my belly, but I made do.
I worked on the blog which usually takes a couple of hours and brought it up to date and looked around for other things to do. I thought about going into town but decided it would keep for another day. Maybe tomorrow?
We went out for another walkabout and managed to cover 1.8 miles for the day. Not bad considering how sore my legs are. Back in The Caboose, we sat on the deck listening to an Audiobook. A couple of my neighbors stopped by to chat as they were taking their walks.
It started to get dark, and I shut up shop and we moved back inside, this time for the evening meal and then Premier League soccer.
The days are sort of running one into the other as there is nothing of major importance worth writing about. Again, I slept very well and woke up around 9:30 am like the proverbial baby. I suppose that age has a lot to do with that although I am on the other end of the scale so to speak.
We went out for our usual walk and just wandered the campgrounds trying to keep the dogs entertained, Me, I do it for the exercise trying to stay relatively fit and mobile although the old knees get sore if I am not careful.
I had fed us all breakfast and sat down to figure out the past 3 days, unless something spectacular happens, remembering takes a real effort. Maybe, I need to start dictating notes into my phone to act as a reminder.
Probably because I got up late, again, the time had flown by, and it was already 4:30 pm. About all I had done all day was a few household chores and a lot of sitting and listening to an Audiobook.
We went out for one more walk and this time, the girls were not outside so we had no reason to stop and worked on our mileage instead. We managed to walk almost 2 miles and that was without walking the Big Box Stores.
We returned to The Caboose and sat outside for a while as it had not cooled off yet before heading back indoors for the usual evening’s food and entertainment.
An Old Man and an RV Henly RV Park, TX Sunday 12/03/2023
The days are sort of running one into the other as there is nothing of major importance worth writing about. Again, I slept very well and woke up around 9:30 am like the proverbial baby. I suppose that age has a lot to do with that although I am on the other end of the scale so to speak.
We went out for our usual walk and just wandered the campgrounds trying to keep the dogs entertained, Me, I do it for the exercise trying to stay relatively fit and mobile although the old knees get sore if I am not careful.
I had fed us all breakfast and sat down to figure out the past 3 days, unless something spectacular happens, remembering takes a real effort. Maybe, I need to start dictating notes into my phone to act as a reminder.
Probably because I got up late, again, the time had flown by, and it was already 4:30 pm. About all I had done all day was a few household chores and a lot of sitting and listening to an Audiobook.
We went out for one more walk and this time, the girls were not outside so we had no reason to stop and worked on our mileage instead. We managed to walk almost 2 miles and that was without walking the Big Box Stores.
We returned to The Caboose and sat outside for a while as it had not cooled off yet before heading back indoors for the usual evening’s food and entertainment.
Who would have thought that we are at the start of a new month but the end of an old year? As I have mentioned many times before in this blog, I have no idea where the time goes for as far as I am concerned, it is racing towards whatever end I may have. Like the sand in the timer, it is slipping out and fast. As I have no control over where or when, but I plan to enjoy life all the way to the end.
The day was very much like most of the other days here at the park. We harnessed up and took that morning walk as we usually do. This walk is not for distance but for the dogs to do their business and we kind of do a lot of stopping and smelling the roses as we wander around and of course, if one finds an interesting smell, the other one has to explore it as well. We can spend 10 minutes covering 50 yards. Then again, very rarely do we set a time limit, so it does not matter how long we take. Nothing of importance happened in the walk.
I fixed us the usual breakfast but am having difficulty in finding food that is of interest to me usually ending up with a Burrito. I had just settled down in front of the computer to do my normal thing and I got a phone call from Delores who wanted to know if I wanted to come over to visit and drink a glass of wine. Ten minutes later, I was sitting down outside of her RV drinking that glass of aforementioned white wine.
We sat and chatted about a whole bunch of different things and after a while, Gary joined us although he preferred to stand rather than take a seat. He also had his own concoction in a flask with him and did not want any wine. Gary can be a very funny man and is always interesting to talk and listen to.
After a bit, Delores pointed out that her glass was empty as was the bottle, so I wandered back to The Caboose which was all of 50 feet away. and grabbed one of my wine bottles stored for just such occasions and we proceeded to go to work on it thinking that was all the drinking we were going to do.
Then we got a call from the girls inviting us over to their RV and we made the short trip. Gary had already gone back to his house, so it was just Delores and myself. We walked over and started drinking beer and later we were joined by both Daniel and Malinda and another fellow camper.
The rest of them started drinking shots which I have already been “banned” from drinking as I can’t handle the hard liquor. The evening wore on as did the conversation, the beer and the shots. I had to answer the call of nature and as we men do when we are drinking outside, found a dark spot away from the others. On the way back, I tripped over something and went down with a boom which brought the others over to get me back on my feet.
I had managed to scrape the back side of my knee and tore the skin pretty good. It made for a dramatic scene as it was bleeding, so I milked it for all of its worth and had the ladies hovering around giving advice and such. I did not think it was much of a deal but as everyone was fussing over me, I played hurt to get more attention.
That brought the evening to a close as both I and Delores were escorted back to our RV’s with neither of us feeling any pain. I harnessed up the dogs and we went out for just a short walk. Back in the RV, I fed both dogs and found something for myself before settling down to watch a Premier League game.
An Old Man and an RV Henly RV Park, Tx Saturday, 12/02/23
I got up late as it was almost 10:00 am before I even woke up and as we usually do, we went out walking the campgrounds and the outside road. At that late hour, almost 11:00 am, most people had done their walking. My leg was a little sore but nothing too serious. My friends were worried about it, and I was getting all kinds of advice as to what to do and how to treat it. Apart from a large band aid, I have no thoughts on any special treatment.
I was outside filling the bird feeders when BJ stopped in her car and then got out to give me a bottle of antiseptic for my leg which was very nice of her. I thanked her profusely and she went on her way to her RV.
Following the usual breakfast and coffee, I wondered what I should do today but had no special plans. Somehow, the last 2-3 days have sort of run one into the other and remembering what happened on which day is a bit of a challenge although I am the only one who worries about getting it right.
I sat there and retraced the day to figure what, if anything, might have happened to be important enough to talk about but the mind was pretty blank. I really do lead a dull and uninteresting life.
