Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I Finally Got Around To It ! Re-potted Some Aloe.




I finally got around to it! Yes, this is the picture of my 'Round Tu-It' !! It has been hanging in the workshop ever since we had to cut a hole for the little round sink in the bathroom of my vintage Venture motor home.

Yes, I finally got out on the screen porch this morning, and repotted a couple of my big aloe plants. I measured and some of these have leaves 30" long, and had so many babies that I had to get an 18" wide, low profile, pot to house them all. I repotted the first two big aloe in two big pots, and I still had to use three more pots of the middle size to replant some of the older 'pups' . These are just the ones on the porch, I still have a trough 100' long in the back yard, full of Aloe. I should have started selling them a couple of years ago.

I had to go into town to get a few things this afternoon, and a violent wind just suddenly came up and was blowing branches and twigs all over the streets. Then it rained hard, and I had to drive slowly to get home safely. Emergency vehicles were clanging and going every which way. I wanted to see if one of the tall pines had dropped on my house or the RVs, but all was well. Just a bunch of pine twigs and needles all over the lawn. So I know what I will be doing tomorrow, raking.

So I had my potting day.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The HiLo Travel Trailer. Tall Aloe Plants. Minkie is Back.

Ray and I been doing a little bit some mornings, as it gets too hot to work in the afternoon. So this post is about the last few days. I have been grooming too. Also having a terribly slow time messing with eBay, everybody and his dog, must have been listing !


Ebay Motors was having a sale on listing fees, $1.00, but the final value fee will be higher. I guess they have to make it up somewhere. So I re-listed the Class B. (There were 97 Class B's listed on there last time I looked). Ray got up on the roof and took a picture of the solar panel, so I could have a picture of it in the listing, instead of just talking about it. It is rare that a B is this well equipped, and maybe that will help the bidding go up to my reserve this time.


I thought that maybe I could get the vintage HiLo listed during the sale, so Ray and I started to work on it. But I knew that we couldn't get it ready in time, once we started. We finally got the double sink in, and put the recirculating toilet back in. Note, I even found a toilet seat cover to match at a thrift shop. The final plumbing isn't done, but we will do that next. We installed the cellular blinds that I had bought for it, new on sale at Lowes. Someone had ordered them, and not picked them up. The colors are exactly the same as the upholstery. Avocado for the rear window, and tannish beige for the front window.


They are not the Day/Night type, but they match great. The last picture is with the dinette made into a bed. There is another couch/bed on the side by the back window, in front of the closet. It is only 18' and a big kitchen for such a small RV. Even the 40 year old gas/electric fridge works.


On Saturday, after Adoption Day, I picked up Minkie. I don't think that anyone has even put an application for her yet. We are all amazed at that, as she is the sweet, loving, gentle, purring little cat. I couldn't see her being alone in the grooming room, so let her live in the house with Bobcat and me. She is so good, and even though she wants to go in the grooming room each day, to look for Boots, she seems very happy. Bobcat is mad at me for having this other young cat living in the house, even though she doesn't mind her sharing the screen porch in the mornings. They have always done that. I saw little six-toed kitten,"Tote" ,when I was picking up Minkie. He is so cute. They named him that, as I found him zipped up in an athletic bag, thrown away, left to die, at the dumpsters. He has already been neutered, vaccinated, and ready for adoption.


Speaking of the screen porch, I was surprised when I was watering the plants. Some of the aloe have grown to over 30" tall, are busting out of their pots, and have had a bunch of "pups". Maybe I ought look into getting them spayed or neutered, too ! Now, I had always intended to sell a lot of them, but just never got around to advertising them. I am running out of big pots, so I took a bunch of photos, and got some listed on eBay. I don't know what will become of it, but I know they sell there. I have got to find the time to tend to them, and get some re-potted.


I need a potting day.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Just a Bit More Painting.

Nothing much has been going on for the last couple of days. The rain teases us, but not enough to water the grass. Then the sun comes out and scorches it. The plants on the porch were getting thirsty, so I had to tend to them. At least Minkie isn't home yet, she likes to eat them !

