Living In An RV

As it usually is, the bed was warm and cuddly, and I was very reluctant to get up but I managed to force myself to crawl out. It was a warm sunny day without a cloud in the sky when we went out for our first walk. Today, I did things a little different and instead of walking and then bringing out the bird feeders, I brought the feeders out first. Not that it will change anything as the birds seem to have disappeared. We did get a visit from one of the friendly squirrels yesterday which is the first in a while so obviously, they have not hunkered down in their nests, yet. We have not yet had any frosts in my part of Texas, but I am sure we will get some.

Back in the RV, I fixed the dogs their breakfast and then heated up a Burrito for me. That along with the coffee set me up at least to get started on the day. We have nothing set up, maybe a trip into town is all. Apart from a few miscellaneous chores, we have nothing planned for today except the usual housekeeping and such.

Yesterday was a strange day. After the initial attention to the household things, I could not find anything to get up too so, as I usually do, sat down to listen to an Audiobook. Somehow, it got away from me, and I woke up an hour or so later. That is a first as in my quiet moments, I may close my eyes, but I am still normally wide awake. It didn’t matter much as I had nothing else going on.

I took the dogs out walking so as to wake myself up and we wandered around the campgrounds for a bit before returning to the RV for the evening meal. I got into a couple of really good movies, and it was almost 12:30 am when I got to bed.

Incidentally, while I was checking the blogs, I noticed that a couple are not lined up with the correct date and day. I tried to straighten them out but to no avail. My apologies for the few of you who do follow the blog and take the time to read it…

I spent some time working on the blog as I had noticed the above-mentioned problem. I managed to correct a couple, but a couple more had already published all be it out of sequence. It doesn’t really matter as so few people read the blog. The only reason that I bother to keep it at all is to try to keep my brain active.

I listened to an Audiobook for a while and then took the dogs out walking around the park. When we got back, I brought in the feeders even though it was still daylight and as far as I could tell, no birds were visiting.

My apologies for the missing blogs these past couple of days. Not that it effects very many people as I have very few followers. After all, who wants to know what a nearly 90-year-old man does all day long. The only ones who might be interested are already in their graves or close to it…

Long story short, basically it came down to an equipment problem. I have two laptop computers one of which is not very old and has never been used. I can’t remember why I bought it, but it was probably on sale, and I thought I might need a back-up. Anyway, other than messing around with it and adding a few programs, it has never been used seriously.

Which brings me to the current story. I was working away on the “old” one when all of a sudden, everything just locked up, and I could not find any way to free it. So, the following day, I got the unused one out and started to set it up so I could use it instead of old faithful.

In the meantime, I took the “old” one to the repair shop and left it with them and when I got back, continued working on the new one which required setting up as it had never been used. Whether it was something I did (probably) or a real problem, when I started to set up the new (to me) computer, I ran into all kinds of problems. I spent several hours working on it and finally got it straightened out to where it was useable. Even then, I was unable to load the programs I needed to continue with the blog.

I worked on it for a couple of days over the weekend and got some of it working. When Monday came around, I drove to where the “old” computer was being repaired as I had received a message that it was ready for me to pick up. I chatted briefly with the repair man, and he explained what had gone wrong and that he had it fixed. I thanked him profusely for his efforts, paid my bill and dove back to Henly.

I spent the rest of the day setting the computer up at least to where it was useable and this story is the end result of my efforts…

With the computer problems taking up the previous few days, I sat down and started from Monday, today, to recapture the blog. I didn’t even try to recapture the missing days knowing how bad my memory is nowadays. Nothing of major importance had happened anyway.

The one exception to that was spending one afternoon and evening being entertained by the three older girls, Lyla, Celia, Addie and baby Evelyn who tears around all over the place at two years old. She tries hard to talk but only she knows what she is saying.

I spent most of the day either dog walking or just sitting around and when it got dark, spent several hours playing catch up with the blog. Hopefully, my computer problems are behind me. That is of course, right up until the next problem comes along. Oh well.

I made a point of getting up much earlier than I have been just lately as I was expecting a visit from Kleen Tank, a service that cleans RV Waste tanks. Due to the nature of the material that these tanks handle, human feces, it is important that it disperses when the tanks are drained. Otherwise, it builds up and turns into a solid mess and is hard to clear creating drainage problems which have to manually be cleared. A disgusting job at the best of times.

The husband-and-wife team arrived in their car which surprised me as I was expecting them to be at the very least, in a large van or truck. It turns out that they had been the subject of their existing Van just recently getting stolen along with all of their tools and such they need to do their job. I learned all of this from chatting with them as they went about the business of cleaning my RV’s tanks. It took a couple of hours for the work, messy to say the least, before they gave me a bill which I willingly paid.

