Loving Tennessee

Parkers Crossroads RV Park - Yuma, TN

May 19 - June 1, 2014 (2 weeks)

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RV LIFE:

The above statement pretty much sums up our lives. Although, I can't really do absolutely nothing in reality. But, just being with my husband, Scott and each doing what we enjoy is heaven.

Scott's man corner playing tank games

I've noticed how our RV life has changed. We are still very happy with this RV life. I'm thrilled that we have been able to fulfill our dream. Many people wish they could do what we are doing, but either both parties don't agree, or money is an issue, or you don't want to leave the grandkids or other family members. I have been very lucky in that Scott and I are usually on the same page.

Even now as we think about ending our RV life, we both feel a sense of bitter-sweetness. Both of us usually only make changes when we really hate something. We both stick with the same jobs, until we hate that position and move to a new position. I worked midnights for 10 years and loved it. But then for about 6 months things seemed to change and I dreaded that shift. That is when I changed jobs in the Post Office. We were both ecstatic to sell our NJ house. We hated NJ taxes and our cramped house and our close neighbors. 

So it is somewhat difficult and makes us doubt our decision to purchase a house again, when we are still ok with the RV life. But, our RV life has changed. We are no longer anticipating new places to see. We dread moving. We've seen a good portion of the USA. Our goal was to see the Pacific NW, which we did and we loved the experience. If we continue FT RV'ing, we'll definitely head back there. We've seen the rocky SW and I've had enough of that. I'm fine with never returning. Our plans are to see the Upper Peninsula this summer. Wisconsin, Michigan...but if we miss it, that's ok. We would have liked to go to Alaska, but if we miss it, that's ok.

Because of the miserable Winter we experienced in the SW, we've learned to be content inside our RV and that has made us happy in our space, meaning, we are both fine staying at the RV park and never venturing out except for food supplies. So between very little urge to sightsee and the unhappiness of moving, that is why we've decided to look to purchase a house. 

 We usually keep to ourselves, but I do look to see if other bloggers are in the same RV park or nearby. RVillage is a great resource to see who else is in the same park as you. Unfortunately, so far, we have been the only ones listed in the parks we've been at.  

A Montana 5th wheel pulled in the other day and then pulled out in the morning. Then later in the morning, I see a tow truck pulling a pick up truck pulling a 5th wheel...a Montana 5th wheel. Hmmm, sad, I guess they broke down. We then see the tow truck drive away with the pick up truck. Oh no! We know that feeling being stuck for 3 weeks with no vehicle while our engine was being replaced! I just HAD to go over there to offer our services. If they needed to go into town, we'd be happy to take them. Of course they broke down over Memorial Day weekend, so they were stuck here until at least Tuesday. 

Buster and Jane? no, June? no, I KNOW her name starts with a "J"! I think it's Judy! They are from NC and were on their way back home when the breakdown occurred. I think they felt a little better when we told them our $14,000K engine story. Then $4K didn't sound so bad. 

Scott & Buster took a trip to Walmart for supplies. Scott stopped at a farmer's stand so Buster could pick up a watermelon which they shared with us during "happy hour". No seed spitting contests, but Lyla sure enjoyed catching some pieces of watermelon.

Buster is hoping the truck will be ready on Friday to enable their departure for home on Saturday. "Only" a week's delay. Still better than our 3 weeks delay in miserable Stockton, TX.

While I was out walking the dogs, Carol from 5th Wheel Wanderings blog stopped by to introduce herself and give us their card. She said she follows our blog and wondered how our house hunting is going. I had heard of their blog, but I only regularly follow 3 or 4 blogs. 

Since Buster & Judy and John & Carol were all close to our site, I figured I'd invite them over for happy hour tonight. Now to just get the courage up to ask. I don't want anyone to feel like they HAVE to come by, but yet I don't like to be rejected even if they have a good excuse. So as I get up the courage to go over to invite them over later in the afternoon...they are gone! I guess that's a very good excuse and I don't feel rejected. 