Yesterday, I taped up the right hand side surround, and gasket, on the left back door window of the Little Van. We took that window out, as it is an opening window, so that Ray could get to it easier to spray it. It has a black rubber gasket around it, and we didn't want paint getting on that. He painted several places where the primer was showing. Just like little rocks had hit it. If you can't see what we did, then I guess we did OK. Now I see a pink tinge in the pictures, we didn't do that, it is the sun going down.

I finally had to drive into the next town today. I had been putting it off, hoping that I could pick up Minkie, the kitten that didn't get adopted, at the same time. But Kenya's van still isn't fixed right. The person that rear ended her has Geico Insurance, and they only have certain places where you can get your car fixed. That is all the way down in Houston. First, Kenya went to pick it up, and it would only go more than 20 miles an hour. She took it back, and had to have the gas tank removed, and fuel pump and filter replaced from all the bits that they knocked loose when they were getting her bumper off. Geico wouldn't pay for that. Then she goes back to Houston to get it, and it sounded like a freight train. All this has messed up the catalytic converter, and Geico won't pay for that either. The accident also buggered up the power door lock on her back door. Now this is a new van, just 6 months old, and she is having to pay for all this extra stuff that was inadvertantly caused by the accident. That is the way insurance companies work, I guess. Then the dealership is making several hundred dollars more off her. It is all a big rip off ! She is lost without her wheels, but she wants it to run right when she gets it back.

I went to my insurance company and went over some policies. I have three vehicles that I don't drive, but had full insurance on them. I got them switched to Comprehensive only, so that they will be covered for theft, falling trees, aircraft and whatnot, but can't be driven on the road. That should save me quite a bit each month. I have no intention of driving them any time soon.

I actually got to WalMart today, and got some stuff returned, and bought. There are some things that I just like to get from there, like their Great Value coffee. Especially, their Great Value 100% Colombian Decaffeinated coffee. It doesn't taste yucky like most 'unleaded' coffee, but I only make 2 mugs (4 cups) at a time, and use one scoop. It is bitter if too strong.

Then I stopped at our local Krogers, and picked up a few food bargains there, and came home. I could have gone thrift shopping, but I just wasn't in the mood. I have everything for the projects I am doing right now.

Just a "rat-killing " day.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Bonfire. Rest and Laptop

The Class B didn't get bid up to it's reserve, so it didn't sell. I had folks contact me wanting my phone #, and I gave it them, so maybe something will come of that. RVs just aren't selling, right now, unless they are dirt cheap. They sell better before Memorial Day, too.

Ray and I worked for a while on getting some more of the old lumber out of the way. There were also some cheap interior doors that weren't really worth advertising. I checked, and we could burn. I hated to make a burn pile in the ditch, as I have grass growing there, but it had to be done. There was no wind, and my neighbors were at work, so the time was right. I strung several water hoses out there first. Ray got the blower out, and cleaned both pathways, and he made a pile of leaves and pine needles to rake up and take to light the fire. The fire, even though we fed it slowly was hot, and smokey. (I wonder why !!) By 11.00 am we had had enough.
I had had enough anyway. I had not felt as chipper and ready to roll, this morning for some reason. My "get and go", had "got off and went", somewhere. I was too grubby, and wet, to lie down and take a nap, so I showered and washed the smoke out of my hair, and had a bite of lunch first. I didn't even get dressed again, I just took a nap in my nightie, hoping that would rejuvenate me.

But I didn't nap long unfortunately, and started to read blogs and fulltimer's journals. My machine started acting up again, so I finally got out the laptop. I plugged it in so that it wouldn't be using the battery only. I used it's tiny mouse, as I can't work those other things. I hooked it up to the cable modem thingy, but I couldn't get it to go on the broadband, so I hooked it up to a phone line. I didn't like the way the keyboard felt, and I never really did get on line with it, and it was terribly slow, so I put it away again.

I only know how to type, push a mouse around, and how to keep it cleaned out, and defragged. When the cable goes out, often, I am sorry to say, this desk one automatically switches over to dial-up, but the laptop was slower than when this one is on dial-up, even though it is a better computer. I don't have anyone to help me with these puters anymore, and I don't know what to do to it. It worked fine at the computer place where I bought the cord and had the WiFi checked out. I might try again, when I feel like fooling with it.