The time went slowly by and by now, I had moved away from the blog and was sitting on the couch with the dogs. When I am bored or feeling at peace with the world, I often just sit there with a dog on either side of me. Sometimes I nod off to sleep, others it is a sit there with the eyes closed just relaxing. Today, was one of the latter.
We sat for a while and then it was time to go out walking in the park again. We wandered around saying hello to whoever we met and trying to keep the dogs away from each other unless we knew they got along. We took Henly Loop towards Hwy 290 but only got to see the cows and heifers in the field opposite the park.
When we got back, we sat outside for a while drinking a small bottle of wine before eventually heading back in for the evening.
I guess it rained in the night, but I did not hear it and it did not wake me up. I slept very well, only waking for the call of Nature which, incidentally, comes more often than it used to. Mother Nature no longer whispers in my ear but raises her voice considerably saying things like, “You better wake up buddy or you will pee the bed”. Well, maybe it is not that bad yet…As the saying goes, “little and often”. One thing is sure and that is I can no longer last the night.
Following the usual morning routine, we were dressed and ready to go in no time flat. Well OK, thirty minutes later but who’s counting? First thing after harnessing the dogs was the usual birdfeeder routine followed by the morning walk when we wandered around the park. Not very many people were out and about as it looked like it was going to rain at any minute. As a matter of fact, I had dug out one of my rain slickers just in case and was glad of it when the light drizzle started.
Then it was breakfast time with both dogs turning their noses up at the chicken I had put down for them. That is OK for Mikey, but Sandy has one of her special pills crushed and mixed in with it and each wasted meal is $3.00 down the toilet so to speak plus not taking the medicine.
I spent time working on the blog and brought us up to date and then decided to go into town as I had run out of bird seed. This time, it was the flock of sparrows that had been hanging around in such large numbers that they literally emptied all the feeders.
The drive in was uneventful and my first stop was at Tractor Supply where I bought three twenty-pound bags of seed which is one more than I usually buy at a time. If the sparrows keep hanging around, I am going to need that extra bag quick.
Then I drove to HEB as I had a small list of groceries and such that I needed. I wandered around the store with different things finding their way into my cart which included a case of beer for Daniel. I say for Daniel, but it actually gets shared around with whoever is visiting at any given time. My small contribution to the group.
I drove back to the RV after deciding that a Starbucks coffee does not taste very much like coffee anymore, so it is not worth buying. I got all of the usual help as I unloaded the groceries with busy little noses going a mile a minute. They also “helped” me put the groceries away and as a reward, we went out walking around the park.
I stopped at Daniels RV as he and Malinda were sitting outside along with Jeff. Later, Terri joined us. We sat around the fire ring as it had turned a bit chilly and had a couple of beers. As we sat there, Jeff said something about food and the next thing we were on our way to West Henly Boil shack a few miles from the camp ground. The place was pretty busy, and we ran into Gary and his extended family all having a good time. As usual, the food was delicious, and I ate all of the fish I had ordered.
We headed back to the RV Park and said our goodbyes and I brought in the bird feeders before shutting up shop for the day. As we had already eaten, I watched a Premier League game before calling it a day and going to bed,
It was a strange night as I kept waking up and then rolling over and going back to sleep. At least, with Daniels efforts yesterday, hooking up the electricity to the heating system, I will not have to worry about the heat going off in the middle of the night by running out of propane. unless we get a huge snowstorm, and the power goes out.
I eventually decided that I had spent enough time in bed even though it was awfully tempting to stay there all day. I crawled out and dressed and was ready to face the day… sort of.
The first thing on the agenda was to bring out the bird feeders. The two big ones close to the deck were both empty and had only lasted a couple of days. I had just about enough seed left to refill them both and that was it. Guess, I need to put birdseed on my grocery lists, again. The last flock of sparrows had really done a number. Still, that is what it is there for, and I am not fussy about which birds visit if it is not that hawk, and it is not interested in bird seed but the birds themselves.
With the feeders taken care of, we went out walking around the park saying “Good Morning” to all and sundry. It was brisk but OK as long as we kept moving, preferably in the sun. Back in the RV, I fixed us breakfast which eventually got eaten. Both of them were off of their food for at least for an hour or so and then I guess they decided it was OK to eat it. Funny things, dogs.
I worked on the blog for a while and brought us up to date and was just sitting there when the dogs went crazy. It was Delores standing on the porch and she had a big bundle of Christmas lights in her hand. She chastised me for not decorating the RV for Christmas and handed me the big bunch of lights. I thanked her profusely and in return, gave her ten pairs of shorts that were all missing the top button. As my needlework skills are not very good and she is extremely good at it, it made sense for me to compensate her to do the job.
I turned my attention to the lights and sorted them out into two strings. One was a long one and the other much shorter, so I hung the long one on the outside of the top deck. I then did the same thing with the shorter ones on the lower deck and plugged them in. The long one lit up perfectly but the shorter one did not light even though it was first in line and power was going through it to light the second string.
I sat there and checked out the things I knew to look at but to no avail. At that moment both Daniel and Jeff pulled up in Daniels 4-wheeler and they looked, and both decided that the shorter string, even though it carried electricity, was not working. Probably a light bulb was out.
Daniel told me to wait a minute and disappeared into his shop and came out with another string that he plugged in. This one worked perfectly, and he helped me to put zip ties in the proper places to finish the installation. I thanked him for his efforts, and he left, and I went back inside The Caboose with the lights burning brightly on the deck.
I had put in a load of laundry, and it had been washing as we were messing with the lights and other things. It was already dry, and I took the time to fold it and put it away which will make us good for another week or so.
With the laundry folded, I went back to the blog and brought it up to date. Looking around for other things to get up to, I remembered to close the black and grey tank now that the laundry was finished. As I have mentioned before, it is not a good idea to keep the black tank open so that it drains all the time as the liquids flow out leaving the solids behind which eventually causes a problem and requires back flushing and other dramatic remedies to fix it. This is known in the RV language as,” piles of sh—”.
The same is true of the grey tank which holds all other liquids not coming from the toilet. This one must be flushed periodically, or it too will overflow out of the toilet. In one of my other RV’s, I inadvertently left a bathroom sink tap on and flowing down the drain and the first reminder that I had was when I noticed a stream of water flowing over the floor inside the living area heading towards the door. I quickly shut off the water and spent the next 30 minutes mopping up the floor. Luckily, it did not cause any damage but just goes to show that I have to stay alert all of the time.
