Living In An RV

Fifty Four Years Ago. 02/16/2021

March 13th, 2021

The Queen Mary in all of her glory. She was launched in 1936 the same year that I was born or was I launched…

What is special about the title, you may well ask. Well, it was 54 years ago on this date that my family and I set foot on these shores after the trip across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. The blogs below all tell the story of that trip and the life since over several different years.

What has changed in those years that makes this anniversary any different? Well for starters, I have recently celebrated my 85th birthday and except for being much feebler as compared to the young man that landed that day and for getting more and more absent minded, another thing that comes with older age, I am still pretty much the same happy go lucky, grumpy person that I was way back then with the outlook of one that has seen and done a lot in a lifetime. I became a citizen in 1976 mainly so that I could have my say in the general elections. I have been married 3 times, have several children and stepchildren spread between the USA and England, some with families of their own and all grown older following the years as they advance. I grew too old to play football (soccer to the uninitiated), the love of my life which probably accounts for 3 wives leaving me, retiring from the game in my 72nd year because of knee replacement surgery and spent the next 10 years going to the gym to stay fit and healthy. Ten years ago, I started blogging and writing poetry and this site is the second on which I post. My original site is still up and can be reached at this link. After my third and last wife moved on to her greener pastures, leaving me the house, I became interested in Ponds, Pond building and keeping Koi which I have done as a hobby for the past 29 years. Now, in the twilight of my years, I have other plans which involve selling this house and moving full time into my RV to travel for as long as I can drive and then, when I become too big a menace to others on the road, park it somewhere and wait for the end.

Incidentally, of the members of my family, several have passed on including my Mother and Stepfather. my two Brothers and my sister, all whom were older than me. The ones who made the trip who have passed include my wife of that time, Valerie, my stepdaughter Alison who was a nurse and the dog, Melody leaving my other step daughter Catherine, who is a Librarian now retired, my daughter Leslie who owns her own business and William, my stepson who is avery successful Doctor. William lives in Houston and Catherine and Leslie live in Fort Plain, New York, the town in which we originally settled all of those years ago.

So, Happy Anniversary to me on this day and to Catherine, Leslie and William. Hopefully there will be a few more to celebrate and write about.

My Arrival in America

Celebration time-46 years later…

My 47th Anniversary…March 13, 1967.

My 50th Anniversary.

America, the Promised Land

Another Day of Winter 02/16/2021

March 8th, 2021

Another day that winters is here
as the day outside is bright and clear
and the snow lays on the ground
unusual but real as we have found
that the weather is changing in my part of the State
and this winter has brought snow and sleet
in quantities not seen before
and freezing temperatures to add to the score
lasting all day long and through the night
leaving us in a sorry plight
with six inches of snow upon the ground
and locked indoors my feelings profound
as I stare out of the window and feeling the chill
of a winters day and we have long had our fill
of weather this cold and snow on the ground
waiting for Spring to come quickly around
and temperatures more fitting to get things to grow
away from this winter with the pretty white snow
until it is summer and then we’ll find ways
with the sun so hot that the cooler days
from back in the winter look good about now
never satisfied with weather and knowing somehow
that this being Texas things will change
and Mother Nature will quickly arrange
for it to be different just wait and see
as she changes her clothes so amazingly.

How I hate the cold and snow…
I have nothing better to do than write…

Written 02/16/2021

Don’t forget to check out https://pondblog2011.com

Dang Weather 02/15/2021

March 5th, 2021

View of my backyard wearing it’s Winters Look

I am sitting here in front of my kitchen window looking at the amazing winter wonderland that Mother Nature has created. Not that I haven’t seen it before as 10 years in New York State does get you acclimatized to snow storms. I just haven’t seen it in the 44 years that I have lived in the Austin area. Sure we have had snow and some frosts but nothing like what we are going through now. Continuous below freezing temperatures for several days at a time has not happened that I can remember, in those years.

I had to check that the pumps were running in the ponds especially the aerators which prevents the ice from covering the entire surface area, important in maintaining oxygen in the water. I went outside followed by the dogs. Mikey took to the snow without any trouble and ran and jumped in an excited way. Sandy, not so much as she stayed on the deck under the awning. As soon as Mikey and I were through with our business, we went back indoors along with Sandy who then immediately went into her little song and dance routine that generally precedes our daily walk. She was not satisfied with the garden and wanted to walk the streets.

Without further ado, I got them all harnessed up and off we went. My neighbor, Chris, was busy shovelling the snow from his driveway so we stopped and chatted for a bit before heading off down the road, walking in the tire tracks of the few vehicles that had made it out with Sandy out front, as usual, leading the way. There were a couple of other neighbors also walking their dogs ahead of us so we made sure not to catch up. Not because of Covid or bad neighborliness on my part but because I just did not want Sandy performing her usual sorry behaviour towards any other dog that we happen to run into regardless of their size, breed or sex. There is one exception and that is the little Chit Zhu that my hispanic lady friends that I encounter on our walks, have and for some reason, Sandy has sort of made friends with her.

I decided to go back as the wind chill was turning pretty cold and I did not feel very comfortable but the dogs showed no sign of feeling the cold. However, they did not object or complan when we turned around after about a half mile of walking and made our way back to the semi warmth of the house. I say semi warm as the house heater is really struggling to keep the place warm and the thermostat shows it to be 69° F. Bearable but not really comfortable. Still, with an extra sweater or two, we can live it out until the weather decides to return to Texas normal. I did add an extra cover to the bed and managed to sleep like a baby last night. Well, that is except for the usual old man’s problem of a couple of bathroom breaks, one of the banes of growing old, on top of radiation prostate treatment 12 years ago.

I do have an auxiliary heater that would be ideal to help warm the house. The problem is that it is in the RV, not heating it but just there. I used it when I was installing the desk and left it in the RV on purpose figuring that I would not need it in the time I have left in the house. Boy, was I wrong as I could really use it about now. Again though, due to this storm, the roads are not very driveable and not worth taking the chance.

Oh yes, I tried to light a fire in the fireplace which hasn’t been used for several years and much to my dismay, the house rapidly filled up with smoke setting off alarms all over the place. I quickly doused the fire and turned on overhead fans, opened a couple of outside doors and let things air out until the smoke had cleared. I guess, there must be a blockage in the chimney, maybe a squirrel’s nest or something similar. It can wait until the weather warms up.
Now the house smells of smoke or maybe it’s my sweater, darn it.