A slow, smokey day.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

RV-Dreams Rally Over. Computer problems.

I wasn't even there, but I was reading about the Rally in Branson in the blogs of the attendees, and the main journal of RV-Dreams, and it seemed that it went so fast. Some of the folks that were at the rally were sitting around a table in the big tent with their laptops 'chatting' online to each other, and with the folks that weren't there. Hilarious. Now maybe the RV-Dreams chat room can get back to normal.

They all had a great time, except Becky who broke her leg right at the beginning, and should be out of the hospital now. Then Jenny's brother died while she was at the rally, so she had to leave early, and go to TN. She had traveled nearly 2,000 miles on a bus to be there, (cheaper than driving her RV from Spokane), what a blow for her. I am thinking of you Jenny and Becky, and my best wishes to you both.

Today we attacked the lumber pile. It is on racks along the side fence which is hidden by a line of bushes growing on the other side. It hadn't been gone through for a while, so it needed sorting out. It is going to be moved around to the other side of the house, for a while, while the white rail fence gets painted. There isn't too much, just some treated lumber that we use for different projects like mending the fence, carports, making decks and steps. etc. Then if ever we have to store anything on the ground, we can get some treated lumber to put it on. But some lumber needed to be thrown out, so it was loaded on the truck.

My desk computer has been having some problems lately, and I have been in touch with Live Chat Technical Support at length, a couple of times. The stuff that the Techs want me to do, it won't do. I keep it 'defragged', 'disk clean', 'cache cleared', and I tried 'msconfig', and 'prefetch', so I don't know why it is acting up, but it starts freezing up again. Maybe something is going out in it again, or maybe it is the cable company. I might have to switch over to my laptop after all. Or back to my very old Compaq which doesn't like this LCD flat screen, so I would have to drag out the big old bulky monitor, and I don't want to do that. I lost my computer neighbor friend to cancer this last February, and I am scared to mess with my new (to me) laptop, so I have never used it. But I might have to now.


It seems weird without Boots and Minkie, my foster kittens, but Minkie should be back soon.


Again just Bobcat and me today.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Boots is Adopted. Horsey Motorhome

Yesterday, Jimmy begged me to pick him up to work, as he was so bored. He didn't want to get paid, he just wanted out of the house. As he was sober, I did. He is good with the carpet- upholstery cleaner, and as Ray and I had put the new parts on it, it seemed like a good time to clean the carpet in the truck. If it leaked, it would be outside, and we would know if it was good to bring in the house. Then he cleaned some spots that were on my carpet in the house. He knew that I was to meet Kenya, my SPCA boss with the kittens, as they were going to be viewed by some prospective 'parents', and he wanted to go into the next town with me.


Ray did some touch up paint work on the Little Van, as I had managed to find the right color DupliColor. I don't know why some Chevys lose little bits of their paint, but this one had. Nothing much, and doesn't show on the pictures, but it needed to be fixed. It might have been tiny rocks that had hit it, but there were several little 'holes' in the paint where the primer showed through, front and rear. I do the taping, as that is my forte, and he does the painting.


We didn't work more than a couple of hours, as it was getting hot. I can only leave the cats out on the screen porch until noon latest, then I bring them into the AC. The kittens in the grooming room, and Bobcat likes to lay under the dining table.


Kenya's big van had been rear ended, and was in the shop. The rental company only had cars. Can you imagine what it has been like for her to transport the cages to the Adoption Days ? They fold up, but you can't get much in a car, so it was taking her several trips. She didn't realize that I have a truck now, and that I could have taken them to Petco for her. Then to top it off, the high winds the other day had blown a tree across her driveway, and the chainsaw was dull. So she was having to go around it through some rough terrain, in a rental car. She was still busy fairly late in the afternoon. She has a mother, father, and grandmother that she runs around, too, for their appointments. So Jay and I met her husband near their home and acreage, way out in the country. He had the chainsaw fixed, but hadn't got the driveway completely cleared yet. I handed over my 'babies' to him, not knowing if either, or both, would get adopted. Jay and I went to a BBQ place and got enough of their 'two for one' takeout to feed both of us and Jay's mother for a couple of days. After I dropped Jay off, and came home it seemed strange to be just Bobcat at feeding time.