We went out for another walk around the campsite and out onto the road. It was cold and blustery, and Miss Sandy was never in any hurry, so it was not really a comfortable walk. Mikey and I, being the troopers that we are, bravely struggled on going wherever she decided she wanted to go. We always use the afternoon walks to check the mailbox just in case I have mail. This time, I had a Christmas Card from one of the Allies team wishing me a Merry Christmas. That was very nice of her. Thanks Wendy.
Back in the RV, we had not been invited out to dinner anywhere else which is just as well as I always eat way too much eat and a lot more than I normally do at these gatherings. I settled down with a small bottle of wine indoors watching the English Premier League on TV as it was way too cold and blustery to sit outside. I found something to satisfy the hunger for the evening meal as eventually, it was supper time for us all and then more TV before heading off to bed a bit earlier than usual at 9:00 pm. So, I was tired, so what…
It was rather a strange night, and I awoke a couple of times using the opportunity to answer the call of nature. I have no idea why I was so restless. Of course, all this meant that I did not wake up or get up until around 9:00 am. It does not really matter as I have nothing planned for today except to go grocery shopping, maybe.
We harnessed up for the first walk of the day and brought out the bird feeders before setting off around the park for a half mile. It was a bit chilly out but nice in the sun. Back in the RV, I fed us all our breakfast including that all important coffee for me. The dogs do not drink coffee, thank goodness. They are hyper enough without any stimulation. It is just us old guys that need perking up every morning.
I worked on the blog and brought it up to date before looking around for other things to do. With nothing in mind, I was just sitting around when Daniel showed up at my door. He had his tools with him and had come over to finish re-connecting the electricity for the heaters. The original part needed replacement and we had been heating the RV with propane. If you recall in earlier blogs, I had mentioned running out of propane in the middle of the night and having to hunker down under the covers to stay warm until the morning when I could take care of things. At least, unless we get a power outage, that will not happen in the future.
I helped as much as I could but really had no clue as to what Daniel was doing. I handed him tools or held this or that and eventually, he had it fixed, and the water heaters were working on electricity. Hopefully, they will not go out again in the middle of the night.
He asked me to ride with him as he went about the business of installing the internet to the office which I was glad to do although, as I previously mentioned, my help is limited, and I think he just wanted company. We eventually got the work done and he dropped me off at The Caboose where I at once harnessed up the dogs for their walkabout.
We wandered around and then walked up Henly Loop towards Hwy 290 and managed to cover 1.8 miles for the day. On the way back, I stopped at Daniels RV for a couple of beers and some scintillating conversation, He offered me another, but I declined and made the way back to The Caboose for the rest of the evening.
It was another of those nights when the propane tank runs out in the middle of the night. I had to get up to use the john and noticed just how cold it was. I tried to ignore it by crawling back under the covers but when both dogs were pushing more and more against me for my heat, I knew I had to be brave and crawl out of bed.
I dug out my tracksuit and hastily put it on before going outside to switch the gas tanks. I try to make sure that one tank is full while the other is in use for just such occasions. It was a simple matter to switch tanks and I planned on replacing the empty tank in the morning when I was better dressed to do the work and wider awake…
We crawled back into bed after making sure the heater was working and then never awoke until 9:00 am and as usual, went out walking. It was cold and blustery, a true winters day here in my part of Texas. The sun was shining but did not have much heat. We appear to be heading for a hard winter if any of these early guidelines are anything to go by.
We wandered around and covered a mile before walking back to The Caboose and glad to be back indoors, I might add. Before actually heading in, I changed out the gas bottle with the full one that I keep for such occasions and put the empty one out for refill.
Back indoors, I fixed myself the usual Burrito and coffee and fed the dogs. Sandy ate hers and Mikey did the usual Mikey thing of saving it for later. Then, it was time to work on the blog as I desperately tried to remember what happened in the past 24 hours.
I noticed the birds cluster together on the two feeders that are attached to the deck and watched in dismay as they nonchalantly flicked seeds all over the place. For every seed they ate, probably ten landed on the deck and ground or at least that is how it seemed. Of course, they may have been empty seed shells for all I know. Incidentally, the latest visitors are Sparrows and a large flock of as many as twenty of them at a time. Altogether, I have nine feeders out and another pole that is for Hummingbirds which of course, have flown to warmer climes.
I caught up with the blog and looked around for other things to do. I thought about throwing in a load of laundry but that was as far as it got, thinking about it. To be truthful, I did a lot of sitting around with my eyes closed but not really dozing. Being exceptionally lazy yes but not dozing.
We went out for another walk, and I noticed that the light was already fading. I still can’t get used to it getting dark around 5:30 pm. Back inside, I fed the dogs and then myself and we sat and watched a couple of English Premier League games before going to bed around 9:00 pm. For whatever reason, I was more than ready to go to sleep. It is not like I had a hard or busy day…
I must have been really tired as apart from the call of Nature, I never even awoke until 9:00 am. It was a dull and cloudy day and looked cold outside which was borne out by the few people who were walking their dogs and were well wrapped up.
After the usual morning ablutions which this time included that shower that I could not take yesterday because I forgot to turn on the hot water. I dressed in my usual shorts and tee shirt except this time, the tee shirt had long sleeves and the clothes were all clean and we went out walking.
It was very brisk out and the wind blew cold, but we wandered around moving just enough to stay warm. Sandy is a terrible walker as there are so many smells that she just must explore. Mikey is never sure whether to run ahead, only get yanked back by her ladyship literally digging in her heels (do dogs have heels) bringing us all to a stop. She must be the nosiest dog in the world.
Back in the RV, I fixed the usual breakfast only for both dogs to ignore their bowls. Sandy has been doing well eating wise, so I need to keep an eye on her. I made a bacon sandwich for myself, and it went down OK. Sandy very carefully separated the bacon from the bread on the small pieces I gave her and ate the bacon as did Mikey.
It was kind off a strange day. First, the weather could not make up its mind of what it wanted to do. It was cloudy and raining intermittently but not really a rainy day. It was pretty cold out with the temperature having dropped considerably. Still, it made no difference to us as we had no outdoor plans except for the usual walkies.