Incidentally, I watched and helped where I could and was surprised that even with a jacket on, how cold it was. That plus the fact that my right knee, the one missing the cartilage from playing soccer all of those years, was extremely sore from standing around causing me to limp.

They finally finished their work, and I settled up with them, and they went on their way. I harnessed up the dogs, and we went out for a walk around the park to give them some exercise before returning to the RV.

Back indoors, I made myself a coffee and then fed the dogs. Just a light snack to see them over until it was their regular mealtime and then sat down in front of the computer to play catch up with the blog. By then, it was almost 3:00 pm and I had no idea where the time had gone. Even doing nothing, the time flies by.

It was a beautiful, sunny day but a bit on the cool side which required me to put on a jacket for anything outside. Just a few more days and the winter solstice will start. If this winter follows the usual Texas winters, we will have a few days of bad weather but most of the time, it will be just like today, sunny and cool.

The time passed and before long, I harnessed up the dogs for their final walk of the day. I didn’t have to bring in the bird feeders as I had forgotten to take them out this morning and had not noticed my forgetfulness. With hardly any visiting birds, it didn’t matter too much.

And so, another day came to an end.

I had a very restless night’s sleep awakening several times through it but of course, fast asleep when morning arrived. I crawled out and sloshed cold water on my face to wake me up. Not sure if it really works because I still felt tired. I threw on some clothes and harnessed up Mikey who was the only dog awake as Sandy was still sleeping.

We harnessed up and went out walking the park or at least one circuit of The Commons before heading back to check on Sandy. She was wide awake and looking for us, so I put her harness on and out the door we went…again This time, we walked a lot further and the dogs did their business which is the whole purpose of the walk anyway.

Back in the RV, I fed them both their breakfast and found something for me to eat. Today must be clumsy day as I dropped the plate holding the breakfast I had heated up for myself and some of it ended up on the floor. It wasn’t wasted as Summer found it and gobbled it down. Less for me though.

With breakfast out of the way, I settled down to work on the blog and wondered what I was going to do for the rest of the day. I didn’t need anything from the store as I was in there yesterday. I guess it is going to be another of those quiet days that I have grown used to and like so much.

As I usually do, when I am relaxing at home, I listened to any Audiobook not only to pass the time but also to keep my brain occupied. Some of the writers are so good, it is hard to put the book down. That and taking the dogs out for a walk are my two main occupations. The third one is anything else that comes along that needs my attention.

So, as it always does at least so far, the day came to a close. I spent the rest of it indoors feeding the dogs and then myself and watching an English Premier League football match, soccer to you Americans.

I had a very restless night’s sleep, tossing and turning and even waking up a couple of times. I was having trouble with one of the portable heaters and had to get up to make a couple of adjustments… I eventually settled down and the next thing, it was morning and of course, I didn’t want to get up.

I forced myself out after stealing a few more minutes all snuggled up with Mikey and as we usually do, we went out walking around the park. We only saw one other camper, and he was packing his RV. We passed the usual morning greetings as we went on our way.

Back in the RV, I brought out the bird feeders wondering to myself whether I need to bring them all out as there are not many birds around anymore. As they were all filled up with seed, I decided to bring them out and let what few birds do show up, empty them.

I fixed breakfast and coffee for me and fed the dogs who after eating the food, found their sleeping places. I worked on the blog finishing yesterday and starting on today. With the blog all caught up, I wondered what else to do. I should go grocery shopping as we are low on a couple of things including the all-important tiny bottles of wine.

Thinking about the missing wine spurred me into action and I drove into Dripping Springs to the HEB located there. I wandered around and very soon, my cart had all of the things I wanted and a few extra for good measure. $150,00 later, I walked out and back to the Jeep with my cart full of goodies which of course, included the tiny bottles of wine, just in case any one of my three friends come a calling. Just kidding as I have a lot of friends especially here at the campground although they are not all drinking buddies which is the category that The Girls and Delores fall under. This also includes Daniel and Malinda whenever they visit.

Back at the RV, the dogs helped to unload the groceries and put them away with their little noses going a mile a minute on each bag. With everything in its proper place, I harnessed up the dogs and out we went walking around the park.

When we got back, I brought in the bird feeders although, there are not many birds around, I got to feed the few that still visit. Then it was back indoors to sit and listen to an Audiobook before going out for the final walk of the day.