Written 02/15/2021

This Winter Weather and My RV 02/14/2021

March 1st, 2021

As those of you that are following this blog know, my RV is parked at Henly RV Park here in Texas just outside of Dripping Springs as I work towards the sale of my house and all of my worldly goods along with it. I stay in the RV for a couple of days at a time whenever I can but due the recent cold spell that we are going through, have opted to stay at my “bricks and sticks” to keep an eye on the ponds at least until the weather breaks.

Usually, with normal weather, this would not be a problem as the heaters would be turned very low, just enough to take the chill off. Now though, it is a very different story with the temperatures below freezing both day and night requiring that the heaters are working full time to prevent any damage to the plumbing. This in turn uses more propane, fuel for this particular action which in my case, is contained in two 40 pound propane tanks very similar to the setup in the picture above.. This type of system is common in most RV’s with supplemental electric heat from various sources. Electricity is not a problem as the RV is on full hook ups.

I stopped over a couple of days ago when the weather first turned cold and changed out the propane tank to the full one leaving the empty one by the RV for Kim, the Park Super, to fill which he does for all tenants as a part of the normal practice. Today, I was planning on going over to change tanks but the roads are in no condition to drive with icy patches all over. I know they are bad as there are hardly any cars going by on my street which is very unusual. My only way out was to call Kim and ask him if he would change out the tanks for me hoping that it would last long enough until the roads are drivable again within the next couple of days. I could tell that he wasn’t too happy about it but somewhat grudgingly agreed to help out. Maybe I am doing him a disservice. I offered to pay him for his services which I hope that he will accept.

This icy spell is so unusual for us here in southern Texas and especially for it to last so long. For it to be below freezing during the day is quite unheard of. Hopefully, it is a one of a kind and won’t happen again. and we can go back to our normal habits and way of life. Then me and the dogs can spend a couple of days each week at Henly.

Written 02/14/2021

Winter in Texas 02/13/2021

February 26th, 2021

The view just outside of Henly of the icy conditions

I disembarked from the Queen Mary on her final voyage from England, landing in New York Harbor on March 13, 1967. That was 54 years ago. My family and I were met by my Mother and one of her neighbors who she had somehow coerced into making that 400 mile round trip from Fort Plain, NY to New York City. He had a big Ford Station Wagon, which incidentally, was the biggest car I had ever seen. It had enough room for himself, my Mother, my family consisting of myself and my wife and four kids ranging in age from 4 to 12 plus Melody, the English Cocker Spaniel we had brought over with us AND all of our luggage including a couple of large trunks that went on the roof. I would imagine that as an extra incentive, she probably paid him for his services.

We headed up the Thruway arriving in Fort Plain late in the evening and I remember looking in wonderment as the very large semi trailers towing another trailer, rushed by us, I had never seen anything that big on the road before and here it was commonplace. I quickly got used to it in the following weekes. That night, we had 13 inches of very wet snow. Like the tractor trailers, I had never seen 13 inches of snow before all at one time. Sure we had snow in the South of England where I lived but never usually much more than 2-3 inches at a time. I honestly wondered just what we had let ourselves in for.

I stayed in New York State for 10 years with it’s cold, snowy and generally miserable winters when circumstances including a divorce, another marriage and a job change brought me to the great State of Texas where I have resided in the Austin area for these past 44 years. That does not make me an expert on any subject neither do I claim to be a Texan but it does entitle me to elaborate my views on the Texas weather as now, I have 44 years of experiencing it. The one constant in Texas weather is that it gets bloody hot in the summer, Every summer. Not just the occasional one but every summer. It’s the one thing that can be relied on is that there will be an unknown number of 100 degree days. The record so far is 90 days at 100 degrees in 2011 but with the climate changing as it is, that could easily be broken in the next few years. Weatherwise, the Summer season will probably soon start around the May 1 and end somewhere around the end of October instead of starting June 20th and ending on Sep 22 as it currently defined. Hopefully, not.

Now, we have another weather extreme at this present time. here in Austin. Three weeks ago, following what had been a very mild winter, we had a very large (for us), snowfall of 3 inches or more. Follow the link to the blog I wrote about it here. It didn’t stay around for very long as there was not any cold or frosty weather to go along with it and was gone with no visible signs in 2 days. Except that is, for broken tree limbs and others things in need of trimming and clearing up. Now, 2 weeks later, we are in the grip of an icy spell for these past few days with temperatures forecast to plummet down as low as 10° Fahrenheit tonight and zero to 1° tomorrow and slowly maintaining the sub zero weather through the next couple of days. It will remain that way until Friday when it will finally get above freezing at night. The daytime temperatures will stay below freezing through Wednesday when it is forecast to slowly start to get to what we consider normal for the time of year. In our case 50’s and 60’s during the day. A little over a week ago, the temperature was up to 80 plus degrees.

We have had the occasional ice storm and freezing weather in the past but never for it to remain at or below freezing for more than a week and never for it to freeze all day as well. This is so unusual and out of the norm and coupled with the snowstorm of a couple of weeks prior, that we can only contribute it to climate change as man slowly destroys his own planet. Like I said, I moved from New York State, where this sort of weather is not a bit unusual, to get away from it. I remember going skiing once in the evening only to walk all the way back down the mountain carrying my ski’s over my shoulder as the windchill was something like 50° below freezing. I still got frostbitten ears even with all the gear on, facemask and all.

All of the brave flowers and plants that started their spring cycle will all be cut down by the frost and the survivors will have to start over. The fish in the ponds will survive as long as the pumps and aerators continue to function keeping the ponds ice free. It will mean that everything in the garden will need cutting back to clean it up. Wonder if I will be in the mood to do that or will I wimp out, again and give it to my garden contractor to do?

I hate cold weather and now as I grow older, have trouble staying out in 100 degree weather for too long. You just can’t please some people. When I moved from England, one reason that finally decided us was that it was always raining and I mean, always. Then I moved from New York State to get away from the winters where it was very cold and snowy. Now this. Where can I can move to next?

And now, as I look out of the window, it is starting to snow. What a hell of a winter and I mean that quite literally. On top of that Sandy, the little girl dog is mad at me because I would not take them walking this afternoon. I tried to explain to her that the roads are icy and I don’t want to slip and fall down but she doesn’t get it. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

I am completing this the following day as that snow that started last evening kept on all night and we ended up with 5-6 inches of the white stuff. What is worse is that the daytime temperature is not scheduled to rise much above 20° and then drop again overnight to 2° by the morning. Tomorrow is not going to be much better as the thermometer will stay around the same as today and won’t start to warm until the end of the week. This also means that we are stuck with the white stuff for a few days. I hope that the roads get cleared although this part of Texas probably doesn’t have snow moving equipment as it is not the norm for us. I really need to get to Henly and check on the Eagle, my RV and probably change out the gas bottle. For me, this snow couldn’t come at a worse time.