We kinda lazed around for most of the afternoon. I tried to take a nap but that did not work eventually. I harnessed up the dogs and this time, with an umbrella to keep off the rain, we went out walking. We managed to cover 1-3 miles, which was not bad considering the weather. Returning to The Caboose, we did a whole lot of nothing as we tried really hard to take that nap to no avail. Obviously, it was not napping time.
The afternoon slipped by as it always does regardless of the state of the world or whatever I was thinking or not doing and eventually, it was time to start thinking of the evening meal. Prior to that, I had found a show on my computer and was mesmerized by a program named 2 Cellos. I probably spent more than a couple of hours listening to these guys. What an incredible performance by them. In the end, I had to turn it off to get back to normality. Just Amazing.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX. Sunday 11/26/2023
When I awoke and looked at the clock, it said that it was exactly 9:00 am. I lay there for a bit before crawling out to face the day in my very busy life. After the usual morning ablutions, I put on my jacket and cap and started it off as I usually do unless I forget, that is, by bringing out the feeders. Incidentally, forgetting to bring out the feeders is better than forgetting to bring them in as that means the deer empty them overnight.
This time, not only did I have to rehang the feeders but the four big ones, two in the tree and two off the deck, also needed filling. Incidentally, birds are very wasteful things as they throw seeds everywhere and I mean everywhere. After filling the feeders, I got my battery-operated blower out and blew off the deck and the rest of the site to clear some of the seeds. Then we went walking this time around the park and covered a half mile. It was cold and blustery, and we were glad to get back into the RV.
I fixed the dogs their breakfast and looked in the refrigerator for a long time trying to make what I was looking at more palatable but with no luck, I might add. In the end, I settled for a Burrito… again. Maybe tomorrow, I will fry an egg with hash browns, or not or just do without breakfast and rely on the coffee to keep me alive.
Following breakfast, I wrote in the blog and brought us up to date posting yesterday while I was at it. Then I looked around for other things to get up to. I had a few household chores to take care of which took no time at all. I had already read the world news which was just as depressing as it was yesterday.
I sat on the couch for a bit and felt myself dozing off which was enough to go out walking again. It was cold and blustery and no real pleasure in being outside for long. We went back indoors and just sat around very happy to be warm. Later on, I harnessed the dogs up and we went out for the final walk of the day. It was getting dusk as we wandered around. I noticed that Daniel and Malinda were over at Jeff and Kerri’s RV, and we wandered in their direction.
The four of them were sitting around a firepit but it was still cold out. I was invited to join them, which we did, and the dogs got their usual petting from the group. We sat for a while chatting and then someone said they just saw three deer in the park. I at once handed the dogs to Daniel and then made my way back to my RV to bring in the bird feeders before heading back to the group.
We chatted for probably another 30 minutes and Daniel said he was hungry and both he and Malinda drove back to his RV on his 4X4. Me and the dogs walked back to The Caboose and settled in for the evening. This included food all around which the dogs both ate. I scraped together something unappetizing but ate it anyway. The best part of my meal was the tiny carton of ice cream that I usually end my main meal with mostly as a reward to myself for eating at all. Oh yes, the dogs get some ice cream too.
That is why, when we have our get together and it involves food, I make sure that my plate is not overloaded. I look at my friends and without exception, every one of them has a huge plate which they eagerly consume, and I struggle along with the small amount that I have in front of me. It has nothing to do with the food as it is all delicious, it’s me. I used to be a big eater but that was when I was a working man and had an appetite for food.
We sat and watched the English Premier League and watched as Brighton just squeaked by. Then it was bedtime as me and my two little dogs successfully ended another day.
I awoke at 7:00 am and seriously thought about getting up. I quickly put that idea out of my head and rolled over and cuddled the dogs, trying to go back to sleep. I sort of dozed off, very content to be snuggled up with my two little buddies. They loved every minute of it as did I.
We eventually rolled out of bed around 8:00 am which is when I noticed how cold it was inside the RV leading to the conclusion that the gas bottle had run out again. First thing I did when I got up was to throw on my track suit and wander off outside to change out the bottle. I removed the empty one and then replaced it with the spare that I always try to keep handy and put the empty one out for refill the next time that Daniel or Jeff performs that task.
By the time I got back inside, the heaters had already kicked on and the place was warming up. I had already raised all of the blinds and the sun was also helping to warm us. By now, I had my clothes on and the hot shower that I had promised myself will have to wait until tomorrow.
I put out the bird feeders as I usually do and then, with my small bag of trash, made our way to the dumpster. This is pretty much the same routine we do first thing every morning. There is always trash of some sort, usually the wrappings of whatever was important at the time. Occasionally, if we have a roasted chicken, there are chicken bones, and I have to be careful that the dogs do not get into them. Chicken bones splinter and are not good for any animal to eat. Mikey likes to investigate the trash which is why I am so careful.
We wandered around going wherever her ladyship wanted to go and managed to cover 7/10’s of a mile, a good start for the day. Several people were walking their pets, and it was interesting to see if they kept coming towards us or veered off to avoid a confrontation. We were doing the same for the same reason, not knowing which dogs were friendly.
Back in the RV, I fixed the dogs breakfast which Sandy ate, and Mikey ignored. He seems to be a one meal a day dog as opposed to Sandy who will eat as much and as often as there is food available. We have been doing pretty good on feeding her the pill she has every morning and evening.
I settled down with my own breakfast and then remembered that I was out of milk for the coffee so had to drink it black. It went down OK enough to wake me up and ready to go although I have no idea what we will “go” at. I had a few odds and end that I worked on but nothing major.
It was a quiet day around the campsite with not a lot going on, so I decided to go into town to get a few things at the grocery store. Mainly, I was out of milk for the morning coffee, but I knew other things would find their way into my basket. They always do.
I walked through the entire HEB store to get in the steps and every now and then, something caught my eye, and it ended up in my cart. I read somewhere that the worst kind of shopping is to not have a list and to do it haphazardly. I put that to the test this time around and managed to spend $155.00 and that with only a small case of beer for Daniel. I got out of there and decided that a Latte would go down just fine and stopped at Starbucks and ordered a small one.
