Wednesday, October 29, 2014

NO!

CONTENTS
TENNESSEE LIFE
RV
PETS
PROJECTS
BOOK REVIEW
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TENNESSEE LIFE aka Sweet Asylum:
It's the end of October and I'm still able to sit outside even during happy hour with short sleeves and sandals. Is this normal for TN life? I don't know. It was in the 30's in NJ last night, but I doubt we went below 50° here last night. We enjoy the color changing of the leaves, yet still have warm enough temperatures to relax outside.

Scott is freaking out about all the different kinds of spiders in our yard. I'm fine as long as they stay in the yard and don't hurt our dogs.
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RV:
Yes, as the cartoon above states, I need a hug. In lieu of a hug, I'll have a shot to make me feel better.

I truly miss my connection with the RV community. I think I miss that a lot more than the actual RV'ing. I like the luxury of having the space and privacy of a house, but I do miss that possibly of meeting up with someone in our travels. When I walk into our RV, it smells like "home".
I was just communicating with an RV friend we met in Washington. I blogged about them before. Mike was very generous with some crab legs that were given to him. He not only gave Scott a bunch, but he cooked them to perfection also. We had told them about Wintering in Deming, NM at Hidden Valley Ranch. Lo and behold, they stayed there for 3 months last Winter with us crossing paths for a few weeks.
Sadly, Mike passed away in June of this year. I recently asked Maryanne how she was doing.
"Life after Mike is like going from Technicolor to black and white."
I have spoken before about how nice the residents at Hidden Valley Ranch are. Well, Maryanne is now living there in her RV! If something ever happened to Scott, I would consider that also, although I really hate the desert, but oh the community is wonderful!
I think living in an RV by myself would be much more liveable. I don't need as much as Scott did, well, it feels like that. He needs all his electronics and big screen computer monitor, etc. I'm happy just finding a cozy spot to read or craft or work on my laptop.

I would need a community to have some socialization. As long as I'm with Scott, I'm fine being a loner, but if I was without Scott, I would be lonely.
I'm always trying to plan for the future, so when things happen, I won't be like a deer stuck in place in front of headlights.
I've even thought that I'd move to Oregon if I got cancer. They allow prescribed suicide. I think it is ridiculous for humans to have to suffer when it's terminal.
Oh boy, I guess I lost track of the RV subject.

There's also the Care Center in the Escapees RV park in TX. Another area that I really would rather not live in.
Any RV'rs know of other nice places to retire to?
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PETS:
I can't believe it's been a whole year since we picked up Dina, the reservation dog. Last I heard, she was happy living with her adoptive family in NJ. We still miss her and we both agree, we shouldn't have given her up. She was a surprisingly great dog, especially being an outside dog.
Ryan & Lou
Our puppy, Ryan has fit into our pack. He is both a pain in the arse and a sweetheart. We must say "no" over 100 times per days. I love the saggy jowls of the Setter breed and his jowls are already pinchable. With long droopy jowls, comes drooling also. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure as he matures the drooling will begin.
He still has pee accidents once in awhile. It's almost like he is too preoccupied to bother going outside. He pees while he's running in the house. Ugh! But then other times, he'll push his way through our new doggie door. Thank you hubby.

It only takes one dog to ruin a good thing though. Lou is the only one that does not use the doggie door. He will bark and bark and bark to come in. Coaxing with treats doesn't work either. But 4 out of 5 dogs isn't too bad. Even our little one pushes with all he's got until he makes it through the door.
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PROJECTS: Recycle
Because we have basically started all over again, acquiring "stuff" for the house, we have accumulated many, many cardboard boxes. I've looked at Pinterest and it's amazing what you can do with cardboard. If you layer and construct property, you can actually make furniture!
Since I have 3 garages, I have plenty of space to save all this cardboard. Unfortunately, brown recluse spiders love to make their home in cardboard.

I decided to experiment. Our dogs are having a difficult time getting up on our bed. We placed a plastic drawer by the bed, which works ok, but looks ugly. I thought I try my hand at cardboard construction.
 Two boxes filled with corner styrofoam pieces to cardboard placed upright for stability.
 I have lots of this paper filling. I tore it up and covered the boxes with this and watered down white glue.
Enough completed to try it out. it slipped around when the dogs would step on it, so had to had some rubber stuff to the bottom. Once I'm sure the dogs will use this, I'll cover it up much nicer and you'll never know it's cardboard.

We have 7 acres and 4 acres is probably wooded. I'm determined to make use of any downed trees and branches. I'm starting small, but I'm very happy with my first little project.
Just take a small branch, sand, more sanding until you reach the beautifully bare wood.

The above photo was an afterthought, so this of course is not the same branch, but you can still see the steps. Left is raw wood, middle is taking off the first layer, left is down to bare wood. I did not realize that there is another layer under the bark until I began sanding.
Finished drying towel rack. I'll also use this to dry ziplock bags when I reuse them. I get a great sense of satisfaction from making something from "nothing".
I think this is where the blog will be heading toward...my projects.
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BOOK REVIEW:
314 Crescent Manor314 Crescent Manor by M.  Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This took a long time for me to read. I did not look forward to reading it. It did not take me away...
But it held my interest because it was so odd! So I plodded through.
One event changes the ways things are for a building with a life of it's own. Evil escalates, and causes bizarre things to happen to the buildings tenants. Can things be made right again? Well, maybe not right, but just different.
What am I talking about? Exactly. That's how I feel about the book. I ended with "Huh?".


3 comments:

  1. It sure looks like you have a great spot there. Glad you found a place to settle in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your box construction reminded me of one I did. For years we had old furnature down in the family room and the dogs took over the couches making them too disgusting for people to sit on. We had our recliners. Eventually er redecorated and spent thousands on new furniture. The dogs each got new very very large soft beds. But how to keep them off yhe couches without a lot of yellinf and punishment?

    I took a bunch of boxes and coveded them with fabric. They looked like pillows but were hard enough that they took up the space were the dogs liked to be. It only took a few "NOs" for them to learn. They had their beds and were happy with them. When we had company I stacked the boxes in the corners and no one was the wiser. The old couch went out on the deck for awhile so the older dog still had her place.

    We all have our own limits. Cats were OK in bed, but not large dogs, and no animals were allowed to jump up on our kitchen counter or table.

    You mention You would find it easier to live in an RV alone. I would find it hard to share that small a place with a large dog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's a little chilly today here in the south. Southern NJ that is. Looking forward to getting back in the RV and heading to the real south Dec. 1.

    For now babysitting the daughters 3 cats and dog (collie/great Pyrenees mix) Great Dog! She accepted new job in Lebanon County PA and settles on new house 11/14. Until then we stay at her current house (on the market) while she stays in B&B near the job.

    I am like Merikay. Kinda like having this rather large dog here in the house, could not do it in an RV.

    ReplyDelete

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