This is a pano of the back yard. Very similar to the one 2 weeks ago except there is a lot more snow.

Written 02/15/2021

Moving the RV, Again 02/03/2021

February 24th, 2021

I think that I mentioned in an earlier blog that when I first moved the Eagle to the Henly RV Park, it would only be in the first parking site temporarily until the start of the month when I would move it to the permanent site that had been allotted to me. In the meantime, I was able to enjoy a few days camping out.

Prior to the end of that first month, I received an email from the park owners telling me that I needed to be ready to make the move to the permanent site as soon as possible as my current site was allocated to neighbors, yet unknown, who would be coming in within a couple of days. It was nicely written and very friendly and was just a reminder. However, I had taken my truck into the dealership for some repairs and was without the means to move the trailer which I wrote back to inform them. They were very understanding about it and suggested that if I would be in attendance to help, one of the owners, a young healthy looking dude of 6 ft something, named James, would move it for me and help with the set up.

We arranged a day and time and I was there ready and waiting for them to appear. “Them” was James and the Park on-site Manager, an older gentleman by the name of Kim who I had met previously. James had come over and introduced himself the first time that I pulled in and helped me set up that time. I sat in the loaner car just passing time looking towards the construction site of the additional trailer parking and watched as a dually truck backed out of the worksite which was at least 100 yards away coming towards me. i figured it was James and was in awe that he chose to back the entire distance. He jumped out and introduced himself and about that time, Kim pulled up on his 4 wheeler and came to join the party. Kim has to be at least as old as me if not older.

Anyway, in no time flat, with very little help from the both of us, James had the RV hooked up to his 5th wheel and had hauled it over to the new site. Kim and I both followed in our respective vehicles and I watched as James proceeded to back the RV into the new site with very little adjustments and getting it right almost the first time. I kept thinking back to the last time that I had to do the same thing when I camped at Bastrop and managed to make a wonderful park job between two trees. Unfortunately for me, I was off by 45 degrees that time and it took me a while to start over and get it straightened out. In my defence, I didn’t have a spotter to help me. James happened to mention that he and his family had been RV’ing a long time which probably explains why he is so good at backing up. Some things get better with practice.

We spent some time levelling the RV until we were all satisfied and they both helped with the hookups. Between them, they could just not do enough for which I was very grateful. I finished with the sewer and water hookups and then opened up the 3 slides, turned on the gas, checked the refrigerator to make sure it was working, set the thermostat and before heading home, checked everything again. I left the water turned off as I needed a new washer to stop the connection from leaking and didn’t have one with me. Satisfied that was all that I needed to do, I headed home all the time, wishing that I didn’t have to.

As it happens, later in the week, I received another email from the Park Management, this time directed to all of the tenants to make them aware of the upcoming winter weather. This was a warning that would result in several days of freezing weather and to have the water shut off by 9:00 pm each evening and the hoses disconnected to minimize the risk of freezing pipes. So, I jumped back into my loaner car and headed back to the park to disassemble the hose from the spigot, covering it to prevent it from freezing and unhooking the hose from the RV. At the same time, I also turned on the heat and set the thermostat to 65 degrees to keep the RV safe. Looking around, I could see that the tenants had changed quite considerably and most of the parking spaces were full as several new RV’s moved in. Even the new site that was still under construction, had a couple of RV ‘s parked in them.

Satisfied that I had done my bit, once again I headed home to a couple of noisy little dogs all excited to see me knowing that they would be going for their evening walk. I will need to make another trip within a couple of days to check on the gas and change tanks if need be.

This is my permanent site at for least all of the time that I am at this Park. It all depends on how much longer it takes to sell the house and close out that part of the business but I do have it reserved until the end of June. Hopefully, I will be long gone before then but again, who knows what is in the future. I didn’t see these icy conditions coming either.
BTW, as I write this, it is 33 degrees outside…

Written 02/11/2021

Don’t forget to check out the companion site at https://pondblog2011.com , my previous blog for more articles and poetry.

More Winter Weather 02/11/2021

February 22nd, 2021

Just when we thought we had seen it all
when the snowflakes started to fall
leaving us wondering along the way
three inches on the ground it lay
and didn’t last for very long
within a day it was all gone
and we were glad to see it go
as here in Texas we don’t like snow.

If things were following the usual norm
our winter would end with that storm
and here we are two weeks along
to sing another winters song
this time not snow but ice and sleet
making it slippery under our feet
forecast to last for several days
changing our thinking in so many ways
as now all of our plans have changed
as winter plays its sneaky games.

I watched as the birds looked for food
and to my feeders in a multitude
they swarmed and squabled in their search
alas the feeders on which they perched
were empty of seed to fill their need
as I watched them searching for the seed
I put on my jacket and out I did go
to brave the winters ice and snow
and fill the feeders so they could eat
and fight the cold that they would beat
Nature playing her usual games
for reasons why she cannot explain.

This time around the weather forecast
says that this winter storm will last
at least for a week or possibly more
as no one knows what’s really in store
as this is Texas and everyone knows
that even though the cold wind blows
and it might even turn to snow
or continue freezing rain as we know
bringing more of just the same
of this horrible freezing rain
it could also be a sunny day
as all of this weather goes away.

And really the truth is it won’t be long
before we sing a different song
as the temperature rises bit by bit
and Nature changes to make things fit
into her schedule and Spring will be here
and bring with it a lot of good cheer
with sunny weather and making things grow
and we will forget we ever had snow
and back to what we consider our norm
with the sun shining bright a new season is born.

Written 02/11/2021

Don’t forget to check out https://pondblog2011.com for more of the same.

Reminiscing 02/09/2021

February 19th, 2021

The remaining trophies. The picture behind is of Colorado.

As a part of the general clean up and preparation work that goes along with selling my home, I decided to take a look at the 20 or so trophies that still remained. At one time, there were over 60 of them all sitting on top of the cabinet on display and I might add, gathering dust. The funny thing with trophies is that the actual time of winning is much more important than the trophy.