I don’t know if it is me and it probably is, but Starbucks Lattes just do not taste the same anymore. There is not much coffee flavor to them. I think my Starbucks coffee days are ending along with so many other things. Big sigh…
I drove back to Henly and, with the help of the dogs, managed to unload the groceries. They try hard but are not very successful helpers, but it is fun working with them, sort of. I put the groceries away and then went out and brought in the bird feeders. At least I did not forget them tonight.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way, only this time, I watched extra episodes of Yellowstone.
I awoke after a good night’s sleep interrupted only by the call of Nature which seems to be louder, longer and more frequent as I get older. It was a bright and cheerful day as I rolled out of bed. Even Miss Sandy jumped off the bed early as she too was ready to go walkies. Mikey, not so much but he sure as heck was not going to let Sandy have me all to herself.
We went out and just wandered wherever Sandy’s nose would take us and managed to cover almost a mile. Very good for us for the first walk. Incidentally, it was pretty cold, and I was glad of my heavy jacket. I have one more that is even heavier and has a hood, but I have not had to get that one out yet. Save that for when it gets really cold, usually around February.
I refilled the feeders that I had inadvertently left out last evening although I can’t remember why that was. I was not busy or away and should have remembered to bring them in. I guess that just about sums it up, I did not remember.
On the walk, I came across another camper that, along with his own dog, had a couple of young puppies with him. We got talking and he said that he had found the dogs who, by the way, were very friendly and that someone had dumped them. He was not sure what he was going to do with them as he did not have enough room in his self-built RV. There was nothing I could do to help him, so we continued on our way,
Back in the RV, I suddenly realized that except for Jeff and Terri, I was the only one left here at the campsite of our little group. Daniel and Malinda, the Girls and Delores were all away. I’m not sure about Gary, if he was here or not and I knew that Jeff and Terri were here as they had given me an invitation to come over later this afternoon.
Emails were flying around with everyone sending everyone else Happy Thanksgiving wishes and getting them back in return. It is nice, the feeling of friendship and camaraderie that we have developed.
I sat and wrote in the blog and brought it up to date. The day had turned into one of the somber gray sorts and it had really cooled off. It was nice and warm inside of the RV as I sat and wrote.
I got a reminder from Jeff about the gathering at the Commons and quickly took the dogs out for a short walkabout. Then I walked over to The Commons where Jeff and Terri were along with their daughter Cheryl, her boyfriend, Robert and another friend. They had already finished their food, so I guess I was late. I apologized all round and tucked into the plateful of food they had given me and finished it off with dessert of Pumpkin Pie.
We sat and chatted about a whole bunch of different things and then Jeff noticed a woman chasing her dog that was not on the leash. I said a quick goodbye to the group and went back to The Caboose, harnessed up the dogs and went out to search for the missing dog with no luck, I might add. Hopefully, the owner had managed to catch it.
We walked back to The Caboose and performed a couple of outside tasks before going back inside for the rest of the evening. I unloaded the washing machine and put the clothes on the bed letting them air out before folding them tomorrow.
I was sitting at the table writing and there was a knock on the door. Gary was standing there with a huge tray full of Thanksgiving dinner. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness as he went on his way.
I awoke early, took one look at the clock and rolled over and went back to sleep cuddling Mikey. He likes close proximity, but Sandy is the opposite and does not like to touch or be touched as in a cuddle. Just as well as two cuddling dogs would probably be enough to cook me to medium rare…
We eventually crawled out and went out for that first and the most important walk of the day with me to clear the cobwebs and the dogs to relieve themselves. We wandered around the park and got to see the House/Office that they had just brought over from Sunset. I have no idea what they plan on doing with it.
It was still a little brisk out and the wind was pretty strong but as the day wore on, it warmed up and the wind dropped. Back inside The Caboose, I fixed breakfast for us all and then settled down in front of the computer to play catchup with the blog.
I had trouble with one of my new hearing aids as it was not working. I took them out and replaced them back in the charger, Then I put in the older aides that I have, thinking that I would need to get an appointment with the hearing aid specialist to get the new ones repaired.
I did other things and I happened to notice that the light on the charger that had come on with the one that was not working was now out, so I tried them on, and they both worked again. Great as it saved me a trip into town. I put the “old” ones away to use as backup as needed.
I had nothing scheduled for the rest of the day and looked around for other things to do. I thought about doing laundry but decided against it for no reason other than laziness which is pretty pathetic when you think about it as all I had to do was turn it on. Oh well.
Finally, it was time to go out walking again and we wandered around as we usually do with no particular direction in mind and eventually hit the 2.00-mile mark.
With everyone gone except for Jeff and Terri, I spent a quiet evening at home watching some series or another on TV. Incidentally, when I awoke the following morning, I noticed that I had not brought in the feeders last evening and the deer had a field day or should that read, field night?
I got up early but only because the gas had run out in the night and the RV was freezing cold. I put on my tracksuit and braved the cold outside to change the tank. It was a very simple process of literally closing a valve and switching from one tank to the second one and opening the valve on that one. Daniel had told me a while ago not to open the valve very far as it wastes gas.
Later, when I was both fully dressed and wide awake, I changed the empty bottle with the always full back up that I have standing by and put the empty one out by the front of the rig for Daniel to fill when he has others, and it makes it worth his time. Not that he would not fill a single bottle if needed but it is so much more convenient for him to fill several gas bottles at the same time.
I sometimes help him if he has a lot of bottles to fill but my help is limited to unloading the empties from his four-wheeler and then loading them back up when he has gassed them up. Then we drive around the park and I help to put the bottles by their rigs. Incidentally, Daniel must be licensed to perform this task as he is handling highly flammable material.
We went out for that first walk of the day although there was quite a change in the weather. The temperature had dropped to the mid-fifties, and I was glad of my jacket. Both dogs were very lively with the brisk weather and obviously it agreed with them. However, my hip was hurting, and we only walked a half mile. I could almost read their thoughts that they disliked having to go home and wanted to stay out longer.
I fixed breakfast which helped to compensate for the shortened walk as least as far as Sandy was concerned. Mikey, as usual, turned his nose up at the food. Then it was time to sit and write, trying with much difficulty I might add, to remember what happened yesterday.
We live such a quiet life that it is hard to remember what we did the day before unless it was something dramatic or earth shattering. Otherwise, one day is very much the same as the last and probably the next.