The evening was spent in the usual way with food for me and the dogs and watching the TV until almost 12:30 am. It was a very good movie…

It was very late when I awoke this morning. The clock said it was almost 10:30 am when I crawled out of bed. Obviously, I had no idea it was so late, or I would have gotten up sooner. Hard to do though when you are fast asleep. It doesn’t really matter as the Bug Master is not coming until 4:00 pm this afternoon.

Mikey and I. went out walking leaving Summer behind as she was still fast asleep. We walked around the Park and then I checked back indoors to see if Summer was still sleeping. She wasn’t so I harnessed her up and out the door we went for the second time. The skies were overcast with a chance of rain in the forecast.

Being as late as we were, we only saw one other camper out dog walking and waved to them from a distance just to be on the safe side. Why give the dogs the chance of provoking each other when keeping distance makes sure that won’t happen? Mikey is the worst provoker of all regardless of the size of the other dog. The funniest thing is to see Summer trying to imitate him as her bark is much higher pitched.

Back in the RV, where it was nice and warm, I fixed breakfast for us all although as late as it was, it was more like lunch and then settled down to work on the blog. Mikey jumped up in his chair which is right next to mine and Summer found one of her hidey holes right under the table at which I sit to write and went to sleep.

There are two portable heaters that are set up in the living area, one at each end of the RV and they began to warm up. They are different sizes, and I decided to switch them to opposite ends as one is bigger than the other and throws out more heat.

The house heaters do a good job but sometimes it takes a while to kick in between heating sessions as they are thermostatically controlled. RV’s do not hold the heat very well and any generated heat is quickly lost if it is cold outside.

It was a grey and miserable looking day but so far, was not raining although we could use some of the wet stuff.

There was a knock on the door, and I saw that the Bugmaster had parked his van and was preparing to spray the RV for bugs. Roaches most of the time and they can reproduce like crazy and before long the place is infested with them. Consequently, The Bug Master is an integral part of RV living.

He walked all around the outside spraying everything in sight, the RV and the surrounding area close to the RV. Then he came indoors and sprayed the inside. I took the dogs outside while this part was going on and when we did eventually get back indoors, there was no residual smell of the spraying. I thanked him for his services, and he went on his way, and we went back indoors.

I happened to glance at the clock, and it said that it was almost 5:00 pm and I have no idea where the day had gone

I returned back to the blog and brought it up to date and then took the dogs out walking. As usual, we wandered around the neighborhood going nowhere in particular and when we got back, I brought in the bird feeders. I don’t think that I saw a single bird on the feeders today so maybe, I can cut back on the how many feeders are in use. The jury is still out on that.

The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way, food and then television as I unwound after another busy day. Yeah, right…

I had a strange night’s sleep and kept waking up and then dropping back off. Consequently, when morning arrived, I was fast asleep and didn’t get up until almost 10:30 am and even then, I had to force myself out of bed as it was so warm and snuggly. That’s the latest I have ever woken up at least that I can remember.

As I had nothing planned for the day, it didn’t really matter very much. I crawled out to take the dogs walking. Me getting out late makes them have to hold it that much longer and immediately they hit grass, both of them peed for what seemed like forever. I could almost see the look of relief on their faces. Been there and done that…We walked around just to loosen up the joints and in the dog’s case to sample all of the new overnight smells.

Back in the RV, I fixed a bacon sandwich for breakfast for myself and made sure that the dog bowls had plenty of hard food as I only feed them one meal a day not counting handouts which happens a lot. With food like bacon, I always make sure there is enough for all three of us as the dogs really like it.

Then, I turned my attention to working on the blog. Luckily, I was up to date meaning that the only blog outstanding was yesterday. I quickly finished and posted it and turned my attention to what had happened so far today.

I thought about what to do for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, the BugMaster is coming to bug proof the RV which are notorious for being a haven for the nasty things. To tell you how bad it can get, these guys make a living killing bugs in RVs. Go figure!

I got up early, for me, as I was under the impression that the Bug man or somebody was coming to visit me today. As it turns out, I was wrong as they came yesterday to do their thing. At least, it got me up a bit earlier than I normally crawl out.

I harnessed up Mikey as Summer was still fast asleep and showed no sign of waking up even when I stroked her. So, we left her sleeping and Mikey and I did one circuit of The Commons before coming back to see if she was awake yet.

When we got back to the RV, Summer was sitting on the porch watching as we approached. I harnessed her up to Mikey and out we went again for the second walk of the day for us and first for her. As we usually did, we just wandered around hoping that the exercise would get their bowels working and they would poop!

Summer has developed the habit of suddenly stopping when we are walking on the blacktop and peeing. For some reason, she likes the early morning pee to be this way. She is not averse to peeing on the grass any other time of the day, just that first one. Me and Mikey patiently wait as she goes for what seems like ten minutes.