They all belonged to the period of my life when I was not only playing but was also a very active soccer coach both at the Coed Soccer, Youth Soccer and also with Adult women. I had already donated the Youth trophies with the exception of a couple that I came across in the recent clean out which I will try to find a home for. The remaining 21 of them were won by a couple of very good Women’s teams who competed as Amateur and then later as Over 30 that I coached back in the day. The original team was named the Redstone Allies and was sponsored by one of the players, Mary, who was the owner of Redstone Ranch and although very pregnant, continued to play as long as she could. The team lasted 2-3 years and a new team, the Austin Allies formed as an Over 30 team. The players just progressed from one to the other as they reached the age limit. Both teams started off as Amateur Women’s teams playing in a local Women’s League here in Austin with varying degrees of success. Eventually, the Redstone Allies disbanded and the Austin Allies became the team to beat. The players competed in the local league and usually the Texas State Championship and always gave a good account of themselves in winning the State finals a couple of times. In one final, Lisa, who was a stand in goalkeeper with our regular one out injured, saved two penalty kicks to help us to the win. She was definitely the hero of the day. It was not until the team turned into an Over 30 team did they really come into their own. They made it to the National Tournament finishing second twice to a team from Dallas, our nemesis and finally becoming National Champions for the one and only time.

The team was so good that in order to get competition on a weekly basis, instead of playing in the local Women’s League they competed in the Men’s top over 30 division. The men were on the whole, both bigger and physically stronger but the women were way more skilled and played well as a team. In fairness to most of the men, they respected that the women were generally better skilled with the odd exception when a man would get tired of being beat by a women and would resort to having to foul them. Usually, following one of these fouls, the male would help the woman player to her feet offering many apologies. It was all good training for the many competitions that the team entered with a huge amounts of success travelling to such places at Oklahoma, Florida, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Utah, Colorado and California. For our local tournaments and games within driving distance, there would be as many as 8-10 players all crowded into my big blue travel van with me being the only male. They were so comfortable around me that I got to hear some amazing stories of the the most intimate kind as they chatted amongst themselves. One thing I learned is that a bunch of young ladies are far worse than a group of men when it comes to disclosing their most intimate secrets. It was as though I just was not there.

Sadly, like all good things, it was time to move on as eventually I decided to give up coaching Women and moved into coaching Youth soccer, a totally different challenge. In itself, it was very rewarding as I helped young and talented players to develop their skills and get a better understanding of the game in general. This lasted until I had just turned 72 when knee replacement surgery put an end to both my coaching and playing career.

Now all I have left are memories and a stack of trophies that I am looking to give back to the players, most of whom have retired from actively playing but hopefully still have the same memories of those wonderful soccer teams and camaraderie and teamwork that went along with it. Those ladies honored me on my 80th birthday with a party and it was great to see them again. Those were the good old days and some of my fondest memories, never to be forgotten.

Written 02/09/2021

Don’t forget to check out my other blog, Life and Day to Day things by a Pond Enthusiast. It is no longer active and has many stories, pictures and poems that I first started 10 years ago. The link is https://pondblog2011.com

Patience and Staying up to Date 02/08/2021

February 17th, 2021

Herbert and Clarence, basking in the sun. Clarence is at least 12-14 inches long.

When I was much, much younger, I couldn’t wait for things to happen and was very impatient when they seemed to take an eternity. Thankfully, at least for my peace of mind and along with the wisdom that comes with getting to an older age, I have learned that waiting a little bit is not so bad and as much as I still want instantaneous gratification, waiting for a while longer has its rewards, as long as the end result is as good or better than what was originally anticipated, that is.

This is very true for my current state of affairs. For those of you that have been following my blogs, you know that I am in the process of selling my house of 35 years and moving full time into an RV named the Eagle. This is a long and carefully planned out move in what will probably be my final adventure which, with any luck, will last a few more years.

The point of this blog is to show that patience for me is very difficult as I slowly, oh so very slowly, get the house ready to put on the market. I wander around from room to room and am completely lost as to what to do next. What is saleable, what should I donate or give away to friends or anybody that will take it, what is trash and when should I get that 10 cubic yard dumpster on site for that stuff that nobody is ever going to want. Which makes me wonder why I still have it anyway, whatever it is. Humans are hoarders, or some of us are. It may not be a conscious thing but we put something off to one side and there it stays for all eternity until such times as this when it somehow sees the light of day again. Then you ask yourself the question of “Why did I keep this in the first place?”. Of course, there is no sensible answer to that question as things were different at the time of keeping. Like all things in life, we change as we grow older in likes, tastes, colors viewpoints, girlfriends and even wives and I don’t know it we will ever be any different. Well, I should say the girlfriend and wives thing for me is a thing of the long distant pass and my only relationship to count of is with my dogs. Oh, I still have a few friends especially among my neighbors but everyone else is just a memory. That is, if they are still alive and even if they are not, I still remember the good times with them.

I did make the first moves to donating the very large Koi yesterday. I have learned the hard way that there is no resale for these fish and I want them to go to good homes. Donating them to members of the Austin Pond Society, the group that I have belonged to these past several years, I will know that they will be going to the right people that really care about their fish. Yesterday, I met with the rescue group, Jeannie and husband Steven accompanied by Barb, the President who came over to look and see what needs to be done. There are probably between 30-40 very large Koi some of which are nearly 3 feet long plus another 40 or so of last years Koi babies which are now between 8-10 inches in size. That is in the two large Koi ponds and in the smaller Goldfish pond, it contains probably at least 100 Goldfish of all sizes. These are much smaller than Koi and only grow to about 8 inches long. They are also much hardier and easier to keep due to their smaller size.

We discussed the process and how we should go about it and came up the a plan. So, when we are ready to go, I will begin the process of pumping down the water to at least half of its current depth and then the Rescue crew will come in and finish lowering the water to where they can isolate the fish and then catch them one by one until the pond is empty of anything fishwise still in it, There are turtles in the ponds and unless someone specifically wants to take them, they will stay where they are. I would like to see that Clarence, the very large turtle and Herbert, the turtle donated after spending 10 years in an aquarium, maybe find a new home. After the fish are caught, they will be distributed to the waiting members who will have been notified prior and ready and waiting with their very large containers, complete with aerators. These large Koi quickly use up the oxygen in small containers and without the above mentioned aerators, would die in transit. The plan is to do this over 3 separate weekends for each of the 3 ponds.

As I have mentioned before, this is probably one of the harder parts to selling this house. Everything else is bricks, stones and wood and only of material value. The fish are different and although I don’t love them as I do my dogs, I still care for their welfare and only want the best for them. They have given me much pleasure for the last 30 years not only in watching and caring for them but also in the actual building of the ponds themselves. Some sadness too when they have died and I have had to net them out to recycle them over the fence to feed other critturs. Such is the way of Nature.