I sat on the couch with the dogs just thinking about nothing in particular and generally relaxing. This is not hard to do as I lead a very stress-free existence and the only time, I get worried is when I am wondering where my next beer will come from. I’m just kidding of course and although my beer consumption has gone up dramatically since living at this park, three is usually my limit which spread over 1-2 hours is really not a lot. Besides, the beer drinking is normally associated with food at the same time. On the plus side, my weight is still the same at 158 lbs. although most of the muscle has turned into flab.
We sat there for a while just enjoying the peace and quiet before it was time to harness up and go out walking again. This time, I was in better shape as the pills kicked in to help the pain in my hip and we managed to cover 1.8 miles for the day. Incidentally, the weather never got much above 50 degrees all day and was very windy which added to the coolness.
Back in the RV, I received a message from Daniel to come over to the Commons and eat another of Malinda’s wonderful meals. I had to turn down a second helping as the first filled me up. This time, she cooked Bow Tie Festival with chicken and shrimp.
We sat enjoying the food until most of the visitors left and among the last to leave was James, the Park Owner, who had joined us. This time, he did not have his wife and kids with him and the one that stole my hat for the evening before, was not there.
With everyone gone, Daniel and Malinda, Jeff and Terri and me, stayed behind talking for quite a while just really chatting about nothing in particular until, eventually, we shut up shop or rather closed the Commons doors on the end of another fun day.
These deer just stood there watching as we passed by on the other side of the road.
I awoke early and seriously thought about getting up but the more I thought about it, the less appealing the idea was. Besides, I got nothing to be up early for except maybe some scintillating conversation over at the Commons with the early morning risers and an early cup of coffee.
I rolled over and snuggled under the covers along with Mikey and Sandy and we stayed in bed another half hour before rolling out to face the day. The weather was having a hard time trying to decide whether to be sunny or cloudy but so far, it had not started to rain, and we went out for that first walk.
My hip was hurting so we only got to walk a half mile on our walk. Mikey did not mind too much but I could tell that Sandy would have liked to have walked more. As I usually do, I found something unappetizing for breakfast and ate it along with the coffee. Food for me is getting more and more of a problem as I age. No wonder I have not gained any weight and am still at 160 lbs. although most of the muscle on my body has turned to fat. So far, I still have muscles in both my arms and legs but my body, not so much…
With the blog all caught up and the dogs and me, fed, I thought about what else I could or should do. I sat looking out of the window at the bird feeders and wondered where all the birds had gone as they are now very infrequent visitors. On the plus side, that means less work for me, but it also means there is nothing much to look at outside. It was like someone pulled a switch and the birds all left.
I noticed that the four “permanent” feeders, two on the deck and two in the tree were low on seed so with the help of the dogs, I refilled and rehung them. All four are big units and hold quite a bit of seed in each one. The two mounted in the tree are occupied most of the time but the two hanging off the deck and right by the door are not frequented as much probably because of the close proximity to the glass door.
With the outside chores all taken care of, we moved back indoors and found things to do in there, like making the bed and other interesting things. I even sat on the couch for a while with both dogs to accompany me and dozed off for a bit.
Then it was time to go out walking again before going back inside for the evening meal and watch television.
This is where I sit at night watching the big screen TV. Note the fireplace which actually does throw off some heat.
I went to bed early last evening around 9:30 pm feeling tired. It was probably the beer but whatever, I was asleep in no time flat. Other than the usual call of Nature, I slept until I got up around 8:00 am. It was a cloudy day and threatened rain. As it was also foggy, this created an air of dampness, and my jacket was quickly soaked. Still, we managed to cover a half mile which was pretty good as I was hurting. My left hip was sore, and my right knee was also playing up probably because I was favoring it. To think, I used to run and kick the ball with no trouble and now it hurts just to walk. I hate growing old, but the alternative is even worse, and I am not ready for that yet. Not that I will have much say in the matter when that time comes.
Back in the RV, I fixed the dog’s breakfast and Miss Sandy was a good girl and ate hers. She likes to have her food on the bed, so I oblige her as much as possible just to get her to eat it and by design, take her medicine. Mikey, as usual, did not eat his food but if he follows form, will eat it later if I keep it out of Sandy’s way. Luckily, even if she sniffs it out on one of the chairs, she is not that good a jumper to actually get in the chair.
My own breakfast was another Burrito which was just OK. The coffee was good. I continued writing in the blog bringing us up to date. It was a quiet day with very little going on. I had a couple of chores which are not unusual as there is always something that needs taking care of. After all, even in an RV, you are still basically camping with just a bit more luxury and convenience.
The day slowly passed, and I got a call from The Girls inviting me over for a beer or in their case, a White Claw as they had run out of beer. White Claw is a hard seltzer with 5% alcohol content so about the same as beer. I gladly accepted one and we sat down to enjoy an evening with friends as both Kerry and Jeff were also there. An hour or so later, I walked back to the RV and brought in the bird feeders for the evening.
I fixed us some food and we settled down to both eat and enjoy the rest of the evening watching Steven Kings, “The Stand”. What a great writer, he is and so good with the scary stuff.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX. Sunday 11/19/2023
A cobweb covered in dew that we saw on one of our walks.
I awoke at a reasonable hour, but it was so comfortable just lying there snuggled up with the dogs that it was at least another 30 minutes before I got out of bed. I took a shower having made sure to turn on the gas to the hot water heater when I first awoke, and it was great to stand there and just soak it up.
I finished drying off and dressing putting the “dirty” clothes in the washing machine although I had no plans to start it today as it was not yet full. Then, as usual, it was time for “walkies”, and we just wandered around. It was pretty damp, not actually raining but a lot of moisture in the air. We only walked about a half mile and quickly got back in The Caboose.
I fixed coffee and toast for me, and the dogs got their usual offering which Sandy ate and Mikey ignored. Then we settled down, the dogs to sleep in their favorite places and me in front of the computer. Incidentally, I combined two tasks, one with breakfast and then writing and the other with cooking chicken for mine and the dogs’ meals this week.
Somehow, when I was in HEB, at the checkout counter where, as I always do is stand there waiting to pay after the clerks do their thing, there was a mix up and I ended up with two batches of chicken and a packet of Salmon steaks. I never noticed them until I got home because after paying the bill, generally all I do is wait as the clerk puts my groceries in plastic bags and into my cart.