Today, I got the call that Boots, left, was the one that they chose. She doesn't usually show well, but she really took to them, and I hope that she will be happy in her new 'forever' home. I will be getting Minkie back, as soon as Kenya and I can meet. I will just keep her in the house, no sense in running the AC in the grooming room, unless I am grooming.


Here is a Horsey motor home, I bet they have to keep the central AC on for their horses ! Can you imagine a rig like that ? That must have cost more than a lot of houses. What I could do with a rig like that, but I sure wouldn't want to pay for the fuel. If I were younger I would load it up with stuff for sale, and hit all the markets, traveling all over. I always thought that a Toy Hauler would be the thing for me. But you know that these horses aren't 'toys', probably some race horses living in the lap of luxury. I hope that they are winning for their owners !!


Today, I did pick up Jay again, and we changed out AC's in my computer area, my bedroom.

As I have said, I don't like central, it takes up too much room in the attic. Anyway, I like to be able to shut down the AC in the parts of the house that I am not using. I wanted to take out the smaller AC in my bedroom, and put a larger one in there, as I needed the smaller one for the HiLo. I had bought this larger one off eBay from someone local, and it is doing a good job in here. The thermostat doesn't seem to be as temperamental as the one in little AC, and keeps the temperature more constant.

Another rescue gone, so a sad/happy day.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Table Mount Done. Kitties may be Adopted.

Sunday, I groomed my late husband's dog, MaeMae, who now lives with her previous folks. Then I took a lot of time composing the ad for the Class B, and sorting out the best pictures.
Even though I did a very thorough description of it, and 24 pictures, I still get questions that would be answered if they would just read the ad. So I did a lot of answering emails about that the last few days. Silly questions like "How long will the water in the tank last"! That's like asking how long is a piece of string, as it all depends on how they use it.

Monday, yesterday, Emma's, (the cat boarder) "Mom" came to pick her up. After 2 weeks of being here, poor Emma didn't know if she was coming or going. She was pleased to see her Mom, and smelled her, as if to ask where had she been all this time. Then she walked back into my big cage and sat on the kitty condo. I had to get on all fours to get her out. After we rented a crane to get me up, (LOL), I got her in her carrier, and off they went. So now, for a while, there is just old Bobcat, the two foster kittens, and me.

Ray mowed the yard, those little 'whispies', I call them, had grown up. He said that the blade needed sharpening, so we loaded the mower up on the truck. I had trouble getting the blade off last time, so it is easier to let the man at our local Western Auto fool with it.

Today, Tuesday, Ray and I got the table storage mount done on the back of the kitchen cabinet in the Class B. You turn the little red velour 'knobs' to get the table out. The top of the table is almond Formica to match the counter top. The pole will store in a clamp thing, like a fire extinguisher has, in that little corner on the left. Then the wind suddenly came up and was blowing the trees every which way, the sky got dark, and we just knew it was going to downpour. So we didn't get that installed. We were scrambling to get the tools back in the workshop, and I had so much stuff out. Compressor, staple gun, chop saw, velour, knives, scissors, screw drivers, bins of screws, washers, etc. Just a whole bunch of stuff. And it didn't rain !! It rained a gully washer down the street, but not here !

I drove into our little town, through wet streets and big puddles, dropped off the mower, paid some bills, etc. and came home.

Kenya, my SPCA boss, called and said that there is an approved application on my kitties. They may take just one, or maybe both. We will see on Saturday. I let them have "house time"every evening, as they will have to get used to being in forever homes, but tonight they were playing and chewing on my receipts, so I put them to bed in the grooming room early.

So that is the last three days.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Adoption Day, and Shopping.

Nothing much to tell today. Just doing chores around the house, until it was time to take the kittens to Adoption Day at Petco.