I will do my part in getting the ponds ready for the fish sale but on the actual day of each sale, I will be in Henly in the Eagle as far away from the sadness as I can reasonably get. Probably with a bottle of wine for company. This will go on for at least 3 separate weekends and when I return after each sale, I will clean out the ponds and then refill them keeping the pumps running to add to their beauty without having to worry about the fish. Can’t wait to get my water bill after the refilling as we are talking around 12,000 gallons of water to replace. . This will also give me more opportunity to be away from the house whilst awaiting the final preparations and the actual sale.

So the plans are in place and things are moving forward. Now all I have to do is find some of that patience that we talked about.

Don’t forget that older posts including my poetry can still be found at https://pondblog2011.com

Written 02/08/2021

Spring Flowers 02/05/2021

February 15th, 2021

Walking around my garden yesterday on February 4, I found the following flowers showing their pretty brave faces. I guess they don’t know that it is technically still winter even here in Texas. Actually, it’s not too surprising as yesterday’s temperature was around 84 degrees. Not bad for the time of the year. It can change just as quick as next week, the forecast is for it to drop to freezing for a few days. Texas weather…

Enjoy

Written 02/05/2021

That Point in Your Life 02/12/2021

February 12th, 2021

I seem to have reached a point in my life
another point it has to be said
where so many things are in a strife
creating problems in my head
it has nothing to do with not having a wife
as I gave them up long ago for dead
deciding that the single life
is the way I wanted to go instead
no my problems are what to do first
as those of you may have read
as I prepare for that final burst
to sell the house and go ahead
and hit the road in my RV
hoping that it will be
the final chapter in my life
as I travel far and wide
enjoying the beautiful countryside
my problem is I have so much stuff
to get rid of before making the move
and I don’t know where to begin
and finding it hard to get in the groove
of tossing out stuff that I had for years
that others would not find a use
instead of which I have to decide
give away or sell or maybe deduce
that on the trash pile is where it should go
making the choice is painfully slow
but I have the time except in my mind
which is telling me we need to go
funny how the mind can play these games
when trying to decide just what to do
what to keep what to sell what to give away
maybe I’ll leave it for another day
which of course is what I have done all along
putting off till tomorrow what needs to be done
knowing full well that this is wrong
as the only way to get out of this mess
is to stick with the program and follow along
so the house and its contents will no longer be mine
after so many years and so much time
a permanent home I’ll no longer possess
my mind says that’s fine with my life reassessed.

Written 02/02/2021

One of the Hard Parts 02/10/2021

February 10th, 2021

This is much tidier than mine but you get the picture…

Well, most of the major decisions have been made and now all that remains is to actually put things into practice. Getting an Estate Sales Company on board is a major step in the right direction but there is still so much to be done. I did rehang all of the pictures as David, my estate person suggested and have filled a couple more boxes with miscellaneous stuff. I called a couple of people and offered them free stuff and am waiting back for a response. How the hell I collected so much of it and why I did is beyond me. Now, a lot of it will eventually find its way to the dump as it has outlived its usefulness and neither can it be recycled.

If I was moving into another house or apartment, I would have more room and would take most of this with me but as my new abode is no bigger the 200 sq ft, it doesn’t have any room for trivial items. If they are not practical, then there is no room at the inn. As it is, I have a duplication in several areas, kitchen utensils being a prime example. I have a complete second set of cooking utensils. Another example is that my house bed covers are for a King Size bed and the one in the RV is a short Queen. I can make the covers work but there sure is a lot of extra hanging down. As for clothes, I have a large closet full of clothes that were worn over the years especially when I was a working man as a Manager at UT. As that was 20 years ago, a lot no longer fits me. It all shrank while hanging in the closet, you understand. Nothing to do with me putting on weight while losing a lot of muscle. I’m sure that someone out there will find a use for suits and long sleeve shirts and maybe even a tie or two. All I wear nowadays are shorts and tee shirts and if it does happen to be a little chilly, maybe a pair of jeans and woolen jacket. I guess when I die, I will be buried in shorts, boots and a tee shirt with a logo on it that says something like, “I own an RV and am too poor for a suit” or “I don’t give a damn what you think” or something equally in poor taste.

When I look around, it is a bit overwhelming at what needs to be done. My problem is that I don’t want to do it and wish it would all go away as if by magic. I don’t know of any magic wand spells so will just have to bite the bullet and get after it. There has to be a logical way to approach this and just need to figure it out. More to follow.

Written 02/03/2021

Waiting for Things to Happen 02/08/2021

February 8th, 2021

The hardest part after making a lot of plans for the future is actually waiting for them to happen. This is very true for me personally as I have all of these ideas in my head and am struggling to put them into action.
For those of you who have followed this blog and the previous one at https://pondblog2011.com know that I am transitioning from my home into a 33 ft Jayco Eagle 5th wheel RV. This is a permanent move, at least the transition part. Hopefully, the RV will not be in a permanent place for too long at a time when I finally get to move into it full time.

The problem to date is in the closing and sale of this house and most of its contents of thirty five years. I do not plan ever again living in a “bricks and sticks” permanent home at least by choice. If I get very old and feeble, then maybe a nursing home but I am a long way from that so have a few years left. No, my problem is getting the house ready for sale. As you can imagine, after thirty five years in one spot plus an accumulation of “stuff” from my previous homes that were moved into this one all of those years ago, it is a bit of a nightmare.

I have started by selecting any and everything that I want to keep and have put some of that into the RV. The rest I have stacked in one corner to move the next time I visit the RV park and the Eagle, the name of the RV. That still leaves me with an ungodly amount of items of every shape, size and description ranging from, clothes, kitchenware, furniture, books, records, tapes and many other sundry items. I never knew I had so much “stuff” until I am confronted with getting rid of it. If you doubt my word dear reader, take a moment to look around you and into your closets and drawers and then you will realize just how big a hoarder we all are. I have stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day for many a year. I remember reading that if you have a pile of papers that you haven’t looked at in a year, then it is time to discard that pile. I have several of those piles…I think it really is a question of “out of sight and out of mind” and I would bet that many of you are in exactly the same spot that I am in that regard.

When my third wife left me for greener pastures twenty nine years ago, she took with her what she considered to be her rightful share which I did not contest. Well, maybe except for taking Bianca, one of the two Maltese puppies that we had at the time. In retrospect, she didn’t take nearly enough and now I am stuck with it. That’s probably not fair as I am the one that did all of the hoarding in that time since. In anycase, I have it all and have to decide how to get rid of it.