Back in the RV, Summer was giving me, “the look” which meant that she was hungry. I found some chicken for her which she literally gobbled down. She likes her food, that little girl whereas Mikey will wait a couple of hours before eating his food which I have to put on the couch out of Summers reach.

I fixed breakfast for myself along with the first coffee of the day and brought the blog up to date. I happened to glance at the clock to see that it was already noontime. Time really flies by as I grow older.

I sat there with the blog up to date wondering what to do for the rest of the day. Even though the sun was shining, it still required a jacket to keep the cold wind out. I sat there thinking. I didn’t need anything from any of the stores I normally visit and had no appointments and as far as I could tell, nothing on the agenda. So, now what?

I sat on the couch with a dog on either side of me and just sat there with my eyes closed. I was not asleep but very relaxed as were the dogs. We stayed like that for a while and then listened to an Audiobook. From there, we followed the usual pattern except I didn’t have to bring in the bird feeders as I had not brought them out at all.

Incidentally, I wonder where the birds have gone. From being totally inundated with all different kinds we are now down to maybe a half dozen sparrows. and that’s on a good day.

I have been having trouble with the heating system in the RV and have resorted to using a couple of temporary heaters, one on either end of the rig which do a good job of warming the place up. The only problem is they are not thermostatically controlled, and it is either too hot indoors or too cold depending how long the heaters have been on. If by chance, the main heaters do come on, then it is a heat overload with the temporary ones working at the same time. I have a call into James, the RV repair man but there is no hurry. It is inconvenient not life threatening.

I got up very late and it was almost 11:00 am when I crawled out of bed. I have nothing planned for today so getting up late wasn’t really a problem. I harnessed up Mikey and then looked for Summer. I eventually found her in one of her hidey holes but fast asleep. So, Mikey and I went out without her and did one lap of the Commons before going back in to check on her. By this time, she was wide awake, so I harnessed her up to Mikey and the three of us went out for another walk around the park. Good job we did as Summer immediately squatted for a number two.

Back in the RV, I found us all breakfast which Summer couldn’t get enough of and was licking empty bowls and looking for more. She is a real piglet, that girl and even though she is small, she is very heavy and weighs more than Mikey.

There was a knock on the door and Josh was standing there and announced he was going to work on the drainage system as there was a blockage of some sort. I threw on my jacket as it was cold outside and went out to help him, not that I could do much except fetch and carry and open and close valves. Still, somebody had to do it, and it saved Josh a few steps. Josh eventually cleared the system enough for it to drain but surmised that the blockage was caused by the contents going hard and suggested that I call Kleen Tank who specialize in this sort of thing.

With breakfast out of the way, I sat and worked on the blog bringing us up to date. By then, it was already 1:15 pm as time flies on by. I made a couple of calls and wondered what to do for the rest of the day. I probably should go grocery shopping as things are getting low in both the Fridge and the Food cupboard.

As it happened, the shopping thing never happened as I got engrossed in an Audiobook and the afternoon slipped on by.

It gets dark much earlier here in my part of the country, around 5:45 pm or so and I left it late and had to switch the RVs outside lights on in order to bring in the feeders. I get very few birds at the feeders, and I decided that tomorrow, I would not even hang them.

The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way, feeding the dogs first and then myself and at the same time, watching a movie. Again, it was almost 12:00 pm when we went to bed which meant that I will probably wake up late tomorrow morning. Who cares…

The second day of the last day of the month

The first thing as it always is are the bird feeders. I brought them all out re-filling those that needed it and then the dogs and I, went out on the first walk of the day. We wandered around as we usually do and stopped to chat to my next-door neighbor who has two dogs, both bigger than mine. While we were chatting, my dogs were growling at his dogs. I was ready for what was coming and suddenly Mikey made a lunge at the other dogs. I just held on and pulled Mikey back. Then Summer joined in and I was hanging onto the leash with all of my weight with both dogs jumping and pulling. I managed to get them away and there was no harm done except for the noise. Luckily, my neighbor thought it was funny, my two little dogs attacking his much bigger ones.

We went on our way completing our walk and headed back to the RV. There, I brought out the bird feeders filling those that needed it which included the big ones hanging off the deck, one of which was almost completely empty. It goes down overnight so I imagine it’s probably rats or mice as the feeders are too high for the deer. Maybe, even a ‘coon.

Back in the RV, I fixed the dog’s breakfast and then searched in the fridge and cupboard for something for me to eat. As it was almost noon time, I settled for a can of tomato soup which really hit the spot. I worked on the blog bringing it up to date and wondered what to do for the rest of the day. I thought about going into town grocery shopping but could find no real reason to do so as I wasn’t out of anything I couldn’t do without for a couple of days. More importantly, my wine stock was in good shape.