While they were there, I drove to the RV store south of town and got a different length table pedestal pole, for the Class B. I went to Home Depot, Lowes, a couple of thrift shops. I got a couple of summer blouses, and canvas shoes. I got a new pump-up sprayer, and different brand of automatic cut-off for the underground watering system, so that I won't have to do it manually any more. I hope this one works.

Back to Petco. The SPCA volunteers usually get some take-out, this time it was Chinese, and we all ate at a table in a corner, until it was time to load up all the critters, cages, and stuff. Apparently this is a slow time for adoptions, while school is out. So it is really to let the animals get used to different surroundings and people.

A busy day for me, but a slow Adoption Day.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Well, Is It Going to Rain, or Isn't It ?

Ray and I worked on the Class B table storage mount a little bit this morning. Boy, was it humid ! You wanted it to come a downpour just to clear the air.

We did move our work back into the workshop at one time, as it rained three drops. I didn't take any pictures, as Ray got called away, and we didn't get it finished.

Mindi postponed bringing the dogs to later in the month, so I didn't have to move Emma, the cat boarder, out of the big cage to a smaller one, to make room for the big black Lab. Emma's "Mama" called, and she will be here Sunday afternoon to pick her up. I think that Emma is a scared of thunder, as she didn't want to eat her dinner tonight. Or maybe she is just tired of being here.

Three drops of rain weren't going to get it, so I turned on the watering system to the hedge, and row of Aloe Vera. So, of course, it started to rain. I turned the water off. But the rain stopped, so I turned the water back on again. Then it started to thunder and rain a little bit again, I turned the faucet off again. So now I am playing musical faucet, instead of animals.

I was supposed to go into our little town, but I don't like to drive with speeding idiots on wet roads, so I will go tomorrow when I have to go to the next town for Adoption Day.

It is still not raining, but a thundering day.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Gutters and Kamikaze Ants

Another nice morning, but very windy, with a chance of rain. It did lightly drizzle a couple of times, and Ray and I thought that we wouldn't be able to continue if it got any worse, but it didn't, so we were able to work until it got too hot, around lunchtime. The cats were happy on the porch until I brought them in then, too.

First, we got the carpet cleaner down from the attic, and attached the fitting that I had bought. But the original female fitting was through a piece of plastic that had cracked, so we put some plastic glue on that to try to re-inforce it, and now it is drying.

This is the first time we have had a bunch of fire ants. Probably because I usually spray the yard for fleas because of any doggie boarders, and it hasn't been done this year. Been too busy getting these RV's done. The ants were even getting up on Ray and Shay's covered porch and eating their outside cat, Blackie's, food. We had her dishes in bowls of water to try to stop them, but some ants sacrificed themselves so that the live ones could cross on their bodies. We saw them do it. Now that is really something.

So, second, we had to do something about that. I looked at the hourly weather forecast, and the wind wasn't going to let up, and it had started to drizzle again. Of course the pump up sprayer didn't want to work at first, until we cajoled the wand with some compressed air. We locked Blackie up in her bedroom, their utility room, and sprayed all the covered porch which goes from their place, my guest house, all the way to my front door. It is protected from the rain and wind. We will do the rest of the yard, when it isn't so windy. Then we did all around my screen porch, and left enough for me to do inside my porch when my kittens are not there.

Third, let's get to work on the Class B. The left picture is the ratty flashing that they had over the front doors. The second and third pictures are of EZE RV Gutter over the two front doors. The last one is where we added a strip across over the back doors, so that if the AC is on, and the B is sloped to the back as it is now, the condensation won't drip inside again.























An antsy day.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Happy Cats. Emma tried to help me. Rent $1.00

The kittens and Bobcat were so happy to be back on their screen porch this morning. But I had to bring them in around noon as it was getting hot.

Emma was loose in the grooming room while they were out there, and I was washing my hair in the little bathroom off the grooming room. First she wouldn't stay out of the tub, I was using the dog sprayer over the tub, and then she discovered that was wet. So she went off to find better things, and this is how Emma "helped" me !!

Ray came over after he had done a pressure washing job down the freeway, and we did his time sheet. He had done so many hours this last month, that he only owed me $1 in rent. I am so glad to have him helping me when he can, as he is thorough, and I don't have to put up with Jay and his addled brain and hang overs. He tries to do things quickly, and can't think things through, and they have to be done over. If, and when, Jay straightens up again, he can come back and do more carpentry work.