That brings me to the next part of the puzzle. I have already decided on what to do with the Koi that are in the three remaining ponds as I will donate them to the Austin Pond Society to be distributed between the members in need. The ponds will be refilled and left running to help entice a future buyer. Then I will bring in the Landscaper that has taken care of the trees in the past to clean up the yard and backfill a different pond that I am already in the process of closing down, to tidy up the outside. It used to be that for many years and up until very recently, I had all kinds of energy for such projects and would have undertaken most of the yard work and done it myself. Nowadays, not so much and am content to pay someone else to take care of it. I guess growing older does that to a man plus the physical strength is not the same, I have rocks that I placed around the small pond, the one I am filling in, that I can’t even lift anymore, I swear, they have grown twice the weight since I placed them all of those year ago. Not just weight either as they also appear to be twice as big. OK, I am also a lot lazier than I was and physical labor does not appeal to me anymore. Walking the dogs or hiking is my preference for exercise. It will be up to whoever I can contract with to sell, donate or trash what is left in the sheds and in the house. The less physically that I have to do towards that end, the better I will like it.

I have a local person who has a company that specialize in auctioning off household contents who is coming to take a look later this afternoon. Hopefully, we can agree on terms and he will take over. The sooner the furniture and contents are gone, the sooner I can move the Koi and then we will be on our way.

More to follow.

Don’t forget that older posts including my poetry can still be found at https://pondblog2011.com

Written 01/31/2021

Wishing 02/05/2021

February 5th, 2021

Of all of the things I ever wished
very few of them come true
and those that did were probably by chance
sometimes just like wishes do
I have wished for many things
often at different times of stress
hoping that by wishing hard
things will change and hurt much less
which is really quite absurd
for wishes whether true or false
are conjured up into our minds
to relieve a stress or change its course
sometimes I wished that I was rich
with money to burn without a care
and then reality brings me back
what little I have I willingly share
other times I wished I was young
or younger than my current years
and then I think of others long gone
and am grateful living with my fears
the worst thing that has happened to me
when it comes to others in my life
is wishing that they were dead
because of the trouble and the strife
that is the worst of wishes to have
as no one should be treated this way
regardless of harm or hate they have caused
they are still allowed to have their say
and just because we don’t agree
wishing harm we should not choose
instead more tolerant we should be
and listen to the others views
some wishes are sometimes special ways
like birthdays, christmas and other times
those are of the happier days
given willingly based on calendar signs
my wish to you for reading this verse
is to thank you for being so very kind
and hope that what you wish for yourself
peace and joy and happiness find.

My wish for you is to “Have a great day and a wonderful life”.
Written 01/31/2021

Meeting Friends and Neighbors 02/01/2021

February 1st, 2021

It seems to be just sitting here
comfortably resting in my chair
that life is really not that bad
and really no reason to be sad
sure it has its difficult times
when Covid-19 cases climb
forcing us to wear a mask
and keep our distance which is really a task
that humans being what they are
holding conversations from afar
is not like how we are trained
for touching and feeling is part of our game
we no longer shake hands when we meet
with friends or strangers in the street
instead we bump each others fist
just enough to coexist
and now our way to greet and meet
our friends and neighbors out on the street.

Written 01/29/2021

Don’t forget to check my old site, https://pondblog2011.com/

Henly RV Park (Day 19-20)

January 31st, 2021

Sunday 12/19/2021

The weather has turned very cold with blustery winds as we get our first taste of winter coming on. Almost right on schedule with the winter solstice starting on Tuesday, December 21. I don’t like winter or cold weather having lived in upper New York State for 10 years when I first came over from England before moving to Texas. I had more than my fill of freezing cold weather and 2 foot snow falls although I did have a snowmobile and enjoyed skiing. No, what I didn’t like were cars not starting in the morning unless plugged in to an engine block warmer and having to put on snow tires every year and of course that outside construction in general was closed down for three months. I also didn’t like driving on icy roads and not always having control over the vehicle. It didn’t help that the first frosts would come as early as late September and I remember that we landed from the Queen Mary on March 13, 1967 to wake up to 13 inches of overnight snow in the little town of Fort Plain, NY. My Mother had sent me pictures of one winter when the snow drifted up to the roof of her two story house. When I looked at it, I commented to my then wife on on how pretty it looked not thinking for one minute of the consequences that snow like that brings. Welcome to America indeed
.
With the exception of the February storms of this year, 2021 here in Texas which were the worst in all of the 44 years I have been in this great State, we normally only have a couple of overnite frosts, enough to kill the plants. These are gone by mid day and any snowfalls are generally just a dusting and lasting not more than a day or two. Most of any winter weather is finished by February. Maybe global warming is affecting Texas weather just as it is in many other parts of the World.

We went out for our first walk of the day and this time I was prepared with my jacket and hat on.The dogs don’t really care about the change in temperature as they bounded along with endless energy and curiosity of all of the smells. I imagine that as we are walking the park and outside roads that are traversed by many other dogs taking their humans, out walking, that the smells must be boundless and exciting to any dog. Sandy knows only one way to walk, nose down and full speed ahead dragging Mikey and I along behind her. I sometimes wonder if she wishes we weren’t there as we slow her down. That is until another dog comes along and then she is very happy for us to stand up with her.
All 5 of the temporary slots in front of us are filled for the weekend or maybe longer. By temporary I mean used for overnight or short term campers, all pull through, all blacktopped and all easy to set up. I imagine with Christmas not far away some of them may be visiting relatives and friends in the immediate neighborhood. Maybe not…

We stayed indoors writing and working on pictures for most ot the day. I had given some serious thought to trying to get a hair appointment with Great Clips and then logic stepped in and trying to do that on a weekend when working people would be doing the same thing, didn’t make a lot of sense so I abandoned that idea for another day.
I played around with my new Olympus camera attaching the hardware to it that enables me to use my belt carrier leaving my hands free. When I’m on the trails by myself my hands have the walking poles. When the dogs are with me, I usually have just one pole so I can control the dogs leash with the other, We use a split leash that has them both hooked up separately leading to a single handle to control them. I tried to carry the camera by the use of the neck strap that is attached to it but I still need one hand on it as I walk to stop it from swinging about. The waist harness is the most secure and the clip attached to the camera allows me to quickly get it up and/or put it away. So far, I have not put the camera to serious use but I want to start to carry it with me on our walks even just around the park. That was the whole purpose of buying a lightweight camera and trading in my two Nikons and all of my lenses anyway as they were getting real heavy to carry around. That is another thing growing old can do and that is finding a different way to manage ongrowing weaknesses both in strength and balance. For me, it is a lighter camera and a walking pole and both poles when I hike alone which I don’t do much of nowadays.
One of the tenants in the temporary section right in front of me had some work done on his unit by a travelling RV mechanic. I watched as the man climbed under the RV and was pounding on a part of it with a hammer for some time besides doing other stuff. The problem was either in one of the slideout’s or with the trailer axle area. He eventually left after several hours work and I don’t know if he fixed whatever the problem was.