We spent the rest of the day listening to an Audiobook until it was time for the last walk of the day and to bring in the bird feeders as another day came to an end. I watched a movie on the TV, and it was 12:30 am before I got to bed. Oh well…

Today is the first day of the last month of the year as another one slips on by. Time flies when you are having fun. It also flies as we grow older but considering the alternative, I’ll take it.

I harnessed up the dogs ready to go walking and for once, Summer was wide awake and ready to go. Usually, I have to wake her as she likes to snooze. We wandered around the park as we usually do but there were no other dogs or people out. Probably, most of them had already done their walking and bathroom thing and we were the last ones out.

We wandered around making at least one lap of the campground before heading back to the RV. There, I fed the dogs with canned dog food that had been given to me by one of the campers whose dog had just died which was very nice of her.

Then, I settled down to play catchup with the blog and brought us up to date. I wondered what I was going to do for the rest of the day and decided just to listen to an Audiobook which I did for a couple of hours. Then, it was walkies time again and we wandered around the campground saying “Hello” to any other campers that we saw.

I decided that I needed to go into town to the HEB store and stock up on groceries and the all-important tiny bottles of wine. I wandered around HEB backtracking a couple of times as my aged brain recalled things that I needed. I had a list, but it was not complete as I relied on visual recognition of missing items. On the way home, I even stopped for a Latte which for a change, actually tasted good.

When I arrived back at the RV, the dogs helped unload the groceries which I put in the RV but did not put them away. Instead, I harnessed up the dogs, and we went out walking. We covered our usual circuit around the park before heading back to the RV. There, I got all kinds of help from both dogs as we put the groceries in the cupboards and refrigerator.

I brought in the bird feeders noticing that a couple needed refilling which will keep until tomorrow and we shut up shop for the day. I had left it a bit late to do all of this and had to turn on the awning lights so I could see as by now, it was almost dark.

The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way although I did get into a very good movie, and it was 12:30 am before I went to bed.

It was a cloudy day when I awoke and definitely a bit on the cool side. I had two portable heaters set up, one on each end of the RV and they both had already kicked in and the RV was lovely and warm. The main RV heating unit does a good job but is sometimes a bit slow at starting and the temporary heaters make up for it.

I had to take the dogs out for their first walk of the day which is actually the most important one after “holding” it for 12-14 hours overnight. Summer has a hard time “holding it” so I have a couple of pee pads down for her to use which she does.

We wandered around but it was a bit brisk and on the chilly side so we didn’t stay out very long. Back in the RV, I fixed the dogs their breakfast which they both ate. Summer was following me around as I prepared them. She is a real piglet, that girl and likes her food.

I fixed my own breakfast and coffee and then turned my attention to the blog working on it to bring it up to date. By the time, we had finished all of the chores and the blog completed as far as I could go, it was already 1:00 pm. I had nothing planned for the rest of the day so time didn’t matter too much.

I decided to go grocery shopping and drove to the HEB located here in town. I wandered around the store with no set purpose hoping that the different items on display would jog my memory of what I wanted. I had a list as well so was not shopping totally in the dark so to speak.

I wandered around and backtracked on several occasions but finally satisfied that I had all of the things I needed, paid my bill and got out of there. I stopped at Starbucks on the way home and bought my customary Latte.

Both Mikey and Summer were pleased to see me knowing that they would go out walking which we did even before unloading the groceries. We wandered around saying “Hi” to a couple of other campers that we passed on the way. Many of them know my name but I have no clue who they might be. I am probably the oldest camper here in the park which gives me some sort of notoriety, I guess.

When we got back to the RV, I put the groceries away helped by the dogs whose little noses were going a mile a minute as they explored the packages. With everything put away, I looked around for other things to get up to and settled for an Audiobook until it started to get dark and then I brought in the bird feeders as one more day came to an end.

I had a restless night but finally managed to drop off to sleep. Even then, I awoke a couple of times to see that it was still dark outside and not time to get up. I managed to fall back off to sleep and when I did wake up again, it was almost 9:30 am. I had no plans so I was not in any trouble for waking up late. Mikey was still sleeping alongside of me and Summer was in one of her hidey holes and never did wake up to go walkies. Consequently, it was just me and Mikey walking around. A couple people asked about Summer and I told them that she was still sleeping which they found highly amusing.

When we got back, Summer was waiting for us on the deck so I harnessed her up and the three of us went back out walking again. Both of them did their business which was the whole purpose of the walk anyway.

