Sunday, Last official day of Winter

[Colliemom]

Good Morning, hoping mom nature read the calendar and quits with winter and moves into spring tomorrow. Supposed to be around 50 here today, so it's a start, but wont last of course. But maybe I can get outside and sink some fence posts in place to expand the dogs fenced yard eventually. A little here, a little there and then the big movement of the fencing itself. Will come, just want to get out and do something.

But first will be heading for mass this morning and then to Lowes to get some fence posts. Be a nice day for a dog walk too now that we are getting our daily walk routine going again. Otherwise not a heck of a lot doing here. In transition so to speak, done with winter projects and waiting for weather to let me do outside ones.

Posted info on a GTG for IL in October if you are interested. Hope you can come, should be fun and a great place to do it. Not everyday we camp on an island in the Mississippi River.

Off to wash my hair, so have a nice day everyone

[BirdbyBird]

It is early. It is cold. It is time to leave for the dog show. That covers the top points. Only showing Josef now that Audrey finished her Grand Championship. The competition today is too deep and all but one have professional handlers. He does look nice and I haven't fallen or tripped so far. Guess that does make it a successful weekend.

[Liz]

Good morning! I'm spending a lot of time walking around and getting to know my new neighborhood in Dowling Park. I'll be walking a couple blocks to the community church this morning. Yesterday the owners of the mobile home I'm buying introduced me to a neighbor that has an inflatable Sea Eagle kayak and started a kayaking group here in the village. So I have a kayaking date on the river next Thursday with her and one other resident here. Looking forward to that. I won't be able to get into my new part-time winter home until mid-April. The owners have dr. appts. until then, and I agreed to that. They will pay the lot rent until the end of April, so I will take over that starting May first. I hope to get all the paperwork involved in the transition finished before then, so I can start on my NE travels by May 1. I don't expect to do much in the mh until I return next fall in terms of organizing stuff. It is a turn-key sale with the owners leaving all their furnishings and kitchen stuff with the exception of their special hypoallergenic mattress and a couple of lamps. I think I'll wait until I move in next fall before I decide what to keep and what to donate. I will also wait to order a mattress until then. There is also a couch that converts to a bed that will do until then. I need to make a list of business to take care of, so I don't forget anything.

It's been beautiful Spring weather here, for which I am glad, because it makes me less anxious to get on the road. Hope everyone has a good day.

Velda, so sorry to hear about all your troubles. Hope Mel's foot gets better on its own, or that they can help him.

[avalen]

Good morning ladies
Have been getting the old lady put together of course. But I took time
yesterday to read through some of the owners manual. Guess my gas
tank is only 40 gal. Won't get to do any of the packing today though
as today is the day I drive the park n ride for NASCAR. Means more
gas money of course.
Off I go into the world of traffic, y'all have a great day and be safe.

[SoCalGalcas]

Love these COE parks. Sandy Creek, near Jasper, TX.
Velda, that is so interesting and painful about Mel's foot. I had the same thing happen to me when my son-in-law died. I think mine was "psychosomatic " after x-rays, MRI and CT scan showed nothing. Pain gradually went away.
Wow, Liz! What an interesting development in your life. I heard that there are going to be more "settlements " in FL like that.
Alice, you aren't going to "take off" before I see you, are you?
Today is a rest day in this nice park. Lyn

[IrishIroamed]

Mornin' ladies ~~~

Just been reading lately, so catching on some things I wanted to say . . .

Beth ~ scary story about your almost ambulance ride. Yes, we should all pay attention to that little voice. It's there for a reason. Glad you are taking precautions and hope you can get to cooler weather soon.

Liz ~ Looks like a wonderful new home base for you! Congrats and may you have many happy years there and meeting new friends.

Ava ~ Also congrats on the old lady. Happy travels to you, although I kind of wish you'd give her a prettier name

Barbie ~ good luck on the sale of Dad's house and continued praying for your brother. Good luck on finding an RV that will fit what lifestyle you want to live for the time being, but as everyone said, be careful about the tow vehicle to be used.

Happy belated birthday to Irmi, Diana, Kathy, and who ever else I may have missed. Keep on partying ladies!