Monday 12/20/2021

We got up early as I had an appointment with my Dermatologist as a result of the biopsies from the previous visit. We went out for a short and uneventful walk before returning to Miss Daisy where I gave the dogs their breakfast and after consulting the clock, decided that I didn’t have time to eat at home and would stop at Starbucks on the way into Austin. I was busy thinking these thoughts and noticed that the grey tank needed to be emptied and went outside to perform this small task. With my mind elsewhere, I forgot to duck under the bedroom slide out to where the tank valves are located resulting in quite a bang on my forehead. The thing is, this is the second time in about the same number of days that I have done this and both in the exact same spot on my forehead. I cussed and swore a lot and stemmed the bleeding before continuing with my chores totally frustrated at my own stupidity. It seems that I knock myself a lot more as I grow older as my hands and legs are covered in places that I have made contact with something or another. Some of that has to do with the cramped space inside Miss Daisy. I guess when you are younger, the skin is much more flexible and gives a little instead of tearing as it seems to nowadays. At least, my balance is still good and if I do happen to stumble I can react accordingly. I even have a rope burn on my leg where we all got tangled up with the dog leash.

I was going to stop in the Starbucks in Dripping Springs but the line was almost out onto the road so I kept driving and hit the one at Oak Hill without too much trouble and continued on to the Dermatologist office n Austin only to be told when I walked in the door that I was a full hour early. Somehow, I had gotten the times mixed up even though they were on my phone resulting in me sitting in my car for an hour. At least I was able eat my breakfast sandwich and drink my coffee in peace before, an hour later, making my way back into the Doctor’s Office for what I knew would be the very last time. She went to work and removed the skin cancer in her usual methodical and I must say, comparatively painless way and after saying my goodbyes, I walked out of her office for the very last time after 16 years of her treatment. The drive home was uneventful and I toyed with the idea of trying to find a hairdresser but gave up on account of the recent treatment and drove back to Henly. As a reward, I treated myself to the second Latte of the day, pretty much an unheard of event.

The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion with a much longer walk around the park and the outside roads followed by working on the blog.

Written 12/21/2021 – Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com

This and That 01/28/2021

January 29th, 2021

As I plan to do all of my blogging in the future on this site, it will also contain a lot of items that are not immediately related to RV’ing and todays blog is a perfect example of that. I also write a lot of poetry and those too will also appear here. In fact, anything that I blog about will now be on this site.

Having said that, today’s topic is a review of the past couple of days as we slowly wend towards closing and selling this house and moving full time into the RV. Yesterday, I had to take the truck in to the dealership to have several items worked on. The main one as far as I am concerned is why is the “check engine light” is showing on the dashboard. That could be anyone of a number of different things and the cost could range up to hundreds of dollars. Hopefully, it will be some small problem that is easily resolved. Since I installed the larger gas tank, I have had problems with the truck not firing up instantly as it did previous to the installation. It still starts but turns over several times before catching which is another item on the list.

I mentioned in a previous blog that I had not noticed the old tank in the back of the truck until a couple of days later. Luckily for me, my truck salesman has taken that off my hands as he has a friend who needed a new one. Me, I’m just glad to have it gone as not only did it take up room in my truck which has limited room anyway because of the 5th wheel hitch but it also stank of diesel everytime I was close to the truck.

Covid Ford here in Austin where I purchased my last three vehicles, provided me with a loaner while working on my truck. It is a Ford (what else?) Edge and is a very nice little car, When you come to a stop with your foot on the brake, the engine shuts off to conserve fuel and the minute you release the brake pedal, starts back up again. Pretty neat. It also has a few other gadgets which I was previously unfamiliar with and which took me a few minute to work out. I’ll bet one thing is sure. It will definitely get better gas mileage than my truck does. I find it a little more difficult to get in and out of compared to the truck as it is much lower to the ground.

Since coming back from Henly a couple of days ago, I have not made much progress in actually doing much in the way of physical work regarding selling the house. I have contacted a couple of Estate Sales people to try to get someone interested in holding an Estate Sale of all that is in the house and sheds and am waiting on them to contact me. In truth, other than clean up and such, there is not a great deal I can do regarding the house except maybe check out whatever else I may want to keep as whatever remains will either be sold or trashed. Besides, my heart is not in it. Selling thirty five years of a lifetime plus all of the memories is difficult.

I have given the future of the Koi and the ponds a great deal of thought and have finally come up with a plan. What I am going to do is to have our local Pond Society do a “fish rescue” meaning they will catch all of the fish and then distribute them to the members who may need more Koi, some of which are thirty five years old and nearly three feet in length. There are also around a hundred goldfish that need new homes. Then, the ponds will be refilled and left running without any fish until the house is sold. At that point, the new owners can decide what they want to do regarding the ponds, keep them or fill them in. I would like to say that I will miss the ponds and the fish but in all honesty, that would not be true. Like so many things in my past, those are another episode in my very busy and interesting life and it is time to move on to other things, whatever they may be.

More to follow.

Don’t forget to check https://pondblog2011.com/ for the few remaining blogs that are posted.

Written 01/28/2021

The View From my Window 01/25/2021

January 27th, 2021

Well, I have spent the last three days here in the Henly RV Park for several reasons. The first and most obvious is for the joys of camping out in my RV. There are a couple of others like wanting to check out that everything is functional in the RV and that the campsite is everything I hope it to be. So far, I have not been disappointed in both areas.

I am learning more and more how to adapt the RV to suit our needs. “Our” of course, is me and my two travelling companions. When we first got into town, Dripping Springs that is as I have yet to find much in the township of Henly, we stopped at the HEB and stocked up with groceries, enough to last a couple of days which has now turned into three days although we do plan on going back this afternoon. I have some business in Austin to take care of which will take me through Thursday. After that, who knows although I really should stay at the house and do more packing and cleaning out the rest of my stuff. The problem is that my heart is not in it anymore and I just want out. Maybe I can find a company that will come in and complete the task for a percentage of any money I might make.

