Friday, May 3rd

[Colliemom]

Another morning, another day here in northern MI. Rained in the wee hours of the morning and showers passing through for awhile yet. I suppose that when I eventually get my garden planter, flowers and maybe a new tree or two planted, we won’t see a drop. It is gettng a little frustrating in that I am trying to dig up and deroot area in front of the porch and the dirt is of course wet and hard to work with. I think I’m starting to sound like Karen, as she’s been through this too many rainy days, cold mornings thing and not be able to accomplish anything outside sometimes.

But both Wednesday and yesterday were really nice days. Wednesday I had a hair cut appt. And a bunch of errands to run, so wasn’t able to get much done on porch project. Always take time for that daily dog walk. And with warmer weather around, I took advantage of it yesterday and was outside by 9 a.m. First item on agenda was to move a couple of brackets on the porch rails for mounting the handrails. Screws got stripped in onea, so after trying a couple things, finally had to saw the whole thing off with reciprocating saw. Put new one in place where I wanted it and got the handrail cut and in place. I’m happy to say, that with the exception of having to cut the balusters to fit, that project is done construction wise. I brought the wood for the handrails in the house, so I can paint them. Will finish it all up tomorrow. With that accomplished, I spent rest of day tearing apart the old step, cleaned up the cut up shrubs and junk laying out there, cut up the last shrub and got the stump/roots out, raked and picked up branch’s and sticks from one area of yard. And cleaned up my garage. So was a good productive day. And of course, the day dog walk which turned out to be two neighbor visits.

Shelia, I hear ya about the wind. . We’ve had a lot of it too. 25-30 + mph. So far it’s taken out both of our POA lake access signs, pushed over a rotting fence post on our entrance fencing, knocked down a pine at my neighbors, ripped mine and my one neighbors flags up and knocked two skinny dead trees down in my yard over the past weeks. Not to mention branches and twigs. Sheesh.

Karen, sounds like you had a fun day. BJ, I wouldn’t be looking forward to those cicadas either. Sounds horrible. They say this is going to be a bad tick year up here. Beth, I must have missed something in that you aren’t gong back to that job in IA?

Guess I should get ready for my day, run the vac, maybe clean my bathroom and wash kitchen floor or Maybe not. Them mosey up to town and get some trim wood foe my yet to be constructed planter box. And look over retaining wall stone for my flowerbed edging over again.

[Othersharon]

Good morning Sue and all to follow. It’s another sunny morning and warm. I think this’ll be the last for a whole string of days starting tomorrow. I’m thinking maybe I should mow the yard today to try to stay a bit ahead of it. Can’t believe how it’s grown since I feel like I just mowed. So I need to also get out for a walk today since I have a feeling we’ll be dodging raindrops for a while. Will have to stick to neighborhood instead of the woods. I imagine we’ll have a few breaks in the storms to allow us to get out. At least that’s my hope! Yesterday afternoon was the last of my doctor appointments for a while so glad for that. I also did some running since I was in State College. It’s going to be crazy traffic wise this weekend with university graduations so would just rather avoid that! Filled the car up at Sam’s while I was over that way too. Gas prices are really heading up again so any way I can save I’ll take it. I decided to have a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant I’ve gone to for years and haven’t been for a long time but was really disappointed. First their prices have gone way up which I expected but not triple and the quality was not nearly what it was. So don’t think I’ll be going back. I can do better at home. So can cross them off my list of places to go for a decent meal. Son said there was another restaurant across town so maybe I’ll get the name and one of these days try it out if I really want to go out instead of cooking myself. Big maybe! So that’s about all that’s happening in my life right now. Uneventful is a good thing! Karen, it’ll be exciting when you can finally put plants in your planter boxes. until I can keep Buddy out of the beds I won’t be planting anything. He’s managed to beat down a bunch of the plants that have been there for a long time. Another “still working on it” situation! Thinking of you all and hope you have a great day wherever and whatever you’re doing today.

[JudyJB]

Sheila, I do use my phone for local things and as backup, but my RV GPS is big, 7", and sits in an easy-to-see place on my dash. I would have to pick up my cell phone and hold it to see it clearly, and I don't want to do that. Also, my RV GPS has all of the state, county, and federal campgrounds loaded into it, so I just have to type in an area and click on where I want to go. It also helps me find RV services, and most importantly, it has the height, width, and length of my RV, so it never routes me under a low bridge or onto a weight-restricted road. It also lets me avoid things like ferries, toll roads, or dirt roads, if I choose to. It was expensive when I bought it, but I figure it is cheaper than having to buy a new satellite or AC if I go under a low bridge. Have you ever seen this site: https://11foot8.com/ ? They raised the height to 12' 4" a couple of years ago, but people still get their roof taken off. (Scroll down to the bottom to see a bunch of other trucks and RVs that tried to go under this bridge.)