I spent some time cleaning the cages, and carrier, that the Little T, and the Dachshund (in season), had been in. I will need to keep my kittens in that big dog carrier in my living room on Friday. More about that later.

So a "ripping" good day.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Back to Class B. Screen Porch Cleaning.

It seems strange to have "Little T" gone, but now the work begins. I still couldn't let my cats out on the porch until I had cleaned and disinfected the box out there, mopped the floor, and washed the rugs, etc.

I was doing that while Ray took off these ghastly pieces of tin/flashing that someone had siliconed on top of the two front doors on the Class B. See bottom of picture. I was clever enough to crop that out of my pictures to share. What a way to do things. That darned silicone is so hard to remove, and I wish folks would keep it away from RVs and use the proper stuff. I think I know why they put it there; to stop AC condensation from dripping over the front doors. It took a long time to get that tin off there and the residue cleaned up, and Ray cut his arm on it. Not bad, just a one Bandaid cut. I had bought some drip cap to replace it, but the conformation wasn't right. I looked in my RV catalogs, and saw that the flexible Gutter System, made of poly-vinyl, might work.

We also tried out the table with the table pedestals, and that wasn't going to work. The original table must have been a lot narrower, and it seemed to take up too much room in such a small aisle. Even from pictures of this model, the original table seems overwhelming, so maybe that is why the PO got rid of it. So we went back to Plan A, and are going to use the little maple one. I think most folks in B's eat on the picnic table, or carry one of those light aluminum fold up tables anyway. When we went in a B, we used a dining canopy or small screen house over the picnic table as our outside living room.

Really, we did that in the Class A, too. It is so much nicer to be outside, and I am too short to be fooling with putting an awning in and out, so we never used ours. We kept it strapped down, so that it couldn't unfurl while traveling, and that was too much hassle for me to try to do all that. We have all seen what an awning coming unfurled going down the road can do to a rig. I would rather contend with a WalMart dining canopy, or one of those "Throw up in the air, and it comes down as a little screen room" things. They are easy to fold back up if you follow the directions, and use several people's feet to hold it still while you fold it !!

After lunch, I went north to the RV store and got some Gutter System, as they would sell it to me by the foot. Because of the angle that the B is parked, when we were using the roof AC the condensation would drip over the back doors and if I opened one, it would run inside. So I measured the width and now Gutter System should redirect that water to each side. It is because of the way that this fiberglass top is mounted to the van, that the regular van gutters can't do their job.

I went to an auto parts store and they had one of those gauges where you can screw a threaded something on it, and it will tell you what size thread it is. Hooray, I found the right thread to fit the thing that is broken on my carpet cleaning machine, so I bought a barb fitting, some of the right diameter hose, clamps, and maybe I can get that fixed.

The cable is out, so this is a dial-up day.

Monday, June 2, 2008

8 Dogs, 5 Cats !! Neutered Mouse !!


I was awakened by the doorbell chiming at 6.00 am. I knew that Mindi was bring two of her Poodles to be groomed, but she had to go out of town overnight, and she brought 8 (yes, eight) of her dogs. 5 Poodles, 1 smooth Dachshund (Weiner Dog) and 2 Wire-haired Dachshunds. Oh, they have more, but they are outside ranch dogs. Mindi's dogs usually just play loose in the grooming room, as you can see they have lots of toys. Now, I had to tend to Emma, the cat boarder, in the big cage in there, so I locked up Mindi's dogs in the kennel cages. Here is Emma playing with the loop on my grooming table. She knows Mindi's dogs, but I didn't let her loose with them , as I am responsible for her. My foster kittens were locked up the the big cage in the middle room, until it was their time to come out and play. Now one of Mindi's, Precious, the Smooth Dachshund, is in season, and one of her male Poodles is not neutered, so I am really playing "musical animals" now. I am keeping Precious in a fairly large dog crate in my hallway.