Back in the RV, I fixed them breakfast of canned doggy meat which they both enjoyed. Mikey was ready to eat Summers until I hollered at him and he slunk off knowing he had just committed a no-no.

We settled down each in our respective sitting places, Mikey in the chair next to me, Summer all curled up in one of her hidey holes under the table and me sitting in front of the computer. I worked on the blog and brought everything up to date and wondered about the rest of the day. I had no plans and the only thing I could think of to do was go grocery shopping but I really didn’t need anything of great importance.

We sat around with me listening to an Audiobook when “The Girls” called me. I already knew they were in The Commons watching movies so I loaded up with a couple of four packs of wine and headed over to join them. We spent a couple of hours enjoying each others company and watching a movie. As it was getting dark, I went back to the RV to take the dogs out for their last walk of the day and then brought in the bird feeders. I had to turn the outside lights on so I could see to put the stuff away.

With that taken care of, I fed the dogs but didn’t have to feed myself as The Girls had already done that, Me and the dogs sat and watched television for the rest of the evening.

I slept very well and when I finally awoke, it was 9:30 am. I crawled out of bed and took a shower to finish the waking up process. Besides, I was due for a shower anyway as I don’t shower every day unless it has been a particularly busy one with a lot of physical activity and sweat and there is not much of that kind of thing going on any more.

We went out walking as we usually do only this time, Summer decided that she would rather sleep so Mikey and I went out without her.

I was sitting at the table working on the blog and happened to glance out of the window. It was a bit of a windy day, not severely windy but enough to cause RV damage. Even as I was looking, the RV parked across from me that had it’s awning out was hit by a strong gust of wind which tore the awning apart. The owners were away and had left the awning out in error. Anyway, as I have no way of contacting them, I emailed Josh so he or Amber could notify them. The RV is not towable in its current state. That was my good deed for the day.

I continued to work on the blog as I thought about the rest of the day and what to do to fill the time. As I already mentioned, it was a bit windy outside and definitely much cooler and not really the sort of day to spend time outside even though the sun was shining. Not counting dog walking, of course as that is a necessity.

Incidentally, I no longer leave the indoor window blinds down now except at night because if the sun is shining with them up, it helps to warm up the inside of the RV. Might just as well make use of Nature’s heat. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it said it was 1:30 pm and I was already out of things to do.

We went out for another walk about and this time travelled a bit further. We also had Summer with us as by now, she was wide awake and ready to go. We wandered around the park before returning back to the RV.

There, I took care of a couple of household chores and then, as I usually do, dug out my audiobook and spent time listening to the story until it was time to take the dogs out for the last walk of the day.

The girls were over in the Commons watching TV so I grabbed a carton of wine and wandered over to join them. We spent a couple of hours just hanging out and enjoying each others company.

I went back to my RV and put the bird feeders away for another day. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV.

I awoke early because the bed was cold and I mean cold. I got up and checked the thermostat and it was off which can only mean one thing and that was the power was off. I checked a couple of other switches and sure enough—no power. I cursed under my breath and quickly threw on some clothes and made a quick call to the Park Super to let them know. Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door and the Repair man was standing there to ask me to check if the heat was back on, which it was. I thanked him profusely and he went on his way. It took a while for the RV to warm up but at least I had heat.

I sat and worked on the blog. Luckily, I was only yesterday behind so catching up was no problem. As I sat at the table, I watched as Peggy pulled up in her car. I met her at the door and invited her in and she sat for a bit and we chatted about this and that. After a while, she left to sit in the Commons to watch movies. I guess she just wanted to be alone as I invited her to watch here in my RV if she wanted to.

I continued to work on the blog and quickly caught up posting yesterday and bringing today up to date at least as far as I could go. Today is another one of those quiet days with nothing pressing.

Me and the dogs hung out at the RV. They slept while I listened to an Audiobook until it was time to go back out walking. As I have mentioned before, unless I go into town shopping or maybe an appointment, our days consist mainly of the usual household chores, dog walking and meals. What a life…

I slept very well and was ready to get out of bed which makes a change from normal when I am only too ready to roll over and go back to sleep. I found Summer curled up in her normal hidey hole fast asleep and not showing any signs of wanting to be woken up. So I didn’t.

I harnessed up Mikey and out the door we went to make one circuit of the park. When we got back, Summer was sitting on the deck waiting for us so I harnessed her up to Mikey in their usual double harness that they share and out we went walking again.

It was a bit chilly out but the sun was shining as we wandered around. I was glad of my jacket which kept the wind out. Back in the RV, I fed both dogs breakfast and then settled for toast and marmalade for myself along with the all important coffee.