As I type this blog post, I'm outside on this overcast day having my 2nd cup of coffee with some added incentive in it...Kahlua and ID Cinnabon creamer. Yum! I should do this (both) more often. I am so attached to my computer, that if it is too bright out in the morning, I can't see my screen., so I stay inside until I've had enough of computer time. I can imagine myself on a covered porch regularly having my morning coffee, then my mid-morning 2nd cup, then early afternoon tall glass of iced water, then mid afternoon adult beverage. While enjoying these beverages, I alternate from computer work, to knitting, to reading. And that dream may happen sooner than we thought!

We saw this mod while in NJ a few months back.

How adorable (off the net)

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HOUSE HUNTING:

I lied. I thought our house hunting was over until the Fall. We both had a sense of relief that we were once again free to just be FT RV'rs. But, I received an email from the realtor, stating a house we almost put a bid on was reduced in price! Fine, but we decided against the house. But the price was reduced by $30K!!!!!! Either she is desperate to sell or they found something majorly wrong. Yep, a major faux pas. The owner had an appraiser in to do comps in the area. She had the house way overpriced for the area!!!!! So this house at $180K was out of the question, but this house at $150K may not be so bad. This is the gray house I showed in the previous post. We LOVE the property. It's a mixture of lawn, forest and even lakefront in the rear of the property, past the forest area. 7 acres which is not too much to handle. So even though the house is smaller than we liked and a 4 years older than our cutoff, and it is not a completely open concept, we decided to take a second look. What a difference the second look makes. As I walked in, I imagined myself walking into our house. What was the feeling I was getting? Cramped? Happy? Cluttered? Work to be done? Nope, I felt good! Now into the kitchen. Even though it's not completely open, it is not a completely separate room either. Comfortable, lots of cabinets. Although some may feel it needs updating, we do not bow down to the masses of needing granite counters, stainless steel appliances (ugh), etc.

Living room? Bigger than I remembered. Sit down and make myself at home. Yep, this could work. Now down the hallway (I hate hallways). The guest room is fine. The bathroom is fine. The hallway walk in closet is wider than I thought and now I think Scott could be happy with his little man cave. Down to the master bedroom. Again, bigger than I remembered. we measured the bed and it is a King size with still plenty of room. Hmmm. Looking good!

There is no basement, but there are 3 large detached garages, two that are insulated. I think one would make a great place for foster dogs that need to be separated and also be my craft area. The other garage could be for our woodworking. Yep, I think this will work.

So the bid is in and we are waiting for a response. So Carla of Cozy Be Gone, you CAN come and visit Tennessee because there is room for the RV!!!! And Susan of Beluga's Excellent Adventure, I'll have Gin & Tonics waiting for you on our covered porch. And of course, Merikay of Merikay's Dream may want to stop by too!

I'll keep you posted.

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LIFEHACK:

One of the newer duties I've taken on for our dog rescue is to send out ID tags and now microchips. The ID tags come with coil rings separately. When I send these tags to foster homes, I attached those rings to the ID tags. I don't keep my fingernails manicured or long, but they are not stubs either. But they are very soft...always have been. So to attach these rings using my nails is useless. I've used a butter knife in the past.

But, I came across this great little lifehack (tip). Use a staple puller to spread and hold apart the rings. I just happen to have TWO staple pullers. Why would I bring two staple pullers in an RV? Because I have a "thing" for office/school supplies. To this day, I love walking through office supply stores and I love back to school season, so I can see all the new pens, pencils, notebooks that have come out. That's a little something, not many people know about me. I have a difficult time not picking up some markers or a fresh notepad, even though I don't need any.

Back to the life hack. The staple puller works great. I highly recommend you try to remember this to save your nails.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun series, set in the 1930's in England.This is a transition period where there are still aristocrats with family money and then there are those that still have the title, but not the money to go with it.
An over the hill, 22 yr old single woman, with a title but no money. She continues to think about her virginity, her independence, potential husbands, potential careers. She is resourceful and we are now getting to know her friends, relatives, acquaintances.
Fun characters, some mystery, a touch of romance.
A nice lite read.