Or check out this site with numerous crashes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO6x0eBnrmU The lesson is that people just do not read signs, but especially in the country, often there are not enough warning signs.

In Mackinaw City, MI, the Mackinac Bridge approach goes through this little town, and town streets go under the bridge approach. Before I had my GPS, I almost went under one section with a maximum height of 11', but luckily the flashing lights stopped me. The embarrassing part was that I had to back up through a four-way stop while traffic waited for me!!!

[OregonLuvr]

Good afternoon. Just came in from adding 8 bags of soil to my large bed. Those dang bags are heave. 2 cu.ft each and they have been sitting outside so they were extra heavy. But i got er done. I just need to add a few bags of compost when I am ready to plant. The two smaller beds are good to go also except for the compost when I plant. Since we are expecting another "atmospheric river" storm tonight I wont be planting until next week. The sun comes back on Wednesday with very much improved sunshine and warmer weather. So I will go get plants on Tuesday. Will soak my bean seeds on Monday night. Then I need to check out my watering system and make any repairs/additions/removals. Once I get that all done I will start with my flower pots then sit back and enjoy. Well except for fertilizing.

Finished lunch and will change my bed linen and towles soon then relax for the afternoon.

[Pooker]

Judy - My husband was a clearance transportation specialist. His responsibility was to route oversize shipments (think things like shopping mall furnace, A/C etc). He often complained that roads were resurfaced under overpasses and the height signs never changed. There were times when he would have to actually travel to a site and personally measure the clearance. Most times the signs were wrong. So the lesson, ladies, is assume the sign might be 6" to a foot off and don't try it.

And, yes, I'm the one who peeled everything off the roof of my Class C. It wasn't an underpass, though, but a gas station canopy. I bet heaven was shaking from his jumping up and down giving me what for. Yup! Should have known better.

Evie

[BirdbyBird]

Lark and I made it to a quiet Cracker Barrel. I will go in for a small breakfast but am too tired and, ok, maybe miserly with my money to pay for a dinner, too. I try not to eat much for dinner anyway. I had the last appointment early this morning relating to my participation in the vaccine trial. Now I can go out and get my next booster and the RSV vaccine. But not this week. Traveling will also be a test if I can keep up my healthy eating habits. I didn't even try to bring my scale with me. so I will be winging it everyday based on common sense and awareness of the density of calories. I have almost reached my goal am I am down 18 pounds and do find moving much easier between the weight loss and the muscle gain. I will miss my Y and swimming activities. Like I said this is a test. Lark said she would take me on as many short walks as she can. She knows that my spine does not tolerate the long ones any more.....

[JudyJB]

Evie, my rig is about 12' 2" tall, but I set my GPS to 13', just in case. I am always wondering if they really changed the signs and the GPS records when they add those few inches of asphalt, so those 10" are my insurance policy. And even then, if I see a 13' bridge I creep through it. If you go into the videos I posted, there was one where the guy drove up close to the bridge, got out and checked the height, and then drove under it anyway!! Took out driver's side of roof.

Just wondering, where was your gas station? Most of the ones in the West are OK, but I always look for a height sign when I am west of the Mississippi. New York and other East Coast places have older gas stations and older zoning laws. Almost got caught by a couple out there.

Last spring when I left Napa, CA, I made a right-hand turn from Third Avenue onto Silverado Trail. I've done that turn dozens of times, but apparently the trees have grown there, and a low branch wiped out my refrigerator cover and cracked the vent cover in my bedroom. Cost was about $400!! When I get there next fall, I am going to check it out and make some phone calls. Unfortunately, the way the EXPO campground at the Napa Fairgrounds is set up, you cannot make a left turn into it, so I have to circle the block and that was where the right turn lane damaged my vent covers. GPS protects me from low bridges, but unfortunately, it cannot protect me from low branches!!

[BarbaraRose]

Just midnight here. I really need to get to bed. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night.

Went to PT this morning. I discovered there is one of my favorite donut shops down the street from the clinic, so I stopped to get a very yummy chocolate covered donut that was still warm! I guess I haven't gotten over my snacky appetite completely!