I had paid without knowing what I paid for except what I thought I had bought. The lady in front of me probably got home wondering where her stuff was and checking her bill to see if she had been charged.
It came on to rain a light drizzle but enough to soak everything and I was very happy to be indoors and out of the weather. Incidentally, I did not bother to bring out the bird feeders today as even without the small ones, there are four big ones that are hanging outside all the time and high enough to be out of the deer’s reach.
Later that day, Malinda and Daniel were hosting a party in the Commons to celebrate Thanksgiving. They supplied the meat and the rest cooked or, in my case bought the beer. I got to meet a couple of new people and James, the Campsite Owner and his wife Sarah were there along with their three young kids. One of the boys found my hat that I had taken off and hooked over the fireplace and paraded around in it for the longest time. I wondered if he would give it back but as the party broke up, he came over and handed it back to me. I thanked him and later on, thought about his honesty and that I probably should have let him keep it.
I walked the 50 yards back to the Caboose after a very fun evening with some very nice people and thought how lucky I am to have found this place.
I got up early as I had a 10:00 am appointment at Firestone located at Nutty Brown which is almost into Austin. We went out walking and as I usually do, I brought out the bird feeders. Then it was time to get ready to take the Jeep to Firestone for an oil change. I chose Firestone as I had one of their credit cards and wanted to give it some use. I had almost an hour wait for both the appointment time itself and the time it took to work on the car.
When it was time to pay, the Firestone credit card would not work, and I had to use one of my other ones. Now I need to find out what is wrong with the credit card. If it only gets used for servicing the Jeep, it will only get used once a year, if that.
That is the problem with modern finance, unless you are filthy rich and can afford to pay cash for everything, you must have good credit and the only way to get it is to use credit cards and such. What I like to do is to use the card to make the actual purchase and then pay it off so as not to pay interest. And of course, they are convenient as I do not have to carry a lot of cash around with me.
Incidentally, I Supervised the building of several Firestone stores in my younger working days in New York State. Ah, those were the days…
I drove to my Vet’s Office to pay for the very expensive pills that Sandy has to take for her heart murmur. A month’s treatment costs $103.00 and as I have mentioned in earlier blogs, it is an ongoing battle trying to figure ways to mix them with her food and eat them. Mikey has no trouble stealing her food and her medication and I have to keep an eye on him. It must all taste the same.
I thought about it and decided to drive to where the deer had collided with the Jeep, parked it and walked that area in the hope of finding the missing number plate without any luck I might add. From there, I headed home after considering if there was anything I needed in this proximity. There was that new HEB just up the road, but I could not think of anything.
I took a slow drive back to Henly to be met by my buddies. We harnessed up and wandered around the park where both Daniel and Jeff were hard at mowing the place. We have had quite a bit of overnight rain, enough to get the grass looking green and growing again.
I sat and wrote in the blog and brought us up to date. I have nothing planned for the rest of the day. It turned out to be a “sitting around and not doing much” sort of a day which is OK. Later on, I wandered over to Daniels and shot the breeze while drinking a couple of beers. He offered me another, but I declined mostly because I did not want to impose on their time together and goodness only knows, they are both such nice people that they get a lot of visitors. I walked back to The Caboose where we shut up shop to the outside world which included bringing in the bird feeders,
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX. Friday 11/17/2023
I went to bed about 9:30 pm last evening and then managed to wake up around 8:00 am. A very good night’s sleep indeed. Feeling quite refreshed, I got up ready to face the world. After showering and a change of clothes, read that as a clean pair of shorts and tee shirt, we harnessed up and wandered around the park. There was a lot of sniffing and not much walking but that is OK. It is their time, and they are not in it for the mileage, just the smells. Sometimes, they even do their business as they are supposed to, and it is a good day when they both “go”.
We ran into Olive, the little bull terrier. Olive is the stick carrier and the funniest little dog when she is out walking. Greg, her owner, enjoys her immensely, which he shows when they are together. He is very patient with her as sometimes; she will roll over on her back and refuses to move.
We both moved on and we ended up back at The Caboose where I got out the bird feeders. Many birds have migrated to warmer climes and the feeders are nowhere near as busy. Same is true with the deer as it is the Rutting season, and they are not as visible during the day. They still visit at night which is why I bring in the feeders.
I fixed breakfast for the dogs. I have learned that Sandy must be desperately hungry to eat the doggie meat roll but will eat chicken and other meat if it not mixed with the Doggie Roll. I tried that and it did not work.
Mikey, on the other hand is a funny eater and it has nothing to do with the food offered to him. Many times, in the morning, he just will not eat at all, and the bowl sits all day before he gets around to eating it. I just must keep his bowl out of Sandy’s reach, or she will eventually clean it up. She does like her food, and she has a fat little rump that shows it…
I heated up a Burrito for myself and along with the all-important coffee, was ready to face the day. Luckily, I do not have a fat little rump or in my case, big rump. Again, we have nothing planned although I do have to make a trip into town to HEB and buy the beer for this coming Sunday’s Party. Again, my contribution due to my lack of cooking skills.
I turned my attention to the blog and played catch-up with the latest episode in the life of an old man and his two little dogs. In truth, you could probably turn back a month or even two and what you read then is not much different than yesterday, such is the dull and boring life that I lead. Or maybe, that should read quiet and reserved life. It is pretty sad when the high point of a day is a trip to the grocery store. Could be worse though as sometimes the high point is a trip to the dentist.
I decided to make that journey into town and get a few things at HEB which included the beer for Sunday which is my offering to the group. I found a few other things that I thought I needed. Time will tell if I really do or not.
I found things to do and finally ended up sitting outside with a small bottle of wine after walking the dogs one more time. Daniel hollered at me to come over and I put the dogs back indoors and wandered over to his RV. I had a beer in my hands in 10 seconds flat and sat to enjoy the evening. Jeff and Terri were already there and very shortly, Peggy and BJ aka The Girls, also showed up. We sat and chatted and listened to some music with BJ and Malinda knowing all the words and singing along. The rest of us either kept our mouths tightly shut as we listened or in the case of Terry and Peggy, also joined in the singing. Even Daniel joined in on the songs that he knew the words. Me, I was the only non-singer in the group.