KINDLE BOOK REVIEW:
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first saw Michelle Knight on Dr. Phil. Michelle was held captive for 11 years. Raped multiple times daily, chained, starved, battered. This is her story prior to the abduction, during and now.
It is written just as if she is talking to you. No embellishing, just matter of fact.
I bought the book to show my support. She is a strong woman. I hope she is doing well.

I have a headache...

Jan. 13 - ?, 2014

Fort Stockton RV Park, Fort Stockton, TX

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CONTENTS
RV LIFE
BEVERAGES
PETS
CRAFTS
LIFE HACK
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RV LIFE:

I have a headache and feeling down.

Well, our engine ordeal has finally gotten to me. We've both dealt with it quite well, until now. Scott seems to still be doing ok. I would probably feel better if I didn't have a deadline to be in Tennessee on Feb. 8 for Dina's transport to NJ for adoption. That can be changed, but this transport involves at least a dozen different volunteers all working together and giving of their time and gas. I'd really rather not cancel.

Our engine did arrive on time on Wednesday, Feb. 29. Fernandez said it should take 1.5 days to get the engine installed. We were told, hopefully Friday or Saturday we'd have our truck. Well, it's been 3.5 days and now Sunday with no truck. I am beaten down..

The dreary, overcast, cold day doesn't help

Too add to my depression, our Eng Setter Rescue is having multiple issues to deal with. Our rescue has grown quite large, with not the increase in volunteers to help with our expansion. I think many of us are getting burnt out. I'm retired and I feel like I spend too much time doing Rescue work. Most of our volunteers work full time and some are single ladies too. Oh my gosh! How do they find time in the day?

Another added stressor is our consideration of buying a house again.

We were so relieved when our NJ house sold and the  lack of responsibility.

But, I think a big part of the relief was because of the expense of living in NJ and that we hated our house and closeness of our neighbors. Not so much the responsibility. 

Scott is constantly working on things in the RV. There is always some small or larger problem to deal with this house that is shaken, not stirred while we travel. Right now our main overhead living room light does not work. It's not the bulb. The fan (same combo unit) is not working either. It was working just the other day and now it's not. Scott emptied the basement, tried to follow the correct wire, checked the breakers etc. Everything else works on the same breaker. So the wire is interrupted somewhere. 

I truly feel like a "kept woman". I see him cleaning the roof, trying to find the problem with our electric, cooking dinner, grocery shopping, etc. All the while, I'm on the computer or knitting. Life is still good in spite of the crap that we've got to deal with.

What the hell do I have to be depressed about? It will all be dealt with, BUT, I still have a headache, a baaad headache.

I don't have too many friends (by choice). I have ...

friends that are family

friends that I knit with (or used to)

friends on the internet with common interests

friends that I consider close in spirit, but unfortunately physically far.

Right now I miss my close friend, PETRA!!!!!! You know who you are. Petra is an animal lover, like me. Petra is very open with her thoughts and emotions to me. Petra & I have a great time just hanging out together, especially when we drink, get more than just a buzz and just let loose whatever is on our minds. Petra is someone I can just grab and ask for a hug and she'll gladly do that for me. I'm not a huggy person with friends nor family, but Petra is such a comfort with just her presence. I miss you. 

Enough of the "woe is me: crap. I think I'll have to cross stitch this. I like decorating with interesting, funny, thoughtful, sarcastic items. This should be my mantra. Sort of like the serenity prayer for AA. 

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BEVERAGES:

Hmmmm, it's after 12 noon. Will a glass of wine relieve my headache? I don't know, but I'm gonna try. Feel free to join me.

