Tuesday, May 27, 2014

SPENT THE HUMID MORNING ON THE END OF MY SHOVEL & THE AFTERNOON IN MY RECLINER IN FRONT OF A COOLING FAN

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FRUIT TREE BLOSSOMS IN NEIGHBOR KATHERINE’S FRONT YARD…..AT SUNSET

The bulk of my entire morning was spent on the working end of a shovel first digging up plants then digging them back into the ground in a different location.  I liked a thick stocked bamboo looking plant our neighbor had planted along his fence line for privacy.  Said he dug it up in a ditch less than a mile from where we live.  With directions in mind I set off in the Jeep & dug me up over 30 plants.  Forgot to take a pic of the plants but I will be going back for more.  Took me awhile to get them all replanted & watered around our property but if all goes well they should form an additional heavy growth of vegetation around us.  Humidity was up by the time I finished planting & that drove me back Into the house & right into the shower.  From there it was off to my recliner for a few zzzzz's in front of my stack of 3 cooling fans.  We held off from hitting the A/C button. DSC_0018-003

I did manage to remember a few questions from readers tonight.  The  last photo of flowers in Monday night's post are Primrose………  Someone asked about the windmill in my POST about the WINDMILL LAKE WAKE & ECO PARK near us.  At the moment that windmill is in a state of disrepair but the new owners of the property have plans to restore it back to it's original state.  I remember years ago when it was a tourist attraction & tour buses would make stops at the mill.  It was operational & I understand it had a gift shop.  I know a Dutch family lived on this large piece of scenic property years ago & I am assuming they were the folks who built it……..  And I sorta recall another reader asking if there were free places for boondocking here in this area of Canada.  Unfortunately we do not have those nice big free BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas like the South-Western States.  It will be a real challenge for us locating places to stay & I'm just not sure how we are going to handle that yet.  As long time readers know we prefer to stay away from RV Parks.  Kelly did phone one National Park called CYPRESS LAKE NATIONAL PARK but RV sizes are restricted to 26' there.  Too bad because we have been to Cypress Lake before & really liked it………  Remember, if you have asked me a question & I haven't answered it please don't think I am ignoring you.  I just have a very frustratingly short term memory & have a habit of simply forgetting to answer.  Happens to me with emails as well.

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THESE UNDERWATER LILY PADS HAVEN’T QUITE REACHED THE SURFACE YET >>>

And speaking of forgetting here is a good example of how my mind works.  Last week I was taking some photos in the rig & around our carport.  I was using the flash on my camera & when I do that I have to remember to take the lens hood off my lens or the flash casts a shadow across the bottom of my photos.  Amazingly enough I did remember to take the hood off for a change & I distinctly remember unscrewing it.  That was about 7 or 8 days ago & I have not seen the lens hood since.  I remember taking it off but have zero recollection as to what I did with it only seconds later.  I have gone through shirt & pants pockets, jacket pockets & nowhere is that lens hood to be found.  If I had laid it down I would have found it by now.  Only logical explanation is that it was beamed up immediately after I removed it from the lens by a passing Alien spaceship.  If I ever find that shade again I will let you know where I found it or if that Alien spaceship decides to beam it back to me again I will let you know about that too:))

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CAN YOU SEE THE HUNGRY LITTLE BABY ROBIN BEAKS 
Bob from THE CARETAKER CHRONICLES made a good point in his comment on my Monday night's post when he in part said, "Most RV folks tend to claim that whatever they're driving is just about the best they've ever had. Well, mostly".  I have found that to be the case over the years as well.  If someone didn't think it was the best RV then why buy it.  Sounds nice in theory but most of us are not in the position to order a new rig from a factory custom built to our own likes & preferences.  Over the years any rig we have ever had I always trot out the ‘what it is I like about it’.  All the pluses, all the positives.  Readers of my blog also know I trot out the negatives as well & there are always some negatives.  Unless you live in a perfect world of course.  I came across a good example of that this morning with the Triple E.  On all our RV's the rear ladder was full length & could be easily accessed from the ground.  I have always liked that.  Decided to slip up onto the rig's roof this morning for a first close up look around.  Before I could do that I had to attach another ladder to the rig's already attached ladder.  You see these partial ladders on a lot on Diesel Bangers so you have to carry another ladder attachment along in one of the bins.  I don't like that ladder attachment idea.  I suppose it's done that way so Cows wearing horseshoes, clumsy climbing Chickens, oogling Ostrich's, rambunctious baby Elephants, & salt water Crocodiles can't climb up the ladder & stomp around on the roof at night keeping everybody awake inside. 