Here is Emma playing with a neutered mouse. It was a monorchid ( 1 ball), but it was neutered so that the ball could not fall out, and one of the critters choke on it.
I got two Poodles ready for their baths, but I am going to have an early lunch, as I have to take "Little T" into the next town this afternoon, to his new fostermom. So I just put all the critters down for their naps, and I am going to try to take one, too.
Oh, oh, phone just rang, I am taking Little T now.

3.30pm. Back from town. Little T seemed happy with his new fostermom, and he has his own little cushion that he had here. One that the Quilting Ladies made for the SPCA animals.

While I was at the Interstate Battery Depot getting a new battery for the Class B, I got a call from Mindi. It seems that I won't have time to finish grooming these two poodles, as she is coming back early, and will be there soon. The dogs will be back on Friday, so I can finish them then.
I was at the Interstate place, instead of Wal-Mart, as it is a Kirkland battery that went bad , and Johnson Controls makes Interstate and Kirkland batteries. But they wouldn't honor the Kirkland warranty, so I bought an Interstate "blem" for a lot less than a Wal-Mart battery. Kirkland is Cosco, and I can get it replaced there, when I go to Houston again.

I know why I wanted a white truck. It is hot out there, and I can tell how much cooler the truck is after sitting in the sun. I just hated to get into my black Volvo, I got so that I wouldn't go anywhere in it in the summer. Then the truck AC has a smaller area to cool down than an SUV or wagon. I rushed home and let all the different shifts of animals in and out !!

A hectic animal day.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

House Warming. Lost in Space.

Yesterday I got up at the usual time, and played musical "free time" with the cats, as they would have to be locked up for a while in the afternoon. Except Bobcat, of course.

In between that, I just spent most of my time getting ready to go to my granddaughter, Kim's, House Warming Party. I tried to curl my hair with a curling iron. I tried to wax my eyebrows, and that hurt more than tweezering. I tried to get my eyebrow make-up to look the same on both sides. Tried to get my lipstick on, without looking like a made up old freak. I tried on different clothes, and shoes. Changed purses. You know the drill. LOL.

I settled on a nice embroidered short-sleeve blue suit, white silk top, white shoes and bag, but by the time this picture was taken, I had changed into a summer dress, as it got hot, and we were mostly in the back yard. I only wore that suit because it fit me. I had intended to wear a floral summer dress, and I had some that I had never worn, (size 9 !) with the price tags still on them. But this computer made me put on weight, so I took the dresses with me, and gave them to my girls. They pounced on them, so I guess they liked them. Apart from other things, I gave them each a doggie bed for each of their dogs, made by the Quilting Ladies. Those were gifts that no-one else thought to take, I'll bet. Kim's dogs, two Pugs and a Beagle, are crated at night, so I hope they enjoy.

It was good to see everyone again, and a few tears were shed because Susan wasn't there with us. The kids were slipping and sliding on one of those water slides that hooks up to a garden hose. Then they would sit in the chairs at the outside table getting them wet, so if you got up, you folded up your chair !! Even my 13 year old grandson had a great time on the slide with the smaller kids. I think a good time was had by all, plenty to eat even though some food got left in the fridge by mistake.


Wendy, my daughter on the left, Kimberly, my granddaughter on the right, and "Gee, I Didn't Break The Camera" in the middle.


The truck ran fine, and it even found it's way home in the dark.


This morning I was messing around with the photos of the Class B, getting the latest ones in some sort of order, when the listing accidentally started early. That really threw me, as I had edited the ad to look so appealing, and all my edits were gone. Then someone placed a bid on it, so I couldn't change anything. I added some more info, and that didn't go through either. So my latest photos and info must have gone somewhere in space. Darn it. I had spent so much time on it that I hadn't even been able to read my email or read any blogs.

I was all ready to take "Little T" , the six toed kitten, to his new fostermom today, but it got postponed until tomorrow. I had even gone carefully up to the attic to get a little carrier down for him, and I don't usually go up there when I am on my own. With my osteoporosis I could easily break a bone if I slipped, so I had my cell phone in my pocket. I will miss him, but I will be glad when he is gone, and things can get back to normal.

One exciting day, and one spaced out day.