Other than that, been busy looking at monthly campgrounds where I could still get to work. All pretty pitiful in IL. Mostly migrant campgrounds. The nicest I found was all gravel. Only grass in front of the pond. Even got a kick out of the name of one. 'Enchanted Shores' was actually in the middle of a cornfield. What the??? I new that before going there (God bless satellite maps), but the sites were so narrow, I doubt stairs or a slide could be put out on many of them. I refuse to pay the $$ they ask, to purchase a lot for the camper. Those I've seen are not so great either. I'd bet there are nicer ones in IN or WI, but I do still need to get to work, so for now, looks like I'll still be a weekend/vacationer camper.

On the 3 week countdown of picking up Colt 2.0. woohoo! Can't wait.

Have a good day ladies. Stay happy. Stay healthy. And stay safe on the roads.

[Acadianmom]

Looks like we will have another warm day, it's already 75. It's suppose to go to 80. I need to go put the fan on in the motorhome before the mud daubers go back to work. I might try putting the air conditioner on at a temperature that it will only come on a little. If I knew how to kill those things they would be dead.

Tina, if you fall you will probably have an audience. If I fall I will have 10 cats looking at me but I don't think I can get them to go for help. My step-daughter called this morning to tell us she is in the hospital. She tripped in her back yard and broke a thigh bone. She couldn't get anyone to hear her so had to drag herself around to a side door and pretty far into the house before anyone could hear her. They are suppose to put a rod in this afternoon and said she would be up tomorrow. I bet that's going to be painful.

Lyn, I bet the camping fees at the COE park are a nice change. I stayed at Mill Creek near Jasper a few years ago. It was cool while we were there because my sister still talks about the stainless steel commodes.

I went to look at houses with my son and his girlfriend yesterday. The houses that are in their price range are trash. It would be one thing if they were DIYers but I know them and they aren't. What ever condition a house would be in when they moved in would be how it stayed. There are new, smaller houses they could afford but they say they aren't well built. That's probably true but they would be move in ready with new appliances. There are several houses built in the 70's that are in good shape and good areas but need to be updated. This should be interesting.

Ava, the gas tank in my motorhome is 55 gallons. Boy, a fill up was a shock when gas was high. At one time the pump would cut off at $75. The credit cards have stopped doing that but I bet there is a limit I just haven't reached it.

Martha

[JudyJB]

Still in the same place doing the same old things, but I thought I'd check in. It is nice to have the lake to look at and some very nice breezes.

Cheryl, the "Enchanted Shores" name reminds me of the huge landfill in Canton, Michigan where I lived for 30+ years. It was called "Woodland Meadows"! Somebody must have had a chuckle thinking up both names.

Hope everyone has a good day! And glad for you northerners that Spring is on its way.

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning...

Ava, so glad you finally got your RV! Congrats and have fun with it!
Sounds like Linda (Bikerchic) got a new rig too.
And happy for Liz finding a great new home to use as a winter base! Sounds awesome!

Slowly warming up around here but not fast enough. Snow is gone but a cold wind today.

Have been very frustrated with my family this week. I had posted on FB about my brother doing good enough to be moved and was being transferred to a local hospital (didn't mention which one). Got a text message from his wife all PO'd about that because she doesn't want the police to know where he was (like they would have to read my FB page to find him!) and asked me to delete it. Two days later, she posts on his Caring Bridge page about him being moved and not only to which hospital but which floor and room he is on. WTH??

Then my other brother says he is going up in the attic on Saturday to get everything down from there. I told him a lot of that is probably mine so we agreed that he would just leave it all in the garage and we would go thru it together on Sunday when I was off work. Well I got home last night after a 9 hour day at work only to discover that he threw everything in the dumpster! I was livid! I got in the dumpster and started going thru stuff and pulled out boxes of my books, special Christmas decorations, and other boxes of MY stuff I wanted to save or at least go thru.

On Friday, he had put some stuff from the garage in the dumpster and one of them was a sleeping bag. I took it out so I could take a look at it later and see if it was worth keeping. I found a note on it last night along with a disgusting dirty pillow, saying "here is a rat infested pillow to go with your rat infested sleeping bag!"
How childish is that??

