Thursday April 21

[Shirlv]

Morning All, clouds, sun and a tad warmer. Still windy. Wanted to start reading container on the balcony but it is yellow with pollen. Can’t squirt it with a hose so will swiffer it. A job for tomorrow before I take a shower. Lol. Sue, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge has been shut down often for wind but don’t think for falling ice. Maryland has much milder temperatures than Michigan though. Wonder how your transportation dept knows when to close before someone gets hurt. Wanted to learn about the life cycle of butterflies. Since my motto is “keep It Simple Stupid” I found a video for children. Was excellent. Lol. Sent it to my two relatives making a butterfly garden, don’t want to strain their little brains either. Need to make an ice cream run to Food Lion so talk later. Be safe

#2 daughter just suggested a leaf blower for cleaning balcony. Duh. An excellent idea.

[Bethers]

You know I still don't feel up to par when the words "ice cream run" don't get me excited. I will make a store run for milk and fruits for the motel continental breakfast. My sinuses are really clogged now so I'm thinking maybe get some sinus meds, too. I am improving.

I love reading all the gardening posts. My sister also gardens in Wisconsin and did a lot inside over this winter. I just wish I was close enough to all of you to partake of the fruits of your labors. But I'm not big on tomatoes and would let you keep those. Lol
Blasphemy, I know.

[Shirlv]

Sorry Beth, I only raise tomatoes and spring onions. I would share my ice cream.

[Colliemom]

Shirl, the Mackinac Bridge is operated by the Mackinac Bridge Authority. They oversee the operation and maintenance of the bridge. They regularly drive the bridge looking for safety hazards such as the falling ice etc. and also keep a constant eye on the total infrastructure. Construction of some kind is always being done during the warm Weather months. It’s pretty much a given that there will be some every year. It can take about 3 years just to repaint it and then tine to start over again. They are currently replacing the grating in the center of the bridge where it needs it. Always something.

During the peak summer season, as many as 610,000 vehicles cross the bridge each month.

[chalet05]

A mixed bag of emotions here. My oldest niece had her first baby yesterday - she has been a wonderful aunt to her sisters' kids and will be a terrific mama. And then - call from BFF this morning. Her 44ish son has stage 4 liver (on edit it is kidney) cancer. Call from my brother that sister-in-law who is preparing for chemo and radiation for bladder cancer now has unknown growing spots on abdomen and pelvis. There was a lot more family drama in each of their phone calls so I'm going to find some calm in my day.

Talked with my favorite gal in the office yesterday. Sign will be put up for people to not store their things under the stairs. Since I'm leasing for another year (hopefully longer), they will pay to have my carpets cleaned! I was going to have it done so this is a plus.

We are having a mixed bag today but sun is out at the moment.

[Shirlv]

Anita, sorry for your recent news. Sadly the older we get the more dreaded news we hear.((hugs)))

[JudyJB]

Am in Decatur, IN, at the Fleetwood/REV customer service place. I went to the local RV dealer to have my water pump checked this morning. They determined that the pump was fine, but it was not getting power from the two switches inside my rig. However, they are not a Fleetwood dealer and did not have the parts, nor were they sure they could fix it even if they did have the parts.

I understood this, but was not willing to take it back to the dealer I bought it from because of so many problems with them when I first bought it. I did make a call to Camping World and they also did not have the specific parts I needed, so I then called Fleetwood to see if I could get seen tomorrow morning. I know they are extremely likely to have parts and know how to fix electrical issues on this rig, so since they were not busy and said they could take a look first thing in the morning, I drove the four hours here. Had to cancel my campground without a refund for tonight and tomorrow, but this place has electrical hookups and a water fill and dump station if I need it. They also have a very nice paved parking area for overnight customers.

At least I know it was not the pump and what is likely the problem. While I am here, I am going to have them look at one of my upper kitchen cabinets where the bottom is coming loose. Also, one of my kitchen drawers is not working right, and i need an oil change, so can get several things done while I am here.

Windy and rainy drive, but sunny and warmer here.

[JudyJB]

Have to tell about something. When I am in other parts of the country, I really miss certain foods from Michigan. For example, I can make pasties, but never would succeed at anything like a Awrey Bakery Long John Coffee Cake! (Scroll down to the last item on the right on this page: https://www.awreybakery.com/)

Two items I have been hungry for are Koegel's Vienna hot dogs and pickled bologna. On their web site, they have a map where you are supposed to be able to find stores in Ohio that sell their products, but I could not get it to work, and the link for zip codes only found places within 10 miles, so I wrote a comment on the Contact area.

So, today I get a long email thanking me from John Koegel explaining the problems they have been having getting their products to Meijers stores in Ohio. I made some suggestions to make the web site easier to use (like adding names of cities to search for as an alternative to zip codes) and i got a response from the president of the company, John Koegel. (I had to look him up, as he did not include his title in the email.) And he asked for my city in Ohio so he could try to get one of his managers to find a store in my area that carried the products. Now THAT is customer service from a family-owned company!