My neighbor, Gloria, fell again today in her house. Third time this week! The firetruck showed up to help her get up again. She scraped her elbow pretty good so I put a large band-aide on it. I know why I never went into the healthcare field. I was queasy just doing that!

When I had my travel trailers, I measured their height (including the AC unit of course) and added about a foot to that and posted that number on my windshield so it was easy to see. Never had a problem. However, when I drove my car back from Phoenix to Minnesota after my dad died, I went to the hospital to see my brother who had just had his accident. I went to pull into the parking garage and slammed on my brakes just in time! I had almost forgot that I had my cargo carrier still on the roof of the car! I would have ripped that right off if I had gone a few more feet!

Have pretty much been relaxing all day. Chatted on the phone for awhile with my friend who moved from here to Oregon a few years ago.

The temp yesterday was about 110* . Today in the mid 90's. Will be in the low 80's on Sunday and then back up into the 90's next week. We are supposed to get strong winds with a dust storm later tonight thru tomorrow. So I won't be going outside tomorrow! I am hoping to get the deck finished and the trim put up on Sunday.

I talked to my cat-sitter, Debbie, yesterday for awhile. She said Sophie came up to her one day and let her pet her but never came close again after that. Then one of the days, Romeow apparently thought she was me when he heard her come in the door and came around the corner of the kitchen, saw Debbie and just froze! She said his eyes got huge and he just looked shocked to see her instead of me. Finally, he hightailed it back to the bedroom to hide!

I have been looking into different things I can take courses in for a new job/career. Haven't come up with much yet, altho I was thinking that maybe getting trained as an ADHD Coach (which is in high demand now) would be a good fit for me. I like to work one-on-one with people, I like to teach/train, and I have personal experience with ADHD. I also could do that remotely on-line. Will throw that idea around for awhile and keep looking at other options. I hate to turn down free training even tho I am a bit old to be going back to school for a new career. I need to find something I am really interested in or I won't pursue it. (I know this from past experiences ).

OK, bedtime!

[Pooker]

Grrrr - had a post here and lost it! Don't know which key I must have hit instead of the shift!! Anyway, I'll try again.

Wish I had Sue's and Karen's energy! I love hearing about everyone's growing experiences. After killing all 5 herb plants last year and the year before, I am giving up on growing anything. I do have 3 lemons on my little patio lemon tree, though.

Tina, I'm so amazed at your fortitude and commitment. I couldn't resist a Cracker Barrel. Wish we had one around here.

Judy - My roof incident happened on a trip to Texas with Sharon (she used to be on this forum). Her GPS guided us off the wrong ramp and we had to u-turn. Small town, narrow 2-lane road, not many businesses. Sharon had to drive quite a ways to find a parking lot large enough for her rig and towed Jeep, but I spotted a closed up BP gas station with plenty of room for me. Remember those old stations that had a slanted canopy roof - high on one side and almost ground level on the other? Well, I didn't drive under the high enough side because there were a couple of signs to weave around. Let me tell you, when you peel the roof off of an RV it's NOISY and MESSY. We found a RV park nearby. Dumped my two cats in with her cat and dog (Chewy - who had a big time attitude) and headed off to Walmart for tarps, duct tape, etc. wondering if her gorgeous diesel pusher interior would be toast when we got back. Each animal had staked a corner and were just sulking and staring at each other when we returned and Sharon calmly climbed on my roof while I stood blubbering that I must be too old to drive a motorhome if I make such a dumb mistake and she should call one of my sons to come get me. Bless her heart, she didn't call my family and even though it was a humid 90+ in the shade, she patched me up enough to drive (with the A/C unit sitting in the middle of my floor!) My two kitties and I slept on Sharon's couch and got my poor rig into a nearby Camping World for repairs. The young guy who did the estimate told me not to feel bad because the last rig they had in was a guy, not even all that old, and he took the whole roof off a Monaco! I drove that rig quite a few more years after that before trading her in for a "B".

I'm not that far from Barbie, but while she's sweltering, it's only supposed to get to 67 here today. Possible rain tomorrow. Go figure.

Evie

[Redetotry]

Evie, I remember that event well! Chewy did have an extra special attitude I can still picture in my mind the first photo of him Sharon posted on the forum and thinking he was THE cutest little dog ever. I met him a couple of times and we gave each other adequate space. I'm happy you didn't give up traveling and Sharon didn't call your sons.

I hope I remember to watch the Derby this afternoon. It's probably good I don't live near a race track or I might be broke.

[chalet05]

Evil, that was before my time on here, but I can see Sharon taking care of things! We’ve all had our moments and glad you travelled on! Chewy was something!