So I am torn between saying something to him about this or letting it go (hard to do!). I feel really disrespected by his behavior, his wife's behavior (taking over the real estate decisions), and my other SIL's text message. I gave up a lot to come back here to help out and feel like they don't appreciate anything I have been doing here and are taking over everything without my help or input. However, I know if I say anything to any of them, there will be hell to pay for me. It is a no win situation, so I think I will just keep my mouth shut and just focus on getting the house sold and grabbing my check at closing and getting the hell out of here.

OK, done with my rant...

I went to my friend's house last night for awhile for drinks and chatting fireside with her. Good to have nice, understanding, supportive friends!
Hope I can get out for a walk later today to wear off some stress and get some fresh air!

[Bethers]

Barbie, do what you need to live with yourself later. Hugs. When my mom's sister died, my mom was executor. She got along great with all her siblings... My aunt had nothing of value. All siblings and their children were invited to go through the house and see if they wanted anything. When all was said, done, over, a brother accused my Mom of stealing from the estate. She was so hurt. But they never had a relationship after that. And I know that hurt my mom. Anyway. You know the dynamics there and you did the right thing going back to help... You only have to live with what you do in the end. I wish I could have a few words with them for you.

As to your sister in law... I'm sure the police had to approve his move. Her actions could make things worse.

Time for me to go clean a restroom or two. Linda should be stopping by later today, hopefully.

[cnq50b]

Gosh, where did winter go??? To the Northeast, I guess.

I have to admit that I am enjoying winters in CA - not looking forward to the heat of the summer though.

Not much planned for today, my son is smoking some ribs & having friends over for the KU game. I'm going to make some baked beans & cheesy potato casserole to take. Took the big van out for a while yesterday... starting to feel the tug of the road. Olivia should start pre-school in the fall so I'll be freer to venture out a little more - looking forward to it.

Sue, building fences... why am I not surprised. Ava, happy that you have the ' old lady' with you. Velda, so sorry about the problems Mel is having - hope they figure it out & give him the care he needs. Liz, love your new place. Lyn, glad to see you out & about. Cheryl, woohoo on your 3-week countdown.
Barbie, just read your post - what a mess... sorry your brother's being a jerk. You've got the right idea though - just do what you have to do & move on with your life.

Well, I'd better get moving...
Hope everyone stays healthy & happy.
Take care,
Catherine

[BarbaraRose]

My brother came over today and I decided to keep my mouth shut. We loaded an old bed (that I had been sleeping on) into the dumpster and he left. Nothing was said but we were cordial to each other. I decided to keep the peace as much as possible for my other brother's sake. There is no reasoning with my other brother or his wife. Just need to be the bigger person and suck it up until I can leave. I can sure see how families can get torn apart by these situations.

Got my airbed set up on the platform frame I got and put on the new bedding I had bought before I moved up here. Looks nice and is very comfy.

Went to Walmart to get a prescription, stopped and got my White Castle fix, and then hung out on the swing on the deck with Lola once the sun finally came out and it warmed up a bit. I put up a gate at the stairs of the deck so Lola can't get off there. She liked sitting out there. Bought some food for the birds and squirrels so hopefully they will start to come around and entertain Lola and me!

Anyone know where to get rid of a piano? We have it on CL for free and no takers yet.

[BirdbyBird]

Barbara when I had the "Junk is Us", what ever it is called, truck to clean out and haul away stuff that needed to be removed before we sold my Dad's property, I had them carry off the piano, also. I didn't want my brother and his family to have to try to get it out of there if/when the property sold. According to the literature of the organization they said that they tried to donate useful items. Personally I didn't care at that time. The piano was a beautiful well cared for piece of furniture but I also knew that the sound board no longer stayed tuned very long and to make it useful to a church or school it would need major rework and repair on its insides.......

[Bethers]

Barbie, I've never heard of this organization, but they take piano donations.
http://www.keys44kids.org/donate-a-piano/

[gingerK]

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