I have decided that I really like living in the Eagle. The small space is not a problem to me as I am not claustrophobic. Neither do I need a large area for comfort. My only complaint so far is my inability to get the TV channels that I really want to watch. I have bought a couple of gadgets to help with this and we are in the experimental stage to see what will work. I plan on exchanging the TV that is already installed with one of the newer ones from the house which should help in this area. Maybe I need an Dish antenna as well. I compensated yesterday by watching a football (soccer) game on my laptop. The new desk setup is working out great and I spend quite a bit of time at it. Building a new website does take time.

Yesterday, it rained a fine,misty, drizzly sort of rain all day. Not enough to stop us from walking but we did get a little damp. Today is sunny and warm and not a bit like a winters day. Well OK, maybe in Texas. Today, I have got to view several of my neighbors as they have gone about their business. One couple made several trips to the campground laundry, another came over to clean her RV and let her cat out. Not sure if she lives there as I have not seen her before but that is not surprising as I haven’t been here that much. I saw a couple of cats that another neighbor had let out and they scampered around for a bit before returning to their RV. This looks like it will be a very interesting place.

Now, I really do need to make some effort and head back to the “Bricks and Sticks”. I was going to head back yesterday and changed my mind and had to ask my neighbor to take a quick peek at the ponds. She is such a smart lady as when she contacted me, it was via video phone and I could see what the problem was and able to give her instant advice. Technology is a wonderful thing, sometimes…

More to come.
Written 01/25/2021

Moving the RV 01/24/2021

January 24th, 2021

A week or so ago, I moved the RV to a site named Henly RV Park located just outside of Dripping Springs in a little township of Henly. As far as I can tell, there is not much to Henly and the RV Park may be the largest thing in town but I have yet to fully explore the neighbourhood.

I had a couple of reasons for moving the RV which I named Eagle. This is not only the model name as in Jayco Eagle but it seemed like a good name of choice for her. One reason for moving was because of its location in the driveway of my house and I was giving myself a kick up the rear end as I was perfectly content to let it sit there and was not making much headway towards getting the place ready to sell.

My plan is to spend time at both locations heading to the Eagle when sorting and packing my stuff gets the better of me. Knowing me, that will probably be as much time as I can spend in it. Sorting stuff that I have had for more than thirty years is no fun as much of it has not been looked at or touched in a lot of that time. Besides, I am moving from an 1800 square foot home into an area not much more than 200 square feet with not a great amount of storage space. I don’t ever plan on a permanent home again unless its an Old Fogies Home and I really don’t want that. Consequently, in my case, its a matter of selling, giving away or trashing the contents of the house except for the few things that I do want to keep which won’t take up much room. There are several items that in theory should have sentimental value but the practical person in me is not leaning in that direction and they too, will hopefully find new homes.

Space, especially storage space is of the essence in a Travel Trailer and cannot be wasted on frivolous things that will probably never see the light of day once installed in some closet within the RV. Hence the approach outlined above. I figure at the current rate of progress, it will take me a couple of months to get it all done and the house on the market. By that time, I will have made a decision on rehoming the fish.

Moving the trailer went very well. It is always better to have a helper if for nothing more than to give directions when hooking up the 5th wheel or helping to get the RV in position at the new site. Backing an RV especially one of the longer ones is no fun on your own. You gotta keep remembering that if you pull the steering wheel down on one side, the trailer will go in the opposite direction. It goes against all logic to the non initiated. I had that happen when I took it to Bastrop a few weeks back and managed to steer the RV pretty neatly between two trees. I couldn’t have done a better park job in a hundred years. Unfortunately, that was not where it was supposed go but at least I didn’t run into anything, that time. I had to drive out and start over. Like I say, it’s great with a helper but there is only me and the dogs and they aren’t very good at that sort of thing. Consequently, I spend a lot of time jumping in and out of the truck to check where I am heading/backing.

Actually as it turns out, I had a bit of help when I pulled in. I checked the site and I thought that I needed to raise up one side and was playing around at that when a young gentleman walked up and introduced himself as one of the owners. We chatted for bit and he told me that he was working on the new section of the park where they were adding spaces for about another thirty or so trailers. He helped me level the trailer which was nice of him and went on his way. As it happens, my next door neighbor pulled in just as I was trying to get the 5th wheel to disengage and having my usual problems. He gave me a couple of tips and the 5th wheel came free. These are the neighbours to my left that have the noisy little Dachshund. I finished setting things up and reluctantly, made the drive back home..

The trailer park is exactly thirty miles from my house or roughly two and a half gallons of diesel fuel. The new sixty gallon tank that I had installed in the truck this week will really help on the long trips meaning that I won’t have to stop every three hundred miles to fill up when we are on the road. Of course, filling the new tank costs at least $100.00 as the old tank only held thirty gallons and I could empty that really quick just driving around town. As you can guess, the truck does not get very good diesel mileage usually around 14-15 without the RV behind it. Then, it is closer to 10 mpg as long as there is not a headwind.

When I had the new tank installed and after paying my bill, I never thought to look in the back of the truck until a couple of days later and much to my surprise, the old tank and its components was sitting there. I called up the installers and they said that they had no way of disposing of the old tanks and left it up to me. More on that later

So there you have it, the start of my adventures with the new blog site. I wonder if many of my followers from the old site, https://pondblog2011.com will follow the new adventures. Here’s hoping.

Written 01/23/2021

The First of Many 01/23/2021

January 23rd, 2021

This is the very first post written on the new site. The reason for the new site is pretty simple. I am in the process of selling my house and moving full time into my RV which means that I will probably no longer be posting about ponds. Unless of course, that my travels take me to some beautiful location that happens to have a pond or two worth writing about..

The point is that the title of the old site was Pondblog 2011.com and it was not solely restricted to pond articles as I used it to write about everything that interested me. However, I could not change the title to show that the blogs have changed and that there would be very little, if any pond related articles as the heading was also the domain name. The only way out was to take advantage of a free domain name that was offered to me and give the new site a title more suited to the content.

As a lot of my future blogs will be about RV ‘s and life spent travelling and living in an RV, this new site is named http://livinginanRV,blog Just like the original site, articles will not be restricted as to their content and I will continue to write about anything that interests me. The original site https://pondblog2011.com/ will always be available for any of you wanting to re read some of my blogs and poetry.

Thank you for your support over these past ten years. It’s been a wild ride…
Written 01/21/2021

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Sunday 12/19/2021

Monday 12/20/2021

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