I sat and worked on the blog while I was eating breakfast and happened to glance at the clock which told me it was already almost 1:30 pm. It looks like it is going to be another one of those fly by days as I have no idea where the time goes…I have nothing of any importance planned for the day but I am sure, something will pop up. It always does…

The rest of the day was like most of them are nowadays. I went outside and did some work on repairing the large bird feeder the had a minor problem with the catch that keeps it closed. One of my friendly squirrels had done a number on it and it had completely broken off. I repaired it with duct tape and tomorrow, I will refill it and it can join the others to help feed the few birds that are still visiting which, by the way, aren’t many. I have changed how I feed accordingly. I have gone more to seed cakes rather than loose seed.

It was a quiet day, the way I like them. We sat around listening to an Audiobook for a bit and walked the dogs so that we all got some exercise. It was another peaceful day in our lives.

I awoke at a reasonable hour but it was so nice and warm in bed, I lay there for another 30 minutes before crawling out. Mikey was zonked off and made no attempt to get up and Summer had found one of her hidey holes out in the living area and was fast asleep. In fact, I had to literally wake her up to get her harness on for that first walk of the day. She is as bad as me when it comes waking up.

We went out and wandered around. It was a bit breezy as well as being on the cool side as Fall slowly moves into Winter. The weather forecast was for it to be a clear sunny day but the highs have already dropped and it is not expected to get any warmer than 76 degrees.

I thought about what we were going to do today and a couple of things came to mind. One was to go into town and renew my driver’s license which is now due or will be mid January. I think I have to take a Drivers Test as well as it has been two years.

I decided that getting a new driver’s license outweighed all the other things I could do today and even though I really didn’t want to make that drive deep into the heart of downtown Austin, I went ahead with the plan. It’s a good job that my trusty map finder showed me the way to the Motor Vehicle Department as I would never have found the place without it.

I walked in and had barely sat down in the waiting room before it was my turn to be served. I had already filled in lengthy paperwork as I waited and the first thing was to get one of those ugly drivers license pictures taken. I don’t know why but in those pictures, I always come out looking like I just escaped from jail or worse. The rest of the process went through smoothly and before long, I was on my way back home with a temporary driver’s license to see me through the next couple of weeks when the new license should arrive. I was expecting a written test or something similar or maybe even a drivers test because of my age as I will be celebrating my 90th birthday on January 20th but all I did was to chat to a pretty young girl as she filled out the paperwork.

I got out of there before anyone changed their minds and took the new license back and headed for the car and drove back to Henly quite literally one very happy camper. By the way, I sure was glad to get out of the downtown Austin traffic. It is horrible and I can’t imagine having to drive in it every day.

We went out walking when I arrived back at the RV and just wandered around as we normally do.. Even Summer was glad to be out and about

The rest of the day which was not much, was spent listening to an Audiobook and dog walking before settling in for the night.

We awoke to a cloudy, rainy day with a distinct chill in the air and as we usually do, went out walking immediately after I had put some clothes on. Today, Summer was actually almost ready to hit the trail. Not quite though as she still needed a lot of guidance but she followed Mikey’s example and let me hitch her up and out the door we went. She always and I mean, always, brings up the rear and sometimes, she just stops mid trail and then I have to coax her into going the way I want us to go. If she is really serious about going in her direction, I give in and that’s the way we go unless there is some sort of danger in going her way.

We wandered around the park and only saw a couple of other dog walkers before returning to the RV where I ate the usual corn flakes and drank the usual coffee for breakfast. I am definitely a creature of habit and no wonder I look for something different to eat every morning with not much luck. My taste buds are all over the place I suppose changing as I age. Wine still tastes good though…

Then, I settled down to work on the blog.I completed yesterday and started on today.When I glanced at the clock, I was surprised to see that it was already 2:00 pm and I have no idea where the time has gone. Outside it was a dull, cloudy and showery day and I decided that indoors is the best and only place to be.

I got to thinking about it and decided that I needed a few things from Tractor Supply si I hopped in the car and made the short trip. I quickly found what I was looking for and was out of the store in no time flat only to decide that a Latte would really hit the spot. So, without further ado, I drove into the Starbucks located in Dripping Springs and purchased on for the drive home.

Back at the RV, I unloaded the groceries with a lot of help from both dogs before harnessing up for a walkabout. It had left off raining but was a bit on the cool side so we did one circuit of the park before heading back to the warmth of the RV’s heating system.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the usual way listening to an Audiobook. It began to get dark and I brought in the bird feeders and shut up the outside shop for another day. Incidentally, there are not many birds that visit the feeders as those that normally fly off to warmer climes have already gone.