I think I will post something on my blog about unique products from Michigan.

[snowball]

hopefully Judy you will get the not only the pump fixed but the foods you have been trying to find. My husband two foods that he would crave that you would find in the mid west and then only in certain areas
so totally understand the issue His was Maid Rite's and Sterizering's potato chips... I simply can't eat the chips I swear they are fried in cold oil my kids on the other had love them and will beg plead and pay outrages prices to get them shipped to them... my son even gave everyone a picture made up from a Sterizering's bag for Christmas... have to admit that I pretty much shook my head...
finally made it to the bank ordered checks and got some counter checks because I was down to my last one and had to send a couple checks off for renewal of some magazines....so to write one check using my last one right??? and there it was three checks at least they didn't charge me for them...
got rid of the left overs if it wasn't eaten it was disposed of .... I really liked the scalloped potatoes and will make them again except I don't think I will add the bacon the crispy bacon became soggy after a couple of reheats... can't remember what they did different but I liked it...
got some pork chops for dinner on Sunday think I will use the Air Fryer to cook them any suggestions?
I really want to put out a bird bath with a solar feature so that it can bubble have a bird out there that I can't figure out what kind it is and of course my books are in the trailer hmm but they maybe where granddaughter can get to them... I might have to ask her just don't know when she would be able to get them to me...
feel better Beth
you all have a great day
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

Good late night!

Busy day! Slept in a little bit and then got a call from work. I was worried they wanted me to come in today to cover for someone, but it turned out the new guy wants me to work for him on Sunday and he will work for me next Friday. Agreed.

I took out the trash and then got my laundry started. Washed dishes while waiting for laundry to wash and then dry. I finished the laundry and even put it all away! Then cleaned the rest of the kitchen and mopped the floor. After that, I started going thru all my "appliances" and kitchen gadgets. I discovered I have 4 different types of choppers, so I need to pick one I like best and get rid of the others. Also have 4 different types of blenders! Am keeping my mini Bullet and an electric hand mixer. The other two go. Put some other appliances in a to-go pile such as my quesadilla maker, and a popcorn popper (have 2 of them). No wonder I had no room left on my counters! By that time, I realized I had forgotten about the 3pm haircut and it was already after 5! Called her and apologized a lot. I went right over to give her a haircut. She has a beautiful park model on the golf course over looking a small lake with fountains, etc. So pretty! I wish I would have had the money to buy one of those. I could lay on the deck taking naps all the time out there!

I set the TNR trap this afternoon in a shady spot on the side of my house. Kept checking it every half hour but no kitties. Around 7pm I heard the wind pick up and went out to close my patio umbrella and then checked on the trap again. Bingo! Had a very unhappy cat. Not either of the two I really wanted to get, but a large black cat with white feet. He has been around this area for at least 6 months and has a red collar with a bell on it but no tags. He doesn't seem to belong to anyone here in the park. The drive across the valley to drop him off was harrowing to say the least! I wrote down the directions to get there and of course forgot them when I left. Didn't have my GPS set up on my new windshield so I figured I would remember the directions . The winds were really picking up and getting stronger the further I headed north on the freeway and it was hard to keep my car in my lane. I finally turned off where I thought I was supposed to and ended up getting hit with a blinding dust storm blowing big drifts of sand across the road. It was like a blizzard! Couldn't see anything, and lost a bit of control driving thru the sand drifts! Very scary! Finally drove into an area that was more built up and less open. Got a little turned around but finally found the Humane Society and got the cat dropped off. I will pick him back up on Saturday morning. I am hoping he has a microchip and they can find his owners.
I took a different way home, and stopped at a WM that I have been to a few times before. It is immaculate and so perfectly organized and well-stocked! Found a few things there that my two local ones don't carry or are always out of.

I have started going thru the food in my cupboards too. I found things I didn't know I had and way too much of some things, like microwave popcorn. I had 4 boxes of it! I hardly ever make it so I just kept a few bags and will bring the rest to work to see if anyone there wants some of it. I got one cupboard downsized and organized and am working on another one. Will finish that one tomorrow. I think a lot of things are expired so the food shelves won't take them. The workers here will take them tho, so I can let them know. I also need to go thru my fridge and freezer tomorrow. I have a lot more empty counter space now.

My feet hurt a lot today. The back of my feet just above my heels are sore and hurts to press on that area. Too much standing I think.

Time to get to bed. Long, busy day! Need a good night's sleep for another busy day!

[OregonLuvr]

Barbie you probably have an app on your phone OR you can download it with GPS. I always use my phone anymore. Go to the google play store and download Google Maps. Very easy to use, speaks to you and is very accurate. I am pretty sure you have an android phone.

[Bethers]

That's all I use, also, Karen.

[BarbaraRose]

If I had planned ahead, I would have done that, but I didn't realize I forgot my handwritten directions until I was already on the freeway in the dust storm. I did later drag out my GPS from the back seat and looked up a better way home. Will get my GPS set up on the windshield soon!