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WE HAVE A NICE TREED AREA AROUND OUR HOUSE TO PARK THE RIG & KEEP IT OUT OF THE SUN

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ON THE RIGS ROOF LOOKING FORWARD, REAR, & OFF TO THE AWNING SIDE --- ANGLED SKY LIGHT IN FIRST PHOTO IS OVER THE SHOWER & THE LIVING ROOM SKY LIGHT IS VISIBLE IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE SECOND PHOTO --- OTHER DARK RECTANGLES ARE SOLAR PANELS

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THE ROOF IS IN NEED OF A GOOD CLEANING & KEEP IN MIND I’M USING AN 18mm WIDE ANGLE LENS FOR THESE SHOTS WHICH MAKES THE RIG LOOK LONG IN THOSE 3 VERTICAL CENTER PHOTOS…

The power awnings on the Sunseeker & Winnie Wagon really totally spoiled us & the manual awning on the Triple E seems like a Dinosaur to handle compared to the power awnings.  But of course we are used to those big manual awnings because that was what we had on our Damon Class A all the 6 years we owned it.  I really liked how the transmission automatically geared itself down on steep grades in our Class C Winnebago Ford V-10.  As I recall that has to be done manually with the Chevy transmission.  Liked how we didn't have to mess with the levellers to get our slide out in the Damon too.  Not so with the Big E but I think I just discovered Monday that the jacks or a single jack does not have to be all the way down for the slide to work.  I have recently written about all these things & as I come across more comparisons whether positive or negative ‘in my opinion’ I as always will write about my thoughts right here in the blog.

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  The co-ed came running in tears to her father. "Dad, you gave me some terrible financial advice!" she cried.  "I did? What did I tell you?" asked the dad.  "You told me to put my money in that big bank, and now that big bank is in trouble."  "What are you talking about? That's one of the largest banks in the world," he said. "Surely there must be some mistake."   "I don't think so," she sniffed. "They just returned one of my checks with a note saying, 'Insufficient Funds.'"

11 comments:

  1. I think I would be heading for that recliner too. Maybe the ac with that humidity.
    Hey, I hope you find that lens hood or that alien ship brings it back to you.
    As always Al, I love your pics...thanks for sharing.

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  2. We found plusses and minuses with each RV we owned, too, Al. Ours were all Class A's, but it always amazed us the number of differences--took us being in one for a few days or more on the road to discover them all.

    Just goes to show, there's no "perfect" RV. My favorite was the least expensive of the ones we owned.

    I have nothing to compare my little trailer to. I'm going to attempt to hook up a water pump on my own. I bought the exact same one that's in it and is broken. Hmmm...should be interesting. It's in a difficult place to reach but I can do a little at a time. I plan to take pictures with each step as I remove the old one. I just hope it helps.

    As for awnings, I too a video when they showed me how to set it up. Unfortunately, I think either I taped over it or one of my kids did thinking it was an empty tape. I can't remember how to do it and the trailer had the wrong manual in it. I'm wondering if I can contact Jayco with the trailer model number - and hope they send different instructions.

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  3. If you planted bamboo plants around your property, you should reconsider it. They will take over the area very quickly and are almost impossible to kill off short of digging them up.

    I planted some a number of years ago and they took over an one acre hillside in a hurry. Worst mistake I ever make with plants.

    Something to think about.

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  4. Like you said not many bookdocking options here is southern Ontario.Other than casino parking lots, or if you know people with property.
    We do very much enjoy the campgrounds before the summer rush and week days when they are pretty empty.
    A lot provincial parks now have size restrictions too, so does make it difficult. Good luck.

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  5. We have had a similar experience as Clark. A homeowner who shares the alley behind our house planted some bamboo about five years ago. Now his entire yard is bamboo; his beautiful Althea plants and everything else has been completely smothered. He has cut down a big pile of it this week----it hangs over the concrete alley and blocks access . We ourselves deal with Chinese bamboo. It is not as bad as regular bamboo, but does spread underground. What starts out as one plant ends up a whole forest. Yes, it is great for privacy---but has a price!

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  6. ~do be careful with that bamboo, they are an extremely invasive plant. A friend planted enough to create a hedge and the bamboo took over her entire yard. She had to burn it to get rid of it.

    ~you can always change your awning for an electric one. We did that several years ago so that I could raise and lower the awning on my own.

    ~do be careful about opening the slides and not lowering the jacks. I had commented about this to you before. It can be done but it is not good for the RV as it can do some damage. Call the manufacturer and ask them.

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  7. You are very attentive to having a clean RV roof. I am curious if you clean your sticks and bricks roof as frequently and what the benefits are in doing so to the RV?

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  8. Al, I can identify with you over the missing lens cap. I find myself misplacing and losing them all the time. I buy them in bulk off Amazon.

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  9. Clark is right on...Those things will take over and choke out other plants...If you have 30, you don't need anymore!

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  10. Back when I lived in Cincinnati many years ago, there was a story going around about a car dealership that had just moved to a new building. The area was professionally landscaped and some bamboo plants were used. A few years later the bamboo were coming up through the floor inside the building. I didn't verify it back then, but I've never been tempted to plant bamboo! There are enough folks who do use it so maybe there are a number of varieties - just find the one that isn't too invasive.

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  11. Pluses and minuses...just a way of life! Instead of carrying around the other part of our ladder, we use one of the fold out kind from Camping World. Sure takes up a lot less room in the bins.

    I do love the robins....I did notice the baby. How sweet!

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