It was another quiet day at the campground with nothing unusual or of any major importance happening.

As usual, we started off with the first walk of the day followed by bringing out the bird feeders. There are not many birds visiting nowadays as I guess, those that normally do, have already hibernated to warmer climes. It’s not very much like winter yet here in my part of Texas as the daytime temperatures are still in the low 70’s. It does cool down some at night but not much.

We wandered around chatting to the few people that were out and about. Maybe I was too late for most of them as it was around 10:00 am when we went out. The campground is about half full most of whom are permanent residents like me and we all have sites that we call home. A lot of the residents decorate their RV’s and their sites for the holidays which are coming up. We have one couple whose husband works at The Home Depot and I swear, has bought half of the store to decorate their RV. It looks absolutely beautiful with their arrangement.

This is the same RV that Sandy and Mikey always make a beeline for when we go walking. They have a big dog tied up to a sliding leash and the lady of the house always gives Sandy and Mikey a couple of treats when we visit while my two dogs stand and bark at their big one who returns the favor.

I sat around most of the afternoon and decided I should go grocery shopping as I was out a few essentials like wine! I did buy food as well and managed to spend around the usual $150.00 which is my normal expense when I go to the grocery store. I stopped at Starbucks for my customary Latte although to be truthful, I guess my Latte days are coming to an end. Once upon a time, I could hardly pass a Starbucks without the car automatically pulling up at the window and it was always a Grande Latte. Nowadays, I think long and hard if I even need one and when I do, I get the smallest size available. Funny how things change as we age…The problem with aging is that our taste buds are also growing older and things just don’t taste the same.

Back at the RV, I made a fuss of the dogs and took them out walking as a repayment for them helping to unload and put the groceries away. Yeah, right… We circled the grounds stopping to chat to a couple of other campers on the way and when we got back, I brought in the bird feeders as it was getting dark, Then we sat outside for a while just sitting and enjoying each others company before going back indoors to watch television. I watched two games of English Football, Soccer to you heathens that don’t know the difference between football (American) and Football as played by most countries in the world and called Soccer over here.

It was midnight before we slid off to bed and as usual, Mikey cuddled up with me and Summer found several different places on the floor. I have tried putting her up with us but she stays there for a while and then gets down on the floor and finds her own hidey holes. No idea why she doesn’t like sleeping on the bed.

It was a normal night and except for the usual calls of Nature, was uneventful, the way I like them.

It was a very dull, overcast and cloudy day when I finally awoke which almost made me roll over and go back to sleep. I glanced at the clock and it said it was almost 10:00 am and we had managed to sleep half of the morning away. Both dogs were still sleeping, Mikey on the bed next to me and Summer on the floor on her huge pillow. She sleeps a lot, that little girl. When I got up, Mikey was immediately wide awake with me whereas Summer was still fast asleep and not going anywhere.

After the usual morning ablutions and throwing on some clothes, I harnessed the dogs or at least tried to as Sandy just would not wake up and I literally had to shake her to get her to do so. Finally, I managed to get her harness on and she stood up sort of ready to go. When she zonks off she is dead to the world and it takes a lot to get her going.

We walked out the door and wandered around the Park not seeing any other dogs which was not surprising considering how late it was when I awoke. Both dogs did their thing and got to sample all of the early morning smells. It all smelt the same to me but then again, I am not a dog.

Back in the RV, as there was very little wind blowing, I let out the overhead canopy although it was a cloudy day and I could have left it in and thought about the day ahead. It was a Saturday and as far as I knew, I had no plans but of course. that could change. I also brought out the bird feeders and noticed that one of the big ones on the deck needed refilling something for me to do when next I go outside.

The rest of the day was spent in the usual way listening to an Audiobook and walking the dogs.

Living in an RV Henly RV Park Sunday 11/23/2015

It was a cloudy day when I crawled out of bed with the promise of rain in the forecast, We could sure use some of the wet stuff as we haven’t had much to talk of at all these last couple of months. As usual, the first thing on the agenda was to walk the dogs around the park although neither of them was really interested. With Sandy, it was more stop than start and I spent a lot of the time encouraging her to walk.

Back in the RV, I fixed myself breakfast of a can of soup. It was 1:00 pm anyway so lunch was more in keeping with the current time. I wish I could say it hit the spot but it didn’t. Seems like I am not very interested in food nowadays. For a change, I drank tea instead of the usual coffee.

We had a very brief shower of all of 5 minutes which was enough to wet the ground. It stayed cloudy so maybe there is more rain in the future.