It was a fun evening and then Peggy brought out the hard stuff. Having tried that once before, I gracefully declined but all of the others each got a tiny bottle of the stuff. I ended up drinking three beers and did not feel like I was inebriated or anything but when it was time to go, Malinda insisted on walking me back to The Caboose. She even brought in the bird feeders for me to put away, which I did after she had left. Such a helpful lady.
With everything put in their overnight locations, I shut up shop for the evening and went about finding something to eat for my evening meal. I had already fed the dogs as they always come before me. As usual, I watched television and as I had already had three bottles of beer decided against the wine for the evening.
So ended another fun evening with my crazy friends.
I never woke up until 9:30 am although I have no reason why I was so tired. I went to bed early for me around 10:00 pm. I did have to get out the extra cover for the bed as the heat was off probably because the propane tank was empty, at least that is what I suspected had happened.
I debated on putting on my tracksuit to go out and change the tanks but decided it would keep until I was ready to be outside and the extra cover would do the trick until morning. Considering the time I awoke, it sure did.
I dressed as usual and harnessed up the dogs outside to the picnic table while I brought out the feeders, Then I turned my attention to the Propane tank and sure enough, one was empty. Most of the towable RV’s work on a three-tank system using 30 lb. bottles. Usually, there are two of these bottles hooked up side by side but only one of them is turned on with the other as the backup when the first runs out. The spare, which is usually kept filled, sits by the other two on the ground until it is time to change out the empty one. These are the most convenient sizes and even us older people can still manhandle them. There are other sizes of course and it is just a matter of personal preference, but the larger ones are not really built for travelling. Too big and too heavy.
Incidentally, motor home models usually have their own propane tank built into the rig but of course, more tanks can be added as free standing ones. The towable ones all have free standing propane tanks.
With the tank work taken care of, we went out walking around the park. It was one of those “sniff and pee on, everything in sight, days” and we did not cover much distance spending a lot of time in one place. If one dog finds something interesting, the other must check it out as well and then we stand there for several minutes. The joys of taking the dogs walking.
Back in the RV, I fed the dogs before feeding myself which is becoming a challenge. I opened the freezer and kinda stared at what was in there, which is a lot. But somehow, nothing looked appealing. I settled for a Burrito which was OK, and I mean, OK. The coffee went down well, though. Incidentally, just for the hell of it, I got on the scales yesterday and am managing to stay at 160 lbs. Not much muscle left except in my legs and horrible droopy fat where once biceps and pectorals flourished, big sigh.
Then it was time to play catch-up with the blog which is always a problem as memory recall is getting harder and harder. But I persevered and managed to remember most of what went on yesterday at least, the most interesting parts. I glanced up at the clock and it was only 1:15 pm and obviously, the day was going to be one of those 36 hour long days.
I spent most of the afternoon writing and working on other things before going out for the last walk of the day. We wandered around not in any hurry as we had no place to go. Back at The Caboose, I sat around outside listening to an audiobook until it started to get dark and had chilled off. Then it was time to shut up shop and go back indoors and turn on the heat with both the fireplace and the built in heaters running.
I got up early and took a shower as I had remembered to turn on the hot water heater. Then I got dressed quickly and got the dogs outside, I stuck my head out of the door and Daniel stepped out of the Breakroom and hollered at me to come over for breakfast. I hollered back that I needed to walk the dogs and would be over shortly which is what I did.
There were a lot of people in the breakroom including the owner’s wife, Sarah, all sitting around enjoying the goodies and drinking coffee. I sat and chatted but for some reason, my hearing aids were not helping much even after I adjusted them. The problem was that the sound was reverberating around the large room and I could not get them focused.
I gave up and walked back to the RV to be greeted by my dogs as though I had been away half a lifetime. Sure is nice to have someone that loves you but does not tell you what to do or how to spend your money.
I worked on the blog and caught us up to date and looked around for other things to do. I decided that I should go into town and do some grocery shopping plus a trip to the Home Depot for a couple of items. I wandered around both stores and found everything I had on my list including my contribution of beer for the group.
I stopped at Starbucks, and this was the first time in a while as I have not been drinking much coffee lately and then drove back to Henly. I had toyed with the idea of getting a haircut but decided against it for another day. Back at the RV, I put the groceries away helped by you know who.
We sat around and I wrote in the blog and then we went out for a short walk as it was starting to get dark. I can’t get used to this time change thingy and it gets dark around 5:00 pm. No wonder I have started to go to bed early. Not getting up any earlier though.
We went out walking one more time and this time, found ourselves over at Malinda and Daniels RV where we sat and drank a couple of beers before heading back to The Caboose.
Then it was dinnertime for the three of us except we did not eat the same food as I did not fancy eating canned dog food. The rest of the evening was spent watching a couple of soccer games before heading off to bed at around 9:30 pm. Totally unheard of.
An Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, TX. Tuesday 11/14/2023
I got up at a reasonable hour because I wanted to get a haircut and an oil change for the car. I wasn’t sure what sort of luck getting a reservation for either of them would be or if it is anything like my last few attempts have been, it was going to be a rough ride. Maybe I should get an oil change for me and a haircut for the car to see if that works better.
I got on the phone and found the number for Great Clips here in Dripping Springs and as usual, there was an hour and a half wait for the next opening. I took the slot as there was nothing else, I could do and then tried to find a place to get an Oil change for the Jeep. I did not have any luck on this one either as their list was a mile long and I had to synchronize it with the haircut.
I was still nowhere close to the haircut as the numbers took forever to count downwards, so I drove to the closest Firestone Store at Nutty Brown and managed to secure a date for Thursday at 10:00 am. Then it was back into Dripping Springs as it was getting closer to the haircut time.
Eventually, I sat down in the chair and this pretty young thing started working on my hair. In 10 minutes, she was finished, and I paid her and walked out of there. At least, I got something done hair wise and the pretty young thing was refreshing…Did I mention that she had a low-cut blouse on and was very well endowed?
I drove back to the campgrounds and took the dogs out walking just around the park before adjourning back inside of the RV to write the blog. With that up to date I worked on the computer as I was having problems getting it to boot up into a certain program. I eventually got it worked out after a couple of hours of trying and we went out for the final walk of the day. We managed to walk 2.9 miles, which was pretty good.
When we got back, we sat outside listening to an Audiobook and drinking wine until it got too dark and then I brought in the bird feeders and shut up shop for the day.