My everyday beverage of choice is water. I prefer that over juice and soda. Although I do crave a seltzer water also. Seems that as soon as we leave the East, seltzer is difficult to come by. And of course, you crave what you can't have. Scott has been searching for seltzer for me during his grocery shopping outings. He picked up club soda. Hmmm. What's the difference? I drank a bottle of the club soda and couldn't tell any significant or really any difference. And what is tonic too? I know that tastes different, but still wasn't sure what it was. So the internet to the rescue! From Askville, "Club soda and seltzer water are essentially interchangeable.  Strictly, seltzer is just water and carbon dioxide (made by pressurizing water with CO2) and club soda may have some other minerals added (like salt).  It's more like the difference between Aquafina and Dasani: yeah, there's a difference, but nobody really cares.

Tonic water is genuinely different.  It's really a soda, since it has sugar as well as carbonation.  The key flavor in it is quinine, which is bitter.  (That's why they added the sugar in the first place.  The point was to get you to drink your quinine, which helps prevent malaria.  These days, there's not enough quinine to help with malaria, and it's just for flavor.)"

Which leads to what is quinine?? It is "a bitter crystalline alkaloid C20H24N2O2 from cinchona bark used in medicine" 

Which leads to what is a Cinchona tree? It is a plant, shrub, small tree found in the Andes in South America. And that my friends is how you surf the web.

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PETS:

Here's a uplifting video...sort of. It's from the Lake Cty? SPCA. Unfortunate, that we have so many animals needing home, but thankful for the staff and volunteers that try to help. Check out this cute video, that took a lot of thought. 

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CRAFTS:

I've started my first sock. Yes, I gave in. Knitting socks is the big fad and I got sucked into it. I have a skein of sock yarn that I think is U-H-GG-A-L-Y!!!!!! So what else am I to do with it? I can make socks. It will give me a new challenge and if they turn out, they can be useful, but barely seen. 

This is Knit Picks Stroll hand-painted sock yarn. Now of course, sock yarn can be used for many other projects. It's a great weight yarn for shawls or decorative scarves and to try your hand at lace knitting without using that oh so thin lace weight yarn. I have the book, Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks! , which is full of great projects using just one skein of sock yarn.

What a difference in length!

I've also fixed the arms on my favorite comfy sweater. I have no problem eating leftovers or wearing second hand clothing. When we were living in NJ, I volunteered at the local SPCA. I would also bring donated items there. So a co-worker, Phil aka "Stealth" (because he was a quiet guy and would just come up beside you unnoticed), would donate his old clothes to their thrift shop. Well, I would check out the items and Scott took a couple of pairs of jeans and I took one of the sweaters. Now Phil is a tall guy and this sweater is BIG, with long arms. The sweater is a dark grey (one of my favorite "colors"), made of cotton & ramie. So it is machine washable and dryable and very durable. Plus it is toasty warm! The problem is, the arms are so long and loose that I need to put hair bands around my wrists to keep the sleeves from getting in the way. I have put up with this for three years. Well, I FINALLY put an end to that annoying situation. No, I did not just cut the ends off. Although that would have worked and then just put masking tape as a hem holder. You'd be surprised how well masking tape works for a temporary fix to hems. I've even washed the masking tape hem and it survived a couple of washings before having to actually sew the hem. Back to my sleeves. I unraveled the sleeves to above the length I needed. I then rib knit the sleeves. Turned out perfect! I will probably have this sweater until I die or it wears out, whichever comes first. Have I told you how much I LOVE THIS SWEATER?????

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LIFE HACK:

Simple and effective. We tried this and works great. Better than folding end down.

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End on a good note:

Let's see, the good ...

I "only" have a bad headache. I'm not sick like Beluga Sue has been. I hope you're feeling better.

The truck IS being repaired, even though slowly.

I have a wonderful hubby who leaves me be when needed.

I have a wonderful hubby who is low maintenance, meaning he is not a needy person.

Dina is getting adopted, although I will truly miss her. She is the only dog on the bed with me in my time of woe.

I have a wonderful hubby who likes to cook and is making comfort food (chili) today.

I'm retired with a decent pension.

I'm fairly healthy.

My future options are wide and varied.

And....

my headache has subsided. Still here but manageable.

The RV life is still good.

Update: Scott just informed me that he does windows also. Yes he does. He used his new squeegee to clean the outsides of our RV windows. Thank you dear.